My original plan was to talk about lots of different media I’m consuming lately. Some of it is on YouTube, on Twitch, and Dropout. Those are all still fun distractions, but over the weekend, I put in the first episode of Lanterns and didn’t stop until I’d gone through the entire series. For the last couple of days, that’s where all of my thoughts have been. So let’s write some of them down.
Short, non-spoiler review
The casting is perfect. The story is great. It looks really good. This is a very good series set in the DCU, and I hope we get more. There are definitely some surprises, most of which land. I can easily recommend people watch this. Maybe not in one giant sitting like I did, though.
Longer review, with spoilers
Once again, if you don’t want any of this series to be spoiled, now is your time to close this tab, or delete this email, or exit however you exit seeing this post. No more warnings after this point, and I honestly think this is best viewed without spoilers.
Before I get into the details of the show, I’ll offer my “credentials,” as it were. I’ve enjoyed stories from the comics since the late 80s. My favorite Green Lantern is actually Kyle Rayner. I can name all of the emotional spectrum cores, I can spell Larfleeze correctly on the first try, and I know tons of interesting trivia about Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner. I went into this series rich with background information, so the two Mogo jokes in the show landed perfectly with me.
The show is told out of chronological order, and it divides its focus between an older Hal Jordan that is bitter but still doing heroic work, and John Stewart, who has been training to live without fear his entire life so that he can be Earth’s next Green Lantern. Most of the story takes place in 2016, with the next sizable portion of the story occurring in 2026.
It’s grounded, gritty, and our main characters are given plenty of opportunities to be clever and solve mysteries. The first episode establishes what the season is about: John is supposed to be getting trained by Hal to be his replacement, but Hal doesn’t want to replaced, and gives John a hard time. They’re pulled in to investigate some alien murders in a small town, Rushville, Nebraska. This storyline is set in 2016. By the end of the first episode, we jump to 2026, where John drives back into Rushville, meets up with the sheriff, and we see Hal Jordan’s dead body sitting on bleachers, snow collecting on him, and he has no ring.
The first episode is setting up some promises, and for the most part, keeps them. The missing ring is a bit of a misdirect, but I’ll forgive them that one sin.
As they dig further, they find that there is a Manhunter hiding somewhere in the town, influencing the townsfolk, and must be stopped.
This is where I must pause and reveal a hole in my knowledge. When they said “Manhunter,” I was thinking of Martian Manhunter. They described the Manhunters as a race that was supposed to be extinct, which I think lines up with Martian Manhunter’s background. Later, when they talked about The Guardians being responsible for creating the Manhunters, I looked them up on the Internet and found — whoops! — Manhunters have been in the comics before, they’re machines, and were supposed to be unfeeling space cops. When their programming became corrupted, The Guardians wiped them out and turned to create the Green Lantern Corps to replace them.
The show isn’t afraid to take its time with the story telling. It gives us an entire episode where we get to learn about more about John Stewart’s upbringing. The night that the ring chose Hal Jordan, it tried to choose John Stewart’s father first. When the ring came into his room, picked him up, and asked, “Are you afraid?” John’s father truthfully said “Yes!” and then the ring moved on.
The close encounter nearly ruined John’s father’s life, and The Guardians tried to make amends by offering John’s mother a huge diamond. Ultimately, they talked about how John Stewart is made of stern stuff and could be the next Lantern, so John’s parents began conditioning John to suppress his fear. They shot apples off his head, made him walk alone through scary neighborhoods… all sorts of things which could be described as abuse.
Not to say that the ends justify the means, but it worked. John grew up, joined the marines, became a sniper, demonstrated incredible willpower, a lack of fear, and tried to serve his country to the best of his ability. His military career ended when Hal swooped in and nabbed someone John was supposed to snipe.
I really liked John Stewart in this show. Aaron Pierre played him perfectly. I’m looking forward to seeing more of him.
The show also dedicated an episode to Hal Jordan, and what makes him tick. He was a stubborn kid that loved his Dad, and his Dad loved him back. We get a scene where Hal’s Dad takes Hal’s side and gets into a fistfight with Hal’s baseball coach. The next scene, they’re sitting next to a runway, watching planes fly by. That’s when Hal’s Dad tells him how his grandfather gave him a key before going off to war. He explained that he was as good a fighter pilot as they come, but there’s always the possibility that there’s someone out there that’s a little bit better, or circumstances that might get out of control. The key was to a “fail safe,” and as Hal’s Dad finished the explanation, he reached into his shirt and handed Hal a key.
Next scene, Hal is standing at his Dad’s funeral.
The episode is titled “The Jordan Boy’s Legacy,” and we learn what it is. Hal’s grandfather died by suicide, and Hal’s Dad learned about it from a note in the safe. Hal’s Dad also died by suicide, and again, Hal found out from a note inside the safe his Dad left him. Hal doesn’t feel fear because of conditioning. It’s because he’s broken. And alone.
I really liked Hal Jordan in this show, too. Kyle Chandler brought a lot to the role, and made him interesting. It was a different Hal Jordan than what I remember in other media, and that’s okay. I also hope to see more of Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan as the series goes on, but given that he’s dead at the end of the first season, that might be challenging.
That’s one of the surprises this show gives us that may or may not land. When people say “Green Lantern,” most people will probably think of Hal Jordan. If you grew up on the cartoons, you might say John Stewart, but Hal has been the most consistent front man for the series. It’s sort of like saying “Ghost Rider” and people think “Johnny Blaze,” even though my favorite Ghost Rider is Danny Ketch, and the most recent Ghost Rider is Robbie Reyes.
Some people probably wanted more constructs, but that’s not really the kind of story they were telling. There were constructs, and they were done well. Like I said before, the show looks great. I really don’t have any problem with how much super stuff we got in our super hero show.
I enjoyed Nathan Fillion’s appearance as Guy Gardner in this show. He’s been enjoyable in all of his appearances so far. Even though Guy didn’t have a bunch to do in this show, I think his character was given a little bit more depth.
Closing thoughts
I hope to see more of this. I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to what they do with Sinestro, played by Ulrich Thomsen. He didn’t have a ton to do in his season, but what they did give of him was perfect.
There are plenty of things I didn’t talk about, such as Hal’s hologram, Hal’s weird plant, and the sheriff’s son, Noah.
What do you think? Did you watch it, and do you have thoughts on the show? Let me know.