The Sandman: How the Death bonus episode takes inspiration from Neil Gaiman's screenplay for Guillermo del Toro

The Sandman has finally come to an end, and after the bonus episode, Death: The High Cost of Living, fans really have to bid a tearful goodbye to the fantasy series. The bonus episode was, in more ways than one, the perfect goodbye to the series, where the viewers, along with Sexton, learn to live, even in the face of death.

In a recent conversation with Variety, showrunner Allan Heinberg revealed the reason behind choosing this story for the bonus episode and the inspirations that went into building the episode, which is in many ways:

"a good night kiss to the audience before the show goes to bed."

Heinberg revealed that a different version of Death: The High Cost of Living was written by Neil Gaiman for Guillermo del Toro. Gaiman gave the screenplay to Heinberg, paving the way for a beautiful adieu.

The Sandman's bonus episode Death: The High Cost of Living, was inspired by Gaiman's screenplay for Guillermo del Toro

The Sandman's Season 2 bonus episode was completely self-contained in itself, marking an important trait for the show, but still managed to have an overarching effect. As the show ends, the audience gets a lesson in finding the light and love in even the darkest of days, as said by Death herself, well, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, to be more exact:

"If there’s one thing you can learn from Death, it’s to really live as much as you can."

Heinberg revealed that when it was decided that the show would wrap the story up in two seasons, Netflix decided to give them a generous gift: one additional episode to bring the show to a close.

The Sandman brought Dream's story to a close in the second season's finale, and Heinberg decided to tell Death's story in a way that felt like a stand-alone sequel to Episode 6 in the first season (one of our personal favorites). The idea for this particular tale, according to Heinberg, was inspired by the screenplay of the same name that Neil Gaiman wrote for Guillermo del Toro sometime around 2010.

Heinberg also revealed that another selling point for this story was the fact that they didn't have much time left for shooting the bonus episode, and this story appeared to be something that could be created in the short time they had.

However, The Sandman's bonus episode Death: The High Cost of Living differed from the screenplay on one very important detail. In the screenplay, Sexton and Death were teenage boys and girls, whereas the episode chooses to make both of them adults, well into their 30s.

Heinberg also added that even though there was an age difference in the screenplay and the episode, he wanted to take as much as he could from the screenplay, and several dialogues that the cab driver Lenny says to Sexton and Death are directly from the screenplay.

Heinberg also mentions that Gaiman's generous gift of the screenplay was the moment he decided to give Gaiman a writing credit for this episode.

The Sandman's bonus episode Death: The High Cost of Living perfectly manages to depict the beauty of life in not the big things, but the smallest of things, from making a sandwich to having a pleasant conversation. It hopes to remind the audience that:

"if you’re grieving the loss of your show, this is exactly the right way to say goodbye to it and remember that even in the face of death, there’s so much joy and so much love and so much to appreciate about the time we spend here"

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