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SFF: The Sandman (Netflix)
I managed to get round to watching (I've liked some of the adjacent stuff, like Death, over the years, so I thought I'd probably enjoy this). And it was, on the whole, all right. Unfortunately, there were several incredibly dull parts they could have cut and filled with far more entertaining things.
Like another Mad Hatty appearance.
The Good:
- Sturridge is excellent as Dream. He's a bit, um, dull at times. But he encapsulates that 90s goth boy who whines a lot and is sort of useless at times. Excellent casting.
- Mad Hatty. Fabulous two-second character who I would have loved to have seen more of.
- Reverend Erica (Rev Ric). Another fabulous, slightly more than two-second character. She's obviously dealt with a)demons and b) Johanna before. I want ALLL the adventures and backstory and Rev Ric facepalming and going, "Johanna, do you think now's the time?"
- Death! SHE WAS SO AMAZING! I was all =D =D =D every second she was on screen. Perfect casting, and I wish she'd been given more time.
- Ethel Cripps, both old and young - the younger was the only spark of interest in the first episode (more on that later), and I would fucking kill for an entire season of her surviving through the century. The elder was so so good, and I am appalled that they didn't keep her around for longer. She was so much more interesting.
- Desire. OMG. I just. The esthetic was so perfect. They were perfect. Would also watch a series of them doing their thing.
- Unity Kincaid, Rose Walker. I liked them as individuals, they were just served badly by the bloat in their story-line. I am a bit frustrated at the entire handwaving of Unity's rape when in a coma (unless you're telling me she had sex at twelve).
- NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS. They could have done that for an entire hour, and I would have loved it. But it was short and cute, so I suppose that's what we're stuck with.
- Lucienne! I was so frustrated by how little there was of Lucienne, in the end. I could have watched an entire episode of Lucienne picking up the pieces or trying to, and slowly watching everything crumble around her. Would have been way more fucking interesting than half of the episodes.
- The dude who's immortal? Hab? Idk. He was somewhat entertaining, anyway. Was much better than the alternative.
- Johanna Constantine. BE STILL MY HEART. I need to know who to kill to get this as a series, because episode three was the absolute best. They did such a great job sketching in her, and the world she lives in, and I loved every second of it.
- The Fates! I almost forget them. I thought they were great: disturbing, weird, creepy, and unhelpful as fuck. As they should be.
- Gault and Fiddlers' Green, too. I liked them.
- Cain and Abel and the other quick flashes of other inhabitants of the realm. I could have watched an entire episode of Lucienne collecting her census data.
The Meh
- Lucifer + Hell. So, I couldn't decide where to put this. On the one hand, some of the Hell designs were interesting. And Lucifer's... styling was all right. And they cast someone perfect for "beautiful cherub angel gone dark". But, um. Oh, god. The hell bits were so boring. There was no sense that Morpheus could lose. There were NO STAKES. I think they tried, but it just fell flat. And Lucifer was also really flat, like they were carved from marble. I expect part of that was the wings causing the need to be v v v still. Slightly made better by the last scene, but even that - why is the devil wearing a fucking bathrobe? /sigh
- Jed. Like, I'm aware he's the reason Rose has a story, but I just Did Not Care.
- Hal and his House of Look How Odd We Ares. While they were nice people, and sort of... interesting, I just didn't care. At least Hal's turn with Desire on the stage was fun.
- Lyta Hall. Ah, yes. A woman inspired by wanting a baby, and her dead husband. How... new. And to be fair, in any other thing, I probably wouldn't have minded. But it just felt out of place, and sort of added to the bloating of the story-line.
The Ugly
- 24/7. Why? Is there some sort of metaphorical philosophical structure to this episode that explains why it is So Important for yet another manbaby to be shown that Humanity Sucks? I barely watched any of the episode, as I knew exactly what would happen: everyone would die after futile sex and truths about life bullshit. It was so fucking pointless and a waste of budget that could have been spent on more interesting things (Ethel! Lucienne! Johanna!)
- This goes for the Hell episode, too. I skipped everything but the hell bits. I just do not fucking care about John, and you can't make me.
- The serial killers con. Fucking christ, this took up far too much screen time and utterly fucked over the pacing of Rose's story. I skipped most of it.
- Episode 1, Alex and Burgess, and all that lot. I watched all of it, to see if it would be different from the same exact poor boy with daddy issues plot... And no. I also didn't see the point in wasting time being so focused on Dream when the world is apparently going to shit - maybe show some of that? Oh, wait. You wasted the budget on stupid shit, so you can't. Also, I think the house is the one from Midsomer Murders' 'The Animal Within', and several other times they've shot 'stately' homes, so that kept making me giggle. Ethel remains the only interesting bit of that episode.
- The Corinthian. Another waste of time and money. I literally do not give a fuck about what he was meant to convey, he was a boring character who kept. coming. back. Ugh. The only time he was entertaining was when Ethel's amulet killed him.
- Calliope. Yes, let's have another episode that is all about a Poor Man (who has lots of female friends who think he's AMAZING AND WONDERFUL) Who is Forced to Rape a Woman To Get Ahead. Because we don't already have a fuckton of those. It is such bullshit that they couldn't think of anything else to do with this story, or that they even had to do it. It's an adaption, change shit. But I'm sure white male nerds would have been even more up in arms if you took away their rape fodder.
All in all, while I liked the series, and I will certainly watch more if they do some, I don't think I'll ever re-watch all of it. I will definitely re-watch the Constantine episode, and pick through for Lucienne bits. And Death! I'll re-watch most of that episode, too.
Also, I'm fucking serious, I want:
An episode that is nothing but Lucienne's census taking (and adventures, because they happen)
An entire series dedicated to Ethel and the life she leads.
An entire series of Johanna Constantine fighting demons, fucking women, and joshing Rev Ric with Mad Hatty as a contact.
But as I'm very used to not getting what I want, I expect I'll have to settle for glimpses, and writing stories in my head.
Like another Mad Hatty appearance.
The Good:
- Sturridge is excellent as Dream. He's a bit, um, dull at times. But he encapsulates that 90s goth boy who whines a lot and is sort of useless at times. Excellent casting.
- Mad Hatty. Fabulous two-second character who I would have loved to have seen more of.
- Reverend Erica (Rev Ric). Another fabulous, slightly more than two-second character. She's obviously dealt with a)demons and b) Johanna before. I want ALLL the adventures and backstory and Rev Ric facepalming and going, "Johanna, do you think now's the time?"
- Death! SHE WAS SO AMAZING! I was all =D =D =D every second she was on screen. Perfect casting, and I wish she'd been given more time.
- Ethel Cripps, both old and young - the younger was the only spark of interest in the first episode (more on that later), and I would fucking kill for an entire season of her surviving through the century. The elder was so so good, and I am appalled that they didn't keep her around for longer. She was so much more interesting.
- Desire. OMG. I just. The esthetic was so perfect. They were perfect. Would also watch a series of them doing their thing.
- Unity Kincaid, Rose Walker. I liked them as individuals, they were just served badly by the bloat in their story-line. I am a bit frustrated at the entire handwaving of Unity's rape when in a coma (unless you're telling me she had sex at twelve).
- NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS. They could have done that for an entire hour, and I would have loved it. But it was short and cute, so I suppose that's what we're stuck with.
- Lucienne! I was so frustrated by how little there was of Lucienne, in the end. I could have watched an entire episode of Lucienne picking up the pieces or trying to, and slowly watching everything crumble around her. Would have been way more fucking interesting than half of the episodes.
- The dude who's immortal? Hab? Idk. He was somewhat entertaining, anyway. Was much better than the alternative.
- Johanna Constantine. BE STILL MY HEART. I need to know who to kill to get this as a series, because episode three was the absolute best. They did such a great job sketching in her, and the world she lives in, and I loved every second of it.
- The Fates! I almost forget them. I thought they were great: disturbing, weird, creepy, and unhelpful as fuck. As they should be.
- Gault and Fiddlers' Green, too. I liked them.
- Cain and Abel and the other quick flashes of other inhabitants of the realm. I could have watched an entire episode of Lucienne collecting her census data.
The Meh
- Lucifer + Hell. So, I couldn't decide where to put this. On the one hand, some of the Hell designs were interesting. And Lucifer's... styling was all right. And they cast someone perfect for "beautiful cherub angel gone dark". But, um. Oh, god. The hell bits were so boring. There was no sense that Morpheus could lose. There were NO STAKES. I think they tried, but it just fell flat. And Lucifer was also really flat, like they were carved from marble. I expect part of that was the wings causing the need to be v v v still. Slightly made better by the last scene, but even that - why is the devil wearing a fucking bathrobe? /sigh
- Jed. Like, I'm aware he's the reason Rose has a story, but I just Did Not Care.
- Hal and his House of Look How Odd We Ares. While they were nice people, and sort of... interesting, I just didn't care. At least Hal's turn with Desire on the stage was fun.
- Lyta Hall. Ah, yes. A woman inspired by wanting a baby, and her dead husband. How... new. And to be fair, in any other thing, I probably wouldn't have minded. But it just felt out of place, and sort of added to the bloating of the story-line.
The Ugly
- 24/7. Why? Is there some sort of metaphorical philosophical structure to this episode that explains why it is So Important for yet another manbaby to be shown that Humanity Sucks? I barely watched any of the episode, as I knew exactly what would happen: everyone would die after futile sex and truths about life bullshit. It was so fucking pointless and a waste of budget that could have been spent on more interesting things (Ethel! Lucienne! Johanna!)
- This goes for the Hell episode, too. I skipped everything but the hell bits. I just do not fucking care about John, and you can't make me.
- The serial killers con. Fucking christ, this took up far too much screen time and utterly fucked over the pacing of Rose's story. I skipped most of it.
- Episode 1, Alex and Burgess, and all that lot. I watched all of it, to see if it would be different from the same exact poor boy with daddy issues plot... And no. I also didn't see the point in wasting time being so focused on Dream when the world is apparently going to shit - maybe show some of that? Oh, wait. You wasted the budget on stupid shit, so you can't. Also, I think the house is the one from Midsomer Murders' 'The Animal Within', and several other times they've shot 'stately' homes, so that kept making me giggle. Ethel remains the only interesting bit of that episode.
- The Corinthian. Another waste of time and money. I literally do not give a fuck about what he was meant to convey, he was a boring character who kept. coming. back. Ugh. The only time he was entertaining was when Ethel's amulet killed him.
- Calliope. Yes, let's have another episode that is all about a Poor Man (who has lots of female friends who think he's AMAZING AND WONDERFUL) Who is Forced to Rape a Woman To Get Ahead. Because we don't already have a fuckton of those. It is such bullshit that they couldn't think of anything else to do with this story, or that they even had to do it. It's an adaption, change shit. But I'm sure white male nerds would have been even more up in arms if you took away their rape fodder.
All in all, while I liked the series, and I will certainly watch more if they do some, I don't think I'll ever re-watch all of it. I will definitely re-watch the Constantine episode, and pick through for Lucienne bits. And Death! I'll re-watch most of that episode, too.
Also, I'm fucking serious, I want:
An episode that is nothing but Lucienne's census taking (and adventures, because they happen)
An entire series dedicated to Ethel and the life she leads.
An entire series of Johanna Constantine fighting demons, fucking women, and joshing Rev Ric with Mad Hatty as a contact.
But as I'm very used to not getting what I want, I expect I'll have to settle for glimpses, and writing stories in my head.