Not having read the graphic novel series, my anticipation for Netflix's live-action adaptation of The Sandman was based on solely on my love of Neil Gaiman's other works (American Gods), the visuals in the trailer, and the diversity of the cast. Everything delivered in the first two episodes. Charles Dance's Roderick Burgess was like if Tywin Lannister went to Hogwarts — and you know he'd have been Slytherin — and Tom Sturridge is about to AMSR his way into reading some Buzzfeed thirst tweets. It's not until episode two, when Sturridge's Morpheus witnesses the cost of his absence, that things get truly beautiful.