Lanterns Episode 1 Reaction: We Are Hooked by Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre's Green Lantern Mystery

We just finished our first watch of Lanterns episode 1 on HBO Max, and our verdict going in blind was simple: we are enjoying the setup, the cast, and the mystery box tone, even though we finished the episode with a lot more questions than answers.

If you are wondering whether this new DC Universe show is worth your time, this matters because it is one of the first live action tastes of James Gunn's DCU outside the movies, and going in we only knew it had been described as darker and more serious, with what we called "true detective vibes."

Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre's John Stewart Play Off Each Other Perfectly

We really liked Kyle Chandler in the role of Hal Jordan. As we put it, "Kyle Chandler is doing a fantastic job," and we specifically praised "the kind of charming, arrogant" energy he brings to the character. Aaron Pierre as John Stewart is the flip side of that coin. We said he is "very serious" and that his stoic presence is "just a really nice counterbalance to like the the quippy arrogance of Hal." That contrast between the two Lanterns, one who was seemingly picked at random and one who went through an entire selection process, is already the dynamic we are most curious to see develop.

The Ten Year Jump From Training to Hal's Apparent Death Raises Big Questions

The episode structure itself stood out to us. It opens with John as a kid clearly idolizing the Green Lantern, jumps to what looked like 2016 where John and Hal have a tense, distant training relationship, and then jumps again to what appears to be 2026 where John is shown quietly crying over an apparently wounded or dead Hal. We flagged that shift directly, wondering "within this decade, how did their relationship change that he would actually get quietly emotional over his mentor." We do not have an answer yet, but it is the emotional hook we are most invested in going forward.

We Are Confused (In a Good Way) About How the Rings Actually Choose Their Wearer

One of our biggest sticking points during the reaction was trying to work out the actual rules of how a Green Lantern ring picks its bearer, especially since John was seemingly selected by the alien Guardians while Hal's origin sounded more like the ring simply landed on him. We admitted we were "confusing myself" trying to reconcile the two, comparing it at different points to Thor's hammer and to Harry Potter's wand choosing the wizard, before landing on the conclusion that we just need the show to explain the ground rules more clearly.

Garrett Dillahunt's Wealthy Rancher and His Wife Feel Deliberately Suspicious

We also zeroed in on the family that bails Hal out of jail, led by Garrett Dillahunt's character. We noted the character was giving off "Lex Luthor vibes" given his money, his armed compound, and his cryptic knowledge about aliens, and we openly asked "who's his employer." His wife struck us as equally odd, and we speculated she might be a fan of the Green Lantern in a way that felt "weird." By contrast, Jason Ritter's character Billy was pure comic relief for us, someone with no idea what is going on who just wants to invite Hal to dinner.

Our Overall Reaction: A Promising, Slow Burn Start With a Great Cast

Taken together, our takeaway is that this is "an interesting starting point with a lot of questions" backed by "a great cast," and we compared the feeling of jumping into decades of Green Lantern lore to hopping into a soap opera, joking that we just need the "need to know" basics to get through the season. We are not spoiling anything for ourselves on purpose, but we are fully on board for episode two.

What do you think is really going on with Garrett Dillahunt's rancher character and his family, and do you have a theory on how Green Lantern rings actually choose their bearers?