Summary
This episode entails Morpheus and Lucifer in a battle for his Helm. John is on his own quest to find his Ruby, with the help of an innocent woman called Rosemary.
This recap of Netflix’s The Sandman season 1, episode 4, “A Hope in Hell,” contains spoilers.
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The Sandman season 1, episode 4 recap
In the last episode, it ended where Lord Morpheus and his new Raven Matthew embark on their journey to hell.
Episode four opens where Morpheus and Matthew follow the damned to Hell, however, he cannot enter without being invited in. Asking for the gates of Hell to open we’re introduced to more creepy characters and excellent CGI.
We then quickly cut to poor, lonely John wandering the streets, confused and almost hit by a car. Rosemary, a kind stranger, offers to drive him somewhere, and on their journey they open up to one another, almost a therapy session for John, where he admits to killing bad people who tried to take his ruby. Like Gollum with the one ring, you can see his obsession. As he’s talking about people and their lies, Rosemary is trying to call the police, but fails.
Cut back to Hell and in the woods the trees are dead bodies, Morpheus and Matthew are being led to the King of Hell, showcasing this series creative team’s impressive work in bringing these realms to life. As he’s passing, he meets an old love, called Nada, who was the ruler of a tribe called the first people, and she betrayed him, so he banished her to hell. A frequent encounter, but shows how lethal and savage Morpheus can be. He then finds the demon who has his Helm, who challenges Morpheus to a battle and the winner gets the Helm. Morpheus chooses himself, and the demon chooses Lucifer to fight on his behalf. Let the challenge begin.
We cut back to Rosemary and John, who are now at a gas station as Rosemary wanted help in calling 911. John is wise and realises this, killing the worker, but says he will not hurt her as long as she takes him to his ruby.
Back to the action, we’re now about to watch the challenge. Morpheus wants Matthew to return to the Dreaming to warn of his fate, but Matthew will not leave. With hundreds cheering, Morpheus and Lucifer start the challenge. (Lucifer chooses to be a dire wolf, a nice hint to her role in Game of Thrones) as they both chosse their animals for their fight, what they say mentally, physically happens to them. The aim is to outwit and outfight one another until one dies. A very dramatic scene where we see Morpheus at his weakest and most vulnerable. As Lucifer chooses to be the dark, the end of everything, we ask what can the dream lord be in order to save himself from death?
Matthew comes in, but what can survive the anti-life? Dreams, dreams cannot die. He slowly stands and states that he “is hope”, and what can kill hope? Nothing is stronger than hope. The King of Dreams wins. The Helm is his and the demon who took it is thrown into a field of demons and fire.
The ending
The ending of the episode sees Lucifer not allowing Morpheus to leave Hell, but realising he has more power there than they think. Vowing one day they will destroy Morpheus, he walks away with his Helm and his Raven, growing stronger and more powerful. With the helmet on, he can now see the precious ruby and takes himself to it. As he holds it in his hand, he realizes that someone has altered it, and it fights back at him.
Just as Morpheus and Matthew are thrown across the room, leaving them unconscious, Rosemary and John pull up outside. John slowly makes his way into the room, where the ruby is lying on the ground as if it were waiting for him. Outside, Rosemary is waiting for him, and as she pleads for her life, he gives her the protection amulet, stating that he now has his ruby and he’s going to use it to save the world.
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