The Sandman Takes Back #1 Spot on Netflix After Bonus Episode Debuts

Viewership for Netflix's The Sandman has been steady since it premiered but the release of a surprise bonus episode for the show got enough eyeballs on the series to make it #1 on the streamer. In the time since the short first premiered earlier this month, the series has fallen from the top position, replaced by the new season of Never Have I Ever and new limited series Echoes; however the added bonus episode has sent back to the top. The Sandman has also managed to hold off other Netflix shows that have added entire seasons with both The Cuphead Show and Locke & Key falling well below it in the rankings.

The bonus episode of The Sandman is actually a standalone narrative that viewers can jump into without watching the 10 episodes in season one. This new episode includes both an animated adaptation of "A Dream of a Thousand Cats" from The Sandman #18 and a live-action adaptation of "Calliope" from The Sandman #17. In addition to the return of series lead Tom Sturridge as Dream, the guest stars include Sandra Oh, James McAvoy, David Tennant, Michael Sheen, and Nonso Anozie.

In the first week that The Sandman premiered it debuted with somewhat soft numbers. The first three days of the show's debut saw it streamed for over 69.48 million hours across all of Netflix's subscribers, making it the #1 show for the service in the month of August. Week two for The Sandman saw its numbers almost double however, leaping up to 127.5 million hours streamed. Netflix's structure for measuring success means that "week two" for the series was actually its first full week of being available, but the drastic increase in viewership is surely a good sign, especially with the show adding another episode as a special surprise.

The Sandman has been well received by critics, earning a 4-out-of-5 review from ComicBook.com: "While purists may bemoan some of the changes, they ultimately make for a more cohesive viewing experience that still allows the individual short stories within the grander saga the room needed for viewers to fully appreciate them. The Sandman team has taken Dream's comics and crafted a worthy adaptation of a story that is, after all, about how we take the stuff of dreams and apply it to our lives, our art, and our relationships. And after seeing that tease at the end of Season 1, viewers will almost certainly be dreaming of what comes next."