After years away, we’re finally returning to The Dreaming. The Sandman, Netflix’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s influential comics, debuted to significant critical acclaim, but the path forward wasn’t an easy one. Season 2’s renewal finally came in November 2022 after months of waiting, and Netflix announced at the end of January 2025 that it would be its last. The news dropped a week after bombshell reports that series creator Neil Gaiman was accused of sexual assault by several women, though showrunner Allan Heinberg has since insisted that a two-season arc was the plan far before the scandal. Regardless, the result is the same, and its last episodes are en route. This first volume of The Sandman‘s second and final season offers amazing visuals, strong moments of character development, and visionary worldbuilding, but it’s also disjointed in tone and pacing.
What Is ‘The Sandman’ Season 2 About?
The 10-episode first season chronicled the return of Dream (Tom Sturridge) to his realm, the Dreaming, after a century of imprisonment by human cultists. He regained the vestiges of his rule, corralled escaped dreams and nightmares, and challenged Lucifer Morningstar (Gwendoline Christie), all the while evolving following his time in the mortal realm. The first batch of Season 2’s episodes sees Dream’s Endless sibling Destiny (Adrian Lester) gathering the rest of the Endless together (minus the long-since-abdicated Destruction/The Prodigal, played by Barry Sloane): Dream, Death (Kirby), Desire (Mason Alexander Park), Despair (Donna Preston), and Delirium (Esmé Creed-Miles).
The gathering results from Destiny’s visit from the fate-dealing Gray Ladies, who promise an era of deep turmoil. Dream becomes involved in monumental crises while trying to make up for his own past wrongs, including releasing former paramour Nada (Deborah Oyelade) from her imprisonment in Hell, finding a ruler for the latter, and searching for his long-lost brother, Destruction.
Despite Being Uneven, ‘The Sandman’ Season 2 Part 1 Still Has Series-Best Worldbuilding
As before, Dream is the core of The Sandman‘s second outing. Tom Sturridge is excellent as the ever-evolving ruler of dreamscapes, here increasingly committed to reckoning with his own unfinished business. Emotional arcs, like his pained effort to pull Nada from her unjust 10,000 years in Hell (for which he is responsible) to his long estrangements from both his son and his Endless brother, are well-mined for drama and conflict. Gwendoline Christie is fantastic as an exhausted Lucifer in this part’s first arc, while Esmé Creed-Miles is thoroughly charming as Delirium in the second. As before, Mason Alexander Park and Kirby Howell-Baptiste continue to bring life to the screen every time they’re present.
The Sandman Season 2’s two major arcs provide considerable opportunity to expand the world. With Dream being forced to choose who inherits the keys to Hell, whole pantheons and bestiaries are represented as demons, fae, Norse deities, and others come to claim the realm. It’s the most exciting set of episodes in the batch. The second half fills out the mythology of the Endless through considerable time spent with all the siblings. In the process, Dream’s personal history is also laid bare, leading to some of Sturridge’s best work yet. While both stories are revealing and allow for fine performances, they do feel uneven relative to Season 1’s more unified flow. Additionally, the second season has a far more meditative tone and slower pacing, creating a comparable midpoint lull as the series progresses.
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Kirby Howell-Baptiste stars as Death.
The first volume does end on a particularly tense note that promises monumental changes for Dream, as well as the order of the universe. This consequence of his previous actions adds additional weight to this portion of episodes, even though it has yet to pay off. Volume 2 will be bigger by necessity, with high-consequence conflict, but this first set of episodes does make strong strides in character and world development, substantially expands our understanding of The Endless and the various powers that populate the world, and provides top-notch character work. It isn’t The Sandman‘s overall best, but it might ultimately be a key component of an exceptional finale after the second part drops.
‘The Sandman’ Season 2 Part 1 Suffers From Midpoint Storytelling Issues
Netflix’s strategy of splitting high-profile series into two, as we’ve seen with Bridgerton, Stranger Things, and Outer Banks, is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it provides somewhat improved suspense and impact over the streamer’s longstanding binge-watching strategy. On the other hand, breaking the season into two parts for viewers provides an unenviable challenge from a storytelling standpoint.
Landing a satisfying midpoint in a narrative is a notoriously difficult ask for any writer, and this is no less true for series than it is for films. It’s also a challenge that this iteration of The Sandman meets with some difficulty. Altogether, Volume 1 is likely building towards a ratcheted-up Volume 2, though it does boast some of its own exceptional moments along the way. Here’s hoping the show sticks the landing when the final episodes roll around at the end of the month.
The Sandman
The first half of The Sandman’s final episodes are uneven in tone and pacing, but still deliver exceptional moments.
- Release Date
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August 4, 2022
- Network
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Netflix
- Tom Sturridge lands series-best material, and there are numerous excellent moments for returning and new cast alike.
- Season 2 continues to expand franchise worldbuilding in exciting new ways.
- Part 1 of The Sandman’s final season sets up a strong hook going into the rest of its conflict-filled episodes.
- The second arc is a dramatic change in pace and tone from the first batch of episodes, leading to some disjointedness.
