The Sandman 2x10 Full Reaction!
Added 2025-07-30 17:46:00 +0000 UTC
Comments
Now we finally know what Albie Krantz saw in the attic, I guess. Still better than being stuck in prison without his firebending. We've gotten a few scenes recently that very successfully add sympathetic nuance to a previously despicable character with just a few lines, most of all Conquest from Invincible, but this bit from Cluracan just makes me say "Exactly what in all of this makes you think you matter right now?" It's new to the show, too, and reeks of a new writer desperate to put their own stamp on the story. I also didn't notice Barnabas, since like I said last time, Hettie isn't in this volume at all and is taking the role of a character from Volume 5. And they go the extra mile of not just plugging her into the exact same role but make her this pretty interesting True Neutral agent, while the original character ends up saying to Lyta "I'd run if I were you. A lot of people are going to want to kill you, and I'm one of them."
Ryan
2025-07-30 23:27:39 +0000 UTCDoes still feel slightly condensed in terms of certain supporting cast, for example, Rose Walker, but it’s felt like it’s been presented well. And I’m glad that the story was done justice to your satisfaction, despite the dark cloud of the author that we’re now forever stuck with. Was aware that we had eleven episodes which places the Orpheus death episode neatly in the middle as it happens. Shared thing of not knowing what we’re getting for tonight’s episode, er, technically early tomorrow morning’s episode. Only concrete thing, well, I think I know one character that will be in the episode. How prominent said character will be, that I am unclear on. Though maybe rushed, just a hair, this has felt a steadily organic arc of Morpheus has experienced growth and change, yet before he can really do much of anything with it, he’s cut down. One can still hold pride in the growth. And he takes it rather well. No hard feelings. After all, we all have our little faults. Mine’s in California. (Again, not seen the new film. Google helped with the line you referenced.) Patton’s one of those guys that’s always given the impression that he’s got serious chops, and it’s good to see him exhibiting that. Certainly, hearing him talk about film, he’s a very sharp cookie. Merv did have a FANTASTIC variation of the Rambo III line. God bless, Mark. Abel’s line does sting a bit. So, the ending of Morpheus... see, I wasn’t too broken up about that, and it’s really hitting me how I didn’t like him nearly as much as the narrative intends, nor was I as invested in his arc as Jess was. None of that’s even the result of the shit about Gaiman. I gave that a lot of thought too and realized that didn’t affect things much, liking Morpheus-wise, save for one or two spots such as the Nada business. So, seeing Jess cry during the lead up, I’m questioning myself, “Wow, really? Nothing? Not even one tear for Morpheus?” Must really be that heartless a bastard, I guess. On the other hand, Jess had the response of getting sadder with the buildup than the actual death, so maybe I’m just too self-loathing in this respect. One thing for sure, the residents of the Dreaming are all set for an Interview with a Vampire. (Not seen that show, just happen to know he’s in that.) See if the the reaction Jess has to the next episode matches the WandaVision emotions or say the Lilia episode of Agatha. (Which as we note, has Patti, who’s also in the hot water.) Between this and Andor, I say Andor had the better result of overcoming the crunch which speaks to Gilroy’s style working with that so well. I would love for novels of the gaps, and for Gilroy to collaborate with authors of said hypothetical novels. But yes, twice in one year, we get two amazing endings despite having to crunch the plans down significantly. Which like you said, doesn’t always happen, like it didn’t with Davies. (Fully agree with your crack about that by the way.) Here’s looking forward to the last two reactions to The Sandman.
Thomas Corp
2025-07-30 22:59:54 +0000 UTCPlenty to take in with this one. You say, “Oh, my goodness, my emotions can’t handle this.”, to which the reply given is, “...No, probably not.” The tears will be worse on your end with the next one, Jess. You know exactly why, but I’ll not say any further on that until the reaction. Abel’s death complete with the one line which was damn good stuff, that does hit you pretty hard. Makes an ominous portent with your tears on this one. The Lyta situation, I ain’t mad that she wants to kill Morpheus, that part I get. It’s when the kindly ones essentially use her to kill the others, that hurts. And she sets about destroying the land faster than Saruman had the forest of Fangorn burned. Mad respect to Mark for continuing to be such a goddamn treasure with his superb voice work for Merv’s last stand. We did both share the strong reaction to Merv getting torn apart by the bullets. You took that in, processed it, and through the tears, and say, “That’s not funny. That’s not...” The comradery of those in the dreaming was quite exceptionally done. Even the second Corinthian, he has the fear and concern and care for everyone else. Boyd rocked in those scenes. Sweet how you said you wanted to have sympathy for Cluracan. I didn’t, and he kept going on about how he’s viewed, I yelled, “Oh, I’m sorry, does that hurt your feelings, princess!? Well, BOO-FRICKETY-HOO!!” Now, the story plays it as he brings it around, and you called those moments sweet, and nice of him to remove the glamor from Nuala. I still don’t like him. Similarly, whilst you appreciate the support that Titania gives, I took that in, and said about the sword, “Why not lead with that?” You had the nicer reaction to Lyta’s head being lopped off clean as a dandelion head than I did, because I was so ready to get livid if that killed her. Good payoff for Nuala’s determination to get back. You state that you were starting to think she’d arrive after all was said and done. There would be, as you say, genuine realism in that if that had happened. And even if it did, Nuala’s determination to get back to fight, it’s the principle of the thing, that’s the important thing. You spoke well of the lead up to the big event made you cry harder than the event itself. Standout moments were with Matthew, and of course the thanks Morpheus gave to Lucienne. And as you observe, this episode is Morpheus accepting his fate. Can you feel it? Closing in on him? Oh, I can. He really should thank his sister, after all, it was her life that taught him the purpose of all life... The purpose of life is to end. Speaking of said sister, we both clocked why she was in the Dreaming, your reactions to that again being something which tears the heart. That last conversation they have, one, the scene speaks for itself, two, I point to your reaction and statements as they’re better than mine, and you liked Morpheus a hell of a lot better than I did. Hurts seeing Delirium knows about her brother. Though she gets Barnabas back. As to that: You had the question of did you just not notice Barnabas with Mad Hettie. If that is what happened, you’re not alone there, as I failed to clock that as well, so I wouldn’t feel too bad. We assess similarly about Lyta being rather cruelly informed about what her revenge cost. Technically part of the Daniel situation is on Loki doing his Demeter act, which you point out yourself. I’d be so pissed off if I was Lyta, yelling shit like, “He let himself die!! I didn’t kill him!! I REFUSE TO ACCEPT!!!!” And Daniel has the big final moment as now he’s grown up to become Inston-Vee Vinder. That’s about it for now as you and Ryan really spoke of all of this so well. Looking forward to the last two reactions to this show. Until then, thank you for the emotional reaction, Jess.
Thomas Corp
2025-07-30 22:36:41 +0000 UTCWell, this is a bit embarrassing. All this time I've been talking about how much time was left in the season, never noticing it was actually eleven episodes. So then that final one should fit Volume 10 quite nicely in its extended length, while this one gets to be completely about finishing 9. And it fully does justice to this story I've loved for so long, however complicated my feelings about it are now. This also means I'm totally adrift for what could be in the bonus episode tomorrow. Most of all, it hits you at this point that this whole saga has been about Dream growing as a person after being stagnant for countless millennia. And even as he's unfairly cut down just as he finishes that journey, it was still one worth going on, where he can stand proud and say "I’m as human as anyone. I love, I get scared. I wake up every morning and despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other and I try to make the best choices I can. I screw up all the time, but that is being human and that’s my greatest strength." And is given full support from Matthew the whole time, with Patton doing some surprisingly strong dramatic acting which I'm guessing involved drawing on the real grief he's experienced. We can only hope that he won't have to deal too much with the Polish Woman of Doom back in the palace. I've lived with the full knowledge of this ending for so long that I can't help being a bit numb to it by this point, but seeing this reaction did a lot to bring back how hard it hit me on first reading. And at the very least, they kept intact Merv's legendary final line, which Mark gives just as good a delivery as I was hoping. And I do very much recall being very affected by the line "You can't kill me, you don't love me." And after all that, we're left with everyone turning around and saying "Young President Obama, thank god you're here!" One more volume to go, and it'll probably be as painful as you're thinking. But what is grief if not love persevering? I remain in awe of how well this entire show was done, and just like Andor they managed to create such an amazing ending despite having to crunch their plans down significantly. Not a lot of people can pull that off well (just ask Russell T. Davies) so our getting two in such quick succession is kind of a miracle.
Ryan
2025-07-30 18:44:35 +0000 UTC
