I’ll be honest, I wasn’t terribly excited for Lanterns, the latest entry in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU and the current show on HBO Sundays. The main reason is the trailers didn’t really hook me, despite the initial pitch for the show definitely catching my interest. Space cops meets True Detective? So now that the show has launched, were my fears warranted or is this a show worth watching? Let’s find out.
Lanterns is created by Chris Mundy (who also serves as showrunner), Lost and The Leftovers’ Damon Lindelof, and comic writer Tom King. It stars Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan, Earth’s Green Lantern (who are space cops in the DC universe). Unlike other superheroes, Hal doesn’t have a mask or an alter ego; he’s something of a celebrity, in fact, doing 60 Minutes interviews and taking selfies at taco stands. At his side is John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), a Lantern in training, eager to make a name for himself and claim the magic ring that makes the Lanterns so unique. When the pair find themselves in a small town in Nebraska, they end up getting tangled up in a murder investigation, an alien conspiracy, a local militia, and, by the episode’s conclusion, the murder of Hal himself some ten years later due to a gunshot to the head.
The end of the episode was quite the surprise. Kyle Chandler is billed as the series lead, and based on trailer footage, we know he’s coming back to fill in the rest of the plotline that takes place in 2016, when most of this episode takes place. But how, and why, did he meet his end years later in the same small town and where is his Lantern ring? Already, questions and interesting ones at that. Making your lead the focal point of a murder investigation isn’t something I was expecting, and it’s a unique twist. I was convinced that the Lanterns were going to be called to Earth to investigate the murder of Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), who shows up in Superman, but this is a far juicier route to take the narrative.
Chandler does his best Coach Eric Taylor from Friday Night Lights, but somehow even grumpier and coarser here as a cop with little patience or interest in others. He likes to remind others that he’s fearless, a quality that landed him the gig in the first place, but as Kelly Macdonald’s Sheriff Kerry Kane points out, anyone who is that heartless to others isn’t a role model of a hero, just a lonely individual who doesn’t care about anyone. If he did, he would be afraid of losing them, after all. Kane may be the sheriff of the town, and she runs a tight ship and doesn’t really care for the presence of the Lanterns in her town, but she isn’t the sole authority. She’s married to Billy Macron (Jason Ritter), a defence lawyer who is the son of William Macon (Garret Dillahunt, who looks great for 61), a wealthy farmer who fears aliens will be the new colonizers of Earth and is prepared to do anything to keep Earth run by humans, for humans. He seems to be the true power in town, bailing Hal out of prison after he attempted to interview a suspect behind bars, and striking a deal of sorts with him in the process. Kane pleads to Hal that it’s not too late to fly away, as owing the Macon family means you’re indebted for life; something she implies she knows all too well.
Aaron Pierre is also great casting as John Stewart. The son of a military father figure who would shoot apples off his son’s head as a child to instill a sense of fearlessness, John is eager to prove himself worthy of the ring, but has to put up with a lot of hostile aggression from Hal. Unlike Hal’s assholery, John is far more stoic, reserved, and well-mannered, but still interesting to watch as he not only has to put up with a lot of crap, but has to find ways to prove to Hal, and us, that he’s worthy. But what is worthy?
Those who were maybe looking for a more classical approach to this superhero story may find themselves disappointed. This doesn’t per se feel like a DC comic event, as there’s no cosmic adventure or big CGI spectacle. It definitely looks, and feels, more like True Detective season one, with maybe a sprinkle of Slow Horses for good measure. I personally like this approach, and I think HBO was the right platform to tell this interpretation of the Green Lanterns on.
With a murder mystery tied to the series lead, and multiple timelines now established, coupled with a pair of cops who are nothing alike, it’s easy to see the influence of True Detective season one at play. I’m hoping it remains influential and not derivative of one of the best TV seasons ever, but Lanterns is off to a good start, keeping its DNA locked into a far more grounded story. It’s smaller in scope, but it’s putting character and mystery at the forefront instead of bombastic galactic adventures. That may not work for purists, but I’m on board and intrigued as to where this show will go next.
