After the explosive events of Lanterns Season 1 Episode 5, I wondered where we go from here.
Part of me expected the beginning of a showdown between John Stewart and the Guardians, but what happens in this hour is just as interesting.
The show jumps ahead ten years and catches us in the present timeline where John has left superhero stuff behind and is now an architect.
One of the best things about Lanterns Season 1 Episode 6, “Bad Optics,” is how it ties everything together, whether it is the scene in the series premiere when Hal is killed, or John’s drawing talent.
That scene, which felt tacked on, now makes sense in retrospect because it’s where the show heads next after exploring the Rushville mystery.
John has left the lanterns stuff behind and is now working as an architect of sorts, building post-apocalyptic shelters for the government.
That almost certainly means that things will end well, doesn’t it?
Before we proceed, let me take this opportunity to admit that I can’t stand the Stewart family.
It is made up of whiny personalities who have heaped all their dreams on man and can’t even stop to consider how it affects him.
It couldn’t have been fun for his brothers to watch John become the center of their parents’ world, but that wasn’t his fault.
If anything, he was suffering just as much as they did, if not more.
All these years later, they’re still making him feel guilty for the life he’s lived, a life he never chose.
Meanwhile, his parents have never let go of the dream of a superhero son.
Every time John’s phone rings and it’s some family member on the other end, I feel so protective of him because I know what’s coming.
It’s good that he’s drawn boundaries with them, but these are the kinds of family members anyone would be justified in cutting off forever.
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Apparently his parents have been in contact with Hal all these years, and when he gets out of prison, they act as an intermediary.
The Death of Hal Jordan
Hal was never a perfect person, far from it, but he was real. You could almost always count on his course of actions or words.
The problem is that his actions were often disproportionate, and his words were brutal.
But deep underneath was a man trying to do the right thing, even if he lost himself in it.
As a trainee, John saw the man most people never got to see, and he liked that man in his own way.
The hate was still there because it is only Hal who can try to guilt you into helping him by pretending like serving time for his own crimes was a favor to you.
Even the new Green Lantern knows how rude Hal can be, and it’s no surprise that he doesn’t want to help investigate the mystery of Hal’s death.
The hour presents this crime as something complex because Hal had many enemies, but I don’t buy it.
This has the Guardians written all over it, which is why I am convinced there is a larger mystery here.
For the past decade since the decimation at Rushville, Hal has essentially been neutered by the prison sentence.
The moment he leaves, he starts asking questions while seeking John, and then he’s killed.
The people who lived through that time have all the justification to feel mad about Hal’s actions but not nearly enough to want to kill him.
This is just a theory, but I think Hal was going to expose the Guardians after they hung him out to dry, and they couldn’t have that.
It might not necessarily be out of the goodness of his heart, just vengeance.
Continuing my corrupt cops analogy, they almost always kill someone when they’re done using them.
Why would the galaxy’s cops be any different?
What I can’t tell is whether John suspects something larger at play here, or he thinks it was some livid townsperson who killed Hal.
But one thing I’m confident about is that he is in for the shock of a lifetime, and he may understand what happened to Sinestro and Hal, which is where Guy is headed, was the only thing that could have happened.
When those sworn to defend against evil are the ones perpetuating it, the illusion collapses and twists even the most upstanding people.
Gut Check
“Bad Optics” is a somber episode of Lanterns which can feel jarring given the high energy of its predecessor. Still, it’s an excellent one nonetheless.
It sets up John’s desire to investigate Hal’s death by showing the complexity of their relationship, which is really hard even for real people to understand.
Intrusive Thoughts
- Plants have leaves, branches, flowers, or fruits. Hal’s thing is not a plant.
- Something about Noah unsettles me. What if he’s an alien?
- I’m sorry, but how did everyone, and by everyone I mean the three people, keep it together during that eulogy?
- I love Nathan Fillion, but that bowl cut and suit are ridiculous. No wonder Hal kept his suits in the closet.
Over to you, Lanterns fanatics. What did you think of the story this hour? Do you think John suspects the Guardians? Could they be clean of whatever happened to Hal?
Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
Say something in the comments, share if you like, and keep reading. Independent voices need readers like you.
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