Here we are at Lanterns S1E08 aka, the Season Finale and here’s my review; ultimately, I get the feeling some won’t love this ending, but I did. I’ll also have a full season review Grade here also and because this is a full Season and Season finale review, we are going Full SPOILERS. If you’ve yet to catch the finale of Lanterns, watch it first if you don’t wanna get spoiled.
Season Finale/Season 1 Spoilers Ahead
Where to begin? Well, let me start with what I said in the title, in that I loved the finale and the season as a whole. However I honestly don’t think all fans will love that finale. Evidenced by what I’m seeing online, I’m right.
I think some fans, who felt it was a slow series, were hoping for a shot of adrenaline and space fighting in the finale. Instead we got a introspective finale which built upon the key components of the series; the character dynamic between Hal and John and the character arc’s of both.
As we’ve gone along with Lanterns there’s been three common take aways I’ve seen. The haters, (which is not a slight on my part, as they do hate the series and who am I to tell them they’re wrong?) This group are commonly made up of hard core Green Lantern fans who cannot accept some of the changes made to the lore and characters. There will be others (non GL fans) in that camp but they are likely not complaining about it online.
RELATED: Lanterns S1E07 Review – Same But Different
The second group don’t care about the lore changes, but they expected more superhero and space aliens from a Green Lantern themed show. So far they’ve been waiting and hoping for the ignition to be lit; and I think it’s this fan base that may feel let down by the finale.
The third group love it, don’t think it’s slow and are probably a mix of GL and non-GL comic book fans. I’m not saying one group are right, or that any group is wrong. I can say I fall into the third category as someone who knows enough lore about GL without being a real fan of the comics. My guess is that everyone who watched Lanterns is going to fall into one of those three categories loosely. Though, is that much different for any adaptation? I’ve certainly been in the first two camps before myself, which is why I refuse to dismiss their opinions.
Now you know where I am coming from, let’s get started.
Season Finale
I loved this finale because, as said above, I felt it capped off everything that Lanterns had been about. Lanterns is the story of Hal Jordan educating and passing the Green Lantern torch on to John Stewart who the Studio have decided to make the DCU main GL.
Yes, we lose Hal (probably), but we have a story built on that ending and making sure that John is a true heir to Hal. He won’t be a pawn of the Guardians, he’s going to fight threats on Earth and make his own decisions on what to do. That gives us some real story potential down the line folks. John being a bit of an outsider and messenger by Guy being the company man. Plus, it’s going to make sense why John is a senior member of the Justice league when they get that far.
It feels like John’s hero origin arc is complete, and I think fans should definitely go back to the start and see how John has changed over these eight episodes. Aaron Pierre begins as a bit of a cardboard cut-out/ by the rules guy, and the least interesting of the pair. By the end I feel like we’ve seen him take the steps to be an interesting hero going forward. That’ not by accident.
The Mystery
Finally we do resolve the entire mystery and whilst I think in the end they went with some of the more predictable routes, there were a few slight left turns I enjoyed and didn’t see coming. We knew Noah was a Manhunter, didn’t expect him to actually give himself up as bullet bait for John. Did not expect John to not take that option (initially) and I thought I got Kerry being the shooter wrong. Then, when John walks up to her at the game I knew there was more to this and she killed Hal. But I enjoyed second guessing myself on one or two details.
In terms of John doing the right thing, I think he absolutely did. Seeing things from Kerry’s point of view tells us Hal wanted to save them both by leaving. I will say I’m not sure I completely bought Kerry’s reaction being that extreme without Hal threatening them in some way, which he didn’t. That’s perhaps my only note on this one. I’m not sure that moment worked in the scene even if the build up to that moment did work.
The Future
We know Season 2 is yet to be greenlit, but a writers room are putting Season 2 ideas together now. Let us hope they have some good ideas that DCU Studios wants to greenlight into a Season 2. However, there’s another factor.
The show in terms of viewing figures has done really well, like Game of Thrones well. So DC Studios and HBO would be crazy not to give us a second season. In the meantime, we can have John show up in movies such as next Summer’s Man of Tomorrow.
My only hope is that we somehow have a way to get AI backup Hal back as an occasional buddy for John to speak with. I know they said once John charges the Lantern and claims it, it would wipe Hal’s backup. But….this is a guy who can maintain constructs without wearing the ring, is think there’s way’s around that supposed rule.
I also have to assume the DCU is doing the different colour Lanterns more like the comic run where they were not evil as opposed to Yellow/Sinestro Corps just being all evil folks. What with John’s Lantern now being a sort of hybrid, it does suggest Sinestro escaping and developing the Sinestro Crops at some point.
Season Finale GRADE: A
Possibly not my favourite episode of the Season, but that’s fine because it still works as a great Season finale. This is the end of the this part of John and Hal’s story and it feel’s like we can’t wait to see what happens next. That’s always a good place to eave a Season 1. However…fans/viewers who have thought the show slow and were waiting for the bang, may be disappointed in a more introspective/character focused finale. I am not one of those fans/viewers though.
Lanterns Season GRADE: A
Loved it, I think I gave one episode under an A and have consistently enjoyed watching it these last eight weeks. This is a passing the torch story and it’s a mature character based story, n6t a big budget spectacle. If you can handle the lore changes and a slower paced show I cannot recommend highly enough.
I was not a big Green Lantern fan growing up; but I know enough to be interested in any adaptations. This show is the one that drew me in more than any comic, cartoon, or movies I have seen revolving around Green Lanterns. I am a fan and I cannot wait to see more of Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart, and hopefully some more of Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan, if possible.
As always, leave your own thoughts on Lanterns, or the season finale below.
FOR FANBOYS, BY FANBOYS
Have you checked out LRM Online’s official podcasts and videos on The Genreverse Podcast Network? Available on YouTube and all your favorite podcast apps, This multimedia empire includes The Daily CoG, Breaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, GeekScholars Movie News, Anime-Versal Review Podcast, and our Star Wars dedicated podcast The Cantina. Check it out by listening on all your favorite podcast apps, or watching on YouTube!
Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play
