Editor's Note: The following article contains spoilers for Episode 11 of The Sandman.Netflix’s The Sandman is the latest series to premier and rack up giant numbers with its debut season. The series is performing fairly well for the service, remaining the No. 1 series across most of the globe well into its fourth week of release. However, the show no doubt got a little assist from a new episode dropping on August 19. The surprise eleventh episode was a “two-story” with plenty to dive into.
The Dream Of A Thousand Cats Brings in The Sandman Audible Actors
The first, episode titled “A Dream of a Thousand Cats” is a purely animated short that adapts the comic of the same name. Directed by Undone’s Hisko Hulsing the episode featured voice actors from The Sandman Audible audio drama, with James McAvoy who played Morpheus in the audiobook, and others from the audiobook such as David Tenant, Micheal Sheen, and creator Neil Gaiman himself. The episode is depicted through the eyes of cats who all convene in a graveyard late at night to listen to the testimony of a Siamese cat (Sandra Oh) who witnessed her kittens brutally murdered by her human owners, thus forever ending her faith in humanity and leading her on a quest for justice for cats.
This led her to Morpheus (Tom Sturridge) who told her of a world where cats were the Apex predators, larger than humans, and ruled over them until humans banded together to dream of a new world where they were the alphas and eventually brought that dream to fruition through their collective hope. This persuades her to go from city to city all across the world preaching to cats everywhere to come together and dream of a world where they are back to their former glory. The kitten through whom we get invited into the world (voiced by Rosie Day) is enamored by the story of the Siamese cat and vows to dream of a new world with her, even when she is comfortable and well taken care of by humans.
There isn’t much from this episode that ultimately furthers the plot for Morpheus in any way, but it does let us know that The Sandman is as present in regulating the lives of animals as he is with humans. Gaiman has also stated to EW, that the voice actors in this episode could likely play some role in the live-action series. While McAvoy, Tenant, and Sheen do not play their Audible characters in this, it will certainly be a treat for Sandman lovers to see the actors in the live-action series as well.
Calliope Episode Cautions Against the Lure of Greed and Obsession with Fame
The other episode is far more significant in setting up a potential Season 2 and furthering the story of Morpheus. The episode titled “Calliope” dives into the life of the titular figure from Greek mythology. In Greek mythology, Calliope (Melissanthi Mahut) is a muse that inspires great works of art and prose. The episode centered on her being trapped by two writers, Erasmus Fry (Derek Jacobi) and Richard Madoc (Arthur Darvill), who subsequently keep her locked up and discover that although she will not give her gifts willingly, taking them through rape allows them to receive inspiration for their books. Madoc who is struggling with his sophomore novel after a well-received first book is in dire straights to produce another hit and thus succumbs to his greed and evil, he sexually abuses Calliope repeatedly and goes back on his promise of freeing her by keeping her locked up forever.
As the story unfolds we see Calliope reach out to Morpheus in a state of despair after decades of imprisonment. Despite having had a failed relationship, Morpheus, upon receiving her note, appears immediately and drives Madoc to the brink of madness through nightmares, giving him an endless amount of ideas that he can't even begin to comprehend them all, leading him to free Calliope from the ownership he had over her. After being free from captivity, Calliope asks Dream to free Richard from his nightmares because she did not want to forever punish the human despite his egregious sins. She leaves a copy of Fry’s “Here Comes A Candle” book for Richard, the one written by Erasmus Fry that he was desperate to see republished as a reminder of what he and Erasmus did to her. We also see that because Morpheus removes his curse and with Calliope gone, Richard is unable to formulate any kind of thought or ideas.
Dream and Calliope's Past Is Revealed & We Learn About His Son, Orpheus
During the episode, we also learn that Morpheus fathered a child with Calliope and that something tragic happened to their child Orpheus.
Sandman writer Neil Gaiman has already introduced Orpheus and put his own spin upon the tale in The Sandman Special #1, which contains a story appropriately titled "The Song of Orpheus." In the comic, Orpheus ventures into the Underworld to save his wife Eurydice. However, this time he's assisted by Destruction and Death, two of the Endless. Morpheus refuses to help Orpheus, causing the young musician to disavow his father; and in his grief, he ends up suffering a horrible death when he stumbles upon a bacchanal hosted by the god of wine Dionysius. Ripped apart by Dionysius' followers, Orpheus only survives as a head thanks to Death. However, it is possible that Orpheus’s exact death and how he died will be reimagined for the Netflix series for more dramatic flair.
Showrunner Alan Heinberg has already teased casting Orpheus and the series name-dropping his son makes it likely that we will see the plight of Orpheus in a possible second season. With the second season uncertain but hopeful, Orpheus appearing seems a real possibility. There are other takeaways from the episode. For one, Episode 11 shows how powerful Morpheus is, given how he drives Madoc to madness. It’s also worth noting that Calliope’s journey also mirrors Morpheus’ containment at the hands of mortals. With her imprisonment being longer and far more grueling than Morpheus’, the latter can’t help but feel the need to go all out for her, not only because she is his ex-lover and the mother of his child, but for the seriousness of the crimes done to her. The internal transformation Calliope points out in Dream essentially bookends his season-long arc and the growth he has undergone since his imprisonment.
Orpheus’ saga also means that a Sandman Season 2 could go all in on Greek mythology as well as the Underworld figures of Persephone and Hades, giving Dream some interesting new foes to battle against.