‘Lanterns’ Is Here and Sets the Stage Masterfully

Shooting at children, adultery, attempted murder, killer militias, exploding police stations— welcome to the world of DC Studios’ Lanterns . Yes, the highly anticipated show from Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King is finally here, and the first episode had a little bit of everything , and a lot of Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) going back and forth . Here’s a rundown of the pilot episode.

Things start in 1996 with a bunch of kids watching the first-ever interview with Hal Jordan. Up until now, he’s just been the Green Lantern. We learn he’s been around for several decades. He’s a pilot. His father (another pilot) died when he was 8, and he’s Earth’s only Green Lantern. There’s also the key piece of information that, to become Green Lantern, he was only asked one question: “Are you afraid?” It’s the same question a young John Stewart’s dad (J. Alphonse Nicholson) asks him as he points a pistol at him and shoots an apple off his head. Talk about a way to start a show and set the tone. As that apple explodes and young John stands there, completely unaffected, you realize this kid is different. And something is very off.

It’s 20 years later, in 2016. Hal picks up John, whom he has been training for two months. Hal’s late, has been missing for two weeks, and starts pushing John to be mad about it. John is, but he’s too focused to admit it. Hal explains that he was off-planet settling a dispute, but John has no context for this because they haven’t gone off-planet yet for training. They haven’t even done anything with the ring yet. Hal uses this as a teaching exercise and jumps out of the car, forcing John to use the ring to save his life.

On the way back to Hal, John is visited by… Hal. “Am I dead?” He’s a backup of Hal’s consciousness from the ring, who has arrived to give himself a message: “There’s hail in Rushville, Nebraska.” This is a different Hal, by the way. He’s a bit less rigid. A bit kinder. A lot has happened in the 10 years since current Hal backed himself up as this version.

After a quick stop for tacos and photos with adoring fans, John gives Hal his message, and he quickly flies off, leaving John with the check and a long trip from California to Nebraska. Once there, John meets the town’s sheriff, Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald), who makes it clear she is not happy that Hal, and now John, is there. Hal likes that about her.

There has been a shooting at a high school football game that Hal thinks was committed by aliens, but Kane isn’t so sure. John is curious why and how Hal even knows about Rushville, Nebraska, but he’s not saying. Soon, a man who stands out for a few reasons makes a run for it, and John and Kane run him down and arrest him. Hal wants to interrogate him, but Kane says no.

At a local bar, we learn a ton about the history of this world, and why Hal was so interested in Nebraska. Hal explains that he was woken up in the middle of the night by a green bubble that asked him, “Are you afraid?” When he said no, he was rocked across the country to Nebraska. To a spaceship crash. A pink, bald alien by the name of Abin Sur had crashed his ship, and the ring transferred to Hal.