“Lanterns delivers its best episode yet—an explosive chapter packed with revelations.”
It’s time for a new episode of Lanterns! Created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King, it stars Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan, Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, Kelly Macdonald, Garrett Dillahunt and Poorna Jagannathan. A new episode is now streaming on HBO Max.
SINESTRO AND HAL JORDAN
This episode picks up where we left off at the end of the second episode – with the conversation between Sinestro and Hal Jordan. Just seeing the two interacting and Hal in the Green Lantern suit is simply amazing. And this suit—we need to talk about it again. It’s perfect, literally perfect. The fact that it’s a practical suit makes all the difference. There’s something bulky about it that gives Hal a commanding presence. And the faded colour, the fact that it isn’t brand new, tells us that Hal is experienced.
The way this scene is filmed, relying heavily on close-up shots of the two characters, creates a palpable sense of tension and uncertainty about their intentions. It’s an intimate scene that reveals a great deal about Hal’s state of mind. He knows his time is up, but he’s not ready to give up just yet. Despite the words he utters, his facial expressions reveal that he has far more doubts about what to do than he lets Sinestro see. This is a masterclass in both storytelling and acting.
THE MANHUNTER
Moreover, this episode is packed with revelations. Undoubtedly, it’s the turning point of Lanterns and its best episode yet. The investigation takes a huge leap forward, with the audience constantly being sent in different directions about the identity of the Manhunter—until one scene finally points clearly toward the truth. Damon Lindelof and his team of writers have crafted something brilliantly written. The first two episodes raised a lot of questions, and now this episode starts providing the answers. But before those answers arrive at the end of the episode, the writers cleverly play with the characters and what they know. The reveal is handled so effortlessly. It’s naturally hinted at during a conversation before being clearly spelled out in the final scene of the episode. And obviously this episode ends with a cliffhanger.
The writing with this series is top tier. Ending episodes with cliffhangers is what you want from a series like this one. That’s exactly the point of making it a series. You gotta play with the audience. Geeta Vasant Patel has done an amazing work directing this episode. She knows how to handle close-up shots and build tension with them. She also does that with the scene between the Guardian and John Stewart. This scene reveals a lot about how the Guardians are. It also shows who John Stewart is. Despite what he says to the Guardian in this scene, it’s his actions afterwards that matter the most and shows what kind of character he is.
VERDICT
Lanterns delivers its best episode yet—an explosive chapter packed with revelations.
A new episode of Lanterns is now streaming on HBO Max.
Collectables and Anime Editor for Future Of The Force.
Star Wars expert and Japan connoisseur.
