Rating: 100/100

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Lanterns Episode 6, tittled Bad Optics might be peak of the series because Hal Jordan being dead actually matters, like how much further can this season go unless he is actually alife, although I am still not sure killing him off this early is going to be worth it in the long run, they probably going to do a lot of backstory from here on since he cant tell us by himself anymore. The episode puts almost everything on John shoulders once they find Hal body freezing and I think that is the right call if the series is serious about keeping Hal gone. John cannot just react for a few minutes and move on, Hal was his mentor, his problem, and the guy tied to the whole part of his life he has spent ten years trying to leave behind, just imaging how shocking and probably annoying this must be, after a decade Hal still causing problems to John. Their last conversation makes it worse because there is no peace in it at all, Hal will not give him the apology his mother said he wanted to give, John still blames him for what happened in Rushville, and John ends up punching him before he walks out, to then Hal turn around and asks him not to tell anyone they met but then appear dead, its like it was all a setup. I like that detail a lot because it gives the murder something personal for John and doesnt make things easy for him, he is going to have to do the job to figure out what happen to Hal, its almost like the series repeats the cycle as they were working the Manhunter case. Hal although sounds worried when he tells John not to tell anyone they met, once John finds him dead, that warning sound like Hal was running from someone or fear someone. It also makes it easier to understand why John keeps hiding that they met even though it keeps causing him problems, like getting blackmail by a waitress. The episode is not trying to make his death feel clean or heroic in any way, in fact seem the opposite because everyone in town hated him for what happen with Zoe, he dies with unfinished business everywhere, and that is what makes the suspense and drama work almost perfect for this episode. My concern is simple though, if Hal is really gone for good, the next two episodes have to prove that losing him was worth more than just keeping him around, and consider its a very short time to solve his case.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26545992/
• Platform: HBO MAX

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John Stewart Chooses Rushville Again

I also like that John does not suddenly turn into a different person just because Hal is dead. He still has real anger toward him, but he clearly cannot leave the whole thing alone either, its not that easy after everything what went down and after a decade Hal is still a fkn pain, and yes he learn a few things from Hal but their time was too short together to create some real hate between them, at least from John, that contradiction feels right after everything between them. Kerry tells him that Hal had actually tried to make amends after prison and that he moved back to Rushville even though most of the town still hated him for it, which gives John another side of Hal to deal with on top of that ugly last conversation they had at the dining room. He can still think Hal made terrible choices and also start realizing Hal did not just stop caring if you really think about it Hal was not a bad guy its just he was out of control, probably if the Guardians have not put John in his way at this very same moment things would have been different and he probably wouldnt make all this mistakes by been stubborn and selfish, after all it was about taking the credit to taken the last Manhunter down. The investigation gives John something he has clearly been missing too, you can tell how his life away from the ring looks successful on paper, but the moment he shows up at the first meeting with his brother trying to pitch a project to the goverment with the architecture work, but he keeps choosing Rushville over that future the moment Hal dies, its like the ring hunts him back after many years. By the end his brother Marcus is basically telling him he has never really left this place behind in his head and I think that he is right and because John taking responsibility now feels different from John being pushed toward the ring years earlier, this time he decided to stay. Nobody is forcing him to stay and dig into this death, he decides on his own that he needs answers, even when it starts hurting his work and his family situation, and that makes him stronger as the lead character. The series needs that badly right now because Hal is no longer around to carry half of the relationship that gave the first part of the season so much energy.

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Maggie's Blackmail Feels Like Filler

Not everything around John works for me though, and the Maggie situation is specially the one I feel is there to just fill the gap, her trying to pressure him for money because she knows he met Hal right before the murder feels small next to everything else going on and at the end what they going to do if she tells? the series wont put John in jail like it happen to Hal. I get why John wants that meeting kept secret, especially after Hal specifically warned him to, but Maggie threatening him does not feel like a real problem when Kerry already knows John has history with Hal and has a reason to be back in Rushville anyway. The episode already put enough pressure on John through the murder itself, the people in town who still hate him, his family calling, and the work deal he keeps putting at risk, so I would rather spend more time on any of that than on Maggie calculating what she thinks John owes her, would be hilarious if John just swing it and decides not to pay her, after anyone in town would be happy to know Hal got killed. On the other hard there is a surprise for most on this episode since Kerry is grieving Hal too, this was slightly going on but fully confirm on this episode how something between them grew over time, but she also has to act like a sheriff in a town where almost nobody seems interested in giving him any sympathy, and their conversations give John useful information without trying to fully solve the murder leaving all that cop job to John. We learn Hal was shot at close range and apparently did not fight back, I do not need the episode to solve the murder yet, I just need every new detail to make John more sure something is wrong.

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Guy Gardner Pushes John Back Into the Lantern Mystery

Guy Gardner is probably the smartest addition in this episode because he gives John someone completely different to deal with although he got played by John so easy when he ask for a favor because Guy basically owes John, with the excuse that if John havent quit been a lantern then Guy would have nothing, its true although I woulder who would win on a fight between the two and I guess Guy would win. His arrival while John is sitting in jail could have turned into one long joke, but their back and forth actually gives us useful information, well at least to get this episode going, its the kind of quick cameo that adds just enough to the story, I wonder if we will ever see Guy again on this series, after all besides the Superman movie he has become a recurent character across DC. I notice Guy gets kinda shaken ish when he hears Hal is dead but not in shock, even if he is still acting like Guy the whole time, like an a** hole, and I like that the episode lets him care without changing who he is. John also knows exactly how to push him, Guy does not want any trouble with the Guardians, but John gets under his skin until pushing him around with the classic "you got what you got because of me" , its true because John walk away, so Guy agrees to help get back the ring Hal used. That is funny, but it also matters because that ring is the one thing John needs if he wants to keep following whatever clues Hal left behind. Guy also tells him Sinestro escaped from prison, which makes the timing around the death even harder to ignore because exactly how did he escape? did Hal die because of that too?. I am glad the episode does not stop everything to explain how those pieces connect, because John does not know either and thats more cop work to do. What matters right now is that Hal was worried, Hal left something behind his vault that John cannot open without him, at least not the real Hal. Those facts give John a reason to stop treating this like a local crime and start thinking about the Lantern side of whatever Hal was involved in, and Guy helps push him there while still being entertaining.

Hal Jordan's Funeral Makes the Death Matter

The funeral and the final scene are what make me believe the death of Hal can still work, even though I am not fully sold on it yet, no fucking body show up for him, that was a very very sad funeral to watch. Hal writing his own funeral speech is completely in character for the version of him, at the same time so out of touch because makes him look like the a** hole he was, but the important part is that the jokes in it do not erase how lonely his end actually feels, its like the sad laughing clown. Very few people show up, the town still hates him, considering I think they didn't like him that much before Zoe died and John is the one standing there reading words from a man he had just been fighting with for a very short time, when you think about it this entire situation was so damn toxic, it extended for so many years, almost John entire life and 10 years latter he still back at where everything started. The speech ends with Hal wondering whether he mattered at all, and it kinda make sense at least a bit because the whole episode has John slowly proving that he did in a way or another because behind his death there is something else he was part or working on. John gives him a burial, keeps investigating anyway, gets the old ring back through Guy, and finally digs it up because he needs the version of Hal stored inside it. I like that choice a lot more than the show just bringing Hal back right away and this was for very limited time since there is not much energy on the rign. The ring gives John a way to keep hearing from Hal without pretending the death never happened, and the first reaction from the stored Hal when he sees his own body is a good way to end the episode, almost like what stupid thing you did to get killed?. It also puts John in a strange spot almost like finally he is at the driving seat, he is finally taking control of the investigation, but the person helping him is an older stored version of the man whose death he is trying to understand. That can work for a couple more episodes if the series keeps the focus on John, the thing is that there is not that many episodes left at this point and uses Hal to help rather than take over again. Bad Optics is a very good episode because it makes the death actually matter, even when nobody in town gave a shit about Hal's death, I am just still cautious about whether the series can make it matter enough by the end.

#lanterns, #badoptics, #greenlantern, #johnstewart, #haljordan, #guygardner, #sinestro, #dcu, #dc, #tvreview, #episodereview, #television, #superhero, #mystery, #rushville, #lanterncorps, #guardians, #carrie, #maggie, #nathanfillion, #seasonone, #murdermystery, #hologram, #ring, #review

Rating: 80/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

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Lanterns Episode 5, tittled Lights Out is the best episode of this series so far for me, mainly because the fighting actually costs something instead of just being noise to survive, and I think the series did a great job at holding back because for the most part we got the childish fight between Hal and John, their attemps to infiltrate Macon compound but nothing this drastic so far. The attack on Rushville shows now the series keeps showing that the damage does not go away once the shooting stops. Byt the way you got to give it to Will dying is the clearest example of that he was loyal to the bone and for ever greatful to Zoe for what she did to him and everybody else on Rushville. He has been tied to Zoe for years, he knows exactly what she is and he still protects her the moment Antaan shows up. That choice gets him killed in a very gory way but it was the only way to verify he was not the Manhunter, and the episode lets it happen instead of pulling some last second save out of nowhere. His death also makes it harder to look at Zoe as some simple villain because Will knew she had used people and hidden what she really is. He still believed she had given him extra years of life and he was willing to die for her anyway, even knowing Zoe is not innocent, still everyone in town around her still made their own choice to protect her instead of just being tricked. Kerry and the rest of Rushville make the same kind of choice, protecting someone who has helped them, and that loyalty ends with a whole town full of people dying. The explosions and gunfire actually mean something here because the episode keeps putting the cost right in front of you, and by the time John is walking through the wreckage, there is no way to call any of this a clean win, this is a big big fuck up that is going to byte Hal in the ass.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26545992/
• Platform: HBO MAX

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The Ring John Wanted Finally Feels Empty

The episode also has a lot of impact on John and Hal, because their fight over the ring finally turns everything they have been arguing about into a choice with tons of concecuences and one that none of them can avoid but only one of them is really guilty for. Hal has spent so much time refusing to accept that he can be replaced, while John has spent most of his life being told that becoming a Green Lantern is what he is supposed to do. When they finally fight, John is younger, stronger and beats Hal without even needing the ring, this is a clear example of what I have mention before about a Green Lantern been just another living being with no actual super powers, just a tool no different than Batman, I bet many though this would be peak moment for the series and honestly I never saw it comming neither. John finally gets the thing he has wanted for years, but the timing and everything going on around kills any satisfaction he could have gotten out of it. Rushville is wrecked, people are dead, Zoe is dead, and Hal is left badly hurt after refusing to hand over the ring. John puts it on after seeing all of that, so there is no way it can feel like some big reward, there was no honor into it and he basically beat up a guy and took it from him. I think that works much better than if he had just grabbed the ring and instantly felt complete or if in fact Hal had decided to give up and retired. He has spent his whole life picturing what this moment would feel like and when it actually happens, he just feels empty. Feeling empty after finally getting what he wanted and that tells you a lot about John. Beating Hal and taking the ring still does not tell him whether he actually wants to be part of what put him in this position in the first place, its just like when he decided to study art after the military and now he is starting to make his own choices once again.

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John Killing Zoe Never Feels Right

The hardest choice in the episode is still John killing Zoe, thats the one I never saw it comming, and I like that it never feels ok, in fact it feels very guildty from John side, even after everything she has done for this town but he had no other choice after Hal started this war that included more than one side. Consider also that she saves John after he gets burned and uses her technology to fix his skin, so he is alive right now because she chose to help him, at the same time she is not helping him for some simple reason, she wants Hal dead and the ring on John, and from there she wants him telling the Guardians a version of events that keeps her secret safe, if you think about it there is a list of people who wants to manipulate John. That makes her kindness hard to separate from manipulation, John also finds out she killed Abin Sur even after he had helped her, which gives him one more reason to believe her need to survive will always come before anyone else. Shooting her right after she healed him still feels harsh, and that harshness is the kind of expirience that will make John grow because he had to take a hard decision, not easy one to take after he had a connection with Zoe. John is not killing some stranger who attacked him minutes earlier, he is killing someone close to him, the woman who saved his life and who he probably understands better than he wants to admit. The episode even lets Zoe know it is coming before John pulls the trigger, so it never plays like a cheap surprise, I just love that moment. Seeing how far she will go to protect herself is enough to explain why John decides she has to die, even though the choice leaves him shaken afterward. John then removes her heart to confirm what she really is and brings the crystallized heart to Lianna.

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Hal Keeps the Ring, Rushville Pays

At this point its so hard to root for Hal in any possible way, what he did just because he was following his gut can not be look over and I think that is partly on purpose and partly because some of his choices are hard for anyone to accept. His fear of being replaced has clearly taken over too much of his thinking at this point and it demostrate how childish it is and how unprepared he was, like he really never though about it, he can not live for ever, someone has to replace him, although I understand he didnt want to be replace the way Guardians were forcing it. He uses Antaan and his people as cover, refuses to bring the Guardians into any of it and keeps pushing forward even after Kerry warns him that Zoe will attack the town to drain the ring. His solution puts everyone around him in danger, even though I get why he does not trust the Guardians when they are already planning to replace him without telling him. The car scene with John is where I decide he has to go and its just too much because he knew John was going to die if he was left there, that was a very bad crash. I do not really buy that Hal would leave John trapped in there without thinking about how badly that could go, even if he only wanted him out of the way for a minute. The episode later shows Hal still protecting John when the motel comes down on them, so I do not think the show wanted to fully paint him as someone who wanted John dead. I like that the episode does not erase what happens just because Hal had his reasons, he wanted to keep the ring, prove the Guardians still needed him, and handle Zoe on his own. Instead people die and John later tells Lianna that Hal betrayed his code, his oath and even himself just to hold onto the ring. Not that I want to give Lianna all the reasons to put down Hal or John to celebrate he was right about Hal, but people still end up dead because he would not let go of the ring.

John Finally Makes His Own Choice

I was expected that John was able to take back control of his life by turning down the exact thing he has spent his entire life training for, and that is what makes the ending work so well, the damn obsession with the ring. When he meets Lianna after everything is over, he does not act like putting on the ring fixed a thing, so he tells her wearing it made him feel empty, and that this was supposed to be the whole goal of his life up to this point. I like that because the episode feels more like a classic ending of a superhero story, it gives it more contrast and character to John, clearly separate him from the Guardians. Beating Hal in a fight or killing Zoe is not what matters here, what matters is John making a decision for himself after watching what holding onto the ring did to Hal and what blind loyalty did to so many people in Rushville. It also makes his earlier anger easier to understand, since he wanted the ring badly enough to fight Hal over it, but once he actually has it, he can finally judge what it cost him without seen the ring as a reward anymore. That is the part that puts Lanterns Episode 5, Lights Out above any of the previous ones, not because just the fight and shooting. The action is good, but none of it would work nearly as well if the fighting did not leave people dead, relationships wrecked, and most importantly John questioning the thing he thought he wanted most, and his mother too. I still have some issues with how Hal gets pushed into these choices and with a couple of decisions that feel too convenient, but John still leaves the ring behind after it made him feel empty instead of the reward he expected, I give this episode 8 out of 10.

The penultimate episode of the series premiered the night before and, as is customary with this type of show, it left me with both questions and answers. The story of Green Lantern Hal Jordan and the mystery surrounding his murder seems to take an unexpectedly tragic turn for the legendary DC superhero. Since episode 6, the series has taken a new narrative direction, involving John Stewart in an adventure that will literally take him to another planet—just like in a classic Green Lantern story.

Review

The episode begins with a flashback set in 1975, showing us an episode from Hal Jordan’s childhood in which his father appears. Apparently, Hal got into trouble during a school baseball game after refusing to pitch the ball and getting into a fight with another boy. Rather than peacefully intervening on his behalf, his father beat up the team’s coach. (The most interesting part of this scene is that young Hal mentions being classmates with John Constantine—another important DC character whom I hope appears very soon.)

After that opening scene, we see a conversation young Hal Jordan had with his father that same afternoon in an airplane hangar. It is sad to see how close their father-son relationship was, knowing that his father’s imminent death—and its apparent causes—was approaching. They have an emotional conversation in which his father implicitly talks about a family curse passed down from generation to generation, and how the best thing to do is let go of the burden one tends to carry... (There is some symbolism involving a baseball, but I will discuss that later.)

After that, we return to the present, right at the final moment of the previous episode: John obtains Hal’s ring and manifests the “Halogram”—a mental copy of the deceased Hal Jordan. Since it has been ten years since the last time he saw John Stewart, the hologram distrusts him because he desecrated his grave to steal his ring. My prediction was indeed correct: John’s intention was to open the alien box that the original Hal had kept hidden. So he takes the “Halogram” to the warehouse, but it refuses to talk.

On the condition that he become more cooperative, the “Halogram” asks John to take him to Rushville’s sheriff, Kerry, because after learning that the original Hal had someone special, he wanted to meet her. It is incredible that despite the ring having very little battery power, this hologram of the deceased Hal continues to manifest, apparently unconsciously, through John. The same thing had already happened with the bird in episode 2. Apparently, John has a gift for creating constructs more easily than an ordinary Green Lantern.

Apparently, a special event was being organized at the town’s high school for the sheriff’s son. Since he is a football star, he is expected to choose the college where he will play next. However, he decides to postpone his choice because he wants to make it after an important game. This part felt like filler at this point in the series; I suppose it was included to pad out the episode.

When they arrive at the school, John asks the sheriff to speak privately so he can introduce her to the “Halogram.” As expected, she is shaken upon seeing Hal Jordan’s ghost again. They have an emotional conversation that I assume serves as a farewell. The “Halogram” senses that the sheriff is hiding something and suspects that she was the one who murdered him. However, by the end of the episode, after reflecting, he suspects that Hal himself may have taken his own life. Since there is only one episode left, it is very possible that this is the harsh truth behind the mystery. The “Halogram” mentions that Hal was hiding a generic ailment that caused him pain. Since there are no coherent clues pointing to a murderer, it is certainly possible—but at the same time, it is very strange, because Hal’s wound does not appear to be self-inflicted.

Returning to the episode, John and the hologram go back to the warehouse to finally open the mysterious box. It turns out that inside was a backpack containing a raincoat and a weapon, along with a bag holding a black sphere that transforms into a space portal. (I don’t know how to describe it more easily.) Through it, they arrive on an inhospitable planet where a floating citadel hangs in the sky. Apparently, it was the homeworld of the alien species from Antaan’s group, who were wiped out by a biological weapon that caused them to panic.

After crossing a sea to reach an island, John Stewart is exposed to the gas and experiences a hallucination that reveals his inner fears. The torment becomes too much for him, but luckily, before he does something reckless, the “Halogram” manifests to save his life. It is genuinely strange that the hologram can appear and disappear at will. It is unclear whether this is due to the ring’s will or its wearer’s. I think it was mostly a matter of convenience for the plot.

When they reach the island, they enter a facility and encounter a mysterious person whom they manage to subdue with ease. This individual turns out to be none other than Sinestro, Hal Jordan’s former Green Lantern colleague and mentor. At the end of the episode, we return to the childhood flashback: after his father’s funeral, Hal goes looking for the baseball he had thrown away after their emotional conversation. Once again, he clings to the baseball just as he clung to the power of the ring.

The symbolism of the baseball is related to the use of power and how it fills us with security. Once it slips from our grasp, we succumb to fear—specifically, the fear of being nothing without it and the belief that our worth depends on how we use it.

Only one episode remains, so I am beginning to think that this series will have a premature ending that will serve as a setup for continuing the story in a second season. I would have preferred the narrative to get straight to the point instead of taking detours into the lives of some of Rushville’s secondary characters.

Episode Trivia

• There are still no clear clues as to who Hal Jordan’s killer might be. If it turns out that there really was a murderer, the only suspects I have in mind are Sheriff Kerry Kane and her son Noah.

• It is unclear whether Hal Jordan actually freed Sinestro from prison, but apparently, Sinestro has been living in hiding on that inhospitable planet under the former Green Lantern’s knowledge.

Rating: 65/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

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On Lanterns Episode 04, tittled The Weenie we finally got John and Hal looking like two people who could actually trust each other and it happens while almost everyone around them is giving them reasons not to, this series is a bit confusing with all the secret war there is going on between the Manhunter, Hal and the Guardians, its like they all want to take something from each other but none of them are willing to spit out why or how everything started. Then there is Sinestro who keeps pressing Hal about getting replaced by John and pushes him toward treating John like a threat instead of recognizing John talent, while Lianna tells John the Guardians are done waiting and wants him to take Hal's ring the next time he gets the chance. I like that setup because John and Hal are at their best when those outside voices are not running the conversation, its like that scenne where you got the Devil sitting in your shoulder giving you instructions. Hal hands John the ring so he can build the drill they need to reach the hidden part of the compound, and that gives John a clean shot at doing exactly what Lianna told him to do. He could recite the oath and claim the ring right there, but he does not, Lianna forgot John is man or honor and he was not raised that way.. That choice matters a lot to me and there is nothing to explain whether John deserves to be a Lantern, he aleready is. He just wants to earn his place instead of taking it behind his back. Hal lets him build the drill on his own instead of doing it for him and their partnership finally starts feeling useful, while Hal still has the experience and the instincts, and John finally gets to prove what he can actually do once the ring is in his hand, instead of them just arguing about who should have the power, I was not thinking they could share the ring but its evident that many want to kill Hal.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26545992/
• Platform: HBO MAX

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The best part of that growing trust is the quieter conversation while John is using the ring, because it makes both of them feel less always on their toes without suddenly changing who they are or just putting a show to convince each other. Hal asks about John's background and learns more about his art, while John asks about Hal's family and finds out Hal's mother died from cancer, its during this moment of chatting where John loses concentration for a second when Hal brings her up and I like that small reaction because John has spent most of the series acting like nothing gets through to him. He does care and Hal notices it so I'm not sure if Hal just found a weak point for John. This moment also makes John's interest in becoming Green Lantern feel less cold to me, since he is still a disciplined guy trying to prove he can do the job, but he gets distracted by someone elses pain too, and that weakness actually makes him easier to trust at the same time. Hal starts giving John more credit too instead of treating him like an annoying replacement the Guardians dropped on him. Later, once they are more open with each other, Hal admits John may be better than him in some ways, the most evident is using the ring since John is way more creative. It doesnt felt like Hal handing over the ring or deciding John is ready for everything, it feels more like Hal finally saying out loud what has been bothering him, that John is good enough to replace him and Hal knows it, there is nothing wrong with admiting that while still being irritated with John he still a good replacement, eventually.

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A Manhunter Mystery That Makes Zoe Hard to Judge

The hidden part of the compound turns out to be full of technology that can actually shut a Green Lantern down, and the black smoke that knocks out the ring is very interesting to me specially since Im not a comic guy and dont know much about Green Lantern so I find it creative how it just shuts down all the light on that space, also showing how not even Hal cannot just solve everything by having the most powerful weapon in the room, in a way been a Green Lantern is like been Batman, its just another weapon but there is nothing super powerful about the man or living thing who wears the ring. I also like that the case gets stranger without getting hard to follow, how someone prepared for Lantern's specifically and that gives the investigation of who is behind all this some sauce instead of been straight forward. The bigger swing for me is what they learn about whoever has been protecting the town, the mysterious benefactor saved a man who was dying of cancer and has been keeping people healthy, which already makes it hard to write the Manhunter off as just a monster hiding out in Rushville. Then Zoe tells John she was the one who saved Macon and thats the revealing moment. I think John starts connecting the dots right there, and he gets more careful about what he tells Hal after that. Zoe is clearly tied to the answer here, but I am not ready to call everything she has done proof that she is simply the enemy, aka the Manhunter. She helps keep John and Hal alive at the compound, she keeps coming back to John and then her vehicle gets destroyed in the satellite attack. John does not react like someone who fully believes she is dead and by the end he is sitting on a suspicion about her that he has not said out loud to Hal but there is enough silence for an old fox like Hal to sniff it and figure things out by himself. The fact that if Zoe is the Manhunter, she decides to make John think she is dead is both testing him and at the same time kinda keeping him safe from the truth since its a dangerous secret to know.

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Lianna and Sinestro Keep Playing Both Sides

Lianna does not just tell John that Hal broke an oath by going to see Sinestro because she wants to keep hidding information from him, in this case information is power and right now its not convinient for her to drop this news on John, she tells him the Guardians want Hal replaced now, pushes John to take the ring himself and goes right after the same insecurities that have followed John his whole life. The Guardians are the part I trust less after this episode, and Lianna is a big reason why. That does not feel like guidance to me, it feels like she wants a specific result and does not care what it does to John and Hal. Sinestro is doing basically the same thing from the other side, telling Hal that John is a threat and that he should use John's desire for the ring against him. The difference is I already expect Sinestro to be shady but the Guardians are supposed to be the people John is trying to prove himself to, latter I found online that this Guardians are very prone to make mistakes just like any other human but in their case is because they might have too much power and a mistake like the Manhunters is more like a oops Ill deal with it latter. Watching Lianna push John around this way makes me question how much of their interest in John is actually about helping him at all, probably why very convinient for the story, John refuses to take the ring, its all about who he is, is he is not a back stabber, and that honestly the best choice for him. He still hides the Guardian conversations from Hal until he gets forced into admitting them, while Hal hides his meeting with Sinestro too. I like that neither of the two are innocent and eventually admit it, they are both lying while also complaining that the other one will not trust them, so when they finally come clean about some of it, the episode gives them a real shot at moving forward. The last lie, about Zoe, matters the most for the episode because John just finished asking Hal to believe him, and then immediately turns around and keeps the most important thing to himself, thats Lianna's work in my opinion.

Hal Knows John Is Hiding Something About Zoe

That ending is very spot on for the episode because Hal catching John in the lie does not wipe out the progress they made, it just proves they are still not partners yet, not even close. After the run in with the fake Hector Hammond, Hal has enough to see that the Manhunter answer is not as simple as some guy stealing credit for it. John knows that too, but when Hal pushes him toward Zoe, he still tries to point the suspicion somewhere else, its like he actually have feelings for her even now when he might just proof she is an Alien, she is the Manhunter. John has reasons to think Zoe could be the Manhunter, but he also has reasons to doubt the idea that every Manhunter is automatically the enemy based on everything Zoe has build in Rushville, basically baby sitting a community that is willing to give it all for her. This series is not perfect but honestly one of the best from DC, but what actually bothers me is that John does not trust Hal enough to just say that out loud everything he knows or suspect about Zoe, its been proven that Hal is not the enemy but between John's mother and Lianna, they all have John head all mess up. Hal responds in the most Hal way possible, making John contact Antaan and then jumping out of the moving car and leaving John inside as it crashes, trapped, a big fuck you moment. It is reckless and kind of stupid, and also comes right after John and Hal were finally getting close to being honest with each other. Hal can forgive John for talking to the Guardians, he can even admit John might deserve the ring, but he is not willing to get past that John suspected Zoe and never said a word, this is mostly because Hal cares about Rushville after all. None of this settles who anybody can actually trust, and that is what keeps me hooked onto this series. Zoe might still be dangerous, the Guardians are clearly hiding more than they are letting everyone know, and Sinestro has his own angle in all of it too, awesome episode after all.

Rating: 100/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

This review will be somewhat different from the ones I’ve done lately. Instead of analyzing a movie or an entire season of a series, I’ll be focusing on one specific episode. So I’ll try to be as direct as possible, since my intention is for this post to serve as a continuation of my previous review of the first five episodes of Lanterns LANTERNS | EPISODES 1–5 (If you haven’t watched the series, I recommend doing so before reading this review, as it will contain spoilers.)

Review

On Sunday, September 20, the sixth episode, titled “Bad Optics,” premiered. The story continues with a time jump to the present, showing us how John Stewart carried on with his life after declining to become Earth’s new Green Lantern. Ten years after the disaster caused by the Manhunters in the town of Rushville, John became a successful architect, while Hal Jordan was arrested and apparently expelled from the Green Lantern Corps, being replaced by the already-famous Guy Gardner.

I’m glad to finally see Guy make his appearance. Ever since the film "Superman" (2025), he has been a recurring character in this new DC Universe, and we now know that he is indeed Hal Jordan’s replacement as the protector of Sector 2814. If there is a second season, I think Guy Gardner would make a good co-star, since he shares certain similarities with John Stewart: apparently, they both knew Hal and were deeply disappointed by him. However, we still need an explanation of what makes him worthy of wielding the ring, since, from my point of view, he is far too stupid to be a competent Green Lantern.

Continuing the plot, John Stewart travels back to Rushville to meet Hal Jordan again after Hal is released from prison. Following an argument in which John punches Hal in the nose, John leaves the scene. However, a few hours later, he receives a call from the sheriff, who informs him that Hal Jordan’s body has been found in the bleachers of a football field.

This is undoubtedly the mystery that has drawn many viewers to the series and, of course, has become the subject of controversy and debate. Hal Jordan is, after all, the most famous Green Lantern in DC Comics, having starred in countless cosmic adventures in the comics. He is practically the icon of the DC franchise. Killing him off just like that, without showing us in depth who he was as a superhero, seems like an appealing proposition for this new cinematic universe.

It was only natural to expect them to eventually announce origin movies for all their major characters, just as Marvel Studios did. But DC Studios seems to have something different in mind, and if their plans are bold enough to sacrifice their flagship Green Lantern, it appears that James Gunn and Peter Safran are willing to take risks in order to show us something promising.

This episode focuses on John Stewart, out of respect for Green Lantern, organizing the funeral arrangements for the late Hal Jordan… Or so it seems. After performing an autopsy on the body, they determine that Hal was shot in the head at close range and that there were no signs of resistance. Among his belongings, they find a key to a warehouse, so John and the sheriff go there to see what is inside. They discover a kind of high-tech alien cube that serves as a security system. Whatever it contains can only be opened using Hal Jordan’s physical voice. Since he is dead, they leave the place. That is when John gets the idea of holding Hal’s funeral.

He contacts Guy Gardner and asks him to go to Oa and bring Hal’s ring—the ring the Guardians are keeping in a vault—so that Hal can be buried wearing his Green Lantern uniform.

I have to say that the episode feels drawn out because it focuses so much on the funeral arrangements, especially since we eventually discover that they were unnecessary.

In the end, we learn that John’s real objective was to retrieve Hal’s ring. Some may think this represents a setback in his character development, since he rejected becoming a Green Lantern in the previous episode. However, I think there is a logical explanation: John Stewart knew about this backup copy of Hal Jordan projected by his ring, so I don’t think it is a coincidence that he came up with the idea of holding the funeral after learning that he needed a physical voice sample from Hal Jordan.

If I’m right, it would be an incredibly convoluted plan just to obtain Hal’s ring. I mean, was it really necessary to exhume the coffin? Why not simply take it from the body during the ceremony? Only three people attended. Or why not just ask Guy Gardner to hand it over? That is what I mean when I say the entire episode feels drawn out.

In any case, there are two episodes left to complete the season, and I think the focus will now shift to solving the mystery behind Hal Jordan’s death. There are no clues as to who his killer might be, but whoever it is will surely continue causing trouble in Rushville.

Episode Trivia

• At one point, Guy Gardner mentions that Sinestro—the former Green Lantern and Hal Jordan’s mentor—recently escaped from a space prison. This could mean that we will see the beginnings of the Sinestro Corps. However, Hal Jordan is supposedly already an experienced Green Lantern, so it would be strange if he had never faced Sinestro as the leader of the Sinestro Corps, wielding the powers of the yellow rings.

Rating: 70/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

Rating: 100/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

Green Lantern has always been a very important superhero in the fictional universe of DC Comics, as he belongs to a space defense force called the “Green Lantern Corps,” which dispenses justice throughout the universe. However, adapting his elements into live action has not been easy.

Many people probably know the character from that critically panned 2011 film starring Ryan Reynolds. (That movie was how I first discovered the superhero.) Thanks to that production, I was able to realize just how vast Green Lantern’s story is. But I also became aware of certain obstacles involved in adapting it as an entertainment product.

The story of an Air Force pilot who encounters an alien that gives him a magical ring, allowing him to create and do anything he can imagine, works very well in an animated format. However, it is not something that translates easily to live action because it is so fantastical—and that places heavy demands on visual resources such as CGI.

But "Lanterns" is not the origin story of the Green Lantern most people know, Hal Jordan. Instead, Hal already has 30 years of experience as a superhero and serves as a mentor to his apprentice and perhaps his future replacement, John Stewart.

DC Studios seems to have understood something fundamental: not every comic-book character needs to be adapted exactly or follow the structure of a traditional superhero movie. The series’ first five episodes focus on a small-town police mystery involving an extraterrestrial-related conspiracy. This is the storyline that will be used to introduce Green Lantern into the new DC Universe. Although I have only watched half of the first season, I can already see that it is an interesting production, especially in the way it builds characters who constantly demonstrate their superpowers.

If I had to describe what works about this grounded approach, I would say it is the effort to show what it means to be a “Green Lantern” from another perspective: that of an ordinary person who, through hard work, manages to leave fear far behind. That virtue is what defines John Stewart’s character.

The series draws on recognizable elements of the police procedural genre, but combines them with Green Lantern’s cosmic mythology. I believe the Green Lantern universe will gradually be revealed until it becomes part of both the protagonist’s and the viewer’s world. For now, there have only been explanations about Oa, the Guardians, and the power rings, but the script prefers to limit and regulate the information in order to preserve the mystery surrounding Hal Jordan.

The writing of Hal Jordan and John Stewart has particularly caught my attention because they are the protagonist and co-protagonist. Their relationship is not built simply as that of a mentor and apprentice. There is constant friction between their personalities, and that is because they both know a hidden truth but do not share it with each other due to their mutual distrust.

Kyle Chandler portrays Hal Jordan as a veteran who has lived through countless adventures across the universe—so many that he has developed severe emotional exhaustion, blurring his image as a hero. Meanwhile, Aaron Pierre gives John Stewart considerable complexity by portraying him as someone who was literally raised to overcome fear. The episode centered on John’s past demonstrates that the series is made for him, explaining who he is before turning him into the superhero from the comics.

Visually, "Lanterns" has a modern aesthetic that is already very different from the 2011 film—and that is something to be grateful for. It distances itself from the look many people might expect from a Green Lantern production.

In fact, that is what makes it so surprising: this aesthetic gives the moments connected to the cosmic universe a greater impact. Whenever something appears that reminds viewers they are watching a science-fiction story set in the DC Universe, it feels like fan service. There is humor, but it generally comes from the characters’ personalities rather than from jokes inserted forcibly.

"Lanterns" takes its time, and I think these five episodes could have made up a complete season on their own. It has action and comedic scenes, but it is a series driven by conversations and carefully chosen moments of action. The show requires us to get to know its characters in depth, so this long preamble before entering the final stretch creates anticipation for what comes next—that is, the three episodes still left in the season.

I had intended to watch the entire season once it concluded, as I usually do, but I decided to take advantage of this opportunity. I think I came in at a good time: the story has reached its highest point of intrigue and tension, so I am eager to see what happens next.

"Lanterns" is especially promising for the new DC Universe. For the moment, the series seems disconnected from it. There are elements such as the sheriff being from Gotham City, but little else. The connections are there, though I assume the creators do not want the series to depend on references. (Even so, I hope we get a mention of or an appearance by Guy Gardner.) It is good to see DC expanding the universe considerably without turning the series into a cameo festival.

After five episodes, the impression is clear: Lanterns does not intend to be simply “the Green Lantern series.” It is an enriched story that uses Green Lantern mythology as a driving force to bear witness to something much larger. If it maintains this balance throughout the final episodes, it could become one of the best series in the new DCU.

Rating: 97/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

Rating: 90/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

Rating: 100/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

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Lanterns Episode 3, OutKast is the episode where John Stewart finally shows something more than following everybody orders, follow his mom, Hal Jordan, the Guardians, the guy had not attitude, because his problem with the Guardians is not the usual young Lantern doubting his elders. It goes back to how he was raised. John finds out his father was considered for the ring before Hal Jordan, admitted he was afraid and lost the chance. A Guardian later becomes part of the family decision about John, and after that his parent's raise him to become a Green Lantern and they didnt have much idea what is like to be one, but all they care is no fear at all cost, even though the kid lost a lot of a regular childhood, the show doesnt explain it that way but come on, a kid that stay still while his father takes a shot at the apple on top of his head, John didnt even flinch. John did not grow up just wanting this job, his parent's built his whole childhood around being ready for it, even knowing he might end up hating them for it, and that is way more interesting to me than the usual hero origin where somebody dreams about the ring for years and finally earns it. Getting close to it does not feel like a win by itself when you have been pushed toward the same destination your whole life. His parent's make more sense once you know what happened to his father, but that does not make their choices easy to accept, they want John achieve what his father couldnt and even though his father might not be around for the entire series at least during this episodes you can tell the guy carry the weight of knowing one scared answer cost him everything. John does not need too much explaining to be told why he has a problem with the Guardians, his childhood already does that for him.

• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26545992/
• Platform: PRIME VIDEO

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John Stewart's Childhood Feels More Like Programming

I also think the childhood stuff is fine for now at least because it explains why John Stewart is so controlled by almost everyone who have contact with him through Lanterns, even Macon's wife. His parent's kept him away from anything normal, restricted what he could listen to, limited who he hung out with, and ran him through training meant to kill his fear. The part that gets me most is he spent eighteen years in the same house as his family and still felt like he missed them, that says a lot about what this plan cost him rather than his character been complaining the entire time or having some kind of hate relationship with his parents. His brother's get normal lives while John gets treated like an assignment, so he has all kind of memories that are not normal for a kid but for him it was. The bird detail is small but I like it, his mother tells him birds are connected to the Guardians watching him, so something ordinary ends up tied to the idea that he is always being watched and judged, and later when a bird matters to how John uses his Lantern power it does not feel random anymore and connects after they unfold the entire bird story, it comes from something planted in his head as a kid. This also make the Guardians character a bit creepy to me even when they are not doing anything cruel to him directly but who the hell offers a monther a big ass diamond in exchange of raising his child as he is a marine with still the risk that John might not be the one they would pick after many years of them watching him before he actually work for them because thats another truth and why Hal at this point feel working for or with the Guardians is not worth for a Lantern.

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Hal Jordan and John Stewart Were Built to Clash

There is that contrast and friction between Hal Jordan and John Stewart that makes things always interesting even though when there is nothing going on and this is brilliant writing, its the fact that this two guys dont like each other but want to work together sometimes and the series knows it but sometimes its just too obvious, boring time lets turn on the love hate switch between this too, but still works, its all based that John spend his life training to be Hal's replacement. Consider John spends nine months on a military operation involving Gray Wolf, only for Hal to show up, interfere and leave a mess behind that gets John the consequences and a dishonorable discharge, and that alone gives John a reason to dislike Hal before the two of them are even competing over the ring. Hal shows up, does whatever he decides in the moment, leaves almost immediately, and still keeps being the Green Lantern while John loses the career he worked for. John was trained to follow a path with discipline, Hal trusts his own judgment way more than any rule written a book, and its clear that in their own way it works, both approaches have problems, John follows orders so easily that I wonder how much room he leaves for his own judgment, and Hal trusts himself so much that other people pay for what he does. That is also what makes John going to art school afterward hit harder for me, art is something he wanted before and was never really allowed to chase, so turning to it once his career falls apart is one of the only times he gets close to choosing something for himself, think about it for a min, that alone says how much this guy has been controlled, he had to wait not only be a grown man and a marine discharged, to then do ONE of the things he most love in life, art.

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The Guardians Want John to Replace Hal

Then there are this cheeky Guardians of the Universe who do not suddenly look better once John actually gets to them and start plotting against Hal, they dont want to kill him but they do want John to take the ring from him. During the interview he is told he is being considered to replace Hal without Hal knowing about it, and John reacts like somebody who spent his whole life learning that orders matter more than comfort. That should feel like a big moment for him, but it throws me off because any other guy would say "you are the boss, lets go", he finally reaches the people his parent's spent his life preparing him to serve, and one of their first expectations is that he go along with a secret plan involving the man already wearing the ring, thats a big no no for him and he knows it deep inside, thats not him. Even though they pushing John towards exactly what he was raised to want while giving him every reason to be suspicious of the people offering it. I like the Guardian in this scene because she does not need to act threatening, her calm confusion over the difference between raising somebody and programming somebody says enough a lot. John insists humans are raised, not programmed, but the episode already showed how thin that line gets when a kid has one future pushed on him for years. He is not a machine without real choices, he likes art, he has complicated feelings about his family, he can resent Hal, he can admit what he lost, and that proves his parents did not build the exact adult they wanted. Still, the Guardians manipulate him in a way and benefit from all of it anyway, a disciplined candidate who has thought about their standards since childhood and is ready to follow an order just because it is an order, but betraying his not so loved "partner and teacher" hhhmmm thats a tuff order to follow even for John.

John Stewart Needs to Choose What Kind of Lantern He Becomes

From the very first episode its clear Hal is not going to give up the ring period until he is dead, this time Hal tells John straight up that he does not need a partner and that John gets the ring over his dead body, and I like how ugly that makes the competition feel. John spent his life being groomed for this and probably expect a very welcoming teacher who wouldnt give him the ring right away but Hal position is never unless he stops breathing so never while he is alive. Hal reacts like losing the ring would cost him the one thing he cannot let go of, and neither one is treating this like a normal job while the Guardians sit behind both making decisions probably based on a bigger game than this two are trying to play. That is why Lanterns Episode 3, OutKast, leaves me way more interested in John Stewart than I was at the begining, his problem is not just whether he becomes Green Lantern anymore, I care more about what happens once he starts deciding which parts of the life built around him he actually wants to keep, at some point he will bail on the Guardians and decides I will wait for Hal to die? anyways with how wreckless he is I bet John will out live him with or without the ring, but the episode gives him enough reason to want the ring that walking away would not feel freeing, and enough reason to distrust the Guardians that going along with everything they say would feel wrong too. I also like that his anger at Hal has actual history now, Hal wrecked his military career, showed up at his family home before John could share his own news and treated him like a threat the second he got close to the position. John has every reason to resent him, but I do not want that to be the only direction this show goes for a very long time or for the entire season, the best version of John is the one who can still want the ring without letting his parents, Hal, or the Guardians decide what kind of Lantern he ends up being.

Rating: 75/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

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Trust Fall Opens Up Lanterns' Cosmic Side Without Losing Rushville

There is already the opinion on the internet that Lanterns is the best ever tv series made by DC and it seems that as it goes it just gets better, because Episode 2 Trust Fall cracks open the cosmic Green Lantern side of the show without turning Rushville into an afterthought, specially with Hal just going to space and back, its not like Superman where first they develop his story and then down the road you get the space stuff. Initially I worried this town would become a backdrop for lore once the show leaned into Corps history and alien factions that is ultimately the biggest plot of Lanterns, but gladly that does not happen since the town itself as most small town stories becomes a character along with the rest of the citizens. On Trust Fall we got multiple angles to the story as Hal spends the episode figuring out why a town this small has access to technology nobody else on this planet should have, John is still trying to understand what a power ring can actually do, and neither one connects those two puzzles yet, and that gap between what they each know carried the episode because its not only them but gets you to start trying to figure out who is behind all this, even though I think its very obvious. When Hal figures out the football stadium metal detectors were secretly built to flag aliens, it flips his whole investigation, because now there is a real question about how Macon's crew even knew to look for that. He already senses this tech is way past anything a small town should have, so his obsession with Macon stops looking like a stubborn hunch, as he commonly says he trust his guts, and now starts looking like solid ground, although not facts yet. Macon has somebody funding him secretly, and his daughter the sheriff is holding back more than she lets Hal know, and that near an empty hospital gives Hal one more reason to think the town is rotten underneath, there are many things that are not normal. None of it gets solved yet to keep the mistery so Hal have to go and do his own investigation, space police job, and that feels like the right call because it gives motives and character to the entire situation instead of falling into a pure action series, it keeps every clue working instead of getting spent right away.

• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26545992/
• Platform: PRIME VIDEO

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John Stewart Keeps Breaking Hal's Ring Rules

I bet right now John Stewart is everyones favorite character for now but I bet down the line there will be some questionable actions taken from him, for his screwups tell you more about him but they really pushing with the flashbacks. Take the flying lesson when Hal hands him the ring assuming it will click the same way it did for him decades ago, but John cannot get off the ground and instead a small green bird pops out of nowhere. Hal warns it will vanish the second John stops concentrating on it, except the bird breaks the rules, it keeps flying long after John hands the ring back and it survives the entire time John spends in Coast City with no ring on his finger at all. Even John fails the actual task Hal gave him but stumbles into something Hal himself though would be nearly impossible because first its not normal behaviour and second it should be imposible. Hal has decades of muscle memory telling him how a ring should behave and John keeps breaking those assumptions without even trying, which keeps Hal watching him too closely and hating how much it gets under his skin how a rookie can start doing things he have never been able without any type of expirience, add to that their relationship is still messy and full of friction, but over time it will start shifting little by little. I liked the small detail of Hal's ring running low, which sends John back to Coast City for a battery while Hal digs around Rushville alone. Before flying back John grabs Hal's old uniform out of the closet even though Hal told him to leave it alone, and John still treats the suit like it means something while Hal treats it like a compromise or obligation that he barely tolerates anymore, somehow I guess there is something about been a Lantern that he just doesnt tolerate anymore.

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The Manhunter Mystery Pulls in the Guardians

The Manhunter thread start to become the main topic and I like how John is not even close to get some action but then he gets kidnap, temporarly by aliens who grab him off the road, they tell him a Manhunter wiped out their entire species, that they think one survived and is hiding in Rushville and they give John 48 hours to help find it before they start blowing things up themselves. That Manhunter scene makes the situation a lot more dangerous without a stop to explain much about it and it forces John into a real decision about whether he trusts Hal. He is told to keep his mouth shut, and John tells Hal anyway, since John has every reason to keep Hal at a distance because Hal withholds information constantly and John still believes the Coast City assignment was Hal finding a way to get him out of his way but in a sense it was and wasnt, so staying quiet would have been the easier move, and choosing telling him shows how much John sees Hal as a leader and not just and obstacle to get the ring. The idea of a Manhunter doesnt alarm Hal right away or gets him paranoic, but its the fact the Guardians were hiding a Manhunter is what really disturb him once he connects it to Abin Sur and his distrust of the Guardians finally has a real target instead of a vague old grudge. At this point the plot is getting very center focus on the Manhunter, Hal and the Guardians, while John training or becoming Hal succesor is been put aside for now, and on top of all this we havent seen Hal or John doing anything amazing with the ring so far.

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Hal Jordan's Gut Keeps Getting Him in Trouble

Hal Jordan sometimes gets too excited to the point he basically becomes usless, you know like that type of people who are so impatient that when they looking up something on a document scroll up and down hundred of times and get all stress out, well thats Hal right now. He is still impatient, stubborn, and convinced he knows better than everyone else and keeps saying "his guts" know better, but at least he is usually noticing things other people miss. He is the first one to realize something is wrong with the technology in Rushville and I like that the sheriff is not just standing around waiting for him to figure everything out either. She already knew those stadium detectors were not normal and clearly has her own reasons for wanting answers, its like she knows who put them there but dont know the real reason or at least knew this were Alien detectors before Hal. Then Hal been the stubborn he is, walks straight onto Macon's property and gets himself shot because apparently slowing down for five minutes is impossible for this guy, lets keep in mind he is still a human and the ring just a tool. The hospital scene is where we get more context as Hal and the sheriff finally admit they have both been getting in each other's way. I am glad the show moves that relationship forward instead of having them argue about the same stuff again. Hal still sees that something is seriously wrong with this town, but by the end he also has to accept that he cannot do everything himself. John gets the battery and suit he needs, and the sheriff gives Hal information he never would have found on his own and by now its very clear Hal just hates depending on people, but this case is already proving he is going to have to.

Sinestro Expands the Cosmic Side Without Taking Over

The Sinestro scene at the end also worked very well because its those scenes that give the Green Lantern space plot more wings and start to expand instead of feeling like they stuck on this small town. Hal is the reason Sinestro is locked up, so the fact that he goes to see him at all tells you how badly he needs answers. Hal wants information about the Manhunter, but Sinestro quickly turns the conversation toward John Stewart, which I liked because it keeps the ending focused on Hal and John instead of just throwing Sinestro in there for a big surprise cameo and also tells me we going to keep seen Sinestro over the next episodes at some point. That is what I want from the bigger Green Lantern stuff in this show. Use it to make Hal and John's situation more complicated, not to take over the whole story. Trust Fall, is an episodes that you can tell tries to keep the balance of the story and not fall into one side too quick, not much action, more investigation tasks, keep the friction between Hal and John, well between Hal and everybody in town got to say, plus Rushville still feels shady, the Manhunter makes everything a lot more dangerous, and there are already a ton of different things happening at once. The speed of the story still worries me a little because the show is piling things on pretty fast, but Hal and John are working well enough together that I am still very interested in seeing where all of this goes.

Rating: 75/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

Okay, episode 4 of Lanterns… now we're getting somewhere interesting. After three episodes of slowly building this mystery around Hal Jordan, John Stewart and the Manhunter, Episode 4 finally decides to give us some answers Episode 4, “The Weenie,” is basically where the detective story, the Green Lantern mythology and the relationship between Hal and John finally start crashing into each other. Hal and John are still investigating the Manhunter, but at this point, they don't exactly trust each other either and at this point I don’t know if the show is about Hal or John primarily.

One of pinpoint thing about this episode is the way Hal and John are slowly becoming a team while simultaneously trying to undermine each other, at least at the beginning and middle of the episode 😂 John is being pressured by Guardian Lianna to take Hal's ring, while Hal is getting information from Sinestro that makes him question whether John can actually be trusted. So you've got two Green Lanterns working together while both of them are secretly wondering whether the other guy needs to go and speaking of Sinestro… FINALLY.

Then we get to the biggest reveal of the episode, Zoe, I genuinely didn't expect the Manhunter reveal to go in that direction. I had to rewind the episode and watch it again and again. The show spends so much time pointing us toward other suspects, especially Macon and the mysterious figure behind him, only to reveal that Zoe is actually the Manhunter and what makes it even more interesting is that Zoe doesn't feel like a traditional villain. Her relationship with John suddenly takes on an entirely different meaning because we're forced to reconsider everything we've seen from her. That's what I like about the show. It isn't rushing to give us massive Green Lantern battles every twenty minutes. It's a slow build up and I appreciate that. But I will say this Hal is becoming increasingly difficult to understand. 😂 The man has information, keeps secrets, manipulates John and then, by the end of the episode, literally leaves him in a terrible situation. Whatever Hal thinks he's doing, this partnership is getting dangerously close to falling apart. John? I'm starting to like him more and more. Aaron Pierre is doing a great job because John doesn't feel like some perfect superhero, even though he has been raised to be such. He's stubborn, intelligent, emotionally guarded and clearly carrying a lot beneath the surface that he hides really well Episode 3 gave us his backstory, and Episode 4 actually starts showing us how that history affects the way he handles Hal and the Lantern Corps. The biggest problem I have with the episode is that Lanterns still feels like it's moving slower than it needs to. I know I said I appreciate the slow build up but still. At some point, the mystery needs to start becoming bigger than just “Who is the Manhunter?” Thankfully, Episode 4 finally feels like we're getting there. For the ending, Yeah, that relationship between Hal and John is officially a mess.

Rating: 80/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

Rating: 100/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

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Lanterns from DC a series I was eskeptical at first mostly because there has never been a good representation on movies or life action tv but this one is getting better as it goes. The series unfolds the life of Hal Jordan and his replacement who he is not all for it, the only way he is getting the ring is over his dead body, this trainee is John Stewart, after such phrase makes me think is no different from a cops show but this one is based on intergalactic cop. This episode take place in a small Nebraska town with Hal and John working a case that at first is very messy and if you are like me who dont know much about the lore is going to be very insteresting, reminds me a lot of my expirience watching Peacemaker. For me the most impresive moment is that the scene of John dad shooting to an apple that is on John's head but before the shut John only says I'm not afraid, that attitude of zero fucks let us know what is John attitude and how it will be important for his training although as an adult he still kinda hidding it, its almost like that kind of child who is so small yet that have never learn what fear is but this time its on purpose so he can be choose by the Guardians. Unfortunately Hal is careless about John, he just arrived late when they supposed to met, never treat him with respect, let John knows that he is the actual Green Lantern and that will continue in that way until his dead. I really saw a person that is a hero but at the same a normal human that has episodes where he really take a most serious attitude as his job demands and at the same time is a total ass with John because feels that his days as heroes soon being over. Truth is that they both very different one from each other, the way they were picked by the Guardians and you can fell there is something there, the case of John is different at Hal, the ring didn't chose John, he was selected, the Green Lantern community just decided that John is the perfect person. During the episode Hal will put John in situations to intimidate him probably for stop training but John is not there to be Hal's cheerleader, he is a real person that will go until end to accomplish his goals and is something that the episode is obviously shows, specially the very moment were Hal give the ring to John, Hal was driving, passed the ring to John and let him fall from a cliff to save himself, in that moment John has never wore the ring and doesn't know how to use but even though he manage to make it work and save his life, after that traumatic moment John called his dad to told him everything he is passing through but his dad only says, you were choose, you wanted this, just fight for it, I really love that scene of this episode because let me know that the backup Green Lantern is a human that care about his dad making John, in my opinion a way bigger Green Lantern than the average although having a family at the same time have such power is always a weakness too because you care, for a future hero.

• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26545992/
• Platform: PRIME VIDEO

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Hal Jordan Doesn't Want John Stewart Replacing Him

This first episode shows the relationship between Hal and John. Hal is older, tired and not excited about training the guy who is supposed to replace him, just imagine that you are on your duty for so long, your destiny is to be the hero in your planet, you are doing a great job but you also know that you are getting older and with John is a constant reminder that your days as the super hero will end, but he is not that old, mostly I think he is just getting lost and the Guardians are noticing this even though they dont interfer that much. Hal is not a bad person but is not making the things easy for John, a dream job for John since he was a kid, not only for him but for his entire family, that also means accepting that bad attitude and that pushed himself to the limit of patience to stay focus on his future duty. There's many scenes that you going to pick up were Hal is just a total asshole with John but in general is not doing what he supposed, guide John to be the future Green Lantern just because he doesn't accept that things are changing. Even though that it seems that they hate each other but over time when John starts to proove Hal they both start to grow respect for each other, John can't deny that Hal is a great hero, he trusts in his experience and Hal probably also respect John's tenacity. Aaron Pierre plays John and Kyle Chandler is Hal, each create the characters on his own good, Aaron as John plays that restraint well without making him feel empty and Kyle Chandler makes Hal annoying without making me want him off screen, they are really a great cast.

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The Rushville Case Exposes John's Lack of Experience

The episode shows now why Nebraska is important specially for that small town enviroment that is very tight where not everyone is willing to speak and tell what they have seen or heard, its when a case appear, in the most common place of the town at the football field, there's dead bodies that not seem to have anyone looking for them, with his experience Hal notice that it is odd, why everyone is leaving the field but not a single family member of the dead person is coming in, since that moment Hal knew that this wasn't a normal case, there's something not human involve and he is a guy that takes justice and action by his hands, the moment the police doesnt pay much attention to him is like "ok at least I told you", then he proceed as he see fit. Hal wanted to manage this by his own but John like to follow the rules and the law so he decided to look for the sheriff and tell her what is happening but in that moment the guy who turns as the main suspect noticed that and started to run. My thoughts when I saw that was that in fact John almost screw everything and the suspect could scape but it happens because Hal hasn't taught nothing valuable to John, yeah John have all those no fear quality but zero expirience at the space cop job, he has training and discipline as he was a marien but not Hal experience yet. I think the script make it too easy for them and thats when they capture the suspect and at the beginning of the interrogation didn't say a word, here I feel that was a good idea that the suspect never revealed everything, he just leave he door open to let us imagine how much of a big menace is coming and as expected the suspect know who Hal is, knows that he running out of powers and know for who he works, knows him very well, so just give him a hint for be prepared for what is coming.

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William Macon and Zoe Make Rushville Even Stranger

I need to mention that the things in town after that dead started to get a little bit twisted, specially when sheriff asked Hal and John to please stay away from her case and it was a fair request because the dead man appeared in a football camp in her little town. Something strange was the appearance of William Macon, it is a subordinate of a very important man and Hal and John received an invitation to visited him, apparently this person knows about the aliens, that information let's people know that this character is more connected with things that happen on Earth and outside of it, is going to be really interesting see the face of that person and confirm if it is an allied or a threat for Hal. An very very unexpected event that again remind me of Peacemaker, this time S02E01 with the orgy scene, its is this solo moment of John, he met a woman named Zoe in a bar and they ended having sex in his car, probably for many people in real life that is so natural but in this case Im not so sure if it was necessary, doesnt go at all with his character to be hones, its like the show has created a very controlled John, with all his senses connected and in alert and for that reason at first I though well this is unnecessary but then I understand that the show is constantly remembering that no matter who is Green Lantern is, still being human and the fact that John decided to be with that woman placed in a more real situation, I like that.

Hal Jordan's Death Leaves the Ring Missing

The ending of this episode was really a shocker because I dont know if Hal is that stubborn that even after his death he wont let John take the ring, or it got stolen, second one I doubt. Many years has passed in the little town of Rushville, a more mature John has returned and was received by the sheriff who apparently has a long relationship with him, because decided that he should be the first one in seen the crime scene and that scene was shocking, we see a Hal sitting at the same field with a wound in his head and no ring. For me this is the point, the episode doesn't give any clue of who could be the responsible of killing Hal, also never mention if John is ready to take his place as the new Green Lantern, in addition the ring is lost but it is lost because some took it or because Hal hide it, there's so many question and that is great, because it tells that the show is going to take its time to give the audience the answer, not in a rush and can also make us work and create our own answer. I really want to continue watching this tv show, I need to know what really happen with Hal, why if he was presented a someone so difficult, capable, funny and sometimes weird, why he ended like that, I also need to know if John will be capable to find and wild the ring and become the new Green Lantern, how long is going to take John find all he answers, if this is going to be the entire season 1 as a trainee and towards the end we get to this very same point or will this be a season 2 scene, awesome show so far, I gave this episode 7/10.

Rating: 70/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

Rating: 75/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

Rating: 90/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

I honestly didn't know what to expect from Lanterns, It was first recommended by a friend but I quickly realized that this wasn't going to be the typical superhero story filled with nonstop explosions and predictable battles. What caught my attention was how much the story leaned into mystery, suspense and character development.

The series followed John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), a former Marine whose life took an unexpected turn when he became involved with the Green Lantern Corps. He was paired with the much more experienced Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), and their relationship became one of the most interesting parts of the story.

These two were completely different. John was younger, determined and still trying to understand what he had gotten himself into, while Hal had years of experience behind him and carried himself like someone who had already seen too much. Their differences naturally created tension, but it also made their partnership feel believable.

The real story began when the two were pulled into the investigation of a mysterious death in rural America. What initially looked like an ordinary case gradually became something far more disturbing. The deeper John and Hal went, the more secrets they uncovered, and it became clear that there was something much bigger hiding behind the investigation.

I particularly enjoyed the slower approach. Instead of immediately throwing Green Lantern powers and massive battles at us, Lanterns took its time building the mystery. There were moments when it felt more like a crime thriller than a superhero series, and surprisingly, that worked really well.

John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) was one of the standout characters for me. Aaron brought a quiet intensity to John, making him feel determined without making him unnecessarily arrogant. You could see that he was still trying to find his place, and that made his journey more interesting.

Then there was Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), who brought a completely different energy to the story. His Hal felt experienced, confident and slightly worn out. He wasn't simply the perfect mentor; he had his own problems and baggage, which made his character much more layered.

We also had Sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald), whose presence added another interesting layer to the investigation, and William Macon (Garret Dillahunt), who brought even more suspicion and uncertainty into the story.

One thing I appreciated was that the series didn't feel like it was desperately trying to impress viewers with endless references to the larger DC universe. It allowed the characters and mystery to take center stage, which made the story easier to get invested in.

That said, Lanterns wasn't flawless. There were moments when the pacing felt a little slow, and some of the mystery became complicated enough to leave me with more questions than answers. I also expected a little more superhero action at certain points.

Still, the atmosphere, performances and central mystery kept me interested. The chemistry between John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) was especially strong, and I enjoyed watching their relationship develop from an uneasy partnership into something much more meaningful.

What I liked most about this movie was that it didn't feel like just another superhero show. It mixed crime, mystery, science fiction and superhero elements into one story, giving it a darker and more mature feel.

By the time the story really started revealing what was happening, I was already invested and wanted to know where everything was heading.

Overall, it felt like a refreshing direction for the Green Lantern story. It traded some of the usual superhero spectacle for suspense, character development and mystery—and for me, that gamble paid off.

My Rating: 85/100

If you enjoy crime mysteries, slow-burn thrillers and superhero stories with a darker edge, Lanterns is definitely one to put on your watchlist.

Rating: 85/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.

Rating: 100/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.