THE SANDMAN: HOUSE OF MACLEOD EPIC REVIEW + EPISODE GUIDE!!!

Hello small screen fans and welcome to the House of Macleod TV Review and Episode Guide Corner!

Today we'll be taking an episode-by-episode look at Warner Brother and Netflix's long-gestating adaptation of The Sandman (2022, R) starring Tom Sturridge, Boyd Holbrook, Vivienne Acheampong and Patton Oswalt and with David Thewlis, Jenna Coleman, Gwendoline Christie, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Ferdinand Kingsley, Sandra James-Young, Kyo Ra, Razane Jammal, Charles Dance and Eddie Karanja. The series is based on the comics of the same name written by Neil Gaiman and was developed by Gaiman, David S Goyer and Allan Heinberg. Now, I'll be honest with you, I haven't read the books. That being said, this criticism comes from a purely unbiased point of view. I won't complain about how this or that wasn't true to the books because I honestly don't know. I'm going to start reading The Sandman but for now it's on the list. What I'm going to give you, ladies and gentlemen, is an honest, episode-by-episode summary of what I liked and didn't like about each episode, along with a brief description. WARNING, this is going to be spoiler heavy, so if you ignored the spoiler tag on the link in this post, now is your last chance to go back. I've properly warned you now, so at this point, you're more to blame than me. Anyway, continue the review…..

EPISODE 1: SLEEP OF THE RIGHTEOUS Directed by Mike Barker

The first episode introduces us to Dream (Sturridge) otherwise known as Lord Morpheus (not that one Neo). While trying to catch one of the nightmares he created, called Corinthian (Holbrook), Dream manages to get captured by some very mean guys trying to capture and blackmail Death himself. Let's stop there. Capture death itself. What? If I lost my son in a war, the lesson would be not to let my children go to war. However, part-time demon-summoner and full-time asshole Roderick Burgess (Dance) doesn't see it that way and thinks "Damn, I'm going to ask death himself what his problem is." Now, Burgess being the aristocrat that he is, cares a lot more about the end product than the steps to get there and screws up the spell, capturing Dream instead. Not seeing this as a total loss, he imprisons her and steals all of her belongings, including a creepy cute mask, a ruby, and a pocket of sand. These items turn out to be power totems which are again stolen over time by Ethel, Roderick's girlfriend, who is pregnant with his son. While you are incarcerated, an epidemic called "sleeping sickness" breaks out, which has varying results, such as falling asleep and never waking up or walking around like you haven't had your morning coffee yet. 106 years later in 2021, Roderick's other son, Alex, continues to imprison Dream. Fearing for his life, he grew into a frail old man who was in the care of his partner Paul for some time. During a visit to ask for mercy one last time, Paul flays part of the bond that holds the prisoner dream and releases it. Suffice to say that Dream is not a happy boy and punishes Alex with an eternal sleep. Personally, I wouldn't mind. I'm lucky if I get six hours. For me it was a pretty solid opening, it made me want more, so I went to the kitchen, grabbed a box of crackers and put…

EPISODE 2: IMPERFECT HOSTS Directed by Jamie Childs

Having escaped his 106-year prison term, Dream thinks the best thing to do would be to return to his kingdom, known to all as The Dreaming. Unfortunately for him, you can't just give a damn for over a hundred years and expect him to still be as pristine as he was when you left him. His librarian and now only subject Luciennne tells him that his kingdom is in ruins and his subjects have scattered out of his kingdom and if he wants to put it back together he will have to accept the help of a crow advisor named Matthew. Shame. In order to get back some of his power, he has to take back something given to him, so he visits brothers Cain and Abel who are wonderfully played by Sanjeev Bhaskar and Asim Chaudhry. After her visit with the brothers, Dream has enough power to summon the three for the price of a sister, The Fates, who quickly informs her of the whereabouts of her sandbag. Turns out exorcist and church friend Johanna Constantine has it, she left it at her ex's house with a bunch of her stuff. Pleasant. The Fates also informs Dream of the location of his bar and ruby ​​and to be completely honest, that's what this episode is all about. This is a set-up episode, it sets up the events of the next three episodes and tells you a bit more about the characters and the worlds they inhabit. That's not a bad thing though and the episode flows like an intro with a tasty little sting at the end like all good second episodes should.

EPISODE 3: DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME Directed by Jamie Childs

The third episode introduces us to Johanna Constantine...