Lanterns Season 1 Episode 5 Review: Big Day For Big Consequences

It genuinely feels like Lanterns Season 1 Episode 5 is a finale episode in its own right even if it’s in the mid-season. Given how the previous four episodes were building up to this episode, Episode 5 is a mostly satisfying transitioning point.

That’s because of how Lanterns Season 1 has been playing up the mystery of the Manhunter’s presence in Rushville. For the most part, I’ve been suspecting that the Manhunter had to be Zoey because of how close she’s gotten with John. With that confirmation on Episode 4, it allows Episode 5 to really bring the action.

Fortunately, that’s exactly what “Lights Out” does, as Hal, John, and Zoey prep themselves for the ensuing conflict. Although Hal and John have their own tricky methods, Zoey’s way of getting ready adds some nice charm to her character.

Zoey’s calmer approach by comforting her “grandson” Noah is a nice surprise that shows that Manhunters aren’t all that bad. The Guardian that John knows really seemed to make this case, but that’s probably because of Zoey’s dealmaking methods.

That’s seen in the opening, where Zoey rescues Kerry from her captors as soon as she enters Rushville. As we watch Zoey’s “eye-for-an-eye” method presented, it helps clarify why everyone trusts her. Even though William indirectly explained how Zoey saved him, showing that here might make us rethink how Hal’s wrong.

Yet, through John’s eyes, it seems like he has a conflicted perspective on dealing with Zoey. On one hand, John sympathizes with her cause to protect the people of Rushville because of how Abin Sur protected her to begin with. On the other, he wants to surpass his parents’ expectations and show his Guardian that he’s worth the trouble.

This is shown after John, who’s badly burnt by the car explosion, gets rescued by Zoey. The two’s heart-to-“heart” does lend a bit of sweetness as you start to understand where she’s coming from, solidifying a few more introduced ideas. It was quite a smart play for her to be an outsider and used her programming to help, even if it seems manipulative.

Speaking of, “Lights Out” has several plays being dashed out before the action. On Zoey’s end, we learn that she’s taught William to mimic the Manhunters and everything she knows. However, it’s through Hal’s play with Antaan that causes much of the damage in Rushville.

Ever since Lanterns Season 1 Episode 1, it really did feel like Hal was a trickster character whose jealousy would eventually get the better of him. Unfortunately, it still does as Hal decides to lie to Antaan, stating that William’s the Manhunter, while he plans to capture Zoey in order to prove that he’s still got it.

For the most part, it does seem like Hal’s plan plays out as he expected until Antaan finds out that William is a human. Not only is this the launching point for Rushville’s destruction, but it also perfectly shows how broken Hal’s become. He’s become engulfed with jealousy that he’s being replaced, which is shown with full force between Hal and John later on.

Sure, some may try to find a way to empathize with Hal’s doings, but not even Kerry can after she tries taking him down. Her warnings to Hal about what he’s doing capture that emotional undoing that Hal’s been going through. At this point, Hal is a shell of his former glory and the best he can do is accept that.

When that argument between Hal and John plays out, it really unleashes all that brewing tension between the two. Even though this fight was meant to gain Zoey’s attention, which it does, you can’t help but feel the legitimacy of Hal and John’s anger showing. They know they both can’t be a Green Lantern, so they resort to the one thing they can do to prove they can be.

When Zoey does eventually intervene, you can’t help but feel a bit of sadness that John had to trick her. There was a bit of a genuine connection these two characters had, but it does feel like a testing point. John can either prove he’s got the will to do it or have some empathy, unlike the Guardians.

The Guardians don’t even have any sympathy to begin with, which is why John decides to hand the ring back. At this point, it really does feel like attaining a Green Lantern ring is more about avarice than about willpower. The speech that John gives nails this in home and you can’t help wonder if it’ll break John in the remaining episodes.

Overall, Lanterns Season 1 Episode 5 certainly proves to be a resounding conclusion of the series’ first half, creating a strong foundation for the last three episodes. Given how everything accelerated on “Lights Out”, the rest of Lanterns is certainly set up for more success.

Stray Thoughts:

• I really thought Antaan was going to be Atrocitus and we’d have another fakeout, but I suppose that isn’t the case anymore. Most people were suggesting that we’d also be getting Red Lanterns before this series premiered!
• If Antaan wasn’t Atrocitus, I really don’t think that Lanterns will be making William Macon into Black Hand (another iconic Green Lantern villain.) It’s just too crazy.
• I was wondering if we’d get to see the ring’s copy of Hal interacting with the present-day Hal and it went about as messy as you’d expect. However, it does show that Hal does have some optimism until the very end.

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New episodes of Lanterns premiere at 9 PM EST every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.

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