THE SANDMAN Episode 11 REACTION | 1X11 'Dream Of A Thousand Cats/Calliope' | Netflix

[@FandomZone]

Thanks for watching and enjoying the series with us. Below is the breakdown for the episode if you want to watch particular parts: 0:00 - Dream of a Thousand Cats reaction 11:57 - Calliope reaction 40:07 -Calliope discussion 49:45 - Dream of a Thousand Cats discussion

[@kddelta2k]

Melissanthi Mahut's casting as Calliope was brilliant. Actually, the entire series was perfectly cast. The casting director Neil hired deserves all of the awards for this show. It amazes me that all of the stars and planets aligned at the right time for this show to be made with these actors. I cannot imagine any other actor in any of these roles. Tom was born to play Morpheus.

[@celicynd]

Both of these adaptations were amazing, but the changes to Calliope, which was already a strong story, made it amazing. The subtle changes to the text/dialog from the comic between Dream and Calliope, they gave her agency in the actions. For example him asking her permission to deal with Richard, and his reaction at the end of her asking to visit, in the comic it was a straight "no, i don't think that would be a good idea." , by changing it to "some day" it doesn't just dismiss her asking.

[@cryingtomatohead8626]

I like the subtle hints that the Fates gave so that she'd know when Dream was free and able to help her. They are forbidden to help her directly but they were able to give her the tools to free herself when the time came. They didn't have to but they were kind enough to give that much to her.

[@cmmiestcat]

Calliope needs to be back in season 2. Melisanthi Mahut deserves more screen time. Her portrayal of Calliope oozes warmth, love, forgiveness and muses! Damn, the casting in this show is astounding!

[@0okamino]

I think she’s only in two issues, but there may yet be opportunities taken to have her appear in the show more than that. I certainly wouldn’t mind at all if that happened.

[@debvoz]

I was rewatching your wonderful reaction and I noticed something: when he catches her trying to contact Morpheus he says "The god of Dreams can't save you" even he realizes that she needs to be saved from him. He actually admits it there and it is such a quick pass that it goes unnoticed.

[@Denashi]

Dream Of A Thousand Cats has quite the impressive cast... Sandra Oh, James McAvoy, David & Georgia Tennant, Michael Sheen and yes of course Neil Gaiman himself!

[@theformerastronomer]

Michael Sheen is one of my favourite actors but I was legit prepared to draft some hate mail after that episode. How *could* he?! I thought the cut away from the assault scene in Calliope made it 1000 times more powerful (and 1000 times less gratuitous) - huge props to the directorial team for that choice. Props also to whoever decided on the li’l smokey eye for Dream in this episode. More of that please 😂

[@commandermercury6654]

I second all of this! 😁

[@anthonyleecollins9319]

As has been pointed out elsewhere, Dream allowed Calliope to make the decisions. He asked her permission to intercede in the first place, and then he allowed her to decide to forgive. He gave her back her ability to control her life, for the first time in sixty years. Also, what kind of writer goes around with no tools to make notes? One who has ideas handed to him on a silver platter, whenever he wants them. I wonder if the book Erasmus Fry wanted brought back into print was one he wrote on his own, before Calliope. That's what he would have valued -- one where he did the work himself.

[@0okamino]

To be fair to Calliope, Richard wasn’t being handed those ideas, he was forcing them onto the silver platter by horrible means.

[@anthonyleecollins9319]

@@0okamino Oh, absolutely. I just meant he wasn't doing the work that all writers have to do in the real world.

[@0okamino]

@@anthonyleecollins9319 Yeah, that better be what you meant, buster. I'm kidding! I'm kidding! Don't hit, please. 😉 Seriously, though, I didn't really think you meant to imply anything negative against Calliope, but I wanted to clarify because in the case of "being handed something on a silver platter," it tends to have the connotation that it's been willingly given, while in this case, the silver platter may be there, but the willingness part is not at all.

[@GuilhermeHenriqueInYellow]

This episode is amazing. I love Sandman's long arcs, but the more tangential comic issues are even greater.

[@mmgringoire2]

23:08 What makes it almost worse is how he gently knocks on the door and says her name right before. And you're right. That transition was perfect. I had read the graphic novel, so was scared how they were going to handle those scenes, but I think that was perfect.

[@enb0t63]

Oh in case you guys missed it, Calliope is played by Melissanthi Mahut, best known in nerdy circles for playing Kassandra in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. She uses a similar Greek accent for both roles. Her VA performance was brilliant so it was a delight to see her on-screen here.

[@someguy3508]

I mean ofc she has a greek accent since she's greek.

[@hannahwaring863]

I knew I recognized her voice from somewhere

[@MIGBMWLOVER]

Having an actress of Greek descent (and beauty) cast as a muse of the Greek mythology gives a sort of authenticity to the story and the horror of abuse... Remember the Iliad of Homer starts with he ode to the muse(s) stark difference of erasmus frye and richard maddock.

[@HiIeric117]

The three ladies that Calliope prays to are actually not the Fates, they are the 3 Elder muses, who preceded Calliope and her sisters (the Olympian muses). They are separate entities in mythology, but I've been told that within the Sandman mythos, they are different aspects of the same entity. Also a nice touch that it is the burning of the note that alerts Morpheus, since burning offerings was generally how the ancient Greeks made offerings to the gods.

[@galadriellothlorien7401]

Ne ama anne dedi 🤨

[@MIGBMWLOVER]

for the last part I think burning the note note was her intention all along! Ibelieve burning stuff or offering wine was the way the ancients Greeks preferred it.

[@enb0t63]

Your Sandman series reactions are what got me subscribed to your channel and it’s been a joy seeing your reactions for a bunch of other nerdy things as well! Love how you guys are clearly fans of the comics or source material for the shows and are genuinely excited to see things happen and I always look forward to your comments and observations 👍

[@mmgringoire2]

What I think is interesting, is that Erasmus and Richard had this hollow success, with flash in the pan fame or a multi-book deal, but no one seems to actually like it. If they had honored Calliope and she had willingly given her blessing, their work might have had longevity and real success.

[@Saphthings]

I wonder how many people catch on that the cat's dream isn't fantasy, it's evolution. They're talking, very figuratively , of pre historic times with saber tooth tigers and when felines were predators. And then the humans "dreamt" of something better, tools, technology, and became the alpha species. Cats domesticated. Smaller. So the cat's dream is essentially, "Maybe we can dream to be more than ourselves too, become the leading species again".

[@algi1]

I love that Neil Gaiman made him get asked where he gets his ideas from.

[@Melancthon7332]

Man, I'm so curious who they're going to cast for Orpheus. The chain of stories around him might be my favorite in all of Sandman.

[@doomandcandy]

The poor son that Dream kinda fucked over. His wife was almost raped, died by a snake bite on their wedding day..and pleaded to his father for help to be turned down. Yeah the tale is about someone that can't wait to see their dead wife's soul and thought Hades fooled them. What the tale in modern times doesn't says is: he walked for months back to the world. So he lost faith and thought he was tricked by Hades to leave.

[@karalynzemene875]

I'm so glad you did the bonus episode, I've enjoyed your Sandman reactions so much.

[@karalynzemene875]

Oh and I think he changed his name to Ric because Calliope always calls him Richard and when he hears that name his small guilt flares up.

[@FandomZone]

Very true. It’s also a nice little nod to Corinthians line of you only get called your name when you’re in trouble

[@Wolf6119]

I love the subtle little look on Calliope’s face when she suggests they should reconnect and grieve their son’s death properly, openly, only for Morpheus to immediately clam up at the thought of emotional vulnerability. In that moment her face absolutely screams “And now I remembered why things didn’t work out between us” lol

[@ValentinasWatching]

The whole season is amazing and this unexpected bonus brought me so much joy! I was so happy they picked these 2 stories. Some of my favorites. Everyone's performances are so good. Including the kitty voice actors. 👏

[@sinisterpanda2738]

And.. that's a wrap for season 1~ They really surprised me with this bonus episode. Hope we'll get to see Calliope again in the future.. Thank you for the honest reactions & discussion~ 👋

[@Melancthon7332]

If the show gets to tell the complete story, you will definitely see Calliope again...

[@galadriellothlorien7401]

​@@Melancthon7332yess 🎉 calliope ❤

[@PaleTyche]

The moment in the Calliope when Richard Maddoc has brought her home and tries to persuade her, and for a moment is hesitating and then does not let Calliope go reminded me of a short story by Neil Gaiman called "The Price". Of humans being selfish and scared inside. It is a story of just 2400 words yet completely heartbreaking, especially for cat lovers, and will haunt you. Of course, Gaiman being a writer and part of that world creates many meta levels for Calliope. It is just so spot on in so many things.

[@stevegerber1944]

I'm not sure if anyone noticed the tabby cat that the Siamese fell in love with had "golden eyes"?... Desire?

[@Luzarioth]

Oh look, it's Rory ! And the Master ! Never happened during Doctor Who :)

[@TBHNotGonnaLie]

No animals were harmed in the production of this animation

[@kattahj]

Considering how Erasmus died, I think we can assume the bezoar didn't work!

[@syngyne]

It jarring for me to see Arthur Darvill as a villain. I was all "Rory nooooooo! Bad!"

[@FandomZone]

Right! He’s so likable as Rory. But he did so well here as the villain.

[@IceMetalPunk]

@@FandomZone He made me angry and crying and disgusted all at the same time... I wanted to punch him repeatedly in every body part... and I guess that means Arthur played a horrible disgrace for a human being very well 😅

[@Taliesyn42]

Imagine my shock when I watched Jessica Jones and was introduced to David Tennant as just an absolutely HORRIFYING villain.

[@syngyne]

@@Taliesyn42 Oh yeah, that was some whiplash

[@davepowder4020]

Dream turned a cat into a Mormon missionary!

[@0okamino]

“Who is knocking on the door at this hour?” “I don’t know. I’m at the door, and nobody’s there. I wonder who this cat belongs to.”

[@commandermercury6654]

I started listening to the Sandman audiobook recently. It’s so interesting catching all the similarities and differences between it and the show, but I’d argue almost no episode was adapted better than Calliope.

[@davidsmilerarandomkiwifrom6045]

Great reaction. Did you pick up David Tennant, Michael Sheen and James McAvoy (Dream from the audiobook) in Dream of a Thousand Cats?

[@acwolf92]

So does morpheus appear as a wolf when dogs dream?

[@0okamino]

Maybe, but he also might appear in a more _familiar_ form. 😉

[@petertierney586]

She could have said no, Ric couldn't chance that.

[@HrRezpatex]

That last episode was actually pretty good. But of course the woke politics had to be put in to that also, but fortunately not so much as in the other episodes. The one thing that was not in the original story and that was pure woke politics, was when the author said that it was important that there should be at least 50% woman and 50% black people. That is so stupid. If you are not a racist or a insane woke, you know that talent is more important then what skin colour or gender the author have.. So the woke point was that the publisher should print a lot of medium and bad books if there was not enough talented black people or woman with talent. Because a good story is not so important, what is important is that it must be exact 50%.. lol Neil Gaiman is a white man. Imagine how much better his stories would have been if he was a black woman.. lol Do they really think that publishers would turn down a very good book because it was a woman or a black man that had written it? Was Harry Potter turned down because it was a woman that wrote them? The woke movement have gone viral and insane, and everything it touch become bad or lose extremely much quality, and the TV serial about Sandman is a good example of this. Its still good, but very bad compare to the original, and it screams WOKE! WOKE every 5 minute to those who know the original.

[@moleman1976]

Are you mental? The point of that line was to show the hypocrisy often exhibited by "woke" creators - the Weinsteins of the world, so to speak. Big Libs who spout all the lefty talking points in public while in private behaving abhorrently! It was a dig at the the Hollywood Liberal, and it was clear as day!

[@dancedj2k2]

I didn't understand what happened in the scene you were describing when Richard knocked on the door and then it faded to black. I got lost. I thought it changed timelines or was a dream or something, it took me out of the story. I wish they had showed something so I didn't lose what was happening.

[@irishpieceoftrash]

The whole point was that it hinted at what happened, rather than being gratuitous or graphic.

[@0okamino]

I thought it was made pretty obvious by Erasmus suggesting forcefully… taking the inspiration.

[@IceMetalPunk]

He raped her. We don't need to see that shown on screen.

[@LadyGreensleeves33]

And Calliope's creepy comment when Erasmus first brought Richard into her cell.

[@spaceapricot4855]

if you need sexual violence and abuse to be shown on screen to know that it’s there with all the implicit hints given in this episode, i’d strongly urge you to rethink how you view sexual violence and why you feel the need to see it