Lanterns Lights Out review S1 E5

Lights Out seems like it might be the most divisive episode of the first season of Lanterns. The 2016 Rushville arc reaches its conclusion in explosive and dramatic fashion, but for the first time in the series there were some unearned moments and questionable character choices.

Our first glimpse of Rushville in Lights Out comes not from 2016, but from 2007. Kerry is arriving in town after escaping two dudes from Gotham. Her deadbeat father was a thief and potentially a snitch, so their boss wants them to take out Kerry to tie up any loose end.

They track her down at the diner and despite Kerry pleading that she’s not a threat, they’re going to handle business after she finishes her coffee. Zoe springs up out of nowhere killing one of them, but she and Kerry know this won’t be the end of it. The goon needed to kill Kerry and bring her pinkie back as proof of death, so Zoe has Kerry cut off her left pinkie.

It’s here that Zoe offers a second chance at a better life for herself. All she has to do is protect her when the time comes and some guys who are worse than the Gotham goons come for her. With a father who apparently was uninvolved in her life and no mother mentioned to speak of, the choice was easy for Kerry and as a bonus, Zoe offers to grow her a new pinkie finger.

Lights Out shifts back to the “present day” of 2016 with John stuck in the car. Hal won’t free him stating John is off the board while he’s going to set Anton and his crew to go after Macon. In the distraction, Hal is going to bring Zoe to the blue bastards aka the Guardians. This is interesting as Hal hadn’t been written as particularly concerned with the Guardians’ support or acknowledgement. He’s tenured and has been just fine trusting his gut regardless of what his blue bosses have to say.

Hal says John’s training is over and flies off. For all of the debatable issues with Hal over the course of the season, leaving John in a crashed car felt needlessly reckless especially when the car started catching on fire.

Over the course of the season, we’ve seen John travel with a bird construct without a charged ring. Yet somehow, it’s asking too much for Hal to whip up some restraints to keep John out of pocket while he carries out his plan instead of potentially leaving his trainee to die. As annoyed as Hal was shown to be with the notion of being replaced, it really didn’t seem like he’d passively take Sinestro’s advice to heart.

Sure, someone could find one isolated comic panel showing Hal to be unbothered with an ally’s life, but this segment in Lights Out wasn’t particularly effective. Hal confronts Kerry, who goes back and forth with him about how she owes Zoe and won’t leave the home she’s made in Rushville.

For Hal, Zoe’s betrayal is another one like John’s that hurts. His instincts are dead on when it comes to catching a stranger in a lie. For someone he’s let in, like Sinestro, John and Kerry, the betrayal cuts far deeper. Zoe insists that Rushville had peace before Hal arrived. If he stays, any lost lives are on him.

That bears out as Hal finds a slew of dead bodies at the diner before meeting Anton and his men. Granted, these were gun-toting members of Macon’s militia, but these victims are on Hal. Anton cautiously agrees to team up, but questions if John and Macon had sex since the Manhunter typically uses sex as a means to get a community’s alpha into its web making them easier to control. That actually sounds like a very effective strategy.

Anton actually thought Hal portrayed as heterosexual, but Hal blows it off to keep the ruse by talking about all the galactic hookups he’s made as a Lantern. That throwaway line in Lights Out will undoubtedly lead to some crashing out among a certain contingency of Green Lantern fans.

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John sees Zoe watching from a distance as the flames engulf the car and awakens to find himself wrapped in medical wraps to soothe the burns. Zoe let him burn so she could make her recruitment pitch. Zoe will heal John and kill Hal Jordan; all John has to do is say that he valiantly sacrificed himself to stop Anton’s men. John gets the ring that is rightfully his. John mentions to Zoe that he knows that the Guardians created the Manhunters prior to the Green Lanterns.

Amazingly, John goes for the deal. There is a funny line that if his skin is white when he’s healed, the deal’s off. Zoe admits to killing Abin Sur, which actually set her downfall in motion. Ironically, Zoe’s fear about being discovered with the second chance that Abin Sur gave her is what led to the Green Lantern at her doorstep.

John apparently was just sizing up his options as he takes out one of Zoe’s guards and gets dressed to join the fray. He tells his parents to contact Lianna as he’s about to take the ring from Hal as he returns to the gun shop and this time takes a gun along with the scope.  Zoe has left after a conversation with Macon who’s watching Anton’s men arrive on the compound. She thanks him and expresses her love for him while he thanks her for the extra time.

It’s hard to complain about a TV series that doesn’t drag out subplots beyond the point of caring, but it feels like Lights Out has to cover a ton of background info on Zoe while raising plenty of other questions. Did Zoe actually have love for Macon or was it just part of the spiel? In another subtle revelation, Anton and Zoe/The Manhunter had been together at some point. Anton kills Macon and takes his heart, annoyed to find that Macon was just a human after all.

Hal is in on the Rushville Main Street calling for Zoe. Instead of confronting him, Zoe unleashes her satellite ray to blow up buildings and blast Rushville citizens. This action doesn’t make much sense. Hal is indeed the threat, but what’s in it for Zoe to kill the citizens of her town? Surely, she could have found another way to exhaust Hal’s ring.

Eventually, Hal makes his way to Zoe thanks to his sentry backup scanning Rushville for her. Zoe has her men topple the water tower, which has more of the brain fog gas that disorients a lantern. Hal snatches some of the glasses to see through it and spies Anton arriving set to detonate. Hal whips up a tornado and sends Anton’s explosion harmlessly into the air. With his ring losing its charge, Hal takes a copter to the hotel parking lot to recharge it via the lantern.

Hal enters his room and John attacks him. This isn’t much of a fight and it’s lights out pretty quickly for Hal, who is alert enough to summon a shield to protect them from Zoe’s blast. John walks off “leaving” Hal trapped in the rubble for Zoe. This is a quick karmic payback for Hal leaving John trapped in the car earlier in Lights Out. Zoe is pleased with this turn of events, but Hal’s guts are true as always. John didn’t kill Hal so he could use him as bait for Zoe, who John kills with the sniper rifle.

John takes a knife and removes Zoe’s crystalized heart. That’s not all he’s taking for his troubles. Next is the lantern and Hal’s ring. Hal asks John “was it worth it?” As he meets up with Lianna, John has figured out an answer: No. He doesn’t want to become twisted for the sake of keeping the ring and won’t let it go that far. This explains how Guy Gardner has the ring in 2026…

Were it not for the major lingering subplot of Hal’s death in 2026, this episode really could have served as the season finale. Lights Out wraps up a major subplot in Lanterns with the explosive conclusion of the 2016 arc providing key insight on the ringbearer’s fate.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Photo Credit: HBO Max

After watching Lights Out, check out Green Lantern Rebirth on trade paperback at Amazon.

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