Rarely has something left me so frustrated yet entertained like Lanterns. The first four episodes of this DC Studios/HBO show left me tossing and turning like I was in Bonnie Tyler's "I Need a Hero." Some strong storytelling instincts abound in this grittier, dark mystery take on the Green Lantern mythology. Yet that same quality is as often a shortcoming as it is a strength. Adherence to grimmer aesthetics produces some "woah!" moments. Yet there's also the sense that Lanterns can't escape feeling like what you'd imagine an HBO Green Lantern show (constrained by television budgetary restrictions) would look like. Of course, such a production would opt for lingering around a dusty Nebraska hotel rather than the maximalist cosmic destinations of the comics.
And yet...as a wise Benoit Blanc once remarked, Lanterns "compels me, though." There's outright exceptional material in here, not to mention a bevy of strong performances. Rarely has a show delivered episodes that resonated as both subversive and Wattpad True Detective fan-fiction, sometimes in the same scene.
Happily, Lanterns, like fellow DC Studios production Superman, begins in media res. Picking up in 2016, John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) has been training to become a Green Lantern (basically a space cop who can fly and has a ring that can materialize anything) under salty Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) for two months. Jordan's been a Green Lantern for decades now and he hates the idea of a "youngster" cutting in on his turf. Their training takes a more severe turn after a mass shooting in Rushville, Nebraska. Jordan's convinced that this wasn't just another rural slaughter. Instead, he knows aliens were at the center of this.
Now, the duo begins investigating what's actually going on in Rushville, much to the chagrin of Sheriff Kerry (Kelly Macdonald), quasi-David Koresh stand-in William Macon (Garret Dillahunt), and other local residents. Being "true detectives" in this environment is already a hassle. Adding further complications to the proceedings, though, is Stewart and Jordan keeping secrets from each other. Those hidden motivations will become only more dangerous once it becomes clear that a Manhunter (ancient alien robots that were the precursors to the Green Lanterns) is lurking inside Rushville.
Though it's fully committed to "grounded" reality, Lanterns, has a welcome weirdness streak. An extended exposition scene in the show's fourth episode, for instance, is filtered through Stewart sketching a nude portrait of one of the program's male leads. Meanwhile, an entire second episode set piece involves Jordan flinging corpses around. There's even a cute use of the Rings powers for a post-sex cigarette. The writers of these first four outings (which include the series creators as well as Justin Britt-Gibson and Vanessa Baden Kelly) are working with backdrops that are more The Last Picture Show than Speed Racer. Happily, though, that doesn't stop them from injecting some creative outlandishness (and, by proxy, specificity) into the proceedings
These writers also laudably commit to making Lanterns work as an episodic TV show. Granted, all eight episodes appear to be building towards one larger serialized story (including a series premiere epilogue set in the modern world presumably teasing what this season's leading up to). However, each of the first four episodes has idiosyncratic qualities that make sure they're not just rehashing the same plot points over and over. The second installment, for instance, heavily involves Stewart on a solo journey accompanied by a small bird he conjured with that Power Ring. Meanwhile, the third episode revolves around flashbacks to Stewart's childhood while the fourth endeavor has a standalone villain-of-the-week adversary.
These storytelling instincts ensure Lanterns functions successfully as episodic storytelling rather than just feeling like a DC Studios movie that was sweatily ballooned to eight hours. Hooray for television functioning like television!
Meanwhile, there's at least an attempt to delve into some weightier topics within the grimmer Lanterns tone. The show's third episode, which largely explores John Stewart's backstory, deftly epitomizes this. This outing shows how Stewart's potential as a Green Lantern was revealed to his parents when he was just a baby. From there, his mother and father worked overtime to make sure he developed the fearlessness neccesary to become a Green Lantern and "have the life we never had." In other words, Lanterns recontextualizes the Green Lantern ring process to demonstrate how Black people have to work overtime for things white people are just handed. Abin Sur crash-landed near Hal Jordan and just handed him that ring. Stewart, meanwhile, worked himself to the bone to be even considered by the Guardians of Oa.
That whole episode is a thoughtful outing bringing something new to the Green Lantern lore while working as effective drama in its own right. Providing a showcase for Jasmine Cephas Jones' (who plays the younger version of Stewart's mom) acting chops doesn't hurt either. Embracing these weightier concepts lends welcome distinctive jaggedness to the buddy cop rapport of Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Throughout these four Lanterns episodes, they don't feel like initial rivals who will predictably become friends. Jordan's hostility towards a younger person (and a Black man at that) daring to believe he's worthy of this power informs greater intensity to their dynamic. You're not waiting for them to hug. You're instead intrigued by what new messy developments will further fracture their relationship.
Unfortunately, Lanterns is a lot limper visually. For starters, these four episodes emphasize dim lighting and subdued colors so much that different environments become indistinguishable. It makes total sense that a dingy Rushville, Nebraska prison wouldn't have vibrant hues littering the walls. However, when Jordan visits Sinistero (Ulrich Thomsen) in a cosmic prison, this drab color scheme persists. The farthest reaches of outer space have all the vibrancy of a 2006 mumblecore movie. Turn on the lightbulbs and get some primary colors in here, stat!
Meanwhile, the blocking and editing in this show is sometimes shockingly amateurish. Sinestro, for instance, is introduced in clumsy medium shots devoid of theatricality. Where's the pomp and circumstance in how audiences first see such a pivotal Green Lantern character? Earthbound conversations between humans are filmed with rudimentary camerawork and no staging specificity. Super down-to-Earth HBO crime shows like Barry were riddled with unforgettable images, inspired uses of empty space, and deeply precise camerawork. In other words, neither TV's budgetary confines nor being stuck filming people talking innately creates visual lethargy.
Unfortunately, helmers like director James Hawes (who directs half of these first four installments) struggle to breathe any memorable visual life into Lanterns. Additionally, the program's ambiance often reminds one of visually superior television programming (like True Detective). That just reinforces the imagery-based woes plaguing this particular endeavor. Combining these shortcomings with the pervasively grim color palette ensures that the program struggles to soar as high as it could. Yet, despite these problems, Lanterns kept my interest. Often quite intensely.
Perhaps that's the magic of Aaron Pierre, who's as compelling here as he was in 2024's terrific Rebel Ridge. Maybe it's the interesting juxtaposition of a grimy Western backdrop with comic book antics like John Stewart using his ring to conjure up a gigantic green drilling machine or encountering a cosmic Venus Fly Trap. There might even be a dollop of Stockholm Syndrome at play with me warming up to this show after four episodes. Whatever the reason, Lanterns does work more often than not. Unfortunately, its derivative and drab visual impulses are antithetical to the subversive TV programming it's trying so hard to emulate.
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