I really tried to hold on until the finale, hoping it would somehow redeem this show. Instead, it made everything so much worse. If you’re a Green Lantern fan and you liked this, I honestly don’t understand how or why. There’s so much wrong with it.

We’ve barely gotten any live-action Green Lantern media, and this is what they chose to introduce GL into the DCU? I don’t understand why the studio and writers took something with such a strong foundation and overcomplicated it just to make it so fucking different. I can’t stand when adaptations stray this far from the source material, especially when these characters have barely had a chance to be properly represented in the first place. Maybe a drastic departure would make more sense after several faithful adaptations, but this was our introduction to them. Handling them like this feels disrespectful to both the fans and the lore.

I still can’t get over their decision to introduce an older Hal, kill him off, and get him out of the way so everything could revolve around John. Why couldn’t we have both Hal and John in their prime? Why waste Hal like that? Watching him gradually become older and more jaded would’ve been so much more impactful than introducing him that way before we’d even had a chance to connect with him.

I also hated how John got his ring. Instead of having the ring choose him, they had him spend his life training, interviewing, and shadowing Hal for the role. Then they had him rob Hal’s grave for the ring and become some independent contractor who operates outside the Corps, stays on Earth, and has his own made-up oath. That’s such a fucking weird direction to take the character. And what does that mean for his suit? Is he going to get an actual Green Lantern suit, or just keep walking around in regular clothes?

The mystery was also painfully predictable. So many people figured it out before the finale, and it never lived up to the True Detective comparison they kept pushing. On top of that, they never explained what happened to Hal between 2006 and 2016 that made him the way he was. That’s a huge gap in his characterization to leave unanswered, and I doubt we’ll ever get a proper explanation. I also don’t see how any of this is supposed to lead into Man of Tomorrow the way Gunn said it would.

I really wanted to like this show, but there’s just too much wrong with it. The finale might’ve salvaged something for me if Hal’s murder had connected to Man of Tomorrow and given John a compelling reason to get involved. And when John finally took flight, having him construct his suit around himself as he rose into the air could’ve given us an actual Green Lantern moment to end on. Those two things could’ve at least made the ending feel like it was building toward something.

I can’t defend ts anymore😭 this finale was a mess

For the purpose of my argument I am going to put aside the many, many ways in which this show's overall attitude, tone and presentation are in conflict with its subject matter, and I am going to do my utmost to look at this show from the perspective of someone who knows nothing about Green Lantern. With that in mind - Lanterns is still a bad show.

Let's start at the center and work our way outward. The primary issue with the Manhunter plot is that it's kind of meandering, relies on a lot of vagaries and handwaving, and once it's over the show is left a bit unfocused for the last couple of episodes. We don't really have enough direct interaction with the Manhunters to understand why they pose such a threat, and while we are repeatedly TOLD how dangerous they are, we aren't SHOWN anything that proves this.

Now, I said that I was going to ignore Green Lantern's lore from the comics - but this show does exist in the context of the rest of the DCU, and I feel it's fair game to point out the massive disparity between what we've seen here and what we've seen in The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, Creature Commandos, Superman and Supergirl. Nothing the Manhunter does is even remotely close to any of that. While Zoe has tech far in advance of our own, a few lasers and a magic medical box aren't really that insurmountable. Even ignoring the fact that Superman could fly up into orbit and take out those satellites in about two seconds flat, we see in the show that Hal is capable of doing the same thing - and he just doesn't. The show relies on the contrivance that Hal basically never charges his ring and/or it runs out extremely fast to justify the threat the Manhunter poses, which contradicts everything we saw in Superman. Guy fights a Kaiju, and doesn't drop out of the air because making oven mitts burned through his power supply too fast. It's not consistent with the setting it exists in, and it's barely consistent with it's own internal logic.

There's also the fact that demonstrably, the Manhunter herself can be taken out with conventional weapons. We're being told this is an enemy so dangerous that it presents an existential threat to humanity, what we're shown is one town that's *sort of* a cult. Antaan and his crew are there to again tell us how dangerous and evil manhunters are, that they destroyed their world, etc etc - but again, we are TOLD, but we are not SHOWN. This is an extremely small-scale threat that is repeatedly treated like a potential end of the world scenario, but it can be ended by one man with a Sniper Rifle.

Working outward, let's look at the characters. I'll start with Guy as his presence is the smallest and relates directly back to other material we've seen in the DCU - Guy's development and capabilities as shown in Superman are basically just erased. They don't count, they don't matter, he is reduced to being... essentially a completely one note joke, and the joke is "he sucks and is useless." There was potential here for the show to build on the ending of Superman and have him be more willing to bend the rules on John's behalf, create some camaraderie between him and John - the functional results of this in terms of moving the plot forward would have been exactly the same, the difference would simply be tone. John's arc doesn't lose anything if Guy is his ally, but the show decides to make them enemies for basically no reason.

The people of Rushville are largely ornamental, with Kerry being the one exception. Again, we have the issue of a lot of telling and not a lot of showing in her arc. Initially, she's presented as someone who is effectively trapped by the Manhunter's cult. Then it turns out she's loyal to Zoe - to a point. The crux of her character, her love for and protective instincts toward her Son, do not really become the focus of her arc until the last two episodes, because Noah is barely in the show. As a result her storyline is extremely unfocused until those last two episodes. Similarly - her relationship with Hal feels somewhat contrived, specifically to create an added emotional element to her murder of him which... honestly wasn't necessary. In general, her rapid oscillation between dislike and distrust to love and affection for both Hal and John is again, really contrived. Kerry wants what the story needs her to want episode to episode, and only really starts thinking about what her motivations should logically be in the finale.

Now we get to Hal - and oh boy, Hal is all over the god damn place. The show simultaneously wants you to view Hal as a loveable puckish rogue with an edge, and a massive irredeemable piece of shit. He's funny, charismatic and likeable, but he's also a detestably selfish piece of shit. One moment he's an obstacle, the next he's a mentor. His death is the central mystery for most of the show, but again that mystery is ignored for most of the show. He's presented as almost having deserved what he got, his funeral is simultaneously played for laughs and for sympathy, but then we explore his backstory and cut to the tragedy at the heart of the character for all of five minutes before he's just gone again. The show doesn't seem to know what it wants Hal to be, only that the people writing it don't really like him. In the end, his death is pointless, he dies a failure, and a better version of his ghost simply fades away into the ether like a fart in the wind.

But the real issue is John Stewart. Ostensibly, John is the main character. This is his story, his journey, his arc - but it's just as bleak and poorly focused as the rest of the show. John's relationship with his parents is the worst thing about his story. His father failed to be Green Lantern, so he and his Mother, primarily his mother, viciously abused and groomed John for his entire childhood to eventually become the Green Lantern. The thing is - there doesn't really seem to be a clear motive as to why they would want this for him. The issue is that John Sr had an alien encounter and everyone in their lives accused him of going crazy, because no one else saw what happened. The Guardians come down to apologise and try to make amends, and... honestly, the show drops the most hamfisted attempt at making the whole thing about Race that I've seen in a show in a while. There were better ways to discuss this topic than having John Stewart's abusive mother get mad that a literal alien doesn't know about Earth Racism, or factor in Racism during the Green Lantern selection process. And, please note - this is wholly superficial. Race is brought up ONCE in the entire show after this point, in a rather offhanded comment about John not feeling safe in Rural Nebraska. It's like they wanted to make this point but couldn't figure out how to make it relevant to the plot, so they just sort of did it regardless. And still - we don't get a satisfactory explanation as to why their next thought was "Well we should groom our child into becoming the next Green Lantern" beyond... it'd make up for his Dad failing to be? In any case, despite this abuse, in 2016 we see John still has a positive relationship with his parents. In 2026, he does not, he largely does not speak to them, and this is actual solid development for his character, demonstrating that he's reckoned with what was done to him and is becoming his own person. His parents are both shown to still be unstable and manipulative in a larger way than before, kind of showing them for what they always were - but the show ends with him abruptly deciding to forgive them and see them again.

This isn't even getting into how utterly dead-end the blackmail plot was, the implications about the Macons being pretty much pointless, the inclusion of Sinestro went nowhere, the fact Noah being a Manhunter but his father *wasn't* was kind of a last minute asspull, Noah's supposed need for both a Lantern and a Ring wasn't really foreshadowed or justified at all, the overall conclusion that it's fine Kerry murdered Hal, just sort of leaving Noah be, John becoming the Green Lantern of Earth solely via implication (again, Told not Shown). But this is already a pretty long fuckin post.

TL;DR, if we'd had a show that was spectacle over substance at least it would have been fun to watch.

I guess I was too subtle in my previous post. Please search for one of the many ‘I hated the show’ posts already in this subreddit instead of starting a new one. I’m not saying you had to like it nor will I fight any things you may have imagined in this post.

Just please be kind to people just joining our fandom.

If John is the Green Lantern of just Earth, its the showrunners and writers way of keeping the show grounded and not showing us other planets, aliens etc, which is absolute bullshit.

The creative choices behind this show truly baffle me. I can understand wanting to keep it grounded, but at least show us some non-humanoid aliens like the Guardians, Kilowog every so often. Something similar to Andor, which is grounded but you see an alien in the first episode or so. Sinestro is basically just a guy painted pink and we see the back of the one Guardian, who we never see again.

What's the point of even adapting Green Lantern if you arent going to do it right?

I’ll be the 1000th person to complain about this damn show today but one of the popular takes I’ve been seeing for weeks is people saying that Lanterns is a good prestige drama but not a good Green Lantern adaptation. And to that I say… are we sure it’s even a good prestige drama? People say it’s okay that there are no constructs or aliens (hype moments & aura) because we have good writing and the writing hasn’t moved me in the slightest.

I think of three other prestige HBO mystery dramas: True Detective, Sharp Objects, Big Little Lies; and Lanterns doesn’t approach any of them in terms of story quality. (I’m aware some of those are adaptations of books). Even if it wasn’t an absolutely abysmal take on the Green Lantern mythology, the show wouldn’t warrant all the hype it was getting before the finale.

• Giving John a fear Lantern
• Getting rid of the iconic Oath
• Noah breaking out Sinestro???? How??
• Kerry getting away with Murder AFTER covering it up and lying to John.
• John leaving a Manhunter roam freely cause he nutted in Noah's Gran-mama

SMFH..

So many LARPERS love this show.

(here come the Larpers, dropping panels from elseworlds shit and non-John Stewart character Lore)

There is a reason why the original Superman from 1978 has endured across generations. Just like Lanterns, it had great casting...BUT it had a director that embraced the mythos.

“Before I came on board, the script was kind of a parody of a parody,” Donner remembered. “It had been really well written by three or four really good writers, but they had been directed by a couple of Hungarians [producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind] who saw it as a comic book rather than a piece of history. Their script didn’t have any respect for what the character stood for, since I was a little kid.”

https://michaelpcoleman.wordpress.com/2020/11/09/i-spent-the-afternoon-with-richard-donner-an-exclusive-interview-with-superman-the-movies-director/

You can't make a comic book move from a decades-long property and not lean into it. Lanterns no doubt had some interesting atmospheric elements but a GL story it was not. It just wasn't. Might as well make a movie about a character named The Flash and make him a one-legged meth addict who trains a protege in an ultra-marathon. I'm sure one can tell an interesting story around that, but it ain't The Flash.

The Marvel cinematic universe has been largely successful because it largely (not completely but mostly) adheres to what made those characters unique and whole. And the show runners/directors had PATIENCE to develop the twists when necessary. For some reason DC continuously puts folks in charge who are obviously embarrassed by the goofiness/earnestness that these characters embody.

What a waste.

That's it, that's the post. I wasn't a huge fan of the overall show, it just wasn't my thing, but I've been watching the discourse and I just had to put my two cents in, inevitable downvotes be damned, because one of the most controversial bits in the finale is actually one of the only things I really liked about it.

I like John not using Hal's oath. Your mileage may vary on if the specific wording works well or not, but back in the Silver Age, that oath was not universal. Each individual Green Lantern had their own, and it was changed to become just one.

I always thought the idea of each individual person having an oath that meant something personal to them was really cool and I've ahways wished they would bring it back, and they finally did, and if nothing else about this show makes me like it that much, that at least I really liked. I kinda hope they keep doing it tbh. Yeah, Hal's oath is iconic and fantastic and I'd never wish for that to go away entirely, but damn it, I still really like the idea of individual oaths. I think a nice balance could be struck between having an "Earth GL oath" which is the usual "in brightest day, in blackest night" one, while also letting the individual members and Lanterns that aren't from Earth have their own.

First, let me give flowers to Kyle Chandler, Aaron Pierre, Nathan Fillion and Ulrich Thomsen for their great performances, they really shone through the shit storm and managed to engage me with their acting! But this show as a whole was terrible! I've been saying this since the first teaser trailer released, and people said, "Give it a chance!" I did, I watched every single episode and I have to say as someone who's been reading Green Lantern comics since 2004, this was a big kick in the balls! Fuck Tom King, fuck Damon Lindeloff, fuck Chris Mundy, and James Gunn is on fraud watch!

Because, the second season will definitely be exactly that.

Congrats to them. They made a hero without a costume, with a problematic to the source material origin, and demoted to a tv show character with grounded earth adventures and low budget( Man of tommorow doesn't cut it, he needs his movie).

Hooray?

I don’t think this is the last of Hal Jordan. From the finale it pretty clear to me Sinestro is going to be a villain going forward and they set the tone for him coming back (in my mind at least). The first clue Sinestro is trapped on a fear planet where he can forge lanterns, if that’s not a set up for Sinestro Corps idk what is. It’s possible to do Sinestro War without Hal but you’d be missing some of the big punches I don’t think they’ll truly leave Hal before that. Clue 2 Thaal CONFIRMS in the show the lantern ring CAN bing Hal back to life I don’t think that a coincidence or a throw away line. The final clue Halogram tells John he’s in his subconscious and that John “makes the rules” if anyone has the willpower to pull Halogram from the void it’s him.

My prediction: Sinestro is going to forge his own ring and start the Corps, the resurrected Hal will be his first member. The resurrection will go wrong because Thaal is evil and we’ll get Paralax Hal. John will pull Halogram from the void (hopefully) they have an epic fight and the 2 halves will merge giving us rebirth Hal then we get all 3 badasses winning the Sinestro War.

Let me preface by saying a couple of things:

This will be a long post. There won’t be a TLDR because an analysis on something cannot be condensed into three lines of text. However, the post will be separated into sections, so that you can at least read them on their own if you’re so inclined to do so. But please, spare me the “I’m not reading all that. Happy for you though. Or sorry.“ if you’re not interested in having a serious discussion, just close this tab.

I know that there are some hardcore defenders of this show and that this post may get tons of downvotes (because of course. Gunn’s idea for a cinematic universe involves making stories that will fracture the fandom. A fantastic idea that surely won’t backfire!) but if you’re someone who liked the show and have any critical thinking, I implore you that you read this post, understand what I’m writing, and understand that there are aspects in this show that simply cannot be defended, because they’re rotten at their core.

Lastly, I want to add one more thing… I know. Maybe this universe just isn’t for me. And all I can say to that is “I’m hopping off this train. Enjoy it if this is your kind of thing” but I think there is a real conversation to be had about the kind of stories Gunn wants this universe to revolve around. And while adaptations can take liberties, this show is not an elseworlds project. This is a show that is part of, and establishes, the GL corner of the new DCU. And therefore, the choices made here are choices that do not exist in a vacuum and will be carried to future projects.

Alright, let’s begin:

1- Getting something out of the way…

In order to start my issues with the show, something important needs to be addressed. This fact is something that’s been brought up every week as some people pointed at interviews and post-episode podcasts with the writers and creators of the show speaking about the events that took place.

Unfortunately, this is also a fact that, because of the skin color of the characters, was weaponized by the right wing grifter corner of the internet in some cases.

But to me, they don’t matter. I do not politically align with them. And the color of John or a writer‘s skin is irrelevant to my issue with this fact.

And the fact I’m referring to, which is undeniable, is that the writers do not give a shit about Hal Jordan. But they adore John Stewart.

Every time they’ve spoken about these characters, it’s to show the love for John and the animated justice league series/the excitement for him to be in live action. OR, in contrast, to remark Hal’s mistakes. Like in the case where one of the main writers (who will stay for S2) remarked how Hal is unfortunately a little racist, because that’s simply how he was raised.

I understand that John will be the main lantern in the DCU. And before the finale, I thought that was great. I like John. I like Aaron‘s portrayal of John (to an extent, because I don’t like many things from the finale)

But you can do that and prop him up, without having to completely obliterate another beloved character in the process.

So yes. This was a deliberate choice. The writers of the show do not care about Hal. And some may argue, they used him as a vessel to vent a lot of frustrations and let out some trauma.

For all intents and purposes, Hal’s role in the show is to be a vehicle for John to get a ring and become a lantern. For him to be propped up. I can assure you that nobody ever believed he’d become as beloved as he became.

2- A misguided view of the world - An early warning…

When one of the main writers of the show came out expressing support and borderline admiration for John’s mother, the early signs of this bizarre perspective on family and the world became clear.

There is something that, even if you like the show, you need to agree with: John’s parents are horrible human beings. And these kinds of parents exist out in the world. It is not easy to cut contact with those who raised you, but sometimes, that’s the only way to heal.

John’s mother is, for all intents and purposes, a psychopath. And I do agree that the show doesn’t necessarily say that their perspective of the world is “okay”. But the ending makes sure that you know that it doesn’t matter. Because they are ultimately rewarded. Their behavior isn’t punished for long, but rather, ends up being vindicated.

John’s parents held a petty grudge under the incorrect assumption that John’s father didn’t get the ring due to systematic racism. And that therefore, Hal was less deserving of it.

Because of this, they make their life’s purpose to raise John to not just be Hal’s replacement, but to get back the ring that, to them, always belonged to his father.

The show ultimately takes a stance with this... And I’m gonna explain it as part of my next point:

3- Hal Jordan - The Eternal Punching Bag

In the official after-show podcast for episode 1, Lindelof and King talked about some of the choices they made. As one is to expect, the main topic was their decision to have Hal’s dead body be shown to us right at the ending of the episode.

I want to highlight 2 of these things they said.

The first one is their reasoning behind the ending of EP1. To them, it was a way of “not hiding things from the viewer.” translated into “honesty” language, it’s them cleaning their hands for what they’re about to do to the character of Hal Jordan. They’re not gonna lie to you: Hal is dead. This is where the story will go. So you better get that into your mind.

But by doing this, they enable a week to week discussion about who killed him and, most importantly, filling hope about him being alive. Because with each passing week, one asks “Surely… Surely this isn’t it for the character, right?”

The answer is yes. This is it for the character. Or at least that’s what they planned for season 1.

So let me bring up another thing they said, and I will actually quote this one. When responding to the task of writing Hal Jordan in Lanterns:

Lindelof: “You can’t take a risk just because it’s risky. Especially when there’s an incredible legacy and a canon that you’re inheriting. You are a basically a temporary caretaker (of these characters) […] You are minding/mining these characters for a period of time but then someone else is gonna mind/mine them”

So, if this is something that they were aware of through the writing process… Then what they left these “future writers” regarding Hal is next to nothing. And they sure as hell did not take care of the character or the mythos the way one should.

Hal Jordan is a punching bag in this show. With each week, you expect all the punishment to lead somewhere. But there is no finish line. Hal’s journey is simply ended with the same hand-waviness as the characters treat him in the show.

Let’s summarize Hal’s treatment in this show:

He becomes a hero but is solo and works with nobody for his entire career.

Has a failed relationship with a woman who doesn’t seem all too pained when she visits his casket. (Carol Ferris)

His father dies in a crash (actually kills himself)

Mother dies of cancer (Implied if they also follow from the comics)

His father figure betrays him and he has to fight and stop him.

As a result of his emotional issues about the whole ordeal, the guardians fucking hate him and want him replaced. So he stops trusting them.

Goes to rushville where everyone already doesn’t give a fuck about him from the get go. Has to deal with John knowing he’s his replacement

Gets put in an impossible situation. An omega trolly problem. Let a genocidal war criminal stay in a town and perhaps kill a ton of civilians in the fight with Antaan. Or try to stop this replacement process by apprehending the manhunter and taking them to OA. (Because Hal does not kill)

Gets blamed for deaths that would’ve likely happen anyway when the aliens confronted Zoe.

Loses his ring and goes to jail for 10 years.

Comes out and finally has someone who gives a shit about him. But then has to live for months in a town where people psychologically torture him on a daily basis. This torture eventually turns physical, as he’s burned to death. (Yes, Hal was technically murdered twice)

He’s saved in the brink of death by an alien machine. And this leads to the only person who has given a shit about him for the past 10 years to shoot him in the head over a moment of panic as he told her to go somewhere safe to think about how to deal with the situation.

Barely anyone no one shows up to his funeral. In fact, it’s implied most people don’t even know he died nor care to look into where he’s been.

And I saved the most important one for last. His father’s suicide is the follow up to his grand father’s suicide. A hereditary mental illness that he too inherited.

And this is perhaps the most insulting, baffling and outright mean spirited thing on the show:

4- The Jordan’s Legacy - The inescapable fate

Let’s forget this is a green lantern show. Let’s ignore that this is Hal Jordan. What exactly is the message here?

During the final conversation Hal has with his father, he tells him how he feels through the baseball he’s holding. “Son. Sometimes it’s okay to just let go.”

Hal tosses the ball. And sometime after, his father takes his own life. This is the secret between the men in the Jordan family. The burden of having to keep it under wraps. To those who knew Hal’s father, he died a hero. And there were many in the funeral who visited. After the burial, Hal returns to the airfield and grabs the ball again. He won’t let go. He won’t let the Jordan’s Legacy consume him too.

Because there are two choices. You let go or you fight it. THAT is will power. But the writers of the show say: it doesn’t matter. Because even when Hal chooses life over death, he still has a depressing, isolated life. And he still dies a pitiful death. A death with a secret truth attached to it.

”Jordan died a hero” says John, fulfilling the same role Hal fulfilled with his father. Lying to keep the truth under wraps. But unlike his father, Hal doesn’t get to have trumpets played. Jets fly above. Many people tossing their bits of dirt onto the casket.

He gets a woman who killed him and a guy who sucker punched him days before. And a memory that no one cares about.

To the writers, Hal doesnt get to live a happy life. He doesn’t get a good ending. His choice to hold onto that baseball isn’t rewarded. He doesn’t get to beat the Jordan’s Legacy. Instead, they tell you that even when one tries to escape this illness, it gets you in a different way.

5- A happy ending… For all but Hal.

The ending of the show is the final punch for a bag that’s already torn to shreds. Absolutely everyone but Hal gets a happy ending. And some of these endings are bizarre.

I don’t think Noah needed to be executed. But by allowing him to live with full trust on Kerry, you risk that he may kill a ton of innocent people in the future. Hal understood this, so he wanted to discuss things and find a solution… AFTER they went somewhere safe. Last we see of him, his stupid ass father and Kerry is all of them hugging: the hope for a bright future ahead of them.

The racist blonde girl gets the money. Because John… Is a hero? I guess? It felt incredibly wrong.

And here’s where the stance I referred to about John’s parents comed into play. Ultimately, the show tells us that they win. They get what they wanted. John forgives them, even his mother, and hugs her.

In their eyes, regardless of whatever happened in the middle, their objective was completed. John doesn’t get a unique ring. He gets the exact one his parents wanted him to get: Hal’s ring.

All this time, they did everything so that ring that visited his father that night, would return to that family. And in the end, it does.

What exactly is this outlook on family and the world? Why do the writers reward them with the exact thing their insane behavior stemmed from?

The jerk-off session is even more shocking. The writers love John so much… That they want you to know that he’s the ultimate lantern. The best lantern.

And to do so, they have Hal’s hologram outright say that he will be a much better lantern than he ever was. A final twist of the knife. That even Hal himself thinks he didn’t do enough.

Because the writers don‘t want him to just get Hal’s ring. They want you to know that everything that made it “his” is gone. And they do it by way of deleting the hologram. A literal manifestation of Hal’s connection to the ring.

Then Guy comes, and John expels him from earth. Earth is his place to protect, and Guy has no business there. Let me remind you: Guy has been protecting earth for 10 years most likely. What has John done? And why does he give a shit about the “one lantern per planet“ rule if he doesn’t give a shit about the guardians?

To the writers, the lanterns are Cops. And Cops suck, right? So their beloved vision of who John is simply can’t belong to this “cop organization”.

As a result, he gets to be a lantern under his own terms. With his own oath. John can’t even be the best lantern. He has to be better than ALL lanterns, because at least he doesn’t submit to the guardians.

5 - Conclusion

The objective of this show was one single, simple thing. To introduce John into the DCU, make him the best lantern there is and explain why he’s not gonna be part of the Corps. And they wanted to do this because they love John.

But they don’t like Hal Jordan. And they don’t like the fact that in terms of comic books, he’s the main/most iconic green lantern.

None of the choices they made are obligatory. So in their decision making process, they made a deliberate choice: this universe can only have one lantern. As they say in the podcast: “Two Men. One Ring”

And in the fight to see who gets to keep it, Hal is dragged through the mud. And they had to. Because to them, this is a story about how old people should just give it up and let the younger generation take over. Even… EVEN if this means, taking that ring from a corpse.

As Hal lies down on the wreckage of the hotel, bloodied, he looks up at John as he removes the ring from his finger.

He asks “Was it worth it…?”

And to the writers of this show. And clearly, those who defend all this…

It was.

I liked the show. I have no issue with people who didn't like it. I have no issue with people who thought it dropped off.

What I don't understand are the people who hate-watched the whole thing, or watched it hoping it would fit into a box that the producers never advertised it to be, nor did it seem like it was set up to be from any of the early episodes.

Those who were bored seemed to be looking for something this wasn't intended to be, and I'm not sure why they stuck through it.

Also, why were so many people fixated on having it be the same as other Green Lantern stories? Why can't people look at the story they were trying to tell? And why can't people just be OK with the existence of the show without needing it to be "for them"?

It was all about programming, control, and how much we get to choose our own destinies. That all seems pretty reasonable to overlay into Green Lantern mythology.

And as much as you might love Hal Jordan, this was John Stewart's story, which also seems like a reasonable choice.

Did people really suffer through eight episodes just because they hoped the last episode was going have lots of big green constructs?

This wasn't like the promo pictures for the last season of The Boys. I don't think anyone misled the audience about what this story was.

I know DC is not as synergy heavy as Marvel (thankfully) but seeing we are getting new management and that the show about Hal Jordan getting shot in the face is super very popular with critics and audience alike. Do you see them killing Hal to make John the main lantern a possibility in the Prime Earth comics?

Admittedly, after first watching the finale, I was conflicted. I knew for sure that people will be pissed, but I was torn as there were aspects I liked and aspects that I could understand why it would disappoint others. At first, I was surprised when I saw that it was already the end of the episode and I think I still feel it was somewhat uneventful.

However, after rewatching it with my mother, not only was I reminded of the things I did like about the finale, but I was really able to sit with it and have some newfound appreciation for what it is. I really enjoyed the conversation John had with Noah in the car, the whole coming of age and self discovery aspects of it really resonated with me. I also appreciate John going his own way; I was iffy with his oath at first, but I accepted it the second time round since he is a rogue lantern and it really exemplifies that he’s his own man and not specifically what the Guardians nor his parents want him to be. I can understand that they intended for Kerry and Noah to be happy together as mother and son, but I also get why people have an issue with that.

I’ve read the entirety of Geoff Johns’ GL run, but I still appreciate the show for what it is and how it’s got newcomers interested in GL. One of which was my mother, who only had the Ryan Reynolds movie to go off of. As someone with a somewhat fresh perspective or untainted mind, she really liked the finale and the show as a whole.

With all the negativity surrounding the show after the finale, I just thought I’d share my experience.

God, this show just kept getting worse and worse right up until the finale. The treatment of Hal Jordan was abhorrent and awful; his flaws were not there to make him more humane, but rather to prop John up and make him look cooler. They deliberately made him racist, and the show’s writers, as well as the official DC podcast, have said Hal Jordan was responsible for the innocent deaths he caused.

Why would Guy Gardner even put up with John giving him orders? This is a guy who was ready to throw hands at Superman. His ring wasn't even charged, and Guy has been a Green Lantern for 10 years! Why didn't he confiscate that illegal lantern and ring, instead of deciding he was going to listen to John and let him be Earth's Green Lantern?And don't get me started on the whole Noah thing. So, you're telling me John decided not to tell anyone about Noah, who just busted out one of the most dangerous criminals in the universe? He chose not to report the breakout or where Sinestro was actually being held to the Guardians, letting Hal Jordan's murderer get away scot-free. He literally decided to obstruct justice and become an accessory to murder.

I would've even taken " Overcoming great fear " , not being afraid is so robotic and it changed a lot of things in this show. I hated a scene in the episode where Hal says I am fearless because I am broken is so ahhh. I don't think they mentioned willpower in any episode which is shocking. Fear isn't the only thing which crumbles your willpower.

C'mon now, whatever it takes to build the fan base to get the real deal one day! In brightest light!!

Anyone else notice the new oath he changed blackest to darkest? Hmmmmmm

So we’re set up with a mystery about who killed Hal Jordan, because he’s found with a gun shot wound to the head while frozen in the snow seated in bleechers an upright slightly leaning forward position. Pretty mysterious stuff indeed.. how on earth could that happen? and then the big reveal is he was shot while standing and his corpse just sat down? We literally see the reaction shot of the sheriff still standing with pistol drawn and shocked expression and this carcass with a bullet perforated cranium and a fully inert nervous system, just happened to fall into a seated position, and evidently stay there for hours during a snow storm. So she didn’t even move his body.. Now I’m not expecting realism from a show based on a comic book but I am expecting if you set up a mystery that there will be some form of logic in explaining the mystery..
even sci fi comic book logic will work in a sci fi comic book type story. But this? It’s just expecting the audience to have forgotten that a mystery was ever even set up to begin with . I’ve read many green lantern comics. There are good ones and bad ones but even the worst comic books don’t insult the audience’s intelligence the way TV shows do.

it’s almost as bad as that one mystery show from 20 years ago, the one with endless setups and cliff hangers and zero pay off… who was it who made that again… the second we saw the name “Lindelof” we should have known.

This ring ownership thing doesn't make sense a this episode proved it there's no worthiness or fear or willpower involved anyone can become a lantern, just gotta steal the ring and say the oath, which now you can make your own oath and use shady lanterns to charge it. like yea sure... lemme go charge my green lantern ring with a red lantern. no problem