Oh Mister Sandman...

Originally I wanted to write about James Gunn recently becoming the head of WB’s DC division. I had a piece formed in my head, one that’d be pleasant instead of mopey and bitter. But something came up that I felt was more pressing. So it’s with profound sadness that I’m mopey once again. Let’s discuss The Sandman.

I didn’t know what to make of this show when it was in its conceptual stage. It’d been in production for about a decade, vacillating between Neil Gaiman overseeing it and Neil Gaiman not overseeing it. Netflix settled on Gaiman overseeing it, and what followed were 10-episodes that, while not entirely like their source material, had charm in their own right. I liked it, warts and all, so I was upset that there were rumours of it not receiving a second season. It was worrying, basically.

Complicating matters was it starting to fade. It was still a hit, it ranked #1 on Netflix’s most-watched for weeks, but that wasn’t enough. The show wasn’t doing numbers like Stranger Things. The only sticking point that kept circulating was Neil Gaiman being worried. And since the first season was expensive to produce, that was a massive kick to the groin.

Netflix works on an algorithm-based system. It doesn’t matter how good your show is, it only cares if people are watching. Plenty of well-received series, many of which weren’t even finished, got canned because of poor audience engagement. And The Sandman was doomed to be another one. This despite, like I said, it being #1 on Netflix’s most-watched.

I mention this because algorithm-based applications suck. Blogger revolves around algorithms, and as the past year has shown, it’s not kind to anything it deems “unmarketable”. It also lacks consideration for personal problems, like if a grandparent passes away or someone has COVID. Algorithms are amoral and impersonal metrics, essentially. So having the most-subscribed streaming service in the world predicated on one is a bad sign; after all, who’s to say people will stay loyal once the content stops?

This also doesn’t help with how seasons of television are aired. The Sandman, like most titles, was dumped onto the service as a whole season. It didn’t come out weekly, and it missed out on additional discourse as a result. This isn’t to spite Netflix’s streaming model, sometimes binging’s the way to go, but not having a week-to-week schedule misses out on hype. Think about it this way: would my Studio Ghibli retrospective entries have been as popular Views-wise if I hadn’t spaced them out over the month of December?

That’s part of the problem. The Sandman isn’t a generic, run-of-the-mill Netflix series. In many ways, it’s one of the best shows the streamer currently has. Reception-wise, it’s been acclaimed and one of the highest-viewed. But that isn’t enough for Netflix. If it isn’t a Stranger Things level hit, it’s “not worth talking about” to Netflix. Never mind that Stranger Things only became the juggernaut it currently is because Netflix trusted The Duffer Brothers. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

Hoping for a Stranger Things-level hit constantly isn’t only unhealthy, it’s also unrealistic. My most-popular piece on this Blog is a rant about a canon ship of two characters that I didn’t like. It blew up in the years since, and it still receives comments occasionally. But while it’d be nice to surpass it View-wise, I’ve accepted the piece’s popularity as lightning in a bottle. In other words, expecting everything to be a phenomenon is ridiculous.

I’d end here, but it was revealed that The Sandman would be getting renewed for another season. I’m pleased by this news. At the same time, I’m also worried by how long that took to happen. The Sandman, remember, is on a platform that uses an algorithm. Considering how many shows were axed because of that, that another season was green-lit is an example of “wait and see” mixed with “give the fans what they want”. This was a result of months of demand that refused to let up. You only need to see how people reacted to the show being up in the air for proof.

So yes, I’m happy. I’m happy that Dream’s story will continue, and I’m happy that we’ll be getting more. But most-importantly, I’m happy because we successfully gamed the system in our favour. We watched the show, begged for it to continue and didn’t let up. And we won. That’s rare, since many high-profile shows with passionate fans weren’t as fortunate.

If anything can be gleamed from this, it’s that Netflix’s metrics for success are in need of revamping. I complain plenty about HBO Max writing off its backlog for tax purposes, but Netflix doesn’t get off easy. Because this obnoxious waiting game is proof that something needs to change. Netflix needs to do better if it wants to remain the king of streaming services.

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Some housekeeping before I end this: firstly, apologies for slowing down on content. I’m taking an intense class online on accessible media until December Break, and I don’t mean that lightly. Whenever I have free time, I’m usually busy doing assignments. This includes a class blog that I’m struggling to write for. I guess my trauma from university hasn’t fully dissipated…

That said, I’m about to hit a Blogging milestone. I won’t give it away here, but anyone who’s followed me since inception can infer it by counting my backlog entries. Either way, it’s kind of a big deal, so I’m figuring out how to celebrate. I’ll, hopefully, know more in the next while, but keep your eyes peeled!

That’s it for now. See you next time!