Josh Reviews Lanterns

Lanterns is an eight-episode HBO Max TV show; it’s the newest installment in the still-burgeoning new DCU overseen by James Gunn and Peter Safran. (So far, this new DCU has consisted of Creature Commandos, Superman, the second season of Peacemaker, and Supergirl.)

Lanterns was created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers, Watchmen), and Tom King (a terrific comic book writer who wrote Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow — the mini-series that served as the basis for the recent Supergirl movie — and many other great DC stories). The series introduces us to grizzled veteran Green Lantern Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and his new trainee, former marine John Stewart (Aaron Pierre). Hal doesn’t like or trust John, and is pissed off that the Guardians (who supervise the Green Lantern corps of space-cops) have assigned this young guy to be his replacement. John, meanwhile, has no patience for Hal, who he sees as over the hill and undeserving of being a Green Lantern. These two are supposed to be partners, but they’re barely on speaking terms when they find themselves in the small town of Rushville, Nebraska to investigate some murders at a football game. Hal believes an extra-terrestrial is involved, and thus this is Green Lantern business. The truth, though, is nothing like what Hal or John ever expected to encounter…

Lanterns is absolutely fantastic. I was blown away by how much I loved this show! Yes, it’s a True Detective rip-off. Two cops, a complicated murder mystery in a small town, a story unfolding in multiple time-periods… this is a superhero version of True Detective. But it totally works!!

The show is anchored by the magnificent lead performances of Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre. Let’s start with Kyle Chandler, an actor I have always really enjoyed. But is this maybe his best role ever?? He is absolutely perfect as Hal Jordan. Mr. Chandler has to play many different versions of Hal, in different time-periods, and he brings beautiful nuance to the way he portrays Hal at the different stages of his life. The embittered Hal we meet at the start of the series is an arrogant jackass; Mr. Chandler doesn’t shy away from that, but at the same time he’s always got a twinkle in his eye that keeps Hal watchable even when he’s being a grade-A jerk. I was hooked into this character, even before the story allowed us to see different shades of Hal. I loved seeing how Mr. Chandler played the younger “Halogram” version of his character; it’s still the same Hal, but this more innocent, more noble Hal is fascinating to see. I also like seeing the on-his-way-back version of Hal that we get later in the story, in the years after the events at Rushville. This Hal has been humbled, but he hasn’t allowed himself to be crushed. This might be my favorite Hal of all! I love the way the show gives us these complexities, and the nimble way that Mr. Chandler brings all these versions of Hal to life is incredible. This is a triumphant performance. I want to re-watch the show immediately, just to get to spend more time with Kyle Chandler as Hal.

I was blown away by Aaron Pierre when I saw 2024’s Rebel Ridge (an incredible movie — go watch it right now, if you’ve never seen it!), and I love how well he’s brought John Stewart to life. John’s character has been somewhat inconsistent in his portrayal in the comics and other media (he was a major character in Bruce Timm’s animated Justice League series — that’s actually been the definitive version of John Stewart for me… until now!) — John is both a free-spirited artist and also a disciplined marine. I love the way the show’s sharp writing manages to smoothly blend both aspects of the character into a unified whole, and Mr. Pierre’s intense performance beautifully inhabits all of these different aspects of John. We’re with John 100%, empathizing with his struggles and rooting for him all the way. This is a compelling, riveting performance.

One of the most surprising and powerful aspects of Damon Lindeloff’s 2019 Watchmen show was how deeply that show dug into the racial conflicts that have long been a part of the United States’ history. I was fascinated to see how deeply this show continued to explore aspects of the reality of being a Black man in the United States, and how that presented a very different view on some of the classic aspects of the Green Lantern mythos from the comics. The show asks, for instance: is it possible for an African-American man to ever be completely without fear? John Stewart is an important character, and one of a not-huge-number of Black superheroes in the DC or Marvel stable, so I loved seeing how central these parts of his identity were made in this story. John’s Blackness isn’t just an aside; it’s a central part of this character. That was a great choice, and it brought a thematic richness to this story that is one of the many great qualities that elevated this tale for me.

Kelly Macdonald (No Country for Old Men, Boardwalk Empire, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew) is, as always, a fantastic on-screen presence. Ms. Macdonald plays Sheriff Kerry Kane. She’s the law in Rushville, and she has the difficult task of trying to help the two Lanterns while holding her town together and not ruffling too many feathers. One of the Lanterns’ main adversaries in the town is the mysterious Will Macon, a wealthy rancher living in a heavily-armed compound. Macon is played by Garret Dillahunt (The 4400, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Looper), and he’s such a phenomenal villain! Without veering into over-the-top moustache-twirling, Mr. Dillahunt gives Macon an entitled arrogance that makes the viewer — and Hal! — take an immediate dislike to him. I loved his performance, especially as the story continues and we learn more about who Macon is and why he’s doing what he’s doing. Poorna Jagannathan is terrific as Macon’s wife Zoe, who immediately strikes up a (potentially dangerous) flirtation with John. It’s notable to see an over-fifty actress get to be sexy and flirty on a TV show, and I loved the way the show gradually peels pack Zoe’s layers, as we learn more about her and her husband. Zoe and John don’t get too much screen time together, but the excellent writing and these two great actors make the Zoe-John relationship an indelible and important element in the show. Jason Ritter plays Billy Macon — Will’s son and Kerry’s husband. It’s great to see Mr. Ritter on-screen, and I liked the way he alternated Billy from being friendly/helpful to being a prick. I wish he had more to do on the show. In the same category of “I wish he had more to do” is Ulrich Thomsen (The World is Not Enough, Kingdom of Heaven) as classic Green Lantern villain Sinestro. I loved Mr. Thomsen as Sinestro!! I love how he underplays the role — his Sinestro is quiet and understated, but he’s oily and creepy and so clearly not to be trusted. Note to Green Lantern fans: Sinestro is only a very minor character on this show so far. I really hope to see more of him in a second season and/or other DCU projects.

The great Laura Linney kills in her scenes as Lianna, a Guardian of the Universe. Paul Ben-Victor (Vondas on The Wire, Nobody Wants This) brings a lot of life to the alien Antaan (who isn’t given much of a character in the script). Jasmine Cephas Jones (who originated the roles of Peggy Schuyler & Maria Reynolds in Hamilton) is mesmerizing as John’s mother Bernadette, and J. Alphonse Nicholson (Luke Cage, P-Valley) is also great as John’s father, John Stewart Sr.

There are a few things that keep Lanterns from being an absolute masterpiece, in my mind. Number one is that I wish the show had the budget to actually show us a few aliens. I understand that this was designed to be a grounded show that takes place primarily on Earth, and I love how in the end that dovetails so beautifully with John Stewart’s character arc. I also agree that I’d rather see Laura Linney on-screen playing these scenes, rather than a CGI creation. But come on, couldn’t they give us a glimpse of Laura Linney as an actual alien Guardian, before or after transforming into a human? Couldn’t they give us a moment in which we see Antaan in his natural alien form? It was disappointing that we didn’t get anything like that. It felt like a cheat to keep the budget in check, rather than a decision that felt natural for the storytelling, and it was a letdown for me, because I assumed the show would eventually give us those moments, and I was disappointed when we got to the end and we didn’t. Number two is that I think they really needed one more action scene in the last act of the season. We got a few small scale action beats in the show, and then some decent spectacle in the battle in Rushville in episode five. But I was surprised that this superhero show had pretty much zero action in the final three episodes of the season. For the most part, I loved that this was a show where the fireworks were mostly in the dialogue scenes, which were intense and dramatic. But I really thought we’d get some action in the finale, and I was somewhat deflated that we didn’t. Here again, it felt like the seams of the budget were showing, and that was a bummer.

For the most part, I marveled at how tightly written this show was. I loved how thoughtfully the showrunners & writing staff were able to weave thematic depth into this superhero story. That gave the story a richness and depth of meaning that stands out from most superhero TV shows. I loved how thoughtfully the character arcs for Hal and John (and many of the other characters) were played out. This is a show in which every line of dialogue seemed thoughtful and well-considered, and time and again I smiled to see what I’d thought was an offhand comment turn out to have greater meaning later in the season. I was also happy that, while this was a very grounded show (set mostly on Earth, with characters mostly wearing civilian clothes, and without too much super-hero/villain action), the dialogue was filled to the brim with lots of fun references to Green Lantern lore from the comics. They managed to weave in a lot of Green Lantern lore into this show! There’s lots of talk about the corps and the Guardians and the Manhunters and the magic rings and all sorts of other very comic-booky stuff. That Hal Jordan’s password is “Mogo doesn’t socialize” is emblematic of what I mean. That won’t be distracting or confusing to non-fans — it’ll blow by them in an instant and mean nothing. But that reference meant the world to me and made me smile so widely!! (It’s a reference to a classic Green Lantern story written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons, from Green Lantern #188.) My only tiny twinge of criticism with the writing is that for such a well-structured show, I was surprised by the number of questions left hanging in the finale. They hand-waved away some things in a way that felt surprisingly sloppy to me (such as, for example, the explanation given to who broke Sinestro out of prison). (I’ll have more to say about this below, in my comments on episode eight.)

Overall, this show was a delight! I loved pretty much every minute of it. This is a show I can’t wait to watch again. I desperately hope they’ll bring this show back for season two!! (It’s so frustrating to me — and emblematic of my complaints with how most streaming TV shows work these days — that HBO Max still hasn’t committed to another season, which means that even if they do eventually decide to make one, we’ll have a multi-year break between seasons. That stinks!!)

If you’ve seen the season, stick around for my episode-by-episode notes! BEWARE MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Episode 1– “Pilot”

We kick things off with the first of many wonderfully playful episode titles. This is the pilot episode but also, of course, Hal Jordan (and his dad) were pilots.
This is a fantastic season opener. I hadn’t been spoiled so I wasn’t expecting all the timeline shifts. I was immediately captivated by this storytelling structure. It was already great before we got to the kicker of the jump ahead to 2026 and Hal’s murder in the closing minutes. That’s a hell of a way to end your premiere episode!! The decision to kill off Hal was controversial, and I’ll admit to feeling doubt myself. Even after watching just this first episode, I loved Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan so much that I hated the idea that he wouldn’t be able to continue playing this character after this one season! But I loved the shocker of the cliffhanger. I continued to feel both sides of this while watching this season. Ultimately, I am satisfied by the choice. They earned a great ending for Hal by everything they do with his character this season. And the existence of the “Halogram” gives them an easy way to bring back Kyle Chandler in a second season. (There are a million ways a back-up copy of the Halogram could have survived even after the ring gets wiped in the finale.)
Right away I loved the dynamic between Hal and John. They paint us such a complete picture so quickly through the wonderful dialogue in their early scenes together.
Hal’s plan to get arrested so he can get close to the guy he thinks is an alien is so dumb. Thankfully we see that Sheriff Kane sees right through this.
Hal’s interrogation of that dude is a fantastic scene. It’s great (and important) that we see that Hal is actually still pretty damn good at his job and he’s able to get the truth out of the guy right away.
I love the comic-book action moment in which the guy explodes and Hal protects himself, John and Kerry with a big green bubble, which gets pushed out through the wall of the police station by the force of the explosion. That was awesome!
That final scene with Hal’s corpse is a banger of a moment. I love that John checks Hal’s finger for a ring. Watching this the first time, I didn’t think that 2026 John had a ring either, though I wasn’t sure. I was very surprised John wasn’t the Green Lantern in 2026. This was a great surprise and hook into the story being told.

Episode 2 — “Trust Fall”

The revelation that Hal’s password is “Mogo doesn’t socialize” was absolutely amazing. That was the moment I really fell in love with this show.
I was a little frustrated this episode that Hal and John were separated for most of it, after I’d enjoyed their scenes together so much in the premiere. At first I was frustrated as I felt this was a writerly cheat to keep the wheels of the story spinning, though in the end I did really like how this all played out and I was happy they weren’t apart for too long.
I loved meeting Earl!!
I liked seeing a glimpse of Hal’s various Green Lantern uniforms in his closet.
I was very surprised and confused that John was able to maintain the bird construct for so long. That was a cool development. (However, I still don’t understand how john maintained the bird construct even after being knocked unconscious…)
I loved the revelation that Antaan’s guys are hunting a Manhunter!! It’s awesome to see this obscure piece of DC comics lore brought into the series.
I wish they’d showed us what John sees, when Antaan implants in his mind the vision of the holocaust caused by the Manhunters. That felt like a budgetary decision, and it was the first of several moments in which the series showed but didn’t tell in a way I found frustratingly limited.
On the other hand, the fight/chase between John and Antaan’s guys, moving in and out of fast-driving vehicles, was exciting and awesome. That was a terrific action sequence, and a highlight of the season for me.

Episode 3 — “OutKast”

Another very clever episode title, with layers of meaning.
This is a terrific episode on its own, though I didn’t love how we broke the momentum of the story that had been developed over the first two episodes. I also really missed Kyle Chandler. It’s not quite the show without him! Damon Lindeloff was an originator of the idea of extended flashbacks within a TV show back in Lost. This device has been dramatically overused by TV shows in the decades since. It’s particularly frustrating to me in streaming shows with such short episode-runs. We’re really devoting one of our eight episodes to a full-episode flashback? On the other hand, it’s a pleasure to see a master storyteller at work, and this episode is really terrific, and hugely important in helping us understand who this version of John Stewart is. (Props to the episode’s credited writer Vanessa Baden Kelly!)
This episode presents us with a fascinating change to the mythos, with the idea that John’s parents were preparing him all his life to be a Green Lantern. I’d commented earlier that there hasn’t ever quite been a definitive version of John Syewart in the comics. It’s cool that the writers sought to create a new origin story for John. It works, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this idea soon gets adopted by the comics.
It’s really interesting seeing the racial elements of Watchmen incorporated so strong into the show here. It’s powerful to see these characters explore the idea of African-Americans being ignored, and so feeling that they have to step up and raise their hand, rather than waiting to be chosen. “Choose yourself,” as Johns mom says to him as a kid. (And earlier on the show, we’d seen John’s dad tell him that the white Hal Jordan can fly off the handle but they, as Black men, cannot.) This is powerful stuff (and a fascinating spin on the traditional Green Lantern idea that the rings choose their wearers).
Speaking about John’s dad, I have a lot more empathy for him now, than when we saw him in episode one shooting an apple off of his son’s head. He seemed like a psychopath then! It’s fascinating to see hear that it was John’s mom Bernadette who was driving a lot of this!
I love learning about John’s connection to birds, which sheds a new light on his bird construct from the previous episode.
Laura Linney great as the Guardian Lianna, (though I really wanted to see her in her alien form, even if just for a moment.)
In a great example of this show’s excellent writing, they’d already established John as a vegetarian. I didn’t think much of that at the time. Here we see him not eat the steak his military boss ordered for him, and also tell his mom “I hate cheeseburgers”, when he rejects the reward system his parents had set up for him (after he’s subjected to the abusive behavior of their using him as a live target). What great, subtle storytelling!

Episode 4 — “The Weenie”

I love the Hal-Sinestro scene at the start! This is a great version of Sinestro, all sly and corrosive with innuendo.
I rolled my eyes a bit at the huge drilling machine that Hal and John construct, using the ring, to infiltrate Will Macon’s compound. Wouldn’t that drilling machine have made a huge racket??
I love how the show plays fair and straight up tells us that Zoe is the mysterious benefactor, when she tells John that she saved Macon’s life. That had me sit up straight on my couch, asking myself if I’d just heard what I thought I’d heard. I loved that.
Though they did have me fooled for a minute, when the space laser blows up Zoe’s car a minute later! That was a great fake-out.
I loved hearing the name drop of Hector Hammond!!! (Though I was disappointed to later learn that there really is no Hector Hammond on this show; at least, there doesn’t seem to be.)
I loved all the weirdness in this episode! Macon getting nude was incredible. I did not see that coming. (What a way to discover the episode title’s double-meaning!!) (Also: holy Moses, 61-year-old Garret Dillahunt looks amazing!!)
As if that wasn’t crazy enough, then we get the incredible sequence in which Hal and John visit Hammond’s creepy slaughterhouse. What a weird sequence!! I laughed a LOT when Hal puts his shield up an instant before the cow gets diced to bits by lasers.
I like how quickly Hal figures out that Hector Gutierrez was just a decoy. I like seeing Hal be smart. It’s great that he susses out right away that Zoe is the Manhunter.

Episode 5 — “Lights Out”

I love the flashback, establishing how Sheriff Kane and Zoe first met. The show uses these flashbacks so well to help illuminate these characters!
Hal says to John “we don’t kill”, but he’s ok leaving John to die horribly, incinerated in the car accident? I can buy hal doesn’t mind letting Antaan’s guys kill Macon’s guys, but letting John get burned alive feels like a step too far, even for this version of Hal. Or are we supposed to think that Hal thinks John will be OK, and doesn’t know he’s about to get incinerated? I wish the show was clearer on this point.
I loved the fascinating conversation between John and Zoe about skin color.
I loved the goodbye call between Macon and Zoe. It’s cool to see they really understand one another (Macon knew she was a Manhunter so we understand know that he knew why she had to sleep with John) and love each other. This is a nice wrinkle to give to the “villains”. I never expected to have such empathy for Will Macon after we met him in the first episode.
I love the surprise that Antaan and Zoe were lovers, back on his planet! That’s a great moment! And I loved seeing him suddenly leap up and go all Mola Ram on Will Macon. Yowza!! That was an intense moment.
The action scene with Zoe destroying Main St. with her satellites, so Hal will deplete his ring, was exciting. But I felt we jumped to Hal’s ring being down to 5% again way too quickly. Hal has barely used the ring since we saw him recharge it a few episodes ago!! I wanted a more extended action sequence or montage, to show Hal using up the ring’s power to protect people. (Also, it seems lazy that both times on the show when we’ve gotten an alert that the ring was on low power, it was at 5%. Maybe use a different number this second time?)
Antaan tells Macon he’d never detonate himself without being sure he was killing the Manhunter, but then he does! He starts beeping when he’s just approaching the cloud of blackness, without ever actually laying eyes on Zoe. This feels like sloppy storytelling to me. I don’t like seeing Antaan be dumb and get taken out so easily.
I was glad to see the mysterious blackness again, but I wish we’d gotten a better explanation of what that was.
I really liked seeing Hal jumping into the copter — I’m glad the show remembered and made use of the fact that he is a pilot!
This was a strong episode but the ending was strange. I was somewhat surprised that John took the ring from Hal in the end (rather than walking away but leaving Hal with the ring). We learn in the next scene that John has decided he doesn’t want the ring; so why not leave it with Hal and let Hal see him make that choice? Or, why not charge the ring immediately and go help the townspeople? I wanted John to show he’s a hero and that he deserves that ring! John seems strangely callow and uncaring. Even Hal, who John says in the next scene betrayed everything to try to keep the ring, was trying to save the townspeople earlier in the episode. (If Hal as really was so selfish, he’d have kept the ring charged and let the townspeople all die while he went to capture Zoe.) Even if John has decided that he doesn’t want to be a Green Lantern after all, he could have still used the ring to help the townspeople, many of whom are in need of immediate medical attention, right??

Episode 6 — “Bad Optics”

I thought it was a strange choice for John to to keep secret from Sheriff Kane that he’d been with Hal before he died. Later in a conversation with Maggie he says he was concerned about racism, but it still seems unwise and silly to me for John to think she wouldn’t figure it out.
It was great to see Earl again!
It was interesting seeing Hal now lives in this little run-down place, but it feels like a home more than his big empty mansion did.
I loved seeing Guy Gardner!! Nathan Fillion is fantastic in this role, and it’s been fun seeing him show up all over this new DCU (in Superman and Peacemaker and now here). I love how the show is able to craft an explanation for how both Hal and John exist, while Guy is also a Green Lantern. This all worked great for me.
I was also thrilled to finally see Carol Ferris on the show!! (I’m a little sad that Carol isn’t more involved in the show. From the trailers, I’d been hoping that Laura Linney would play Carol.). But I loved what we got of Carol here. She’s such an important character from the comics, I’m glad they incorporated her into the show. I’d have liked Carol and sheriff Kane to have had a scene together to talk about Hal.
Hal’s eulogy!!! I loved it.
John digs up the coffin still wearing the nice suit the Noah him? That’s not very thoughtful!!
I dont understand the business of chipping the ring, which we also saw Hal do earlier in the show. Are they actually chipping pieces off of the ring?? Isn’t that damaging the ring? I don’t get it, but I am happy I guessed right and predicted that we’d get to see John working with the Halogram in this time-period, after Hal’s death.
I absolutely loved the Halogram’s “goddamit!” reaction to seeing his own corpse. Brilliant!

Episode 7 — “The Jordan Boys’ Legacy”

The episode opens with an extremely moving series of flashbacks to young Hal and his dad. These scenes create such empathy for Hal in just a few minutes.
Because episode 3 was a full-episode flashback focused on John, I was expecting (and somewhat dreading) that we’d get a full-episode flashback focusing on Hal. Not that I didn’t want this exploration of Hal Jordan, but I didn’t want tio spend a whole episode away from the main plot so near to the end of the season. So I’m glad this wasn’t a full flashback episode!
I loved every moment with the Halogram and John and Sherrif Kane. Those scenes were funny and sad and just wonderful, filled with beautiful dialogue/banter.
Holy shit the Haloram figures out in a second that Kerry killed Hal!! That was great!
I absolutely loved the black sphere that turns into a Looney Tunes-looking manhole portal! (That was a nice callback to our having seen John fall through one of those portals back in episode three!)
Ting holds its two percent charge for a long fucking time. This show has a real problem with how it’s portraying the ring’s charge. I thought Hal went down to 5% way too fast back in episode five; and meanwhile, that 5% lasts for an incredibly long time in episodes six through eight. It’s crazy. Why have that dialogue that the ring is at 2% power?? Just delete that and avoid the problem!
I love how so many pieces of the story come together – Antonn’s planet, Sinestro, etc. I understand now why they didn’t show us the vision Antaan gave to John earlier in the show, so the revelation of his planet would be a surprise here. But it’d have been nice to now, in this episode, have gotten a brief cut-away flashback to that vision. I still think it feels like a budgetary cheat that we never see this.
I loved Hal’s monologue in the boat; I was really was shocked at the revelation that Hal’s dad killed himself.

Episode 8 — “Dirt and Stars”

I wasn’t expecting the flashbacks to chart Hal and Sheriff Kane’s relationship, but I loved those scenes. What an unexpected and moving way to open this episode. This really twists the knife further that this better version of Hal is dead.
Noah reveals he’s a Manhunter to Hal out of kindness, when Noah saves Hal’s life!! That’s such a clever and unexpected way to show us how Hal learned this truth.
The Halogram tells John in the boat that the ring has seven minutes of power left, but then we cut to them well-past the lake (it’s totally out of sight) and walking in the desert in broad daylight. That must have taken hours!! This is so ludicrous that the ring’s 7 minutes of power have lasted this long!! What is the show doing with this??
I loved every second of the incredible, wonderful long conversation scene between John and Noah in the car.
John says “Hal, I need you, man” and it really lands. What a great culmination to this whole season of storytelling.
I’m satisfied by the answer to the show’s central mystery of who murdered Hal Jordan. Noah is a Manhunter but he’s trying to be good, and it’s Kerry who killed Hal. That works.
I loved watching this episode and enjoyed it all, though after it ended I found I was left with a big batch of unanswered questions. This feels like a surprise and a bit of a letdown for a show that otherwise had been so carefully scripted and structured. Suddenly here at the end there are alot of things sort of handwaved away and glossed over in a way that feels surprisingly sloppy. Noah broke Sinestro out of prison? When? How? Why??? Noah can just bop over to another planet? Nothing we’ve seen on the show suggests this is possible. And if the whole ending of the show is that Noah is trying to overcome his programming and be good, why would he have broken supervillain Sinestro out of prison? Speaking of Sinestro, I wish the show had elucidated what went down between Hal and Sinestro when Sinestro broke bad, and why Hal continued to visit him, in violation of Green Lantern rules. I can guess at this, but that feels like a major plot point that was left vague. How did Sinestro know all about John Stewart? Are we to understand that Noah told him? Again I ask: when/how.why?? What is the deal with Sinestro’s lantern, that apparently incorporates yellow/fear? This seems like bad news to a Green Lantern, and yet at the end of the episode it just seems to be a normal Green lantern battery-charger, which felt like a letdown to me. Also, anyone can just build a lantern?? How did Sinestro do that? And why? (As a comic book fan I liked this tease of the Yellow Lantern Corps that Sinestro leads in the comics, but here in this show I needed a bit more info.) How could Hal’s house have burnt down (when Noah rescues him, apparently just days before Hal’s death), when we saw Hal’s house and it looked perfectly fine a few episodes ago?
I loved all the character stuff and great dialogue in this finale… but wow, I really wanted one more action scene in this final episode, somewhere. The drama is fantastic, but this is a DC Comics Green Lantern show. We needed some sort of action. Maybe with Sinestro? His scenes were amazing, but looking back on the show, the whole Sinestro storyline feels like it went mostly nowhere to me. All we got was a way for John to charge his ring in the end. When we learned that Sinestro had been broken out of prison, I assumed he was up to something. But he’s not mastermining anything, apparently? He was just the victim of Noah the manhunter? (I ask again: why exactly did Noah break Sinestro out of prison?)
I loved seeing Guy Gardner again and his scene with John. (Though the flying effects were weak. Guy just gently floats, both in his landing and takeoff. He should have had a faster, more cocky flying style. It feels to me like Guy should be doing a classing superhero full-of-himself posing landing, and I’d have liked to have seen him really zoom away at the end, when he was pissed.)
But shouldn’t that scene with Guy, in which John declares his independence, have been better if John had been saying that stuff to Lianna? I can’t believe we never saw Lianna again!! I really wanted one more scene with Laura Linney as Lianna. That feels like a huge unresolved plot point. I’d been guessing that she perhaps wasn’t a real Guardian or that she was up to no good. When we got that one brief shot, from behind, of her starting to transform into her alien self, I thought she looked like a Manhunter from the comics, so that further inflamed my suspicions that maybe she was a secret villain. It seems that wasn’t the case. That’s OK, but I still wanted one more scene with her in the finale. Also, if Lianna really is a good-guy Guardian, it feels like even more of a disappointing cheat that they never showed us her real alien Guardian form. I thought the tease of just seeing her transformation from the back for an instance meant a full reveal was coming later. It’s very disappointing this didn’t happen, and unsatisfying that neither John nor his mom got one last scene with her for closure.
It also seemed to quick and simple to me to see in the closing montage that ohn is suddenly 100% good with his brothers, laughing and hugging. That feels like a bit of a cheat here at the end. No one is pushing him on all the money he took out of the company to give to the girl who was blackmailing him?? I question that. However, John’s his silent reunion and embrace with his mother worked for me. I thought that was a very sweet moment, and I liked that the camera focused on the emotion in John’s mom’s face. Great acting by her.
Speaking of the girl, Maggie, who was blackmailing John, I can’t believe he just gave her all that money. Surely there are plenty of other people in the town who are suffering, and who lost someone??? Why is she so special and deserving of this huge gift? I don’t get that.

So, yes, the finale left me a little disappointed and annoyed by the dangling story threads. Overall, I still throughly enjoyed Lanterns!! This is a far better show than I;’d ever dare hope. I can’t wait to rewatch this all again, hopefully sometime soon!! Bring on a second season, please!!

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TV Show Reviews, Written Post