After a lot of lead up and worry, Rose Walker has finally met Morpheus, Dream of the Endless. In a lot of stories, this would probably lead to a huge confrontation and maybe an epic fight, but this isn’t that kind of tale. There are a lot of interesting interactions in the Dreaming and the waking world as the various cast members are “Playing House.”

Rose and Morpheus have their long-awaited meeting, and the God of Dreams tries to explain to Rose at least some of what’s going on. Rose has a lot to take in all at once, including the somewhat disapproving presence of Lucienne, and Mathew the raven being appointed as her guardian. There’s a bit more explanation as to what a dream vortex is, and Rose gets sent back to the waking world. Elsewhere, in a different dream, her missing brother Jed has some dealings with an enigmatic woman, and even gets his own superhero adventure as a different and much less well-known version of the Sandman. Several villains get name dropped, although oddly they’re mostly Flash foes. Jed’s good dream can’t last forever as things take a turn for the worse and he wakes up to his grim reality. As he tries to get help, his abusive foster parents continue to be horrible examples of humanity in general.

Finally awake, Rose wonders about her odd dream, and then checks in with Unity. Unity offers encouragement and support, which is nice for Rose, and then we see that Unity has a visitor that’s a major problem. With that bit of uncertainty presented to us, Rose prints out stacks of fliers about her missing brother, and is very touched when Hal and everyone else at the odd boarding house agree to help post them. Rose’s friend Lyta has her own ongoing dream with her deceased husband Hector. Hector and Lyta were very, very different in the comics, and Hector even had a link with the version of Sandman Jed is dressing up as, but there’s not a great way to simplify all that enough for a show that doesn’t really focus on superheroes and their complicated lives. Hector and Lyta talk about what they’d wanted for their lives and Lyta gets a nice surprise before she wakes up.

Rose and Lyta chat, and Lyta offers to help Rose resolve something from her visit to the foster care agency yesterday/last episode. While they make their plans, Morpheus and Lucienne go over what they know of both Rose and dream vortexes. Lucienne has some interesting theories that Morpheus isn’t sure about. Rose and Hal, her temporary landlord, hand out fliers as Rose shares her family history with Hal. At the foster care agency, Lyta pays a visit to both apologize for Rose getting emotional and express concern about Jed. Even as jaded as she is, Miss Rubio is moved my Lyta’s words and makes a phone call.

Clarice hangs up the phone and tells Barnaby about the impending visit, and he’s just as happy about that as he is about anything else. Barnaby releases Jed from where he’s being forced to spend most of his time and gives the kid some expectations about the upcoming visit. Jed leaves, clearly already planning to try and help himself. Walking along the beach, Hal shares his own history with Rose. It’s something of a stereotype, given the way Hal’s been characterized, but the actor pulls it off fairly well. Rose, much to her surprise, learns that her dream about dream lords and talking birds wasn’t a dream after all. The Corinthian, our resident villain, makes an appearance and has the audience worrying about one of Rose’s allies.

Miss Rubio does her home visit, and the foster parents put on a decent act. Jed does his best to get some help, and shows he’s a smart kid with a lot of courage. While Miss Rubio has an unpleasant surprise upon returning to her office, Jed finds out that courage and trying to help yourself sometimes isn’t enough. The Corinthian continues his quest, and Hal and Rose talk about where they are versus where they they’d both prefer to be. It’s a jarring conversation and Rose reassess her thoughts about her new friend.

Getting ready for bed, Rose tells her brother she’s on her way, and settles in to sleep. Instead of starting her quest for Jed, she ends up taking a tour of her assorted friends’ dreams, and it’s a weird collection of disturbing scenes, ranging from common anxiety scenes to odd nightmares to the more carnal. Finally, she meets up with Morpheus. He explains some of what’s going on, and Rose does her best to tighten her focus. Eventually, they end up in Jed’s little corner of the Dreaming, where Morpheus bemusedly confronts the Sandman. A lot of things happen quickly, and Morpheus shows that he’s a lot more concerned with his own goals than those of the various mortals he’s dealing with. Jed manages to give Rose a few clues as Barnaby and Clarice get an unexpected visitor.

Lyta and Hector have a serious conversation that shows he, at least, has been doing a lot of thinking about their odd situation. There’s an old slogan about reality is what you make of it, and Hector seems to be taking full advantage of that concept as Lyta goes through some sudden and unexpected changes. Considering where this story led in the comics, I’m really curious to know what might be happening here. Rose does some quick research and takes off as Lyta finds out her dreams are, in a way, coming true.

While a terrified Jed hears strange sounds from the house above him, Morpheus confronts Gault about her actions. The Nightmare isn’t the slightest bit sorry for what she’s been doing, and makes a good case for what she’s been up to. Morpheus doesn’t want to hear it, and acts like the absolute ruler he is. Lucienne disagrees with what he does, and they talk about changes. Morpheus clearly isn’t happy about the conversation. The episode ends with Roes arriving someplace just a bit too late, and Jed going from a bad situation to possibly much worse one. That kid can’t catch a break.

What I Liked: The visuals in this show are consistently stunning. While it was predictable, it was enjoyable seeing Barnaby and Clarice meet their well-earned fate. It was fun seeing a version of the Kirby Sandman character. Patton Oswalt does a great job as Mathew’s voice. I’m intrigued to see the similarities and differences between this and the original storylines they are basing it off.

What I Didn’t: I get that he’s an arbitrary and absolute ruler, but Morpheus really needs to start listening to some of the people around him. He’s setting himself up for a big problem that doesn’t have to happen. I’m really hoping the Corinthian gets what’s coming to him soon.

This was another enjoyable chapter in a great series. I’ll give this a 4 out of 5.