The Sandman: Podcast from TV Podcast Industries

The Sandman universe on Netflix ends with Death The High Cost of Living a special episode of the series. Our The Sandman 212 Review is spoiler filled from the start so make sure you've watched the episode before you listen along with us.

The Sandman 212 "Death The High Cost of Living" Spoilers

Episode teleplay by Neil Gaiman, Allan Heinberg

Episode directed by Jamie Childs

Synopsis: Journalist Sexton Furnival writes a suicide note to his ex-girlfriend, Sylvie, convinced that the world is heading to an inevitable end. 

He falls while on top of a tipped rubbish dump and meets Death. They head back to her apartment where Death reveals herself and tells him it is her day off, though Sexton does not believe her. As he leaves Death's apartment, he bumps into Mad Hettie who asks for Death's help to find her soul. 

After agreeing Death takes Sexton with her out on her day off and they go to a club, where they meet Sexton's roommate Billie, her girlfriend Amelia and their friend Jackie. While Sexton seems hung up on his ex-girlfriend he becomes interested in Jackie as she gets to know him. 

As Sexton's friends are enjoying the club, unlike him, Sexton introduces Death as Didi and they meet the club owner Theo. Theo becomes interested in Didi and asks her to come upstairs with him, though she brings Sexton along. They realize it is a setup, as Theo has realized who Didi is as he had summoned Death to the club to bring back his girlfriend Natalie. 

They try to talk to a distraught Theo, who ends up falling and injuring himself before being taken to a hospital. The next day, Didi buys a locket and asks Sexton to give it to Hettie. Didi suddenly dies after her day off and Hettie reveals that the locket contains her soul with it containing a picture of her daughter inside. 

Once back at home, Sexton asks Jackie out. While Didi wakes up in Death's realm and tells Death she loves mortality and doesn't want it to end.

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This is how it ends. John and Derek discuss The Sandman Season 2 Episode 11 "A Tale of Graceful Ends" in spoiler filled detail. A beautiful end for the series, unthinkable that it would ever have been made and what the team have achieved is incredible.

The Sandman 211 "A Tale of Graceful Ends" Spoilers

Episode teleplay by Allan Heinberg

Episode directed by Jamie Childs

Synopsis: Unsure of his purpose Daniel, the new Dream of the Endless, brings back Abel and Merv after their death at the hands of the Kindly Ones. He attempts to restore Fiddler’s Green, but Gilbert refuses and tells him it does not give their sacrifice meaning. 

Meanwhile the Endless siblings and many friends of Morpheus including Johanna Constantine, Alex Burgess, Hob Gadling, Queen Titania, Cluracan, Calliope, Rose Walker, Mad Hettie, Nada, Lyta Hall, and countless others attend the first dream king’s Morpheus' funeral. 

Destruction does not attend but visits the new Dream secretly and assures Daniel that he will figure out everything eventually. 

At the service each Endless and Lucienne speak on how they will miss Morpheus and wish that they had a better relationship with him, but are glad they got to see him change for the better. 

Following the funeral, Death chats with Hob Gaddling and asks if he wants to finally finish his long life. Hob tells her he is still not ready to die, which Death accepts. 

Inspired by the speeches, Johanna tells Corinthian she wants to give their relationship a shot and they kiss. Matthew, Merv and Nuala decide to stay with Lucienne. 

Lyta meets Daniel and makes peace with him and he promises to meet her in her dreams. He makes Lucienne the new Prime minister of Dreaming, decides to continue his meetings every hundred years with Hob, and meets the Endless siblings. 

The post-credits scene shows The Kindly Ones discussing how fate is inevitable and that no one, whether human or Endless, can escape it.

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Derek and John are finally back to chat about The Sandman Season 2 Episode 10 "Long Live The King" in spoiler filled detail. It is a huge episode in The Sandman mythos we are sorry it's been so long coming.

The Sandman 210 "Long Live The King" Spoilers

Episode teleplay by Marina Marlens

Episode directed by Jamie Childs

Synopsis: As they continue their path of destruction through The Dreaming, The Furies and their avatar Lyta Hall kills Abel and Merv Pumpkinhead and try to kill Dreams’ raven Matthew, but he escapes to Lucienne, Cain, Corinthian and Daniel in the throne room. Morpheus comes back to his realm and momentarily breaks the hold of The Kindly Ones on Lyta after she sees that her son Daniel is alive. But The Kindly Ones refuse to free her saying they aren’t her to retrieve Daniel they are here for vengeance. 

To save his realm Morpheus goes to the waking world to kill Lyta, but Mad Hettie has put protections around Lyta to prevent this. She tells Morpheus that Daniel won't be happy with him if he kills his mother and that’s the last thing he needs. 

In the land of Faery, Nuala makes peace with Cluracan and Titania and is allowed to return to the Dreaming. With little other option Morpheus tells everyone he is going to the furthest edge of Dreaming, and has a tearful goodbye with his friends, thanking them for everything that they’ve done to help his growth. 

His sister Death arrives and Dream sends Matthew to bring her to him. Death and Morpheus talk for some time and finally Morpheus takes her hand to accept his death and goes with her. 

At the same moment, The Kindly Ones vanish and Nuala takes Lyta Hall’s head in the Dreaming. Lyta wakes up in the waking world and Daniel, suddenly an adult as the new Dream, starts to repair the realm and as Delirium is reunited with her dog Barnabas she realises her brother Dream is gone.

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After a longer than expected break to tend to our own brief lives, Derek and John are back to chat about The Sandman Season 2 Episode 9 "The Kindly Ones" in spoiler filled detail.

The Sandman 209 "The Kindly Ones" Spoilers

Episode teleplay by Greg Goetz

Episode directed by Jamie Childs

Synopsis: Morpheus entrusts the Corinthian to Johanna Constantine, placing in her care a deadly pendant capable of unmaking him at any time—a necessary safeguard against the nightmare’s more violent instincts. Elsewhere, suspicion brews in Daniel’s Babysitter Mrs. Shore. She refuses to believe Daniel is truly dead. Her investigation leads her to the trail of Loki, who cruelly incinerates her to cover his tracks. Meanwhile, Mad Hettie urges a grieving Lyta Hall to summon The Kindly Ones with a promise of justice.

In The Dreaming, Morpheus receives a visit from his sister Delirium. She sought help from their brother Destiny to find her missing doggie Barnabus. But while trying to provide Delirium with direction, multiple Destinies appear. Intrigued by this unusual occurrence, Morpheus has hope for his own situation.

Back at his hotel, Loki brings the charred body of baby Daniel from the fire, but not only is the child unharmed, his humanity has been seared away, readying him for his role as a future god. His twisted plan, however, unsettles his boyfriend, Puck, who, incensed by Loki’s deception, leaves him for a drink at the hotel bar.

Johanna Constantine and the Corinthian track Loki’s movements but inadvertently summon Odin during the pursuit. Their hunt leads them to the hotel bar where they find a disheartened Puck, who hands over Loki’s room key before he returns to Faery. 

The confrontation escalates as Johanna and the Corinthian face Loki, but their battle is interrupted by the thunderous arrival of Odin and Thor. The gods swiftly reclaim Loki, dragging him back to his eternal subterranean prison. In the aftermath, a flicker of unlikely affection begins to form between Johanna and the Corinthian, though she keeps her distance.

Meanwhile, Lyta meets The Kindly Ones, who agree to aid her in her quest for vengeance—specifically, the death of Morpheus. In Faerie, Puck returns to inform Nuala that Lyta has unleashed The Kindly Ones upon the Dream King. Alarmed, Nuala searches for her pendant, only to find it has been taken by Titania. The Faerie queen uses the necklace to summon Morpheus, drawing him away from his realm—an act that leaves The Dreaming vulnerable. 

With its guardian gone, The Kindly Ones and Lyta invade, encountering Gilbert, also known as Fiddler’s Green. Under their dark influence, Lyta murders him, sealing her descent into wrathful retribution.

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John and Derek discuss The Sandman 208 "Fuel for The Fire" this darkly named episode brings back some of our favourite characters from the series. We chat all about it in spoiler filled detail in our latest podcast.

The Sandman 208 "Fuel For The Fire" Spoilers

Episode teleplay by Jay Franklin

Episode directed by Jamie Childs

Synopsis: Back in the Faerie realm Queen Titania takes particular notice of the necklace Morpheus gave Nuala, who remains determined to support Morpheus through these testing times.

Meanwhile Despair visits Morpheus showing him that Lyta is blaming him for Daniel's disappearance while Puck and Loki pretend to be detectives. 

Despite the ever growing threat of the Fates for Morpheus, Lucienne tells him that as long as he is in The Dreaming, The Kindly Ones cannot harm him and she convinces him to enlist a mortal agent to help find Daniel. He asks Johanna Constantine for her help. 

Elsewhere, Lyta is visited by The Kindly Ones who tell her that they will help her and Puck bonds with Daniel and is not happy when Loki says that he is a pawn. 

As Johanna and Morpheus investigate Daniel's abduction they visit Unity's home where Alex Burgess remains in his eternal sleep and Lyta threatens to kill Morpheus if anything happens to Daniel. Johanna tries to calm things down telling Morpheus to make peace with his enemies and convinces him to go back to The Dreaming. Morpheus visits Hob who tells him the same thing. 

Back in The Dreaming, Morpheus frees Alex and creates a new Corinthian to help Johanna. 

Puck has a change of heart and almost gives back Daniel, but Loki catches him and convinces him not to do so. He puts Puck to sleep and puts Daniel in the fire, after which he tells Lyta her son is dead.

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