Lanterns returns this week with its sophomore episode, which, interestingly enough, separates its two leads for the majority of the episode while introducing new elements of the greater mystery. It was a touch more cosmic and sci-fi than its grounded opener, but still focused on the 2016 mystery timeline. Let’s see how we fared this week.
One of the big things this week is that the show splits up Hal and John for most of the episode’s runtime. Part of the success of the pilot was the back-and-forth squabbling between the pair, so to break it up so early on is a bit of a gamble. It largely works, thanks to the duo moving the plot forward in some aspect. Hal gets to do a lot more detective work while being unencumbered by John and his questions, deducing that the metal detectors at the football field aren’t actually looking for metal, but rather aliens. To prove his point, he steals the alien corpses from the morgue and passes them through the detectors, which promptly beep, as opposed to him walking the front grille of his rental car through the machine without any hassle. This means that Sheriff Kane knew a lot more than she was leading on about the aliens, making us wonder just who we can trust in this small town. So where did the town get the technology to scan for aliens and just who is the mysterious benefactor paying for all that handy tech? Part of the overall mystery for sure, and will likely tie into Hal’s mysterious murder.
John, on the other hand, is sent on an errand to recover the titular lantern from Hal’s ridiculous house in Central City. I didn’t quite see the point of the Earl scene, a carnivorous alien plant Hal keeps in a greenhouse, other than to serve as an easter egg for fans or, perhaps, a smoking gun for later in the season. But I found it added nothing to this episode. What did happen with John was crossing paths with Antaan, played by The Wire’s Paul Ben-Victor, who clues John into the concept of the Manhunters, shapeshifting aliens who can take on the guise of anyone and infiltrate. But considering Antaan and the suicide bomber last week are also aliens who look like humans, it does make the threat of the Manhunters feel a little anti-climactic.
The end of the episode veers into more of the cosmic nature found in the comics, with Hal putting on the Green Lantern costume he seemingly loathes so much and flies off into space. We don’t get a title card saying where he is exactly, so I’m not sure if he’s on Oa or not, but he does go to pay a visit to Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen), the longtime villain of the Lanterns. We don’t get too much here, so hopefully the third episode picks this conversation up, but Sinestro does seem particularly interested in John Stewart. Why and how he even knows about him is unknown, but this week’s episode made it a big deal that he was able to keep a bird construct alive without the ring on him over State lines a big deal, so John likely has some hidden potential that will make him more important as the show goes on.
