Dream sequences have been a staple of books, TV, and movies pretty much since forever. Even the Bible has dream sequences; Revelations was pretty much entirely a dream sequence. So it's a tradition, though not really a great one.
A lot of the time in stories a dream sequence is kind of a deus ex machina, leading to some great revelation that can help the hero figure things out or come to some conclusion. Which really makes them lazy writing most of the time.
But really the worst is if a dream sequence drags on too long because unless you're doing something like Inception or A Nightmare on Elm Street (or my book Higher Power) the dream or dreams aren't really moving the plot forward. It's just spinning its wheels, waiting for the dream(s) to end to get back to it.
Recently I caught up on more of Tom King's run on Batman. The 10th volume is called "Knightmares" and except for the first issue it's pretty much five issues that are all dreams as Batman has been drugged by the Flashpoint Batman (also at least briefly the Batman of Earth-2), Thomas Wayne. One issue he's confronting Professor Pyg who reveals himself to be Batman's son Damien. Another Bruce is seemingly living happily with Catwoman while Constantine keeps telling him it's a dream. Another the Question is interrogating Catwoman about the note she left Bruce when she left him figuratively at the altar. An almost silent issue has Batman chasing a masked figure into the sewer who turns out to be the Joker. Then there's a fun issue about a bachelorette party at the Fortress of Solitude with Catwoman and Lois Lane getting lap dances from Superman androids while Bruce and Clark Kent have dinner and play chess at Wayne Manor. Finally there's another issue where Bruce confronts Catwoman as a way to prompt him to snap out of it.
And while most of the issues weren't bad or boring or anything, they didn't really add anything. The whole thing could have just been one issue or maybe two at most. I mean maybe Batman is coming to some inner realization but otherwise there's nothing happening to move the overall story forward. Which makes it kind of frustrating.
Similarly I've already ranted about Archer having not one, not two, but three coma fantasy seasons. Finally at the end of season 10 he finally wakes up from the coma three years later. Which is ridiculous. At most one coma fantasy season would have been enough, though only one or two episodes would have suited most viewers a lot better, I'm sure. Because while these coma fantasies might be fun and entertaining in their own way, they aren't really moving the overall story forward. At all.
Recently I also watched season 2 of FX's Legion on Hulu. I know the show is supposed to be weird and trippy but it was annoying when he finds out that the Shadow King basically killed his sister and swears revenge...and then the whole next episode is just a bunch of Elseworld tales showing various parallel worlds like one where he ends up an old homeless guy or another where he winds up becoming an evil billionaire or one where he has a wife and kids and seemingly normal life. It was interesting and not a bad episode but like a dream sequence it's killing the forward momentum of the show. Similarly there was a whole other episode where he's in his girlfriend's head and seeing her memories over and over. The first time especially was great but then it's repeated like a half-dozen times and again this episode doesn't really move the overall story much. The basic point is "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger" which we could have figured out in less than an hour.
So I'd say to nix dream sequences and the like as a general rule, but if you're going to use them, don't dawdle over them. Keep your story moving before your audience moves on to something else.
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