Lanterns Episode 7, The Jordan Boys' Legacy is a good episode and I enjoyed having Hal and John together again but this time a way better version of Hal in every single way, that part where he says I dont kill, makes me think when did Hal became so wreckless, but I am still not completely convinced that bringing Hal back through the ring was the right choice after killing him, because this is not even the Hal who died. I'm just a few episodes behind on this series but not terrible, since I have been working on @rustedwax I'm just catching up this week. This episodes was hilarious with the Hal's backup from years earlier, so John has to explain what happened to the real Hal, including his death and all the years this version missed, also makes me think why did Hal kept it in the dark its like he didnt like what he has become and this version of him reminded him. That gap in his memories gives their conversations a funny side, especially when John tries to make his funeral sound more impressive than it really was, that was hilarious how at first this version of Hal bought it all. Kyle Chandler is great with that stuff because this Hal is still annoying and suspicious, but he is also more willing to listen. He notices that John can keep his projection active without even wearing the ring and tells him how impressive that is, and John is surprised because the Hal he knew would have found a way to dismiss this achievement just because John is his replacement. I like seeing John get at least the little of trainee after everything between them, says that old Hal would have been a great teacher for John. Hal is dead, yet we still have him talking, joking, investigating and giving John advice. I understand that a stored version of him is not the same person, but when the show can get so much out of him anyway, its not easy to identify if his death had change anything after all, consider that from start to finish Hal never help John directly or Rushville, yes we can debate that because of Hal finally John got its independence from the Guardians and his mother but its just feels like Hal was more like a waste of time for the story, I dont know its just that I feel that nothing good came out of him, like Hal was a mistake Lantern.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26545992/
- Platform: HBO MAX
Hal's Childhood and the Jordan Family Secret
I liked learning more about Hal's childhood, and getting that background is always welcome. Still, hearing about his family history made me wish we could have heard those stories directly from Hal himself. The baseball incident really tells a lot about his personality and it matches perfectly grown up Hal, always not letting other tell him what to do or say and probably how he develop that gut telling, because young Hal refuses to give up the ball when his coach wants to replace him and his father Martin backs him even after the team has to give up the game. Its a carbon copy situation and makes easy to connect that stubborn kid to the older Hal who never wanted to give the ring to John. Then the episode gets into the secret his father passed down with a key and we learn that Martin left Hal a note before taking his own life, at this point I was still suspicious if Hal killed himself because this detail of the story points you in that direction and that was a nice touch from the story. Martin had also received a note from his own father describing the same pain and that is what the family has been passing down from son to son. I think that is important, especially when the younger Hal goes back after the funeral for the baseball he had thrown away when his father told him to. He couldn't simply leave behind what happened, even after being told to let it go. Those scenes help us better understand the adult Hal, showing that despite his confidence, he still carries fears and painful memories from his childhood. Still this scenes from his childhood and the reveal feels slightly strange coming from an earlier copy of a man who just died, since he knows his childhood but cannot speak for everything the real Hal went through after that backup was made. Even the suggestion that Hal might have taken his own life is still an option and at that point I was really interested in that possibility now that we know what happened to his father, but I think it would be too simple and obvious to use his family history to make his death look solved before we actually know what happened, I bet the script was cooking something really good.
Kerry Faces a Hal Who Doesn't Remember Loving Her
The reunion with Sheriff Kerry Kane is where I think the idea of this other Hal works much better, and Kelly Macdonald has one of the best reactions in the episode. Kerry knows he is dead, so seeing someone with his face and voice standing in front of her should be upsetting, even if John can explain exactly what the ring is doing. There is also an uncomfortable difference between them, because Kerry shared a relationship with the older Hal while the backup is meeting a woman he had not yet fallen in love with when his memories were saved, but you can tell at least he was happy that he got someone to love and love him back, that was an achievement, you can tell on backup Hal face. I liked that he wants to see her before helping John open the vault, since it lets the episode admit he is learning things about his own life instead of pretending he remembers them, makes the backup more human in a way. Kerry also confirms that Hal had told her about his father, which makes the meeting more personal and gives the backup another reason to wonder how much she knows about his death. Something that throws me off is how he mention he was suspicious about Kerry, that she killed Hal and at first it was crazy for me to think about it, but I would not take it as confirmation of anything, because her reaction could come from grief, guilt or information she has not shared, probably in an indirect way she was the one causing Hal death. This scene was really special because she has to face someone who use to be the man she lost without actually getting him back. Kerry is seeing someone she loved again and this version of Hal is finding out that he eventually found someone he wanted to be with, so neither of them is going through the same reunion.
John Gets Praise, but Not the Apology He Wanted
I also liked how much John finally gets to say to Hal, even though I think the episode makes that relief incomplete but it just shows how much John has been keeping for all this ten years, if it didnt matter he might not come back to Rushville, got me thinking why did his mother set him up after all this years?. When they meet you can tell the real Hal caused him plenty of trouble, including what happened to his military career and John did not come back just to hear a convenient apology from a version who did none of those things, its almost like he wanted Hal to be really sorry after all this years and after doing time. Then when the backup tries to apologize during their trip across the ruined planet, John makes it clear that he wanted the apology from the man who hurt him and that is probably the clearest reason this copy should not be treated as a replacement, its almost like a completely different character, looks like Hal, talks like Hal but it aint Hal. At the same time I enjoyed the moment when this Hal tells John he is proud of him and John admits he never heard that from the real one, so its a contradiction here because you can tell John almost took it like its comming from the real Hal, the satisfaction in his face. It is a small bit of approval and tells a lot about how different their relationship could have been. The visit to the destroyed home of Antaan gives John something more serious to deal with, because the fear gas left on the planet makes him hallucinate about his father and his younger self during the apple shooting exercises from his childhood, and he nearly kills himself before the backup steps in. I liked connecting that to Hal explaining what happened in his own family, because both of them have been carrying terrible things from their fathers, although that does not excuse the way Hal treated John, but it helps them understand each other a little better, and John calling him Hal instead of keeping the same distance feels earned by backup Hal. Its insane when we get to this technology specially now days with Ai, just to imagine how John shared all this with somebody who cannot give him everything he wanted from the original and part of me wishes the real Hal had lived long enough to have at least one of these conversations, imagine the three of them and the two Hal going at each other arguing about how shitty real Hal was to John.
The Manhunter Mystery and Sinestro's Return
I think there is a much larger mystery here brewing that is interesting enough that the episode did not need to rely entirely on the return of Hal. The vault he left behind for John contains supplies and a portal, and the destination turns out to be the planet where the Manhunter destroyed the people whose memories John previously got implanted in his mind. That is a useful connection because it makes the trip about something John already knows, not a random place introduced just before the finale, also makes John expirience what exactly a Manhunter is capable to do, killing an entire planet, no wonder why Guardians want them out. Then at the last minute, finding Sinestro is such a good ending, like who the F brake him out??, especially now with so many questions still open about what the real Hal knew and why he left a way to reach him. I am less interested in the smaller Rushville distractions right now, with Maggie demanding money over what she saw and Noah gathering everyone for his college announcement only to delay the decision, and with just one episode remaining I hope they get answers without taking too much time away from the Hal mystery, making everything connect from Sinestro, Hal, Kerry, John, since the episode already has enough to deal with between the murder, and a ring that is nearly out of power so I expect backup Hal to disapear and never come back. That last part also makes me wonder how long this backup can stay with John because of all this special tallents he has, maybe he will be able to keep him??, especially when he seems able to maintain the projection in ways Hal himself did not expect. I am enjoying that relationship and would be nice for this cool version of Hal to stay with John, and Kyle Chandler makes it easy to want more of this version of Hal, but I do not want the show to make his death matter only when it needs somebody to be sad. If Hal is gone, then John should eventually have to live with not getting the apology he came for, even if the ring lets him hear some things he needed to hear. Lanterns Episode 7, The Jordan Boys' Legacy is a good one, not the best of the series but one that has a lot of context, and those personal conversations between Hal and Kerry, John, did more for me than Sinestro reveal, but I am still waiting to see whether bringing Hal back like this was worth it, not so sure about it but I give this episode a 7.5/10.
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Rating: 75/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.
