Lanterns — Episode 1 Review
I’ll admit, the trailers for Lanterns didn’t completely grab me. They gave us the general vibe of the show without revealing much, and from the outside it almost looked like Yellowstone with Green Lanterns thrown into the mix. But after watching this first episode, I’m completely on board.
Lanterns is nothing like the last live-action version of Green Lantern we got with the 2011 Ryan Reynolds movie. This is gritty, grounded and surprisingly mature. There’s swearing, violence and a much more tangible feeling to the world. It almost plays like a mixture of Reacher, a detective series and a superhero show, which actually makes perfect sense when you remember that the Green Lanterns are essentially space cops.
Kyle Chandler is great as Hal Jordan. This is a much older Hal than we’re used to seeing, and Chandler gives him this relaxed, almost carefree attitude that works incredibly well against Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart. John is the complete opposite. He’s disciplined, serious and incredibly focused, and the episode immediately establishes why.
The cold open shows John as a child with his military father, who puts an apple on his head and shoots it off while asking his son whether he’s afraid. It’s a pretty intense way of showing the environment John grew up in, and you immediately understand why the adult John carries himself the way he does.
That difference between John and Hal creates one of the most interesting dynamics of the episode. John wants to become the next Green Lantern and clearly wants Hal’s respect, while Hal has absolutely no intention of giving up his ring. He’s training John because somebody will eventually have to replace him if he dies, but as Hal makes pretty clear, he doesn’t plan on dying anytime soon. There’s tension between them, but there’s also some genuinely funny banter and a growing mutual respect.
The ring itself is also incredibly cool. The effects throughout the episode are strong, and nothing visually pulled me out of the story. The constructs feel convincing, the props look great, and the cinematography maintains that grounded atmosphere without making the superhero elements feel out of place.
The mystery is where Lanterns really hooked me, though. John encounters a younger version of Hal stored inside the ring, essentially a backup of Hal’s consciousness that points him towards a location connected to something much bigger. That eventually leads John and Hal to investigate a triple murder. Hal is convinced there’s an alien connection, while the local authorities insist that this is an ordinary human crime and that he has no jurisdiction.
That clash is basically the perfect premise for this show. It allows Lanterns to remain grounded while slowly introducing the cosmic side of Green Lantern. The aliens can look human and live seemingly normal lives, so the show doesn’t need to constantly throw giant CGI creatures or massive space battles at us to remind us that we’re watching science fiction. The weirdness exists underneath an otherwise recognisable world.
The pacing also really worked for me. It has elements of a slower prestige drama, but it never actually felt slow. There’s enough mystery, character work, comedy and action constantly moving things forward. The dialogue is sharp without trying too hard to sound clever, and Hal and John already have very distinct voices.
Even tonally, it manages a difficult balance. The story takes itself seriously, but Hal brings enough humour that it never becomes relentlessly miserable. There are also different time periods woven into the story, helping build these characters and their history without killing the momentum.
There are still obviously plenty of questions about the world, the mythology and exactly where this mystery is heading, but that’s what you want from a pilot. It establishes enough rules for you to understand what’s happening while deliberately leaving things unexplained.
And most importantly, the cliffhanger left me genuinely wanting the next episode. After one episode, I honestly don’t have any major complaints. Maybe those will emerge as the season progresses, but as an introduction, Lanterns did exactly what I wanted it to do and managed to completely change my expectations after those trailers. It’s gritty, funny, mysterious and unmistakably Green Lantern without feeling like anything we’ve previously seen from the character in live action.
