‘Lanterns’ Blows up One of Its Biggest Fan Theories (And More!)

I’m still pretty amazed by how “detective-forward” Lanterns is. In a world where Warner Bros. is trying to grow its flagship comic book cinematic universe, all its entries so far have been heavy on the superhero-ness of it all (which is totally fine). Lanterns, on the other hand, has mostly been a grounded murder mystery, with the occasional alien, green bubble, or, now, crystallized heart. It’s a delicate balance, and one character, Antaan, represents that pretty well.

Antaan is an intergalactic being posing as a human who wants to destroy the last Manhunter. This race has caused horrific damage across the galaxy, including to Antaan personally (more on that in a bit). He’s so deeply connected to the cosmic lore presented in the show, but his mission feels as grounded as so many other elements. But early on, the actor playing him, Paul Ben-Victor, posted a photo online of his body being scanned for something for the show. People assumed this, combined with his backstory, meant he was the Green Lantern villain Atrocitus. Well, the show addressed that theory this week, directly and indirectly, all while revealing why that photo was likely taken.

First, this week kicked off with a pretty huge reveal. After last discovering that John Stewart had deduced that the Manhunter hiding in Rushville was Zoe, the newest episode revealed that Sheriff Kerry Kane has known that information for almost ten years, having been saved by Zoe in 2007. Kane was on the run from some Gotham hitmen and was saved in Rushville’s diner. It gives us a good look at how Zoe has managed to get this town on her side, as we see her alien technology help Kane grow back a pinky, which Zoe had recommended she cut off to dissuade her attackers from returning.

Back in 2016, John is still stuck in his rental car, as Hal lets him know that he’s going to capture Zoe and turn her in himself, ensuring that the Guardians never take his ring away. In the comics, Hal had a whole run where he went crazy with grief and killed a bunch of Green Lanterns and the Guardians. It’s later retconned that he was under the control of the embodiment of fear, but Hal breaking bad was still a constant source of discussion in the comics. I don’t think that is happening here, but to say Hal leaned into his more unlikeable aspects in this episode would be an understatement.

Hal leaves John in the car as he seeks to turn Antaan against William Macon and his militia. John is then visited by Zoe, who, in a similar manner to how she got Kane on her side, allows John to be blown up, burned, and almost killed in the car. After that, she brings him to the hospital and promises to heal him as long as he doesn’t reveal her location to the Guardians, and tells them that Hal died fighting Antaan because she definitely wants to kill Hal as well. John agrees, while revealing something else he figured out: the Guardians created the Manhunters.

The whole scene is fantastic, and even leads to Zoe tearfully revealing that she killed Abin Sur, the alien who gave Hal his ring, despite Sur saving her, because murdering is in her nature, as is falling for the “alpha” wherever her kind infiltrates. Case in point, we learn that she and Antaan were once lovers, as Antaan finds William Macon, who pretends to be the Manhunter. The ruse does not last long, however, as Antaan suss out the truth, and does the most Atrocitus thing possible.

The character Atrocitus is the founder of the Red Lanterns, who are fueled by rage. The first time we see him create a red power battery, he uses the blood of his fellow captives, a terrorist cell that had risen against the Guardians of the Universe. When Antaan kills Macon, he cuts out his heart in an incredibly brutal manner. I’d be lying if I said a small part of me wasn’t waiting for him to do some blood magic, but it felt like more of a nod than anything else. A way for the show to admit that it was perhaps inspired by the character, without doing a one-for-one recreation.

While all this is happening, Hal makes his way through the wreckage of the town, trying to save as many people as he can, even though no one wants him there. At the same time, John, having been healed by Zoe, heads back into town to collect a big old rifle, while getting yelled at by his parents for not taking Hal’s ring yet. Hal tracks down Zoe, but a water tower is knocked over, spreading more of the black smoke that snuffs out Lantern rings. As Hal is essentially flying blind (though not completely, thanks to some nifty goggles), he handcuffs Zoe to a helicopter and emerges from the smoke just in time to find Antaan approaching with a suicide bomb.

Hal tosses Antaan into the air with his ring, allowing him to be blown up without doing any damage to Zoe or anyone else. I’d say that there’s a 99.9 percent chance that the mocap Paul Ben-Victor showed himself doing for the show was for this scene. Anyone hoping to see him emerge with some kind of alien form is probably out of luck. We’ve seen people “explode” in this show without that being true, so never say never, but ideally, Antaan stays dead, even if that means the hopes of Atrocitus (probably) go with him.

We next follow Hal, having done all he can with his ring at low power, heading back to his motel to charge it, only to be met by John’s waiting fist. The fight between these two is as brutal and grounded as can be, and it is nasty as hell. There aren’t any low blows, but the animosity between the two is palpable, and they really go at it. It felt similar to the knuckle-dragging brawl from John Carpenter’s They Live. It was personal, and it was sad. You just want to see these guys working together. Instead, John whooped Hal’s ass.

The veteran Lantern ends up shielding them from a satellite attack by Zoe and is left buried in rubble for his trouble. John takes the ring and the lantern and leaves Hal to Zoe, who pulls out a handgun, ready to kill him as she did Abin Sur. But John didn’t really leave, and right after Zoe realizes that, John shoots her dead with the rifle he found earlier, crying slightly in the process. He then brings the lantern and ring to Laura Linney’s Guardian (I know she has a name, but it’s still so great to see Linney). But instead of taking the ring for himself, he chides Linney and the Guardians for their shady doings, and walks off.

This episode presumably closed the 2016 storyline, leaving the last three episodes to discover how and why Hal was murdered to kick off the season, and give Guy Gardner something to do (it’s so funny to me that he’s named as a main cast member and… hasn’t appeared once yet). The next episode is written by Tom King and Damon Lindelof, who are two of the three showrunners, so we can probably expect some big swings in terms of the story, and that’s saying something for a show that hasn’t been afraid to take any; Unless it comes to showing dong (I don’t count the corpse).