S01.E09: Collectors

[Meredith Quill]

Quote

Odd disturbances shake up The Dreaming, Rose sets out on a road trip with a new friend, and The Corinthian arrives with a guest at a creepy convention.

[Black Knight]

I absolutely adored the sequence where Gilbert watched a few of the panel discussions. His expressions were perfect as the nature of each panel's discussion became clear to him. I especially loved the women's panel during which he was nodding in approval of the points made up until "brute force" was mentioned. Record scratch!

[starri]

I don't know what this says about me, but while I don't like the way they've styled the Corinthian (the tank top and tight jeans are iconic), there is something unbelievably sexy about watching him interact with the men he's seducing.  Even with the fake Boogieman, it was incredibly steamy, although it's messed up on several levels.

[AnimeMania]

The story has become so much more interesting when you know and care about the characters. Too bad The Sandman is not one of those characters. It seems like Rose has the power to replace him, and maybe she should.

[thuganomics85]

Clearly I'm disturbed, because the whole "cereal" convention was just so darkly entertaining to watch.  Especially the segment where Gilbert kept walking into the panel discussions and how they were obviously all "Totally not talking about killing people here, wink wink!" about it.  Gilbert/Stephen Fry's reaction to all of that was great: especially when he finally realized what was going on.  And it looks like he's actually the third person form the dream realm that Morpheus was looking for.  Hopefully him coming back willingly means Morpheus won't just banish him like he did with Gold.

Sheesh, Morpheus has no chill.  I get needing to stop Hector's dream so that he can officially pass and stop all of the cracks from happening, but to just make him fade away right in front of Lyta was cold as ice.  You could at least work on your tact a little bit, Sandman.  Especially since it kind of ended with you making an enemy out of Rose, which could be a problem going forward.  At least he did apologize to Lucienne, so progress?

The Corinthian might be a psycho who literally cuts peoples eyes out, but this is the second time he's saved Jed (and Rose this go around), so he's apparently the hero they need right now!  Even it's 100% due to furthering his own goals...

[Black Knight]

36 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

I get needing to stop Hector's dream so that he can officially pass and stop all of the cracks from happening, but to just make him fade away right in front of Lyta was cold as ice. 

Especially the way Hector was dissipated. If he'd just subtly faded into nothing that would have been one thing, but seeing your husband go practically skeletal first and them crumbling away, yowza. That was a nightmarish visual. Poor Lyta.

[Bruinsfan]

I'm left wondering how in the world Hector managed to find his way to the Dreaming rather than his rightful place in the afterlife. Did Rose's nature as the vortex somehow draw him there long before it manifested in other ways? Did Death bring him there intentionally?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

1 hour ago, Bruinsfan said:

I'm left wondering how in the world Hector managed to find his way to the Dreaming rather than his rightful place in the afterlife. Did Rose's nature as the vortex somehow draw him there long before it manifested in other ways? Did Death bring him there intentionally?

Yes, Lyta's proximity to Rose was the cause.

Edited August 14, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Zuleikha]

Morpheus was cold because protecting the Dreaming literally is his business. He was right that Hector needed to move on and Lyta needed to literally wake up. Lyta was functionally an addict at that point. Rose is too young and short sighted to think about how bad it is for Lyta to enable her to retreat into a fake reality. Morpheus doesn't know Lyta, so there's no reason for him to be kind.

Morpheus possibly could have been nicer about the baby, but a baby gestated in the Dreaming is obviously not going to be able to just go about a normal life. 

I don't know if the show is doing this intentionally, but I think there's been a recurring theme of the show seeming to position Morpheus as cruel and those around him as kind. But in reality, Morpheus is the one I think is in the right. People are treating the Dreaming as an escape, which is not good or healthy for them. Even with Gault, her storyline is calculated to be one that a modern-day audience will support. But Dreams and Nightmares can't simply up and leave or it really will harm the world. 

[Silver-hyren]

On 8/8/2022 at 2:07 PM, AnimeMania said:

The story has become so much more interesting when you know and care about the characters. Too bad The Sandman is not one of those characters. It seems like Rose has the power to replace him, and maybe she should.

I was so invested in Rose’s story that I kept forgetting about Dream.  Every time he popped back up I would go “Oh yeah, he’s in this too.”

[SevenStars]

On 8/14/2022 at 10:10 PM, Silver-hyren said:

I was so invested in Rose’s story that I kept forgetting about Dream.  Every time he popped back up I would go “Oh yeah, he’s in this too.”

Interesting because I felt the opposite the only time I was truly invested in Rose's story was when Dream was there and any connections to Dream, apart from Jed's side of the story. I was more interested in Jed's side of the story than Rose until the hotel. 

[tennisgurl]

I have been to a few fan conventions in my day, so the "serial" convention was absolutely darkly hilarious to me. The cocktail hour, the big name featured guest, the uncomfortable hotel chairs, the themed panels around gender and religion, its all so on point, but with this ridiculously dark creepy twist. Gilbert's increasingly horrified expression as he walked from panel to panel, slowly realizing what was actually happened here, was amazing. Especially at the women panel, they had him up until the brute force. I also loved how they swerved at the end, showing the killers in this really frightening light after the show has mostly been playing them for dark laughs. The Good Doctor and Nimrod slowly walking down the dark hallway to take out the serial killer fanboy and then later Fun Land attacking Jed and Rose reminds us that, as normal as these people act, these are very dangerous, deranged people. 

Stephen Fry as Gilbert/Fiddlers Green continues to be amazing, he has such a natural charming warmth about him, you can very much picture meeting him in a very good, calming dream. 

Morpheus was harsh with Lyta, but he wasn't wrong. Its not healthy for Lyta disappear into a dream world forever with her dead husband and dream child, humans are only supposed to visit dreams, not live in them. And, as we discussed in Death's episode, death is a natural part of life, not accepting it just makes things harder. There are some people who get to hang around longer, like Hob or Mad Hettie, but Hector is already dead, its hard but its necessary for him to move on. Plus, he gets to meet Death! Who doesn't want to meet Death? She's a delight.  Its hard for Rose and Lyta, and that's understandable, but what Hector and Lyta were doing was killing the Dreaming, even if unintentionally, and Morpheus needed to stop them. It was still rough for Lyta having to watch Hector instantly rot into a corpse, ouch. 

[WatchrTina]

I love Neil Gaiman's work.  I REALLY do.  I read his books, I watch his TV shows, and I've seen him speak live twice.  And I know that almost all of his work is "dark."  But this episode . . . damn.  

The Sandman is really dragging me down some dark corridors into topics I generally avoid -- specifically children in jeopardy.  So color me a bit horrified at attending a "cereal" killers convention where a child is running around unprotected.  (I disliked the abused-foster-children storyline in earlier episodes as well even though I know that storyline was -- alas -- more realistic.)  Can we please get back to the more fantastical story lines?

On a separate topic. . . I assume the fat guy ("Fun Land") was wearing a hat that is supposed to remind us of the mouse-ear hats you get at Disneyland.  I'll bet that costume choice got vetted thoroughly by the legal department.

Edited August 18, 2022 by WatchrTina

[QuantumMechanic]

9 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

On a separate topic. . . I assume the fat guy ("Fun Land") was wearing a hat that is supposed to remind us of the mouse-ear hats you get at Disneyland.  I'll bet that costume choice got vetted thoroughly by the legal department.

Fun Land's costume in the show matches what's in the comic -- wolf ears and a wolf on the shirt.

They did leave out some of what he said when he was talking to that other killer about "the nice place Iwhere I hunt".  After saying what he says on the show, in the comic he continues with

Spoiler

"And what's great is, the people who run the place always hush it up. They don't want anyone to know that I'm there either. They don't want people to stop going. They want everyone to be happy just like me."

So quite the slam on the House of Mouse. I guess they were too nervous to remind Disney of what was written about them 33 years ago in the comic, given Disney's power in TV, streaming, and movies.

[bmoore4026]

OK, Jed passing by the punny serial killers was absolutely surreal.  I was wondering how they were going to pull it off.

I do see a weakness in this storyline though - Rose and Gilbert have spent very little time together, so I don't really see the rapport between them in comparison to Lyta, who spent a little more time with Rose.

Every time I see Mervyn, I think of pumpkin pie and I get hungry.  That is all.

And, damn, Rose telling Dream off.  That was something else.

Whoever they got to play Fun Land was choice casting.

[DoctorAtomic]

Cereal convention. Brilliant. 

[Wonderlad71]

I loved this episode. The convention here reminded me of The Witches convention with the kids spying on them.

[Ottis]

On 8/8/2022 at 12:07 PM, AnimeMania said:

The story has become so much more interesting when you know and care about the characters. Too bad The Sandman is not one of those characters. It seems like Rose has the power to replace him, and maybe she should.

My experience has been quite the opposite. The Sandman is the *only* character I am interested in (well, and Lucienne, and more about how their roles work). All the human stuff is more like a soap opera mixed with a silly horror movie. I mean, really - a convention for people like that? And no one who wanders in and out notices?

On 8/18/2022 at 3:29 PM, WatchrTina said:

The Sandman is really dragging me down some dark corridors into topics I generally avoid -- specifically children in jeopardy.  So color me a bit horrified at attending a "cereal" killers convention where a child is running around unprotected.  (I disliked the abused-foster-children storyline in earlier episodes as well even though I know that storyline was -- alas -- more realistic.)  Can we please get back to the more fantastical story lines?

For a while there, I feared The Sandman series was just an analogy for real world child abuse, much like so many other shows have done the same for mental illness. I don't *think* that is the case, so far, and I agree with you 100%. Use fantasy to make us think.

Edited August 27, 2022 by Ottis

[supposebly]

That convention was gross. I didn't really think it was funny. Especially while Jed was wandering around.

Stephen Fry is just so very good.

[Quark]

On 8/20/2022 at 5:27 AM, bmoore4026 said:

Whoever they got to play Fun Land was choice casting.

Not sure what the actor's name is, but he played the brother of the main character in Orange is the New Black. He was quite amusing.

Edited November 30, 2022 by Quark