Jayden Pinto is The Eight30’s lead entertainment columnist. Find him on Letterboxd for more immediate reactions on new releases: @JaydenP0205
REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS.
Admittedly, I haven’t consumed much Green Lantern media outside the terrible 2011 film, but I was excited for this show nonetheless. And it did not disappoint. A common trend in recent superhero media seems to be reshaping a character to better fit the modern world. We already saw this with the Green Lantern selection process as a whole earlier in the season, which now requires a regular interview.
This show also shifts the focus of the Green Lantern character from Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) to John Stewart. While Hal has appeared in every episode this season, the story has uniquely followed John as he learns what it’s like to become the Green Lantern. After rejecting the ring a few episodes ago, here he embraces it and changes the meaning of Green Lantern. He goes so far as to even change the oath once he finally takes the ring in the final moments of the episode. John will undoubtedly be the main Green Lantern we follow going forward, but a conflict with the Green Lantern Corps may start to develop, especially with the back-and-forth between John and Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion).
What I found interesting was the idea that John will be an “independent contractor” going forward. I’m not sure how this will play out in the long run for the character, but I’d imagine that this decision will allow John to play the role of an anti-hero more than a traditional superhero, and I love that change. This especially allows for the DCU to diversify its universe and tell stories that we may not typically see within the superhero genre. For example, this season took its time to speak about the Black experience in America. You can even view the Manhunter storyline as being a metaphor for a post-9/11 America. And in this episode, once we find out Noah’s (Shea Pritchard) true identity- from the way he handed over the ring to John and the way he spoke about his potential future- I felt as though his story was a metaphor for school shootings. Once again, this all goes back to how Green Lantern’s story was modernized and was able to tell a story that didn’t feel like a generic cop story that we might expect from the space cops.
I’d love to take a moment to appreciate the acting of Kelly Macdonald, who may have been the star of the show anytime she was on screen. Portraying Sheriff Kerry Kane, she played the middleman between the people of Rushville and the Green Lanterns. Her story concluded with the reveal that she killed Hal Jordan; while this was teased in the last episode, the reveal of Noah being a manhunter made it seem as though she may not have had any involvement in Hal’s killing. Her killing of Hal wasn’t malicious; instead, it was in defense of her son Noah. This further gives us a reason to believe why John wouldn’t kill Noah despite his request. Kelly was able to sell this inner turmoil so well. You can tell it still hurt her to kill Hal and how much she may have regretted the decision.
A big issue people had with the show was the lack of powers showcased. In a way, it wasn’t much of a Green Lantern show aside from the names. However, I think that decision was amazing. This allowed us to get attached to the characters, not the ring and powers. Going forward, we have that emotional connection to John; we’ll understand any decisions he makes in the future and his general psyche.
While allowing John to be the focus of the show, this was also a beautiful send-off to Hal Jordan. Here, his story doesn’t fit the current state of the world in-universe. John is the result of seeing the Green Lantern Corps fail, while also growing to become one. He is the ultimate Green Lantern, and that story doesn’t work nearly as well without the story told for Hal Jordan here. As much as it may suck to not see him going forward, his presence will still be felt.
In the end, I was very pleased with the finale of Lanterns and the season as a whole. We even got an appearance from Guy Gardner, which was filled with the comedic and idiotic nature of his character that we saw in Superman. The future of Green Lantern is strong, and DC may have finally been able to shake off the disaster that was the 2011 Ryan Reynolds movie.
What comes next for the character is a mystery to me. Aaron Pierre will return in Man of Tomorrow, so maybe we’ll have the chance to see him form the official Justice League. I, for one, am excited to see what comes next, though, whether that’s another season or maybe even a movie; I will fully tune in. While the list is short, Lanterns is probably the second-best project from the DCU aside from Superman, and I can’t wait for what comes next.
