By Caitlin Hofen
Currently sitting at No. 4 in most popular shows on Netflix, “The Sandman” is an American fantasy drama based on 75 comic book issues written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics from 1989-1996.
Airing on the popular streaming service in early August, “The Sandman” follows a man who goes by many names: Dream, Lord Morpheus and of course Sandman. Dream is the personification of the Sandman, a spirit that controls humanity’s dreams, both nightmares and fantasies.
As one of the seven “Endless,” Dream is captured in a magical ritual in 1916.
After 106 years, Dream escapes from captivity and sets out to restore his realm, The Dreaming.
Viewers are then taken on many missions with Dream in his attempt to restore his realm to the grandeur it once was.
Initially, I was captivated by the show because it has so many different supernatural and fantasy elements.
Throughout the entire series, there are subtle hints at different types of mythology and history. The personification of forces such as death and desire sparked my interest.
The story itself was very compelling and drew me in as a viewer. A little over halfway through, a new main character was introduced and I thought the story went off on a tangent.
However, with it being so successful in such a short period of time, Gaiman was able to release an additional episode that had heavy influences in Greek mythology. That episode alone made me wish there was already another season out.
Many details were left out of this first season and many characters were not fully explained.
I hope the show gets renewed for a second season because there were so many cliffhangers left in the plot when the first season ended.
The visual effects of the show were captivating. The CGI was impressive and the fine line between our world and this made-up fantasy world was blurred with how realistic these events were shown.
I thought the characters were played quite well by the actors chosen to portray them.
Tom Sturridge played the brooding Dream scarily good. The character development and growth shown through this first season was noticeable and showed the more human side to this personified entity.
The gender swap of Lucifer by Gwendoline Christie was a pleasant surprise and I thought she played the character with the power needed for such a role.
Many made-up stories were brought to life in the series and the actors who played them made that possible “The Sandman” cast was diverse and LGBTQIA friendly with multiple references and a visibility not typically seen in pop-culture until now.
In researching for this review, I found that it is very possible “The Sandman” will not be renewed for a second season because of budgeting.
Gaiman took to Twitter earlier this month to inform viewers that the renewal of a second season depends entirely on how well the first season performs for Netflix to agree to pay for another season.
Because it is so technical in nature and requires so much CGI, the production of such a show means a hefty price tag. Something only a streaming service as big as Netflix would be able to afford.
He is encouraging fans on Twitter to watch the show all the way through because that is one of the statistics Netflix takes into account.
There are some trigger warnings to go along with the show as it does deal with mature content. For any other fantasy or supernatural fans out there, I highly recommend this show.