The Sandman Season 2 – When Dreams Drown in Pretension
Let’s talk about The Sandman
At the heart of it all is Morpheus, or Dream, or the Sandman — whichever name you prefer — played again by Tom Sturridge, who stalks through the episodes like a brooding poet trapped in a Hot Topic ad. Sturridge looks the part with his angular cheekbones, hollow stare, and midnight attire. But the delivery? It’s all whispered gloom, drenched in pseudo-philosophical one-liners that sound deep but land flat. Take for example: “Tales and dreams are the shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust.” It’s the kind of thing that sounds profound until you actually think about it.
Season two dives into Dream's attempts at redemption, especially regarding Queen Nada, a former lover he banished to Hell ten thousand years ago. Their reunion is cold and more awkward than heartfelt, and the detour to confront Lucifer (played by Gwendoline Christie as a weary, sarcastic Satan) should be thrilling — but it's dimly lit, both visually and emotionally. Even Hell feels like a mood board for a melancholic album cover rather than an epic realm of torment.
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Then there’s the family drama. Dream’s reunions with estranged siblings, his dealings with mythological figures like Orpheus, and a brief encounter with a transgender friend in modern-day New York all feel like they should hit hard. But everything’s weighed down by a self-serious tone that squashes any spark of genuine connection. The story of Orpheus is rehashed with a literal talking severed head — a bold visual, sure, but even that novelty feels emotionally empty.
And the humor? Steve Coogan voices a sarcastic talking dog, but you’d never know it was supposed to be funny. The lines feel like leftovers from a script that forgot how to breathe. Which is kind of the issue with the entire season — it’s too obsessed with being meaningful to ever just be entertaining .
There were also behind-the-scenes changes that shaped the tone. A major comic arc, A Game of You , was cut entirely because it didn’t feature Dream enough. That’s a shame, because the comic’s balance of surreal fantasy and emotional nuance could’ve added depth. Instead, the showrunners chose to keep the focus tightly on Morpheus, wrapping his story up within two seasons and using a single director (Jamie Childs) for consistency. While that does lend some visual and tonal cohesion, it doesn’t save the series from its overarching issue: a dreamscape that feels more like a somber museum tour than a wild, imaginative journey.
The Sandman isn’t short on ambition, or talent, or budget. But season 2 ends up being a case study in how style can suffocate substance. Instead of dreaming big, it sulks in its own shadow. And when even Shakespeare and Thor feel like distractions rather than awe-inspiring figures, you know something’s gone wrong.
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