‘The Sandman’ Season 2 Volume 2 review: A bittersweet ending to the Dreaming
The death of a dream is a terrible thing. Though the finale of The Sandman Season 2, Volume 2 is called ‘A Tale of Graceful Ends’ and features a funeral and eulogies, it is ultimately about hope, love and reconciliation. The Special, ‘Death: The High Cost of Living’, serves as an effective epilogue.
At the mid-season finale, Dream (Tom Sturridge) or Lord Morpheus as he is also called, incurs the wrath of the Fates or Kindly Ones (Nina Wadia, Dinita Gohil, and Souad Faress) when he spills family blood by killing his son, Orpheus (Ruairi O’Connor).
Though Orpheus begged his father to put an end to his life, Morpheus is deeply disturbed by his action and seeks solace from his distant parents: Time (a magnificently remote Rufus Sewell) and Night (Tanya Moodie), which is also the name of Episode 7. His parents are not much help, and though his brother, the eldest of the Endless, Destiny (Adrian Lester), tells him his future is not final, Morpheus begins to set his world for his successor, Daniel Hall, the only child to have been conceived in the Dreaming.
(L to R) Nina Wadia as The Mother, Souad Faress as Crone, Razane Jammal as Lyta Hall, Dinita Gohil as The Maiden in ‘The Sandman’
When the tricksters, Loki (Freddie Fox) and Puck (Jack Gleeson), kidnap the baby Daniel, Morpheus calls upon the occult detective, Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman), to rescue him. Dream also brings the serial killer with teeth for eyes, The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), back to life to help Johanna with the proviso that Johanna could “uncreate” the Corinthian at the first sign of trouble. Version 2 of The Corinthian, however, is the killer minus the killing, more haunted than hunting.
Lyta Hall (Razane Jammal), Daniel’s mum, believes Morpheus kidnapped her son and, with help from a 280-year-old homeless woman called Mad Hettie (Clare Higgins), declares war on the Dreaming, thus making the Kindly Ones’ prophecycome true.
Morpheus’ close associates and friends, including the librarian, Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong), Matthew the Raven (Patton Oswalt), Fiddler’s Green (Stephen Fry) and the janitor, Mervyn Pumpkinhead (Mark Hamill), get ready for the last stand.
The Sandman (English)
Season: 2
Episodes: 12
Director: Jamie Childs
Cast: Tom Sturridge, Vivienne Acheampong, Boyd Holbrook, Patton Oswalt, Jenna Coleman, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Mark Hamill, Mason Alexander Park, Donna Preston,
Runtime: 45 – 70 minutes
Storyline: Condemned for spilling family blood, Dream sets about saying his goodbyes and setting his world in order
The fairy Nuala (Ann Skelly), who is asked to remain at the Dreaming by Queen Titania (Ruta Gedmintas) of Faerie, reluctantly returns with her brother, Cluracan (Douglas Booth), on Titania’s orders. She wishes to gather an army to protect the Dreaming and Lord Morpheus, who meets his destiny in the presence of friends and family.
Fiddler’s Green explains to the adult Daniel (Jacob Anderson) that although he now has Morpheus’ power of creation, he (Daniel) should not bring everyone back, as that would negate their sacrifice. Everything makes sense in the Dreaming just as they do in dreams.
Morpheus’ siblings, Desire (Mason Alexander Park), Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), Despair (Donna Preston), Delirium (Esmé Creed-Miles) with Barnabas (voice by Steve Coogan) the talking dog, and Destruction (Barry Sloane), come to pay their respects as an era ends and a new one dawns. Destruction, incidentally, had abandoned his realm and duties, insisting human beings were doing a pretty good job without any help from him.
Nicholas Anscombe as Merv Pumpkinhead, Adrian Lester as Destiny, Jenna Coleman as Lady Johanna, Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death, Boyd Holbrook as The Corinthian, Vivienne Acheampong as Lucienne, Mason Alexander Park as Desire, Donna Preston as Despair, Esmé Creed-Miles as Delirium, Ann Skelly as Nuala, Ferdinand Kingsley as Hob in ’The Sandman’
The special tells of an extraordinary 24 hours a journalist, Sexton Furnival (Colin Morgan), spends with Death on her day off — she gets a holiday once a century. In the 24 hours, Death and Sexton eat, ride a taxi around a park and go clubbing where they meet Theo (Jonno Davies), the club promoter who wants to capture Death to bring his girlfriend back to life. Mad Hettie asks Death to find her lost soul. The episode is an elegant metaphysical coda to the fevered dreams that have gone before.
The sets, props and costumes have brought Neil Gaiman’s eponymous comic book to life. The acting continues to be of the highest order from Sturridge’s slinky Goth to Howell-Baptiste’s tragic warmth as Death, and Creed-Miles’ vivacious Delirium, all of whom contribute to a vivid telling of the story of stories.
While Season 1 ranged far and wide through space and time, Season 2 of The Sandman folds inward on itself to speak of family. And now the time has come to bid adieu to the king of infinite space in a nutshell and not be troubled by bad dreams.
The Sandman is currently streaming on Netflix
Published – August 04, 2025 05:18 pm IST
