There’s a lot of pressure on HBO’s Lanterns to deliver, pressure that might not quite be fair to lump on a TV show. Not only is it an HBO Sunday night series, which carries a cachet and audience viewership level expectation, but with DC Studios on rocky footing with Supergirl bombing and seemingly half the TV/movie slate getting canceled or in limbo, the Green Lantern series starring Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler as two space cops investigating an Earth-based mystery has to stick the landing.
Good news, then: the premiere episode, appropriately titled “Pilot,” definitely does. Not only does the episode written by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King, and directed by James Hawes deftly introduce a more ground-level version of the Lantern Corps than seen previously in the much-derided Green Lantern feature film, but Pierre and Chandler crush it as John Stewart and Hal Jordan, respectively. Trailers seemed to imply a battle-for-the-ring type series and a much more hard-edged Hal than fans might be expecting. But as a life-long comic book fan, the best surprise here is that Chandler is Hal, the flyboy, devil-may-care hero who plays by his own rules but tries to do the right thing. Less of a surprise is Pierre, who crushes it as the far more serious Stewart, all intense stares and pointed silences.
The rest of the cast is excellent, as well. Kelly Macdonald is a delight as Kerry, the local sheriff in Rushville, Nebraska who is trying to keep a multiple murder/shooting at the high school football game low-key, despite the presence of a genuine superhero (that would be Hal), and a superhero-in-training (that would be John). Garrett Dillahunt is quietly terrifying as William Macon, Kerry’s father-in-law, the guy who owns basically half the town, and also happens to have a militia in his yard and a hard-on for killing aliens. And Jason Ritter is a delightful surprise as Billy Macon, William’s son, Kerry’s husband, and your run-of-the-mill shifty small town lawyer.
While the premiere episode juggles multiple timelines ranging from 1996 to 2016 to 2026, it never loses focus on the characters, or its main theme, one that is very, very timely. It’s no coincidence this show starts for real in 2016, the time of the contentious Presidential election of Donald Trump versus Hilary Clinton. To be clear: this is set in the new DCU, and the election is never mentioned (though it is hinted at). But it’s impossible to view a plot without that lens; and in particular a look at where we are in America in 2026.
William basically spews the Great Replacement Theory, but with aliens from outer space instead of illegal aliens. Hal, a white man who was given his job with no experience is threatened by being replaced by John, a man who has trained his whole life for the job of Green Lantern, is arguably better suited for it, and that’s the DEI debate in a nutshell. And despite these themes being omnipresent, Lanterns is never overt about what it’s wrestling with, nor does it forget to have fun. This is an entertaining and intriguing dual murder mystery filled with laughs, bursts of action, and great performances.
Obviously, I was not in the writers room, but seeing Mundy (who worked on True Detective) team up with Lindelof and King seems to have tempered all their worst impulses and brought out the best in the three of them. Lindelof plays his societal themes via superheroes from Watchmen and adds dashes of the mystery box from Lost. King knows how to darken up your classic superheroes, something he’s been doing in comics like Mister Miracle and Strange Adventures for years. But most of the criticisms lobbed at the duo are gone with the wind here, as they bring their personal areas of interest but mix ‘em all up into a pleasing stew of superhero, mystery, and just plain good drama.
In short, I don’t know if Lanterns will save the DCU, but based on what I’ve seen of the show so far, it’s really, really good.
Okay, review portion out the way, let’s get into the recap.
Spoilers for Lanterns Episode 1, “Pilot” past this point.
Flash Back To 1996
I swear I won’t spend a lot of time playing “who wrote this” but this whole flashback scene that kicks off the episode to 1996, showing us young John Stewart, his brothers, and his father, also John Stewart (J. Alphonse Nicholson) smacks of Lindelof. I could be way off base, but this whole sequence feels like it was lifted directly from an unused script for Watchmen Season 2.
In any case, things kick off with a 60 Minutes interview with Hal Jordan, in costume, about a decade into his career as Green Lantern. For you continuity heads, Clark Kent (David Corenswet) is still living in Kansas, Peacemaker (John Cena) and his family have moved into a new house with their Quantum Unfolding Chamber (as seen in Peacemaker Season 2), and more simply the events of most of the DCU (other than flashbacks) haven’t happened yet. That said, superheroes in general have been around for a very long time, as established in Superman; so while this is Green Lantern’s first interview, this is not the world’s first experience with beings with powers.
Anywho, back to the show. We discover that everyone met Green Lantern when he stopped a meteor from “devastating” Victoria Falls. That’s not in DC Comics lore, as far as I’m aware, and it barely matters. The point is that young John and his brothers are enraptured by Hal on TV, though Marcus (one of the brothers) is worried their parents are going to find out they’re watching. Hal, we further discover, is an Air Force pilot, and a “regular person.” He’s also the first Green Lantern from Earth, and his origin lines up with the comics… His father was also an Air Force test pilot, died in a crash while he was watching. He further explains that Green Lanterns are like “beat cops, only each one of us has a chunk of the galaxy.”
As this is going on, on TV, lights pour through the window, as John’s dad comes home, but John keeps watching as Hal explains the test to become a Green Lantern is one question: “are you afraid?” Hal says he lost his fear after he lost his dad… Does this indicate the same will happen – or happened – with John?
We’ll find out later, as John Sr. comes in, dressed in military camo, and he knows exactly what John has been up to. He asks what Green Lantern’s real name is, John says, “Hal… Something,” and John Sr. tells him to go outside. John stands next to the garage, places an apple on his head like he’s done this before. John Sr. asks him “Are you afraid?” which John answers with “No sir,” and then John Sr. shoots the apple off his head, John unflinching. He embraces his son, offers to get him a burger. And important to note: John Sr. did not see the interview, but knows to ask the one question that lets you become a Green Lantern. Hold on to that info for later.
The Dynamic Duo
Flash forward to 2016, and John, now an adult, is pounding a bag so hard it would make Captain America be like, “stop, he’s already dead.” Outside, Hal is running late to pick up John, and I don’t know who cares about this but the license plate is 2ABM543. That’s not a comic book reference: it’s the same plate used in episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lucifer, Episodes, The Rookie and many more. Basically, it’s a default fake plate used in a lot of productions.
Hal is playing “Boogie Shoes” by KC and the Sunshine Band, and we later discover his go-to move is to play songs to annoy people. So you can extrapolate here that with the “accidental” lateness and annoying song, yeah, Hal is testing John. John, though, is unflappable, giving Hal a “yes sir” and leaving it at that. Hal continues to prod John as he drives, noting that he’s been missing for two weeks.
“How come every time you say sir it sounds more and more like f**k you?” Hal asks, to which John replies “I have no idea… Sir.”
Basically, this is all an efficient way to set up their dynamic: grizzled, older cop who plays by his own rules, and younger, locked up cop who plays by the book. You know the drill.
Hal, it seems, was on Pharon 4, which is also not exactly a comic book reference… Dela Pharon was a Star Sapphire, a sometimes antagonist of Green Lantern who focused on love; not a planet. John explains to Hal (and the audience) that he’s in training and hasn’t been off-planet. Hal then fires back that he’s hungover because he helped stop a civil war on the planet, and they were celebrating.
John does seem to be getting a little pissed off, as they’ve been training for two months and not only has he not been off-planet, Hal hasn’t even allowed him to wear the Green Lantern ring. We also discover the Guardians, who run the Green Lantern Corps, chose John; but Hal thinks he’s a “f**king substitute teacher, Junior.” Without beat by beating through every bit of this scene, the idea here is to get the exposition out and the character, and at that the script is pretty efficient.
Hal gives John what he wants (sort of) by putting the ring on the dashboard, rolling out of the car, and telling John he’ll meet him at a taco stand three miles up the road. The car flies over a cliff, John grabs the ring… But we don’t get to see him use it. Instead, he’s next seen walking up the road after the title flashes (and just a note, this show really needs an old school, ‘70s style title sequence, imo). While he walks, John calls John Sr – so this whole training thing isn’t secret – and complains about Hal, versus how he presents to Hal. “They’re allowed to have tantrums, we’re not,” his dad tells him, and you know he’s not talking about trainees versus teachers.
Then, something weird happens. The ring begins beeping, and Hal – or rather, a Hal-o-Gram – pops up. “S**t, am I dead?” the Hal-o-Gram asks, and it turns out this particular version is a backup from a very, very long time ago. Hal – and other Lanterns – are supposed to back up their consciousness weekly, like a dash-cam. But Hal hasn’t been doing that, which should certainly raise viewers’ eyebrows. And this younger version of Hal is confused. Why isn’t older Hal teaching him all of this? And why hasn’t Hal been backing himself up for what seems to be a decade?
At an impasse, the Hal-o-Gram passes on the message he’s supposed to deliver: “There’s hail in Rushville, Nebraska.” And even more confused, John continues to walk down the road.
Taco Tuesday
At the taco stand, Hal is happily taking pictures and signing menus and receipts for fans. Unlike with John, he’s all smiles and helpful; and exposition-wise, we discover that Hal no longer wears his Green Lantern suit except “on special occasions.”
Hal gives John a sarcastic clap when he arrives, and since John can’t fly it turns out he saved his own life by making a bubble wrap construct. Delivering dessert, the taco stand owner asks Hal why he doesn’t wear the suit anymore. As both an explanation and dig on John, he says that it’s how you wear a tie to your job when you’re young so people take you seriously. He’s not even hiding that he’s pointing at John when he says he’s older and wiser, and you realize that “ties are a pain in the a**.”
John gives the ring back to Hal, and when John tells Hal the message, the latter immediately flies away. John also flies, but commercial airline, then via car rental as he makes his way to Rushville…
Rushville, USA
The town, it seems, is mostly empty except for the high school football field which is swarming with cops. One tries to stop John, needling him about being a sidekick, which John does not love. He makes his way into the field, where Hal is sitting in the bleachers (notice where he’s sitting for the end of the episode, by the way).
…and here, I’d argue, is where we get a sense that Hal isn’t just an a**hole, though he is that too: he’s also been doing this job a long time, and knows what he’s doing in it. He understands that Sheriff Kane is doing her job protecting the crime scene, and John finds out quickly to his detriment that she also knows what she’s doing. Up until this particular sequence, John has been presented as the man, the guy just biding his time. This is the first time we see that he does have some things to learn about how this all works.
Also, as a side-note, while Kerry Kane is not a character from DC Comics, the Kane name is a little bit of an eye-opener. They’re a prominent, rich family from Gotham City with at least two notable members. One of those is Kate Kane, who moonlights as Batwoman. The other is Martha Kane, who married some guy named Thomas Wayne, became Martha Wayne, and they had a kid named Bruce Wayne. He’s a billionaire playboy, and also just happens to be Batman. Is Kerry Kane a relative? Perhaps!
Back to the show again, Kerry is exasperated because Hal doesn’t have jurisdiction over terrestrial affairs; he can only come in when there are aliens involved. Hal is convinced that the bodies on the field are aliens; Kerry is not, and she would like him gone. But Hal has a pretty pertinent observation: things are pretty mellow for a mass shooting, perhaps because nobody knows the victims. Perhaps because they’re aliens.
Kerry isn’t dumb… She’s just trying to mitigate any panic, and if they do turn out to be dead aliens, she agrees they’ll deal with it. She merely is asking to let her take the lead, and for them to stay the “f**k out of my way.” And yes, if you thought there was a little chemistry between Kerry and Hal, he sees it too, knowing she hates his guts “but it’s the way she hates ‘em,” he tells John.
Hal, actually testing John, asks him to lay out what happened, and in flashback we see how after the home-team won, everyone stormed the field, with four “people” in visitor shirts getting shot dead in the process. If you’re still combing for Easter eggs, the visiting team is Kimball, which could be a reference to Kimball Zendak, a Legion of Super-Heroes character murdered by Durlan cultists; or it could just be a name they used!
While Hal sticks to his gut for explaining why he thinks its aliens, John has another idea: that “hail” means aliens, and Hal has been monitoring Rushville for a long time for this exact sort of scenario. So, why?
“This is my job, and as long as I’m alive that ain’t changing” Hal says, securing his own death. “And I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.”
That’s when John notices one of the potential aliens still hanging out. That’s why Hal hasn’t left, and why he’s been sitting on the stands for six hours: he wants to know what the dude with the short sleeves who may or may not be extraterrestrial wants. John wants to tell the sheriff about the guy, so he wanders out on the field… But Kerry already knows, and is trying not to spook him.
Guess what John’s presence does? Spooks the guy, who runs for it. Hal shrugs, and John and Kerry give chase… With John eventually cutting ahead of the guy, knocking him unconscious. Kerry cuffs the runner, and Hal demands to interrogate the guy; but she refuses.
Bar None
Over at the local honky-tonk, Hal is forging some dollar bills so he doesn’t have to pay for the jukebox, and cues up a bunch of songs – or as we’re about to find out, one song, many times. We’ll find out why in a second, but in the meantime, John and Hal debate using the ring, and when to use it.
John wants to know how Hal got the ring (with Hal giving a snide “I sure as hell didn’t interview for it,” which is clearly what happened with John), and we do get his origin story here – or at least what he’s willing to tell of it.
“With power like that, shouldn’t you have to work for it, excel, prove yourself?” John asks, drawing a clear line between the two of them. And why does John want to know the origin? Because he thinks that’s why they’re in Nebraska.
The story is that Hal was a test pilot, drunk, sleeping it off when he was awoken inside a green bubble. A voice asked him if he was afraid. He said no, and he was yanked a couple of hundred miles just outside of Rushville next to a crashed spaceship. In front of him was the pilot, pink and bald. He was dying, handed Hal the ring, and Hal could understand him thanks to the ring. The alien was Abin Sur of Sector 2814, and now Hal was his successor, having been chosen by the ring. This, by the way, is pretty much the second part of the origin of Hal Jordan in the comics.
The extra wrinkle, as Hal tells this like a drunken bar yarn, is that Earth is considered a galactic hole in the wall, and below the Guardians (the folks who run the Green Lantern Corps) notice. And because of that… Well, Hal has always suspected the crash wasn’t an accident.
And to that end, he’s been playing the same song over and over to start a bar fight, so he can be taken to jail with the suspected alien, something John quickly figures out. In this case the song is “Brand New Key” by Melanie, and it works, but not before Hal gives John the ring for safe keeping.
While Hal gets the s**t kicked out of him in the background, John meets Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan), a woman drinking at the bar. They talk about the ring, and it’s an interesting dynamic on this show that everyone knows who the Green Lantern is and what they do – very different from the secret identities and shadows we’re used to on these sorts of series.
John is drinking “coke and coke” because he’s on the job, and he and Zoe have a flirty little conversation about space cops having bosses. “Come on, everyone has bosses,” John says awkwardly, which makes one wonder who Zoe’s boss is.
Anywho, John gives some more exposition, that Earth only has one Lantern and he’s being trained in case anything happens to Hal. For those looking ahead, we know that Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) is Green Lantern in Superman, which certainly raises some questions about either what’s changed, or who is Earth’s only Green Lantern (my theory here is that Hal loses the ring in 2016, but John does not get it – it goes to Guy, but I’m getting ahead of myself).
Hal’s plan works and he’s arrested, smiling like the cat who got the canary at John as he’s dragged out. And Zoe asks John to walk her to her truck, where they proceed to have sex… And he lights up her post-coital cigarette with the ring, sort of contradicting his high-and-mighty speech about how to use it to Hal earlier on.
Jailhouse Greens
Over at the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Department (and just a note here: Rushville is a real town in Nebraska that is actually in Sheridan County, not a DC Comics fictional place), John enters to pick up Hal, and Kerry is much, much friendlier to John than Hal – who is locked in the broom closet. Of course Mrs. Sheriff knew he was trying to get in to see the “alien,” and John tries to put on the charm… But it only goes so far: she can’t release John’s “stupid friend” until he’s arraigned.
Taken in front of the judge, Hal’s defense boils down to “come on,” with a side of “I’m Green Lantern.” Luckily – maybe – the local lawhound shows up in the form of Billy Macon. Hal is immediately impressed by Billy, hires him, and Billy even makes jokes about Hal being a “flight risk” which is a pretty solid one. The judge sets bail at $100,000, and when Hal protests she bumps it to $200k. Billy’s dad will pay the bail, and Hal quips about how the guys who pay that kind of money with no strings attached turn out to be bad guys.
The deal is that Macon Sr. is a fan of Hal’s, but don’t worry, he’ll still turn out to be a bad guy, too. And Hal and John agree to go to the Macon Ranch for a barbecue, much to Kerry’s consternation.
Grilled
Pulling up to the Macon Ranch, John and Hal cannot help but notice the heavily armed men outside, as well as the guard towers and men training with guns. So yeah, it’s a militia, amping up the danger everyone is in during this little barbecue.
Billy introduces their son, Noah, and Hal makes a peace offering to Kerry with a beer, though annoys her further by creating a bottle opener with his ring. She’s not impressed, but she does offer up a warning back: William Macon is “not a man you want to owe.” She tries even harder, telling him that he can fly home now and spare himself the regret he’ll feel later. But this little “get off the case” speech of course has the opposite effect (has it ever worked?), Hal is going forward regardless.
In the kitchen, Will is prepping the food, and has ordered some tofu steaks for the vegan John. He knows Hal, of course, and even that John was a marine sniper… But is disappointed the duo didn’t look him up before walking into “enemy territory.” Naturally, the quips back and forth are punctuated by Will cutting meat, the implication clear: if they cross him, it’ll be them on the chopping board next.
And then we get another intriguing bit of plot… Will says the house and property isn’t his, he’s just the “caretaker.” He can’t say who he’s taking care for, because of his NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), to which Hal guesses the government. But that’s not right: Will didn’t just bail Hal out to help in some “wackadoo war with the feds.” No, they bailed him out because of the aliens.
Later, while grilling, Will lays it out further, that the whole world “flipped out” when Hal appeared (Superman is still years away from making his own debut in the DCU), but they buried the “lede,” that there are thousands of alien planets out there. Comparing what happened to the Indigenous people of Nebraska, Will thinks the same thing will happen with humans and aliens: we’ll be colonized, replaced, wiped out.
Hal tries to explain that the galaxy is “a pretty peaceful place,” so Will counters: “Well, what do they need space cops for?” So yeah, Will is preparing for a war with a potential alien threat, and now some sort of alien threat has come to his town: he believes the man in the jail is part of an “advance team,” and will clear Hal’s way to interrogating the alien. In exchange for what? We’ll find out later.
John, meanwhile, goes and gives football lessons to Noah; and he’s clearly a better teacher than Hal because he helps the kid nail the pigskin through a tire. Part of the goal here is getting across John’s concentration and his fond memory of getting apples shot off his head. But it’s also so we can meet Noah’s grandma… Zoe.
Oops, yeah, John banged Will Macon’s wife in a truck. Who’s the reckless Green Lantern now?
After dinner (and odd that we don’t get to see that awkward dinner scene), Will is walking John and Hal to the car with a bag of leftovers and the news that Kerry is letting them interview the suspect. Hal’s still suspicious though… What does Will want? He says it’s because “two of my boys almost got killed last night,” and he wants to protect the planet from “anybody not born on it.”
Then Macon turns to John, asks if he messed up his tofu, and adds, “Nothing better than eating off another man’s grill,” which sure seems to imply he knows John boned his wife. John immediately confesses to Hal, they know that Macon knows, and generally, Hal is “impressed.”
Alien Autopsy
Arriving late (of course) at the station the next morning, they’re greeted by the perennially annoyed Kerry, who brings them in to interview Waylon Sanders (Chris Coy). Again, not a comic book reference, just a name of a character… Which is refreshing? It’s nice to have a comic book show be (mostly) devoid of deep cut Easter eggs, presumably focusing instead on references that are actually important to the story.
While Kerry, Hal, and John stand on the other side of the one-way mirror watching Waylon, she explains he’s just a regular truck driver from Kimball, they took X-rays of him and he was all human. Hal prompts John to explain how many alien races can pass as human, and the answer is 14, though Hal believes he can make him confess.
Hal enters, offers Waylon a cup of coffee, and immediately starts needling him, saying that he just wants to “phone home – get home, I bet.” Hal pushes it further, quizzing Waylon about football, which he nails. And then Hal asks him where Harry Potter went to school, for a little HBO corporate synergy. The point here is that aliens memorize the basic facts, but don’t know the greater cultural stuff that seeps through into the public consciousness.
While Hal is putting on his charm, Kerry has a quick chat with John about not respecting Hal; though John insists he does. Why? “I don’t know, he’s fearless.” But Kerry has another view… The reason he has no fear is because he doesn’t care about anybody. “He’s not f**king fearless,” she says. “He’s lonely.”
Back in the interrogation room, Hal continues to push, noting that he can’t tell him who Barack Obama is, to which Waylon answers, “Barack Obama is the President of the United States.” And that really gets Hal, firing back, “As a rural Nebraskan, that’s the breadth of your opinion of Barack Hussein Obama?” While we don’t know what month this is taking place in, you’ll recall this is the midst of Trump’s presidential campaign, and Trump is birther number one. So yeah, Waylon the human would have some opinions.
At which point, they realize, yep, he is an alien. While Waylon doesn’t explicitly say it, he does start to talk about why he came to our terrible planet, and that he’s there for an important, secret purpose… One they’re trying to keep secret from the Green Lantern Corps “because it concerns the exact opposite of peace. That being war.”
To keep that secret, Waylon has a “biometric neutron device woven into my skeleton,” aka a bomb. If Waylon blows up, Hal will “bubble up,” though Waylon has a pertinent question: Hal has been in town 48 hours, did he bring his lantern to recharge the ring? Waylon keeps prodding at Hal now, repeating the Green Lantern oath, which drives him over the edge, picking up Waylon and slamming him against the mirror.
As Waylon begins to beep, his bomb activated, he finally says why he’s in town: “Vengeance.”
Hal throws Waylon in the corner, bubbles him up, and the bomb goes off, taking out a chunk of the station. John and Kerry are blown back, and Hal survives too. “Told you he was an alien,” Hal says as we zoom out of the wreckage, the townspeople gathering.
2026
We’re not done yet. Cutting to “now,” we see John driving back into town. He now has a goatee, and is sipping coffee, clearly having driven all night. Why is he not flying? Well, see above about possibly not having the Green Lantern ring. Meanwhile, he sees the wreckage of a massive warehouse/silo we saw when he drove into town the first time, indicating something likely went down in 2016.
He arrives at the high school, where Kerry is waiting in her cop car in the snow. They embrace, and John asks about Noah, who is now the high school quarterback. Then they get around to it, with John asking if anyone else knows, and it’s just the groundskeeper.
Know what, exactly? Well, there’s Hal Jordan, sitting in the same seat he sat in on the bleachers 10 years prior, frozen and dead. There’s blood on his face, but whether he was shot or not isn’t quite clear. John approaches Hal’s body, and brushes the snow from his hand. The ring isn’t there (and no, John doesn’t have one on either). And that’s what we’re left with, as “Knievel” by the Scud Mountain Boys plays over the credits.
There you go! First episode in the books. And as a little bonus, I’m going to try to keep a running speculation below of our mysteries this season, with likely suspects, so let’s get to it.
Who Killed Hal Jordan?
It’s a short little scene-let at the end, but I think we can rule out John and Kerry as the murderers. Is it possible Guy Gardner killed Hal, stole his ring, and that’s how he’s Green Lantern in Superman? I guess, though that would be a wild swerve; and Guy hasn’t been introduced yet on the show (nor will he be mentioned in the first four episodes). Mystery 101 is the answer is always in the first episode, so Will Macon is the likely suspect, though that seems a little too obvious.
I do think a lot of the answer to this question — who killed Hal — is answered by the second question below: who is Macon’s boss? But on the off chance it’s not the same answer, to throw out a wild theory: how about John Sr? If John’s dad is highly invested in his son becoming Green Lantern, as established in this episode, has a gun, and is willing to use it, and if John is not Green Lantern yet, might he maybe kill Hal to get the ring for his son? I don’t think we have enough evidence yet to say “case closed” on this, and even I’m not convinced of this theory. But it sure looks like Hal was shot in the head, and thus far other than random militia men nobody except John Sr is packing.
Who Is Macon’s Boss?
Again, this is almost definitely someone we’ve already met on the show, unless, say, they’re bringing in Atrocitus the red Rage Lantern as folks speculated online; or he’s working for Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen), who we haven’t met on the show yet but will be turning up shortly. Sinestro is Hal’s arch-enemy/former teacher, so there could be something going on there… Though Sinestro is an alien so building up an army of alien haters doesn’t make a lot of sense.
I’ll throw out two wild possibilities, because again I don’t think the boss is John or Kerry, or Hal for that matter: is it Zoe? She sure seems to know a lot about John, Hal, Green Lanterns, etc when she chats with John in the bar. And it would be the classic femme fatale setup: she sleeps with the hero, charms him, but is the actual mastermind behind everything for unknown reasons.
The other thought that I had during the episode was Noah, because who would suspect a child? But having him still be around, in high school, in the 2026 portion somewhat rules that out. For the moment, I’m sticking with Zoe as the most likely possibility, though I’m not quite sure why she might have killed Hal, if she did.
Lanterns Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
New episodes of Lanterns premiere Sundays on HBO and HBO Max at 9 p.m. ET. Here’s what we expect from the full list of episodes in Lanterns with premiere dates.
- Sunday, August 16, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 1
- Sunday, August 23, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 2
- Sunday, August 30, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 3
- Sunday, September 6, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 4
- Sunday, September 13, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 5
- Sunday, September 20, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 6
- Sunday, September 27, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 7
- Sunday, October 4, 2026: Lanterns, Episode 8 *Season Finale*
Where To Watch Lanterns
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