In Review: Lanterns (S1 – EP7) The Jordan Boys’ Legacy

Synopsis: Hal Jordan and John Stewart find themselves on another planet and must put aside their past to solve a murder. Meanwhile, they are forced to confront the way their childhood shaped who they are today.

The Story

Picking up the story from last week, John Stewart has dug up Hal Jordan’s grave to retrieve the old Green Lantern ring. It gives him access to Hal’s avatar: a copy of Hal’s spirit created by the ring. With the ring’s power running low, John has to race against the clock to find out who killed Hal. That’s easier said than done when Hal’s avatar doesn’t completely trust him.

John introduces Hal’s avatar to Kerry, but Hal’s paranoia soon leads him to suspect that she killed him. Eventually, John and Hal visit Hal’s old storage locker, where they open an alien vault and retrieve a bag, a gun and a portal that takes them to an alien world. Once there, they discover that everyone has been killed and spot a light in the distance.

After investigating, they find Hal’s old boat and row towards the light. The journey gives them a chance to resolve some of their differences. Hal tells John about his father’s suicide, leaving John to wonder whether Hal might have taken the same path. But something about that explanation doesn’t add up.

By the time they reach their destination, John and Hal’s avatar are working as a proper team. When Sinestro tries to ambush them, they manage to get the better of him.

Acting

Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre really get stuck in this episode as we finally learn more about Hal’s traumatic upbringing. His father died by suicide when Hal was around ten, leaving him some money, old photographs and a note.

There’s a difficult scene on the boat where Hal tells John that he was never really afraid because he was broken as a human being. That admission, alongside John’s own troubled upbringing, finally puts the two men on enough of an even keel to work better as a team. But it also leaves you wondering whether Hal would ever have confided in John if he had lived. From the start, his avatar has seemed a little less of an arsehole than the real Hal Jordan.

Overall

Overall, this was a solid episode that explored Hal Jordan’s traumatic childhood while moving the plot forward. It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out next week. John and Hal will presumably have to take Sinestro back to Oa to answer for his actions, but they may need his help finding Hal’s killer first.