The Sandman: Two Crucial Questions

[aelfgyfu_mead]

So! I watched the first season of The Sandman, if I understand correctly, for "Dream of a Thousand Cats/Calliope" is (are?) an extra not included in the season.

Important Question #1: Should I watch "Dream of a Thousand Cats/Calliope"?
As one or two of you know, I'm not actually big on horror. It gets under my skin and in my head and I lie awake at night if I watch the wrong thing. So what am I doing watching this show? I don't know. (See also: Being Human.)

That's why I delayed starting the show and then quit after seeing "24/7," which I watched partly from behind my hands and then left the room until the massacre was over and Brilliant Husband called me back. I also watched "Lost Hearts" partly from behind a cushion. I lowered the cushion so I could see Rose's face over the top while she was walking through dreams of serial killers but not see the body parts.

I saw a couple of people say they really wish the show hadn't done "Calliope" at all. I'm not sure how much of that was horror and how much was "misogyny," which one of them named, because I read the exchange while I wasn't watching and can't remember who said it or what exactly they said.

If I skip this, will I miss anything important to continuity for next season? (Assuming any of you know what's important for continuity for next season!) And it seems to be two separate stories; should I watch one and not the other? Help!

Important Question #2: What is up with Mason Alexander Park and cat ears? Ok, maybe this one is not as crucial, but. . . .

I got the ending I wanted! Rose lives and goes on to a good life with Jed, Lyta and her baby, and Hal. Dream learns mercy and compassion. Lucienne gets promoted. If only we'd stopped there!

When Dream confronted Desire, I shouted, "ARE THOSE CAT EARS?" temporarily deafening my husband. (And a cat tail. I don't know what those shoulder things were supposed to be.) This episode aired in early August, before Quantum Leap even premiered; I'm guessing it must have been made before the episode of QL where Ian wears . . . "emeowgency cat ears," but maybe not far enough in advance for the QL writers to have seen the episode to put that in as a joke. So did the actor suggest it? Surely it's not coincidence, because the only other appearances of cat ears on tv I can recall involve either kids' shows on Disney or, you know, cats.

It's hilarious but also bizarre. And does anyone remember what color the cat ears were on QL? They were clearly black on Sandman, but I don't remember what color they were on QL. If they were black, did the actor simply keep the ears from the one show to use in the other?

I'm glad I came back to the show; the last episode gave me emotional payoff that almost made up for the absolutely wrenching "24/7," which I wish I'd simply skipped. I plan to watch the second season . . . with some trepidation. Rose was my favorite character and Constantine another, and it's not clear I'll ever see them again. But now I'm wondering what Lucifer and the legions of hell are going to do, and what is Desire planning? And I would like to see Death again (another favorite character, and I realize now how that sounds), and Lucienne and Matthew.

Comments

[astrogirl]

Oh, dear, I probably really shouldn't be the go-to person to ask whether you should avoid something because it might be too horror-y, because I've become so comfortable with certain kinds of horror by this point that it sometimes barely registers for me. I will say that "Dream of a Thousand Cats" is horror more in having some creepy possible implications than anything viscerally nasty, although it does talk about bad things happening to cats, which, as far as I'm concerned, is something that's kind of its own special category of upsetting things. It's definitely not "24/7" kind of horror, anyway. But it's also really not integral to the plot at all, although it probably does enrich the experience a bit just by virtue of demonstrating the way that Dream can appear differently to different people (or species) and the way that he plays different mythological roles.

"Calliope" is to a large extent about misogyny, although, y'know, it is against it. I'm trying to think whether anything in it is particularly important later on, but it's been so long since I've read the comics that I'm probably not the best person to ask about that, either. It does at least tell you something about Dream's love life, though.

All of which is probably rather unhelpful, I'm afraid, but there you go.

As for Mason Alexander and cat ears, well, I don't know who influenced who on that one, but, really, how could you not want to keep putting them in cat ears after having seen it once? :)

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Thanks; that's helpful, actually. At least I know there's no blood bath! I think I'll watch—and I know I'll have no one to blame but myself if it goes badly for me. I appreciate the warning about bad things happening to cats.

The effects of the cat ears seemed quite different in the two different scenes!

[aelfgyfu_mead]

So I did watch, and I appreciate that you helped prepare me for what I would see!

"Calliope" is very much about misogyny, so I was braced for it. I continue to think that Neil Gaiman has problems with consent. At least here we see that consent is crucial and not asking for it is deeply harmful. (Stardust and The Ocean at the End of the Lane had male characters with dubious consent at best, and I wanted more treatment of what that meant.) And Arthur Darvill and a little Derek Jacobi! What a treat!

"Dream of A Thousand Cats" was much more my speed. I could not believe all the voices I failed to recognize! We had to replay bits! We were convinced Frances McDormand was voicing the Prophet; BH said, "I never realized before that Sandra Oh sounds a lot like Frances McDormand!" How did we not catch David Tennant and Michael Sheen?! I loved seeing Dream as a cat, and the cats were beautifully drawn and very much cats.

Thanks!

[astrogirl]

Glad you felt prepared and were good to watch! It's been ages since I read the comic, but I think the TV version of "Calliope" was altered a little in ways that made it more explicitly about consent, or at least to make it more thoroughly about the importance Calliope's own agency, which is no bad thing.

And don't feel bad, I didn't recognize all the voices in "Dream of a Thousand Cats," either, and was also sitting there afterward going, "Wait, they were in it? And that person was in it, too?"

[nialla]

I read Sandman ages ago, but I haven't seen Netflix's version yet. I'm hoping they'll release it on DVD at some point. I like to add book-based stuff to the library's collection. Netflix does have a tendency to release series on DVD, but not movies (unless they were also released theatrically).

I have, however, seen quite a bit of it via Tumblr gifs. :) I have seen the cat ears, and I also wondered about any possible connection with the bit on QL. Maybe the actor just likes cat ears? Pretty sure the ones on QL were black "outline" style.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Oh, dang—do you not have Netflix? I forgot. I figured this would be right up your alley. I do think you'll like it.

I have, however, seen quite a bit of it via Tumblr gifs. :)
It must look like . . . a very interesting show in that format. As it was, I had some trouble following who was doing what and especially why—I kept asking my husband, who was like, "I don't know! I didn't read this far in the comics!" I think he was doing that by episode two, and yet I kept asking.

[nialla]

Right now I just have Prime Video (because my father and I share a Prime account for free shipping) and Hulu. I keep thinking about alternating between Netflix and Disney+, but I keep putting it off.

There are many, many shows that I get to "see" via Tumblr gifs. It can sometimes be disorienting when I actually get to see them. Schitt's Creek was one that did that, because so many were going on about David/Patrick being a canon couple. Patrick didn't show up until season three, so I was so very confused.

I read Sandman via ILL way back when we were looking at adding graphic novels to our collection. So maybe 20ish years ago? I remember the gist of it, but not any plot points.