The Sandman (2022) s01e06 Episode Script

1
[intense music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
[woman speaking indistinctly]
[dog barking]
[man] Heads up!
Sorry, man. Nice catch, though.
Thank you.
[chuckles softly]
Franklin.
Come on, Franklin. What you waitin' for?
What are you doin'?
I'm feeding the pigeons.
"You do that too much,
you know what you get?"
"Fat pigeons."
That's from Mary Poppins.
Did you ever see it?
No.
[girl giggling]
Okay, so what's the matter?
What do you mean?
I can tell something's wrong.
I mean, look at you.
Sittin' here, moping, pigeon-feeding.
It's not like you.
No. Perhaps it isn't.
I don't know what's wrong, but
You're right.
Something is the matter.
When they captured me,
I just had one thought.
Vengeance.
It wasn't as satisfying as I'd expected.
Meanwhile, my kingdom had fallen apart.
My tools long since stolen and scattered.
And so I embarked upon
a journey to find them.
Which I did.
I'm now more powerful
than I have been in eons.
And yet
Here you are, feeding the pigeons.
You see, until then,
I'd had a true quest.
A purpose beyond my function
and then suddenly, it was over, and
I felt disappointed.
Let down.
Empty.
Does that make sense?
I was so sure that once
I got everything back, I'd feel good.
But in some ways
I feel worse than when I started.
I feel like
Nothing.
There.
You asked.
You could have called me, you know.
I didn't want to worry you.
Oh, I don't believe it.
Let me tell you something, Dream.
And I'm only gonna say this once,
so you better pay attention.
You are utterly the stupidest,
most self-centered, pathetic excuse
for an anthropomorphic personification
on this or any other plane.
Feeling sorry for yourself
because your little game is over
and you haven't got the balls
to go out and find a new one.
You're as bad as Desire.
No, worse.
Did it never occur to you
that I would be worried about you?
- I didn't think you
- Exactly.
You didn't think.
[man] Heads up!
[Franklin] Wow.
You're as good as your friend there.
He's not my friend. He's my brother.
And he's an idiot.
I'm just feeding the birds.
Look, I can't stay here all day.
I've got work to do.
You can come with me if you want,
or you can stay here and sulk.
I'll come with you, I suppose.
Well, don't do me any favors.
[chuckles softly]
Sorry, before you go,
um, could I maybe see you again?
Sure, Franklin. You'll see me again.
Seriously?
Soon.
Okay, cool.
Yeah, let me just get your number and
Wait, how did you know my
[man] Come on, Franklin!
Are you playin' or not?
[indistinct chatter]
Look!
[gasps] Yum!
Okay, two, please.
None for me, thank you.
They're good for you.
- I'm not hungry.
- You can just have it later.
Just one. Thanks.
- There you go. It's a gift.
- Thank you.
Aw. Thank you.
So nice.
Mmm. That is delicious.
What?
You are good with them.
Apples?
- Humans.
- Mmm.
Bite?
No, thank you.
Hmm. Have you seen any of the others
since you've been back?
Have you?
Mmm Mmm.
We did have one family dinner
when you were away.
The twins were in high spirits.
Mmm, Desire was, anyway.
With me gone, I have no doubt.
I don't know.
I think Desire missed having
their usual sparring partner
across the dinner table.
Any word of the prodigal?
No.
Still missing.
You were both missed.
"How are you, sis?"
"How have you been keeping?"
Aw. I'm well, Dream. Thanks for asking.
How are you, my sister?
How have you been keeping?
I'm worried about my brother.
And I'm enjoying this apple.
[violin music playing in distance]
Can you hear it?
I know this piece.
I haven't heard it in 200 years.
Come on.
[violin music continues]
[coughing]
No. Don't stop, please.
Uh, sorry for the noise.
It's not noise. It's Schubert.
Keep going.
I can't. He never finished it. [chuckles]
All we have is a fragment.
Oh, forgive me, I I am Harry.
I know who you are, Harry.
[pleasant music playing]
Do you know who I am?
No. Not yet. Please.
It's time.
[Harry] Can I just
There's something I have to say.
If that's all right.
Of course.
[praying in Hebrew]
Hear, O Israel:
The Lord is our God. The Lord is One.
[chuckles]
I'm glad I said the Shema.
My old man always said
it would guarantee you a place in Heaven.
If you believe in Heaven.
Hmm?
I look so old.
So empty.
So, I'm dead.
Now what?
Now's when you find out, Harry.
[enthralling music playing]
[wings flapping]
You ready?
I thought he was sweet. Didn't you?
[Dream] Sweet? I don't know.
Perhaps.
My sister
Yeah?
When I was captured,
it wasn't me they were looking for.
It was you.
Yeah, I know.
[Death sighs]
What are you doing?
I'm taking my shoes off.
You should take yours off too.
It's good to touch the Earth
with your bare feet.
It's grounding.
Come on,
I don't want to miss the next one.
[indistinct chatter]
[man whistles]
Hi, Sam.
Oh.
[chuckles] Hi. I'm sorry. Do I know you?
Oh, no.
No, no.
I need to talk to my wife
for, like, one second.
Sam
You don't understand.
All our flight information is on my phone.
I just need to give her the code.
I'm so sorry, Sam.
But we're on our honeymoon.
Your time is up.
Sam?
Sam?
Come on, hon.
Sam!
Sam!
[sobbing] Sam Sam!
[Dream] How do you do it?
- Do what?
- This.
Be there, for all of them?
I have a job to do. And I do it.
When the first living thing existed,
I was there.
When the last living thing dies,
I'll put the chairs on the table,
turn out the lights and
lock the universe behind me when I leave.
And I'm not there for all of them.
There are exceptions.
Mad Hettie.
And then there's your ongoing project.
How's he faring up after all this time?
- Who? Hob Gadling?
- Hmm.
I don't know.
I was forced to miss our last appointment.
Well, I'm sure he'd love to see you.
They're never too keen to see me, though.
Does it not bother you?
I actually used to think
I had the hardest job in all our family.
Oh, did you?
They fear the Sunless Lands,
yet they enter your realm
every night without fear.
And yet I am far more terrible than you.
[chuckles]
It was fine in the beginning.
Dying and living were new things
and people did them with the enthusiasm
they always bring to new things.
And then after a bit, it just got harder.
But you continued.
I thought about giving up.
Walking out.
[somber music playing]
This was a long time ago,
long before this world.
It really started to get to me.
I got kind of hard and brittle inside.
I mean, people feel as pleased to have
been born as if they did it themselves.
But they get upset and hurt
and shaken when they die.
But eventually,
I learned that all they really need
is a kind word and a friendly face.
Like they had in the beginning.
- [woman] Hello.
- [baby fussing]
Hello, baby girl.
Are you hungry?
Mum had better get your bottle, then.
[baby continues fussing]
Yeah. I'm afraid so.
That's all there is, little one.
That's all you get.
[woman] All right, sweetie. Lunch time.
We can go.
[woman] We'll do some eating,
then maybe another nap for Mummy's sake.
Then maybe the park?
Lovey?
[Dream] I find myself
wondering about humanity.
Their attitude towards your gift
is so strange.
Why do they fear the Sunless Lands?
It is as natural to die
as it is to be born.
[Death] People may not
be ready for my gift.
But they get it anyway.
No matter what the circumstance.
At the end, each of us stands alone.
The Sunless Lands are far away
and the journey is hard.
Most of us will be glad
for the company of a friend.
It's funny looking back now.
I used to think
I had to do this all by myself.
[indistinct chatter]
But you do.
No.
At the end, I'm there with them.
I'm holding their hand
and they're holding mine.
I'm not alone when I'm doing my job.
And neither are you.
Think about it.
The only reason we even exist,
you and I, and Desire and Despair,
the whole family.
We're here to serve them.
It isn't about quests
or finding purpose outside our function.
Our purpose is our function.
We're here for them.
Since I figured that out,
I realized I need them
as much as they need me.
I've seen so many cool things
and people and worlds.
I've learned so much.
Lots of people don't have
a job they love doing, do they?
So, I think I'm really very lucky.
Listen, I've got to head back soon.
You've taught me
something I had forgotten.
I thank you, my sister.
Aw.
That's what family's about,
little brother.
[Franklin] To me, man! Over here!
- One last appointment, then I have to go.
- [tires screeching]
- [thudding]
- I, too, am late for an appointment.
[man shouting]
Tell him I said hello.
[indistinct chatter]
[man] Franklin!
I have to go.
[Franklin] Hey.
Did you see that?
That car came this close to hitting me.
This close, huh?
Yeah.
Come with me, Franklin.
I need to show you something.
Okay.
See ya, Dream.
Don't be a stranger, okay?
[intense music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
- [speaking indistinctly]
- Oi.
Come on, then.
What are you waiting for?
Very well.
But I do not see
what purpose this will serve.
At least I get out and meet them.
I just think maybe it would be good
for you to see them on their terms,
instead of yours.
Sir, penny ale for me and another
for my brother, if it please you.
- Certainly, lady.
- [bleating]
Ta. Here you go.
Ugh.
This is terrible.
[man 1] His Majesty's third poll tax
in three years.
What else could we have done, eh?
[man 2] When Ball and Tyler were killed,
the spirit of the working man
died with them.
We've got war, plague,
and two bloody popes fighting.
The end of the world is soon, you mark me.
[man 3] Mmm-hmm.
A delegation of Faerie
came to see me last night.
They're talking about
abandoning this plane forever.
Dream. Listen to the people.
Drink your drink.
[man 4] We need
to return to law and order.
We need to act against these bandits.
[man 5] Puttin' somethin' in the oven.
So, he puts his hand up her dress.
And she says, "Are you hunting
for rabbits again, Friar?"
[all laughing]
Piers Plowman.
That's what people want, Geoffrey,
not filthy tales in rhyme about pilgrims.
But Edmund, I enjoy rhyming.
And I enjoy tavern tales
told of an evening.
[man 6] Look, I've seen death.
I lost half my village to the Black Death.
I fought under Buckingham in Burgundy.
It's not like I don't know what death is.
Death is
stupid.
[men chuckle]
[man 7] You're a fool, Hob.
[Hob] Nobody has to die.
The only reason people die
is is 'cause everyone does it.
You all just go along with it. But not me.
I've made up my mind.
I'm not going to die.
[men laugh]
[man 7] Hobs, death comes for every man.
[Hob] You don't know that.
I might get lucky.
There's always a first time.
There's so much to do,
so many things to see.
Women to swive. Ale to drink.
People to drink with.
Why would any sensible creature
crave an eternity of this?
You could find out.
How?
I could grant him his wish.
Do that, and he will be begging for death
within a century, I assure you.
This will prove very interesting.
[man 7] What will you do
with all that life?
[Hob] I'll find better friends than you,
I can tell you that.
Are you gonna tell him, or should I?
I shall.
Very well, little brother.
Very well.
[indistinct chatter]
Did I hear you say
you have no intention of ever dying?
[chuckles]
Uh, yeah. Yeah, that's right.
Then you must tell me what it's like.
[Hob chuckles]
Let us meet here again, Robert Gadling,
in this tavern of the White Horse
in 100 years.
[men laughing]
[man 7] A hundred years
and I'm Pope Urban.
Don't mind them.
A hundred years' time, on this day?
I will see you
in the year of our Lord 1489, then.
Who was that, then, Hobsie?
Haven't a clue.
But tell you what,
I'll ask him in 100 years' time.
[men guffaw]
[Hob] How did you know
that I'd still be here?
Who are you?
A wizard? A a saint?
A demon?
Have I made a bargain with the devil?
No.
Then why aren't I dead long since?
Is this some kind of game?
No game.
But why?
Who are you?
Why are you here?
I'm here because I'm interested.
In me?
In your experience.
- What do I have to do?
- Nothing.
You live your life as you choose.
Then on this day,
every 100 years, we will meet.
Because you wanna know what it's like.
All right. I'll tell you what it's like.
[sighs] It's fucking brilliant.
It's all changing.
In what way?
Um
Chimneys.
Not having your eyes watering
all the time from the smoke. [chuckles]
And now we have
these little cloth pieces for your nose.
In the old days, we just used our sleeves.
[man grunts]
Oh. And playing cards.
What will you people think of next?
With any luck,
something to get rid of fleas.
But what have you been doing
for the last hundred years?
Um
Same as before. Soldiering, mainly.
A little banditry here and there
if I couldn't find a war.
Uh, but now, I've started in a new trade.
It's called printing.
Don't need to be a guild member, not yet.
Uh, never be a real demand for it,
and it's hard work,
but it beats the hell out of
rotting to maggots in the ground, eh?
So you still want to live?
Oh, yes.
A hundred years, then?
Oh, yes.
You never told me who you are.
Well, Kit, your theme as I saw it is this:
that for one's art and for one's dreams,
one may consort and bargain
with the darkest powers.
'Tis so.
My friend!
[grunts]
Sit down.
Got in a couple of bottles
of good wine for us.
Already made a start on 'em.
Hello, Hob.
"Hob"?
Faith, that takes me back some few years.
It's Sir Robert Gadlen now, old stranger.
You've had good fortune, I take it.
The gods have smiled on me
as they smile on all England
where no man is slave or bondsman.
Venison pasty?
No? They're good.
Mmm.
Let's see.
Last we spoke,
I was working with Billy Caxton.
Made some gold from that.
Put it to work in Henry Tudor's shipyards.
I made a small pile.
Then I went north for a year or so,
came back as my son.
Done that twice now.
Girl, more wine.
When fat Henry had gone
for the monasteries, I bought my estates,
and a healthy gift of gold
to the Crown saw to
a knighthood.
[laughs]
That's not all. Here.
My fair Eleanor and little Robyn.
My first son born in over 200 years
on this Earth, that I know of.
It's funny.
This is what I always dreamed
Heaven would be like, way back.
It's safe to walk the streets.
Enough food. Good wine.
Life is so rich.
[man 1] God's wounds!
If only I could write like you.
In in Faustus, when you wrote,
"To God? He loves thee not."
Will, sit down.
"The God thou servest
is thine own appetite,
wherein is fixed the love of Beelzebub."
"To him, I'll build an altar in the church
and offer up lukewarm blood
of new-born babes."
[men] Hear, hear!
- [banging on tables]
- [applause]
[Will] I would give anything
to have your gifts.
To give men dreams
that would live on long after I'm dead.
I would bargain
like your Faustus for that boon.
Who is he?
His name's Will Shaxberd. [burps]
Acts a bit. Wrote a play.
Is he good?
No, he's crap.
Now, that chap next to him,
with the broken leg,
he is a good playwright.
Anyway, I've saved the best bit for last.
The queen herself slept
at my house this summer.
That was expensive.
Are you Will Shaxberd?
Uh, aye, sir. Have we met?
We have. But men forget in waking hours.
I heard you talk, Will.
Would you write great plays?
Create new dreams
to spur the minds of men?
Is that your will?
[chuckles softly]
It is.
Then let us talk.
Sir, do you still want the lamb, sir?
Aye. Bring on the lamb.
Everything to live for.
And nowhere to go but up.
[man 1] Do not be so free
in assigning plagues, fires, floods
to the judgment of the Lord for our sins.
They make more from the dole
than they would from an honest day's work.
[man 2] I don't recommend that at all.
[waitress] You sure I can't help you, sir?
No, thank you. I'm waiting for
[Hob] Don't touch me!
Fucking dungwit. Get out of my way!
Get back to the stews
with the rest of the filth.
Let him be. He is my guest.
I knew you'd be here.
Do you know how hungry a man can get?
If he doesn't die but he doesn't eat?
I lost it all.
My land. My gold.
My Eleanor.
She died in childbirth.
The baby too.
My boy, Robyn,
died in a tavern brawl when he was 20.
I didn't go out much
after that. [sniffles]
They tried to drown me as a witch.
I'd lived there 40 years, overconfident.
I got out with my skin a little more.
And then it got worse.
And worse and worse.
I've hated every second
of the last 80 years, every bloody second.
You know that?
So do you still wish to live?
Are you crazy?
Death is a mug's game.
I got so much to live for.
Now can we order?
'Cause I'm about to eat the fucking table.
[Hob] I heard something funny
the other week.
Bloke said to me, he said,
"If only the French nobles had
played cricket with their men
the way we do,
they'd never have had this trouble."
[pleasant music playing]
You know, first the colonies, now France.
You ask me, this country
will be next for a revolution.
I've been salting money away
all over the world.
First sign of trouble,
I'll be out of here like that.
In the meantime
I'm in the shipping business.
There's a new system where
they take English cotton goods to Africa,
get a cargo of negroes,
pack 'em in like sardines.
Same ship takes them across the Atlantic.
Then comes back here
with raw cotton, tobacco and sugar.
What?
It's a poor thing
for one man to enslave another.
It's just how it's done.
I suggest you find yourself a different
line of business, Robert Gadling.
You're giving me advice?
After 400 years?
What happened to
"live your life as you choose"?
The choice is yours.
But would you take
that choice away from others?
I will consider your advice.
I saw a production of King Lear yesterday.
Mrs. Siddons as Goneril.
The idiots had given it a happy ending.
That will not last.
The great stories will always
return to their original forms.
That lad, Will Shakespeare.
He turned out to be
a half-decent playwright after all.
You made some kind of deal with him,
didn't you?
Perhaps.
What kind of deal? His soul?
Nothing so crude.
[chuckles]
Four hundred years now,
I've been meeting you here
and there is so much I still don't know.
Who are you? Truly?
What's your name?
I might ask both of you
that same question, gentlemen.
Please, please,
do not trouble yourselves to rise.
These are Michael and Tobias.
Smugglers by trade.
Although, they're only too glad to augment
their earnings by slitting throats.
If you move, they'll slit yours.
They tell of a tale in these London parts,
that the Devil and the Wandering Jew
meet once every century in a tavern.
Two years past,
sewn into the shirt of a dead man,
I found this.
Is that meant to be me?
Oh, I look terrible. You look worse.
You return to this pub every 100 years,
striking bargains with men,
sharing gifts, immortality,
which you will now share with me.
Well, have you nothing to say?
I am no Devil.
And I'm not Jewish.
Fie.
What manner of creatures are you then?
Who wants to know?
I'm Lady Johanna Constantine.
You will both follow me, sirs.
My coach is without.
I can see there is
so much you can tell me.
So much I can learn.
No.
No, I think not.
[Tobias] Get up.
[groans]
[grunting]
[panting]
[Dream] Wait.
[knife clatters]
[Lady Johanna breathing heavily]
[whispers] No.
No, not you.
I'm sorry.
What did you do to her?
She has old ghosts that I've shown to her.
You need not have come to my defense.
Clearly.
Still, I didn't want to be
drinking alone here in 100 years' time.
I don't suppose you care to
find another pub tonight?
She may have told others
about our meeting.
It will not be safe for you.
I'm perfectly safe.
I can't die, remember?
Aye. But you can be hurt or captured.
We must be cautious.
Always.
A hundred years, then?
A hundred years.
[woman] The first I met a cornet was
In a regiment of dragoons ♪
[man yells]
I gave him what he didn't like ♪
And stole his silver spoons ♪
- [thunder rumbling]
- [woman] Oh.
You gave us a start, sir.
For a second,
I thought you was Bloody Jack hisself.
[Dream] No.
No, I know that, sir.
Just joshing ya. [chuckles]
So, how'd you like
to buy a gal a dram of pale?
And maybe a quick bum dance?
Give us a hard ride with your cream stick.
I think not.
I bet you ain't got it in you,
you skinny chickaleary.
Lou!
Get yourself a drink.
Maybe just the one.
Sorry about Lushing Lou.
[Dream] Lushing Lou.
Is that what they call her?
Well, in here,
they call her "the Hospital."
Why?
Because she's in 'em a great deal,
and because she's
sent so many men into 'em.
- No idea what her real name is.
- Louise Baldwin.
Her father was in the British army.
Her cousin raped,
impregnated and deserted her
when she was just a child.
[lively piano music playing]
How do you know all that?
- Your cup is empty. You need more wine.
- [chuckles]
You knew Lady Johanna.
You know Lushing Lou.
You know everyone, don't you?
I saw her again, you know.
Who? Lady Johanna?
She undertook a task for me
and succeeded admirably, I might add.
That might be the only thing
I've learned after 500 years.
People are almost always better
than you think they are.
Not me, though. Still the same as ever.
I think perhaps you've changed.
[breathes deeply]
Well, I may have
learnt a bit from my mistakes. But, uh
doesn't seem to stop me from making them.
I think it's you that's changed.
How so?
I think I know why we still meet here,
century after century.
It's not because you want to see
whether or not I'm ready to seek death.
I don't think I'll ever seek death.
By now, you know that about me.
So, I think you're here
for something else.
And what might that be?
Friendship.
I think you're lonely.
You dare
- No, look, I'm not saying
- You
dare suggest one such as I
might need your companionship.
Yes. Yes, I do.
Then I shall take my leave of you
and prove you wrong.
I'll tell you what,
I'll be here in 100 years' time.
If you're here then too,
it'll be because we're friends.
No other reason, right?
Fuck.
["She Drives Me Crazy" playing]
Thatcher's bloody poll tax.
There's going to be a revolution
Then shave, get dressed, get a job
when they can make more on the dole
than they would for an honest day's work.
[man] up her dress.
And she says, "Are you hunting
for rabbits again, Vicar?"
Uh, mind if I
- Uh, I'm actually waiting for someone.
- [waitress] Oh.
She drives me crazy, ooh, ooh ♪
Like no one else ♪
["Shattered Dreams" playing]
And now you've given me, given me ♪
Nothing but shattered dreams
Shattered dreams ♪
Feel like I could run away, run away ♪
From this empty heart ♪
["Keep On Moving" playing]
[sighs]
Whiskey, please.
Uh, you'll have to be more specific.
We got a menu now.
Oh.
What's the oldest you got?
Well, I've got a Glen Grant,
old enough to be your father.
- [chuckles] I'm older than I look.
- [chuckles]
You waiting for someone?
I think I've been stood up. [chuckles]
We had a fight. Last time we were here.
[bartender] Ah.
It was my fault.
Wish I could say I was drunk at the time,
but I was just an idiot.
I've seen plenty of friends
get in fights in pubs.
Even more of them
laugh about it together later.
- Maybe in another 100 years.
- Ah.
You'll have to have found
a new pub by then.
This place has been sold
to make room for new flats.
The borough council
are trying to stop them,
but if you've got enough money
in this country,
you can do whatever you bloody want.
[intense music playing]
Pour you another one? While you wait?
Please.
You're late.
[chuckles]
It seems I owe you an apology.
I've always heard it impolite
to keep one's friends waiting.
["Desire" playing]
[heart beating]
[Desire] Attend, sweet sibling.
It is I, Desire.
I stand in my gallery
and I hold your sigil.
Our brother has found
a way out of his cage.
Our plan has failed.
But don't worry. I have a new one.
I don't want your desire ♪
I just wanna be free ♪
I don't want your desire ♪
["Desire" continues playing]