The mystery in Rushville seemingly came to a head as episode 5, “Lights Out,” of HBOMax’s stunning entry into the DC Universe’s ‘Lanterns’ brought all of the action-packed thunder that it could, unfortunately, losing a step in the process. ‘Lanterns’ from week to week has been one of the most engaging water cooler shows to hit the small screen in recent years. However, while this episode brought the action, it forgot what has made the series special in the first place. Despite it’s flaws, “Lights Out” still managed to provide an engaging hour of television whose open-ended story arc questions will bring audiences back at least for one more week despite muddying the waters a bit more than was necessary.
Picking right up where audiences were left in the previous episode, John Stewart is trapped in the car that Hal, yet again, crashed. Having lost his trust in John, Hal sets out to kill the Manhunter, while John does his best to survive his current situation. What follows is the most action we’ve seen to date in ‘Lanterns.’ The series has relied heavily on the skill and chemistry of it’s leads, swapping that aesthetic for an hour of straight up action. This, unfortunately, is not for the better as audiences lose the chemistry that has made the show so unique to this point. Hal and John are separated for the entirety of the episode in a rushed, finale feeling episode that wrapped up the Manhunter storyline swiftly, leaving audiences wondering if this is it or if there was still more to come this season (Spoiler: there are three episodes to go). This episode felt rushed and like they wanted to tie up as many lose ends as possible before whatever big reveal lies ahead at the end of season one.
High Octane Action
“Lights Out” truly shines when there is an action-sequence on screen. The sequences were well coordinated and exciting, focusing more on the practical as opposed to highly coordinated stunts. Action sequences have the potential to be limited by a “For TV” budget, however, ‘Lanterns’ avoids that through timing, hitting the right action points at the right time, and through diversity. Each fight sequence is unique from the next with the “smoke” fight between Hal and Zoe’s militiamen being the highlight. If audiences are looking for action, this episode has it in droves.
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The other side of the ‘Lanterns’ coin this week is what audiences lose with the increase in action. The charm of ‘Lanterns’ is it’s cast chemistry. A chemistry you lose when Hal and John aren’t on screen together for a large part of an episode as was the case with this week’s episode. The counter to this claim, of course, is the utter throw down between Hal and John towards the end of the episode. Haymaker after haymaker, some might argue that the limited paired screen time was worth it for a climax as epic as this one. That may be an argument upon another viewing with different glasses, but in the immediate aftermath of the fight for Rushville, this episode and it’s action seemed more like flares of brilliance than a thoroughly planned out episode of television.
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Lanterns
With this week’s entry, ‘Lanterns’ gave audiences the perfect finale with the obvious storyline alley oop heading into the next season…except it didn’t. While feeling very much like the season finale, “Lights Out” is NOT the finale with three episodes still left to release over the next three sundays. This has the potential to leave audiences confused about where exactly things are in the show currently and not in the fun “I wonder what happens next” way. Like a page out of the Peter Jackson playbook, ‘Lanterns’ provided audiences with a little bit of disorientation as the true finale approaches, but who’s to say showrunners aren’t ripping off the seat belt before the car crash that finishes this season? As ‘Lanterns’ has proven time and time again, no one really knows whats really going on.
The bread and butter of ‘Lanterns’ has been it’s pacing, always taking audiences exactly where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there. This episode accelerated that pace in a break from previous episodes. With three episodes still in the can to go, ‘Lanterns,’ and quite possibly all of the DCU, and it’s future hinges on what happens in these three episodes. Audiences are into the unknown, but firmly in the present. They have caught up with Hal’s frozen corpse. What they do with it will absolutely make or break the DCU going forward.
Final Thought:
‘Lanterns’ has been one of the more consistent TV series of the last decade, continually delivering a grittier version of the Green Lantern that audiences are taking to work with them the following day. With it’s fifth installment, however, the series takes a slight misstep, focusing more on the action than the story telling that had become a staple of previous episodes. With three episodes to go, ‘Lanterns’ has given itself the huge responsibility of, not only, landing the plane for their season, but for the future of the DCU as a whole.
