Lanterns Season 1 Review: A Pilot That Split Us and the Episode That Won Me Over

Now that Lanterns has wrapped up, I sat down with TJ, one of the comic book experts and researchers behind our breakdowns, to talk about something those long Easter egg deep dives never really covered: whether we actually enjoyed the series. We spoke before the finale aired, though we had both seen it. The two of us arrived at the show from very different places.

TJ Was Hooked by the Pilot While I Struggled

TJ said he went in without many expectations. As a comic nerd, his attitude was to see how it goes, though he was excited as a Green Lantern fan and already a big fan of Aaron Pierre from Rebel Ridge. The first episode, he said, blew what little expectations he had out of the water, and he was hooked after that.

I was also a massive fan of Rebel Ridge, and I thought Pierre's casting as John Stewart was phenomenal. I thought Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan was great too. The dirt track image left me unsure, though, and I really disliked the first trailer. It was only by the second trailer that it kind of won me around. After Supergirl, and not being a massive fan of Superman, I wasn't sure the show was for me. My saving grace was Damon Lindelof, whose Watchmen show I love, even knowing Lindelof is divisive.

Then the pilot dropped, and I just didn't like it. I found it slow and drawn out, and the murder mystery at the football game lost me. I wanted to see Green Lanterns in space making content and stuff. I was hooked by the opening, with John getting an apple shot off his head, but it was only the final minute, jumping to 2026 with Rushville destroyed and Hal dead, that hooked me a bit for next time.

Hal Jordan's Death Excited TJ Rather Than Upsetting Him

Hal's death was a massive point of contention in the fandom. It leaked before the show came out and was well known and speculated on Twitter, and that was actually a reason HBO didn't send screeners to every outlet as it normally does. James Gunn has also been getting a lot of criticism while responding to people on Threads defending the show.

TJ had no problem with it. The ending sting made him excited. Cast an older guy alongside a younger one in a buddy cop dynamic, he said, and he naturally assumes the younger one will take over. He thinks the show played the question of who killed Hal so well, and that bringing Hal back as a hologram let it "have your cake and eat it too": a mystery to unwind plus Kyle Chandler giving John advice. He also felt it fits the comics, where Hal's origin with his father dying is brushed over in maybe 10 to 15 panels, while the show digs into why Hal is fearless and why he has the ring when everyone says he doesn't deserve it.

I was a bit less enthusiastic, feeling I already knew how it would go, and I was surprised how long they dragged out the mystery of who shot Hal, from the tease in episode one all the way to the finale.

I Found Episode Two Slow, but the Mystery Stuck With Me

Episode two, where John retrieves the lantern from Hal's house to recharge the ring and is kidnapped by Anton, felt very much like table setting to me. It was a very slow burn, and at that point no character stood out enough for me to feel invested, though that changed over the season. What kept me thinking all week was the mystery, and how the show makes you read between the lines, like Hal visiting Sinestro to talk about the Manhunters while Sinestro only wants to talk about John.

TJ said every time he thought he had it figured out, he was completely wrong, and he took the heat for theories like Zoe being Sinestro's daughter. Whenever I call a theory probably a reach, TJ said, "I am the reach." He still thinks the show was intentionally playing with comic references to keep fans guessing, while admitting he doesn't know if that's true, and he found the answers satisfying anyway.

My ultimate breakdown keeps those comic ties in, since I think they flesh out the Manhunters better than maybe the show does, and the Guardians and Oa are barely explained. My wife checked out after episode one, though I wondered if that was because I kept calling it rubbish.

Episode Three Is Where I Jumped on Board

Episode three shows what happens to John Stewart Senior when he isn't recruited. It reminds me of staircase wit: he's asked if he's afraid, says yes, and is tormented to the point of shooting the TV because Hal is on it. Some of the show's creators called John's mother a hero, while I think she's pretty insane, though born from fear of what failure did to her husband. A character saying something doesn't mean the showrunners are saying it.

TJ said working on the breakdown for this episode was probably his shining moment of achievement, since he had theorized John Senior mirrored the comics' John, and the green bubble reveal made him so happy. He loved how it played on fear, and one line from John's mother to a Guardian stuck with him: "no one sees us, not even up there."

This was where I really started enjoying the show. I love origin stories, and seeing one where the parents don't die, with a kid drilled every day to be fearless, swept me up. I came away feeling there's no classic hero here; from a certain point of view, I could see how Zoe is a hero. They weren't doing what I expected, but it was something interesting I was on board for.

The Ring Drives Hal and John Apart in Episodes Four Through Six

TJ about lost his mind when Zoe's car blew up in episode four, and he loved seeing Hal and John finally work together. For me, the tense standoff with Hector Hammond, where Hal learns John will replace him, stood out, along with the ending with Hal crashing the car with John inside. To me, the ring is a corrupting force with Lord of the Rings allusions. TJ added that in the comics the ring just chooses someone, without asking if they're afraid.

TJ found episode five very satisfying, with Hal using his ring and John facing almost impossible decisions. I think the show really soars there, and I completely agree with those who said it could have been the season finale.

In Bad Optics, set in 2026, I enjoyed spotting clues, and I felt Hal's funeral summed up what being a Green Lantern cost him. TJ noted that unlike his father's funeral, only Carol, Carol Ferris and John came, and he thinks Hal was purposely keeping people away because he was scared.

Hal's Father's Death Gives His Story Its Context

Throughout the season I didn't think the show would really expand on Hal's dad's death. I just assumed it would be an accident, a test flight gone wrong or something on a mission. Learning that it was by his own hand, a choice he made, made for such a gut punch. I think learning there's a family history of depression, the Jordan boys' legacy, adds complexity to the character, and there are moments where you wonder if Hal did that to himself, though ultimately that wasn't true. It was a hard hitting blow on something I wasn't expecting them to tackle at all.

TJ saw it as a great way to explore not who Hal is but who he has become, since the ring has isolated him from everything he may care about. For TJ, it explains why Hal is so standoffish and so against John taking his place: without that ring, Hal has nothing left but the Jordan boys' legacy. It also gives context to why Hal fell so hard in episode five, to the point of almost killing John, which TJ says is still debatable. In the comics, Hal's dad dies in a plane accident after facing a choice between ejecting and trying to land, and Hal's biggest fear is wondering if his dad died afraid. TJ thinks the show answers that: he was afraid of himself, and of Hal and his mother seeing who he really was.

The Fear Planet Works, but Sinestro Feels Underused

I think the Fear Planet, where the inhabitants tore themselves apart and ended their own lives, works nicely as a parallel to the episode. I'm not always a massive fan of hallucination sequences and I was kind of a bit hit and miss on the boat material, though I do get why they did it. I liked where it led: Sinestro has built basically a lantern, and he and Hal become the angel and devil on John's shoulder. John can charge the ring, which will corrupt him and erase his mentor but probably help him come out on top, or face Noah, now revealed as the Manhunter, on the back foot.

I am a bit disappointed with how Sinestro was used and I just expected more from him. I'm sure they're saving things for season 2 if we get it, which hadn't been announced when we spoke. TJ calls Sinestro "the information guy," though he doesn't want to say he was wasted, since you can't really have a Green Lantern show without him. TJ thinks a little hint that Sinestro is playing a bigger game would have helped, pointing to how quickly he switches from manipulating the hologram to urging John to charge the ring.

Noah's Manhunter Reveal Came True After an Early Joke

Our team was split down the middle on the finale, with some editors not liking it, and I was on the side that did. I enjoyed seeing Hal come out of prison, his relationship with Carol Ferris, and the firebomb after which Hal wakes healed with a little scar, revealing that Noah was responsible. I never went down the rabbit hole of Hal being a clone, a theory some people built on Spanish subtitles. TJ hadn't even heard of it, and says he was on cloud nine when Noah revealed himself, after we'd said he was the Manhunter almost as soon as he appeared in episode one, as a joke.

For me, it fell into place in episode five, when Zoe leaned down to Noah and seemed to tell him what to do. I also saw a parallel with Lindelof's Watchmen, where someone connected to the government wanted Dr. Manhattan's powers on the way to the presidency. I found the car ride to the football game so tense, with Noah asking John to kill him because he knows he can't stop himself. I do think Noah might turn bad down the line, while John stays optimistic. TJ, who says to never trust a robot, thinks John is the only one who can understand Noah's conflict between his supposed destiny and being a good person.

TJ wasn't sure he believed John's claim that Zoe wanted him to kill her. I read her smile in the scope as her signaling to do it. I also brought up Anton telling Min that the Manhunter would never offer himself up, and TJ said that was his biggest objection. TJ thinks John believes it but may also be pleading with Noah not to kill him. I say you can read it either way, and I think the show purposely doesn't spell it out.

Carol Ferris's Confession Gives Hal a Poetic End

Then comes the reveal that Carol Ferris killed Hal. We kind of figured it out, with only about three characters left, and she shot him almost automatically, like programming. TJ felt vindicated: her asking John to ask if she killed him was, in retrospect, a confession. He doesn't think she really meant to do it; her fear took over as Noah risked discovery. TJ calls it a poetic ending for a man who thought he'd live up to the Jordan boys' legacy, only to find someone who loved him.

John Chooses the Ring on His Own Terms

When Guy confronts John over an unsanctioned yellow lantern, John claims Earth as his jurisdiction. I think Guy sort of had fear in that moment. TJ loved that John states it as a fact, and noted that Guy was ready to throw down with Clark in Superman but steps down here. I think John, who was trained to get the ring, would win a standoff every time because he's just not afraid of Guy. TJ says the oath, "I choose this ring. I choose this fight," carries weight because John has basically never had a choice, and he flies for the first time without Hal. TJ is more excited to see John Stewart again than probably anyone else in the DCU, and I am too.

The hologram's goodbye really caught me off guard, ending on "I love you, too," and I think that would be a fitting final line if Hal doesn't come back, though I'm sure he will. TJ points out the hologram was manifested by John, not the ring, and John can make constructs without one, so there's already a way back. I liked that the finale kept it small scale and emotional rather than a big third act punch out; it reminded me of the end of Doctor Strange. I'd like to think Noah just goes off to have a happy life.

Our Verdict on the Season

I had a slow start with the season and I'm willing to admit I was wrong about how I assumed things would go. Like a Resident Evil movie that wasn't what I wanted but was good, I went along for the ride, and Lanterns is my favorite DCU project so far, "possibly by quite a bit." TJ enjoyed Superman but says Lanterns nailed it, and doesn't mind diversions since the comics are still there. My problem is adaptations like Supergirl that follow a specific book and get it wrong. TJ sees Parallax themes woven in and gives "two thumbs up." I give it a thumb up and a half, since it isn't going to be for everyone, and I hope James Gunn gets to finish his vision.

How do you feel about the way the Lanterns season 1 finale handled Hal and Noah?