By Dan Skip Allen

I’ve read a lot of Green Lantern comics books in my day. In the early 80s, there were some great Green Lantern stories. Mostly teaming up with Green Arrow. As the years progressed, there were more Green Lanterns added to the Green Lantern Corp, Jon Stewart, and Guy Gardner. Alan Grant was the first, though, and he was part of the Justice Society. These Lanterns are all members of The Justice League. “Lanterns” isn’t the first appearance of Green Lanterns on the big or small screen. Ryan Reynolds played Hal Jordan in a movie back in 2011. It wasn’t received that well because of the villain. I liked it despite that, though. This new show on HBO Max is a grounded version of these space detectives, and I’m interested to see where it goes.

Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) is training a new Lantern John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) they are driving down the road in a Monte Carlo SS when Hal jumps out of the car. It was a test for his new trainee to see what he’s made of. He then shows up at a taco stand three miles up the road. After hearing about a mass shooting in Nebraska he flies off and leaves John there to eat his tacos and find his own way to the middle of nowhere Nebraska. This starts an investigation into what happened at a football field. The investigation spans decades, though, and it won’t be easy to figure out what happened in this small Nebraska town.

“Lanterns” is like an odd couple kind of series. Two men who are completely different from one another, but they have to work together despite those differences. It’s a buddy cop kind of show with a real, in-depth investigation at its core. They go about things in different ways. One is a grizzled veteran who’s been around for a while, and the other is the new guy on the scene. They have to get to know each other so they can eventually get on the same page. Throw in a small town sheriff Kerry (Kelly McDonald). She’s not too happy with these guys showing up on her turf. She’s not the only one who is suspicious of these men in his town. That’s the big shot around there, William Macon (Garrett Dillahunt). He and his family run the town. 

I would have liked to see Hal and / or John use the power ring more in this show, but the four times they did use the ring was interesting to me. Creativity as a Green Lantern is a key to how good they can be as this galactic hero. The grounded nature of the series lends itself to the detective aspects of the story. Damon Lindelof has been the creative force behind “Watchman” “The Leftovers” and other series. He knows how to develop a show using a great story. Chris Mundy is helping him with that. As a fan of detective shows like “True Detective”, another HBO series, I am intrigued by what I saw in the premier of “Lanterns”. I have a feeling where the show is going, but time will tell what ends up happening with this series.

“Lanterns” is a show that will devide audiences after the season premier. It’s not exactly what most of them would expect. I, on the other hand, have faith in this show and the early buzz behind it. I will be eagerly waiting for each Sunday night at 9 pm to arrive in my week. I’ve waited this long, so why not wait even longer week to week to see what happens. Chandler and Pierre seem to be pretty good opposite each other. Their chemistry will show whether this show will survive or not. For now, we get to see 8 episodes and let things unfold. That will determine my final thoughts on the show, but for now, I liked what I saw.

🌟 🌟 🌟 ½ stars