I went into Lanterns without being much of a Green Lantern fan. I don’t know what my expectation was, but it wasn’t a grounded detective drama with hints of a superhero series. Yet here we are. HBO has taken an intergalactic cop, dropped him into the American heartland, and gave us a slow-burn mystery that’s often more interested in the people investigating it than the mystery itself. And that’s both its greatest strength and, occasionally, its biggest weakness.

One thing that took me embarrassingly long to figure out was that we’re dealing with three timelines: 1996, 2016, and 2026. I kept assuming the references to twenty years ago meant the present day, and it wasn’t until the very end of that pilot that everything clicked. Looking back, there were plenty of clues, although I would’ve appreciated a few more visual distinctions between the timelines. Hal wearing the same jacket across decades didn’t help!

What really surprised me, though, was how little the show relies on obvious CGI. You’d think a series about the Green Lantern Corps would be packed with cosmic spectacle and glowing constructs, but Lanterns takes a different approach, a cheap one. This is a cop show first and a sci-fi show second, with a grounded, almost True Detective-like atmosphere. The mystery is intriguing; the premiere plants plenty of seeds, and I was constantly wondering where certain details would lead. That said, I found myself more invested in the characters and their relationships than in figuring out the central mystery itself.

And boy, is there something going on between Hal Jordan and John Stewart.

Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre have fantastic chemistry. Whether they’re trading dry remarks or practically radiating tension, the two work incredibly well together. Chandler’s Hal is a fascinating take on the character; although I can’t speak to how comic-accurate he is, the little I know of the character is done well. Meanwhile, Pierre is excellent as John, giving him a quiet intensity that never makes him feel too one-dimensional. His deadpan humour is a lovely bonus, too. He’s much more charming than his serious demeanor initially suggests.

I also loved how the show subtly explores the fact that these two men come from very different Americas. John has had to work incredibly hard just to reach the starting line, while Hal comes from a different set of circumstances. It’s a compelling dynamic that adds another layer to their partnership, and John’s backstory is genuinely gripping. The show manages to make his origin story tragic without relying on the familiar superhero thing of killing off a parent. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen.

There are other little touches I absolutely loved. The bird in John’s storyline is a particularly effective recurring symbol, revealing something about his mental strength without needing to spell it out. Every chirp or glimpse of it becomes a reminder of what he’s capable of. And the episode involving the Outkast reference? Wild. The slow shift in his mother’s behavior was genuinely unsettling.

The introduction of Sinestro also deserves a mention. There’s a definite The Silence of the Lambs vibe to his scenes with Hal, particularly in the way he speaks to him. You can feel the manipulation happening in real time, and it’s fascinating to watch.

My biggest issue is that the show’s budget eventually becomes impossible to ignore. The writing and acting are strong enough to make the production feel far more expensive than it probably is, but there’s only so long you can hype up the power of a Green Lantern ring while finding reasons not to show it. The same goes for the aliens on the show. They are all very human, to the point that they become aliens in name only. We barely see any non-humanoid beings in the show. As for the big confrontation, it’s exciting on paper, and the script gives Hal legitimate reasons to hold back, but the limitations become painfully obvious when the threat is finally revealed. Instead of making Hal look restrained, it occasionally makes him look downright incompetent or careless.

That’s a shame, because the season does a terrific job building momentum. The tension grows, the mysteries deepen, and the relationship between Hal and John becomes increasingly compelling. I was genuinely curious to see whether the finale would bring all those pieces together in a satisfying way. It does, to a degree, but the landing is more of a stumble than the epic payoff I was hoping for. After all that buildup, the finale is just… okay.

Overall, Lanterns is a well-written, well-acted, and refreshing grounded take on a superhero property. It has a compelling central duo, some excellent character work, and a mystery that keeps you engaged even when the pacing occasionally feels agonizingly slow. I just wish the production had the budget to match the ambition of the story, because a little more ring action and spectacle could have made a real difference.

I’m not sure every longtime Green Lantern fan will appreciate what the show does with Hal Jordan, and I can understand why some changes might be frustrating. But as someone coming in without much attachment to the comics, I found plenty to enjoy.

Lanterns may not quite stick the landing, but it builds something worth investing in. And honestly, I’d happily spend more time watching Chandler and Pierre try to get along while investigating the next cosmic disaster.

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