HBO's DC Universe series Lanterns promised a show that set aside typical superhero antics for a gritty realism closer to True Detective or Slow Horses. This reviewer liked that change and argues the show deserves better than the review bombing it has received. The season closes with an emotionally charged, almost elegiac finale that fully delivers on that early promise. Many of the rebooted DC Universe films have been enjoyable but forgettable, even when their strengths outweigh their flaws. Lanterns, by contrast, shows what can happen when creators are given room to get genuinely inventive within the genre.
The series follows two storylines. In 2016, a mass shooting at a football game in Rushville, Nebraska draws in Green Lantern Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and his new trainee, John Stewart (Aaron Pierre). Sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald) resents their interference, initially doubting any extraterrestrial link, until the suspect, an alien, self-detonates. Hal's power ring contains the damage, but the mystery deepens. The suspect belonged to a group of survivors of a genocide carried out by the Manhunters, beings once created by the Guardians of the Universe. The lone surviving Manhunter is hiding in town disguised as a human, and the alien leader, Antaan (Paul Ben-Victor), gives the Lanterns 48 hours to hand them over or he will destroy Rushville.
The second storyline jumps to 2026, when Hal, now a social pariah in town, is murdered. That case drives the second half of the season as Stewart teams up with the sheriff to solve it.
The cast is uniformly strong, and Chandler and Pierre have substantial material to work with. Showrunner Chris Mundy has described the theme of knowing when to step aside for a successor, which the clashing Hal and John embody.
Source: Ars Technica · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing