Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Skip The Sandman’s Bonus Episode 11

As an utterly faithful adaptation of its comics with stories that really make you introspect, The Sandman has made its way to the top of the charts. If you too felt that ten episodes was simply not enough, the series has obliged by dropping a surprise two-part bonus episode.

Mind you, Ep 11’s first half titled “Dream of a Thousand Cats” is only a 16-minute long animated episode but it still lives up to the class of the live-action.

(Plus with Neil Gaiman himself doing one of the voice roles, and having veterans like Sarah Oh, James McAvoy, and David Tennant among others was pure pleasure!)

As if cats dreaming of eating humans wasn’t dire enough, the second half of Ep 11 is titled “Calliope” depicting a story of an inspiration-hungry writer trying to gain success using the vilest possible ways.

In the style of The Sandman, the stories intertwine humankind’s state of being with Dream’s personal history and growth. But that’s not all — These tales also many have connections to future seasons. So in case you’ve missed out on some details, make sure to read my the detailed explanation:

Dream of a Thousand Cats Explained

Some cultures/religions have cats marked as deities, but this episode explores a world where cats were indeed superior than humans. The story has been adapted from an independent chapter from The Sandman #18 published in 1990.

It starts off with a kitten being watched over by its owners. But once they go to bed, she’s approached by another cat, who takes her to go listen to the words of a Prophet. On route, they meet several cats out and about for the same purpose, most of whom are skeptical.

Once gathered, a blue-eyed Siamese cat appears with a cautionary tale about humans.

In a time long past, she had coupled with another common-breed cat and had his children. Her human owners were disgusted by this and seeing no profit in having half-breeds, took her babies away and killed them by drowning. They tried to gaslight her by saying that having kids around was a menace and what they did was an act of mercy.

But the Prophet grasped the underlying nature of humans: Even though they took care of her, they did it because she was an expensive breed. Their motivations were driven by greed and, she had no real free will or control of her own.

Her fear and anger landed her into the Dreaming, where she walked through arduous paths to reach Morpheus, who was in a cat form. There, he showed her a vision of a world where cats, large in size, were rulers, and the puny, tiny humans, were their playthings.

This world didn’t last long. One day, a human had a dream of a world where they would reign, and he encouraged all the other humans to dream of the same. It took only a thousand humans or so to manifest their dream into the world we know today.

Now that the Prophet knows the truth, she tours from place to place to spread the message, and inspire at least a thousand cats to dream of a world that is a better for them. While most of the cats leave her gathering still as skeptical as ever, the little kitten tells her that she believes in the Prophet.

That night the kitten dreams of eating humans, unknown to her owners who lovingly fuss over her as she sleeps.

While Dream of a Thousand Cats is purely fan service that won’t affect the existing canon of the show, it does give us an example of how a dream can be manifested as a new reality, erasing all traces of the previous one. This phenomenon may come into play in The Sandman, if renewed for S2.

Calliope Explained

Calliope’s original story that was depicted in The Sandman #17 takes place in 1927. But the show adjusts the timeline in the show, so that this one takes place in 2018. Unlike the first half, this tale has strong ties to the Sandman canon.

It starts with the introduction of Richard Madoc, a writer who had his first hit but has been struggling ever since. He meets up with the infamous Erasmus Fry, who has rumored to have imprisoned Calliope, one of the Greek art muses’ and uses her to write bestselling novels.

Making a deal with Erasmus, Calliope’s “possession” is transferred to Madoc. At first Madoc tries to plead and beg the imprisoned Calliope for inspiration, even trying to woo her with presents. It all soon turns dark when it is implied that only raping her provides him with the inspiration he seeks.

Calliope turns to the Fates to help plan her rescue, but they are of no aid. Next, she tries to write a letter to Dream. Madoc catches her in the act and burns the letter, but it turns out that’s exactly what was needed, as the ashes summon Dream.

Here comes the big revelation: Calliope is one of Dream’s lovers and the mother of his son, Orpheus.

Dream is obviously angered at what Madoc has done to Calliope, and curses him with the tragedy of having too many ideas/inspirations, enough to torture him and turn him mad. This drives Madoc to finally release Calliope, but his repentance comes a tad too late and he’s left with a perpetual writer’s block.

When Calliope is finally free, she reunites with Dream and talks about how perhaps one day they can properly grieve the death of their son.

That is another big shock for us! Orpheus’ death will make up an important arc in Dream’s continued rivalry with Desire and Despair, if The Sandman is renewed for S2.

But this isn’t the first time we’re hearing about Orpheus. Although the show did not make it explicit but Lady Johanna Constantine’s appearance in Ep 6 was also tied to a mission relating to Dream’s son. Since there is a possibility the show will adapt the story for the screen, we’ll keep the mission under wraps for now!

About The Sandman

The Sandman is an American fantasy drama TV series based on the 1989–1996 comic book written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics. The series was developed for Netflix and is being produced by DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television.

The first season adapted the first two comics in the series, Preludes & Nocturnes and The Doll’s House. In 1916, Dream, the king of Dreams and Nightmares and one of the seven Endless, is captured and imprisoned after an occult ritual. After being held captive for 106 years, he escapes and sets out to restore order to his kingdom of The Dreaming.

The Sandman stars Tom Sturridge as Dream, with Gwendoline Christie, Vivienne Acheampong, Boyd Holbrook, Charles Dance, Asim Chaudhry, and Sanjeev Bhaskar in supporting roles.