Netflix's 'The Sandman' Season 1 Episode 11 Ending Explained: Expressing Without Exploiting

Perhaps one of the best fantasy shows of this year was The Sandman, and while audiences were still reeling from the last ten episodes, Netflix dropped another bonus episode telling two stories within the Sandman universe. The first titled Dream of a Thousand Cats, is a story that focused on the story of how a Siamese cat tries to instill a dream where cats were originally the rulers of Earth and the ultimate predator for humans. The second part titled Calliope is an episode delving deep into Greek Mythology to pull out a character from the Nine Muses, one of them named Calliope. The muses inspire men to make art but there are some who decide to take inspiration with force. 

The Siamese cat goes around to propagate a dream where humans are subdued, where they don’t enforce their violence and cruelty on the animals they seemingly love. It was a great take on how humans constantly feel like their cats are ruling over them, but there is still an element of speciesism when we think about our pets. It was refreshing to also see that there is a Dream of the Endless for every animal and in the stories we generally focus on, only call for the human Morpheus. The episode ends in a wonderful shot of the cat implied to have been playing with her prey ending the game with a snap of her teeth.

Calliope is probably the best story told at the moment on the television version of The Sandman. It is the perfect combination of drama, tragedy, romance as well as character development. We see the muse Calliope held against her will by the writer Erasmus Fry and then Richard Madoc. The latter was initially hesitant in exploiting the muse but soon crumpled in his desperation and unlocked his inner misogynist to assault Calliope. The way it was shown on screen was so brilliant, the shirt untucked, the scratch on his cheek a defiant attempt to fight back by Calliope all made sense within the context of the show. And while Madoc indulged in his inspiration, Calliope made desperate attempts to be free including begging the fates and calling for her former husband Morpheus aka Dream of the Endless. 

At the same time that Morpheus was imprisoned, Calliope was also imprisoned. When she found out that the father of her child was freed, she called to him. He came to speak to her and help her figure out how to escape. The way the scene is written and the chemistry between the two actors elevated the entire episode. Our resident feminist, Morpheus decided to help Calliope in the way he knew best. He plagued Madoc with ideas making him desperate enough to write notes in blood. Soon, the onslaught of ideas drive him mad enough to free Calliope. The episode ends with Calliope inhaling the first breaths of freedom. 

The Sandman Season 1 Episode 11 is currently streaming on Netflix.