The Sandman: Collectors   Books Included 
August 18, 2022 6:11 PM - Season 1, Episode 9 - Subscribe

It's time for the cereal convention!

Adapted from most of issue 14 ("Collectors"), minus the resolution (and without Fun Land's line about how his "special place" covers up his activities to avoid bad press).
posted by Etrigan (18 comments total)
 
This whole episode was really well-done (even in comparison to the very, very good comic), but Jed and Fun Land were absolutely perfect from writing to casting to acting.
posted by Etrigan at 6:36 PM on August 18, 2022 [7 favorites]


I really appreciate the extra dimensions that they've given the Corinthian, he's still self-serving and nightmarish, but he's basically the best thing to happen to Jed in years. And when he gives Rose the keys to the door, and tells her it's her room and he'll leave her alone if she wants him to...*chef kiss*. So good.
posted by Jilder at 3:22 AM on August 19, 2022 [5 favorites]


Just giving folks a bit of "preview" news -

Netflix has just released a surprise eleventh episode, based on a pair of one-off stories: a live-action adaptation of Calliope, and an animated adaptation of Dream Of A Thousand Cats.

That is all.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:34 AM on August 19, 2022 [15 favorites]


I forget what TVTropes calls this, but I loved the bit where the show's all agitated about "runaway nightmares doing God knows what" and promptly cuts to the Corinthian... eating an ice-cream cone. That whole Jed-Corinthian scene is the same flavor of creepy-wholesome as John Dee talking to his mama. Rule of Three on having to be grateful to the Corinthian for rescuing Jed: Barnaby and Clarice, Fun Land I, Fun Land II.

Beyond the amazing tailcoats and the smarts and the loyalty... Lucienne's expert wielding of passive aggression is very, very librarianly. (Am librarian. Can attest.)

Excellent, well-earned Oh Crap moment when Gilbert and the Corinthian encounter each other. (Also Gilbert's cape is perfection. His whole outfit, really -- the muted greens are just right.)

Some dummkopf-ball-holding in this episode. It was uncharacteristically unwise of the Corinthian to leave a chronic runaway in the hotel room by himself, but in fairness, he did have other fish to fry (so to speak). And Morpheus could have dusted Hector... somewhere that was not in front of his widow and vortexy friend.
posted by humbug at 5:31 AM on August 19, 2022 [5 favorites]


Netflix has just released a surprise eleventh episode, based on a pair of one-off stories: a live-action adaptation of Calliope, and an animated adaptation of Dream Of A Thousand Cats.

Ah, thanks... I might have taken a while to notice that. It does answer a question I had — before the series aired I was looking at a cast list and noticed “ Melissanthi Mahut... Calliope” but was a bit puzzled subsequently when I watched and the series didn’t get to her appearance.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:38 AM on August 19, 2022 [3 favorites]


Netflix has just released a surprise eleventh episode

I learned about this maybe 30 minutes ago and am still buzzing with excitement. Real, genuine excitement. I have loved and adored that story ("Cats," of course) for decades. I've wanted to share that with Meg and Nora for a long time, but they're not into comics and showed no interest in picking up the books.

They've really warmed to the show and characters (somewhat in spite of the diner episode), and I know they're going to love this one. I can't wait to share it with them tonight. Woo!

As for this episode - also really enjoyed it. Love Gilbert. Fun Land was perfect, in a very creepy way of course.

My only complaint, really - we don't see nearly enough of The Corinthian's eyes. That's the kind of creepy / gory that our teen lives for. (Literally. They love creepy teeth things and chant "teeth! teeth! teeth!")
posted by jzb at 7:10 AM on August 19, 2022 [6 favorites]


In retrospect this is probably the most fraught part of the story so far, even more so than 24 Hours (24/7). Serial killers, child predators, a young boy in peril. It is A Lot. I think the show navigated that OK but it was pretty squirmy; I had a hard time enjoying the dark humor of the macabre awfulness of Fun Land. I liked that The Corinthian seemed to be unambiguously protecting Jed. He doesn't want to hurt Jed, he's just using him to get to Rose, and so the boy in peril has a bit of safety even if his protector is a monster.

So amazing having Stephen Fry in this episode! He really shines; his facial expressions as he popped into the panel sessions at the convention were just amazing acting. Gilbert is such a great character, his expansiveness and strange mannerisms and his nurturing love. Hoom.

I was both teary and shouting in joy at the end of this episode, more emotional response than I usually have to TV. It was very good.
posted by Nelson at 7:12 AM on August 19, 2022 [9 favorites]


I agree that this was another good episode. I really liked Gilbert's growing horror at seeing the panels, and in the end, going straight to Morpheus for help.
Re: the Corinthian's teeth; I think that the only way to do them properly, would be to show them talking, when he wasn't using his main mouth, or to show him eating eyes. I think that eating eyes would be too much straight horror for what they're going for, so that left talking. I'm not sure how well that would have worked in this medium. (I believe they talked in the comic.)
posted by Spike Glee at 7:29 AM on August 19, 2022 [5 favorites]


For what it's worth, Nelson, I didn't get any laughs out of Fun Land either. I see where it could be possible and don't blame anyone who did laugh, but... nope, no thanks, no. (I had a brief run-in with a predator as a kid. Got out unscathed, but I understand how narrow my escape was.)

Gault's shadow hangs over both the Corinthian and Gilbert. The show doesn't lean on this as hard as it could, but it's quite courageous for Gilbert to go back to the Dreaming, and to stay there and wait for Morpheus once he's given Lucienne the news. She's no fool; she has to have told him, or at least hinted, that he's in bad bad really bad existence-threatening trouble from the big boss. Yet he stays.

I don't mind at all that the Corinthian is totally in for it once Morpheus catches up to him... but ol' tooth-eyes did save Jed three times. Gault's fate indicates that it won't matter, though.
posted by humbug at 8:52 AM on August 19, 2022 [2 favorites]


(I believe they talked in the comic.)

With jagged, spiky little speech bubbles, to differentiate it from dialogue delivered in... the more conventional fashion.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:32 PM on August 19, 2022 [3 favorites]


I've been so anxious about Jed through this whole arc. That poor little boy—all the stuff he went through. The actor I think deserves all the credit he's getting in these threads because wow, he just turns on that child-like smile when he's free and the dramatic irony of knowing who he is with is so, so deep. In spite of all he went through he's so innocent and trusting. My fear for him in these episodes was much more intense than anything in that 24/7 episode.
posted by synecdoche at 5:30 PM on August 19, 2022 [4 favorites]


Morpheus could have dusted Hector... somewhere that was not in front of his widow and vortexy friend.

Morpheus is still learning to consider how his actions affect other people, or that they do at all. One of the themes of the book is that "responsibility" and "empathy" aren't the same thing.
posted by Gelatin at 5:32 AM on August 22, 2022 [2 favorites]


hm, I guess I'm in the minority here - I really didn't enjoy the acting from Rose or Jed. I don't know if it was that they didn't have a lot of acting experience or if it was because they were British actors constrained by having to do American accents, but it all fell flat for me. It stood out so much when Rose and Gilbert are interacting. She comes off so blank to me the whole time.
posted by Julnyes at 8:14 AM on August 25, 2022


I really don't like the actor playing Rose. She has like, two expressions.
posted by gaspode at 3:51 PM on August 25, 2022


[deleted spoiler posted in the wrong episode]
posted by straight at 1:06 AM on August 29, 2022


Wait, Mark Hamill was in this episode!? Where?

Ah, okay, voice of Merv the pumpkin-headed guy.
posted by Naberius at 9:16 PM on September 14, 2022


Well, that was actually done very well, in the creepy sort of way. Impressive writing, especially all the death words/cracks/dialogue/seminars.

I still love the Fiddler's Green reveal even if I already knew it.

Yeah, it is pretty weird that a serial killer has been the best protector of Jed so far, for sure.

Dream, as usual, takes an action that will bite him in the ass. Bad idea to say you'll "take" someone's kid and not at all explain what that means. (On a related note, the same sort of thing came up in a book I was reading and without spoilering, the witch character very clearly spelled out that she meant, "I'm gonna take your kids for training for their abilities and they can still live at home with you." Otherwise a parent is very reasonably going to assume you're abducting in sci-fi/fantasyland.)
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:39 PM on September 14, 2022


In the comics Corinthian and Gilbert/Fiddler's Green are in the same elevator together right? I was hoping they'd depict that scene with Gilbert recognizing him and squirming but how they ended up doing it was fine too.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:43 PM on January 30, 2023


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