‘Lanterns’ Episode 6 Review: “Bad Optics” Digs Deeper Into Hal Jordan’s Final Days
Lanterns continues to get deeper into the mystery surrounding Hal Jordan in episode 6, “Bad Optics,” and this episode gives us a LOT more information about what happened before Hal’s death while also giving John Stewart even more reasons to stay in Rushville.
We pick up with John giving a presentation about buying some weapons, and making panic rooms in midway city and there are some fun DC references thrown in here, including Superman (2025) and the Suicide Squad. We also get to spend some more time with John’s brother Marcus, and we learn that the two brothers have started an architecture company called Stewart Brothers.
John’s presentation goes really well, even with the questions about his time as a Green Lantern. But we also get a little more insight into John’s personal life, especially his relationship with his mother. They are clearly estranged, to the point that her name is just “Bernadette” in his phone.
John eventually calls her, and she tells him that Hal wants to talk to him and apologize. Hal is back in Rushville, he served his time, and apparently he needed someone to talk to. Bernadette was willing to listen to him. That obviously pisses John off, but he still goes. And when he gets there, it becomes pretty clear that his mother may have stretched the truth a little just to get him in the same room with Hal.
We learn that Hal spent 10 years in prison, and Hal basically tells John that he took the fall, served his time and figured that should make everything even. John doesn't see it that way at all.
He tells Hal, “You didn't take the fall. You fell.”
That pretty much sums up their relationship. The two eventually start talking about Guy, and we even get a Batman reference when they talk about the Bat-Signal. We already know Guy was a former gym teacher, so there are plenty of jokes to be made there. Hal keeps pushing John, telling him that he was afraid. Not just a little afraid either. He was terrified.
John finally snaps and breaks Hal's nose. Hal asks John not to tell anyone that he was there, while John tells him to stay away from his family.
Then John gets home, and that's when we get the phone call we've been waiting for. Hal Jordan has been found dead.
This episode does a really good job of showing us the events from the first episode from another perspective. Kerry just wanted somebody else around who actually cared that Hal was gone. We also learn that Billy and Kerry have been separated for three years.
Hal moved to Rushville after getting released from prison because he wanted to make amends. The problem was, nobody really wanted his help. He was going door to door asking people what he could do, but nobody seemed interested in giving him another chance. John wants to stay at the hotel, but the hotel was never rebuilt, so Kerry gives him the key to the place Hal was renting.
And when John gets there, he immediately understands why Kerry told him to use the back door. Hal had a shotgun rigged up at the front door. Yeah... Hal wasn't exactly living a normal life.
We also get to see Earl again, which was nice, and John gets a call from his brother about the meeting with the colonel that he was hoping to get. Marcus wants John to come home and forget about Rushville, and he keeps referring to him as “Chosen.” The next morning, Kerry brings John some breakfast and they head to the cafe. The waitress actually saw John with Hal the night before, but she doesn't immediately tell Kerry.
Kerry wants John to ask her if she killed Hal, but John knows she didn't. He says she's too real to fake cry. Then the medical examiner needs Kerry at the morgue, and apparently John loves a good autopsy, so he tags along. The ME, however, absolutely hates Hal. And she doesn't seem to like John much either. She basically calls both of them pieces of shit.
During the autopsy, she explains that whoever punched Hal could have left blood behind. John immediately gets nervous and hides his hands, which was one of those little moments that made me laugh. The ME doesn't exactly have much respect for Hal either. She says they'll probably burn his body and flush him down the toilet.
That's when they go through Hal's belongings and find a key to the Fortress of Storage. And of course, the Fortress of Storage is voice-activated. Kerry also has a voice message from Hal on her phone, and this is where we get to see another side of their relationship. There was clearly real love between them, even though their relationship didn't work out. They get what they need from the recording and move on.
Kerry invites John to dinner, and she assumes he still doesn't eat meat. John tells her that he actually does now.
They eventually talk about what should happen to Hal, and John says they should bury him because, at the very least, he deserves that. Kerry agrees to make it happen. We also find out John's father, who is living in a home, and he's still just as tough as ever. Then we get an absolutely hilarious standee for Guy's “Electro Punch.” John heads to Guy's Lantern Signal and calls for him, but instead gets confronted by some of the townies. Billy shows up too, and he's not exactly friendly.
Billy threatens John, and John doesn't take too kindly to that, so John whoops them. Afterward, John heads back to Kerry's for dinner, where she jokes about his panic rooms. We learn that Noah organized FEMA after the disaster to help rebuild the school, and everything is actually going pretty well until Kerry gets a phone call about John's fight.
John is getting arrested for defending himself, he calls his brother to wire him some bail money. Guy finally shows up the next morning and they have a nice chat. And he is flashing he ring energy VERY annoyingly and tells John that he met Hal while he was in prison. Hal apparently told Guy to go climb a rope, which is exactly the kind of Hal Jordan interaction I expected. John tells Guy that Hal is dead, and Guy also corrects him when John calls him a gym teacher.
He's an athletic director. We also find out that Hal's ring was decommissioned and locked away on Oa. John wants Hal to be buried wearing his ring and uniform, basically treating it like a military burial. John tells Guy that he owes him because John originally turned down the ring. Then Guy drops another major piece of information, Someone broke Sinestro out.
Guy is clearly scared about going against the Guardians, and John calls him out on it. Guy's response? “Bad optics.”And that explains the title. John's relationship with his brother Aaron is also explored more. Even though John is bankrolling aarons album, the two clearly aren't that close, and John calls him out on it. He also keeps calling John Chosen.
Then Maggie shows up at Hal's house, and she's blackmailing John . She was the little girl John spoke to on the day everything happened, so there's obviously more going on with her. Noah eventually shows up and Maggie leaves, but she makes it clear that she wants her money. Noah also drops off John's suit for Hal's funeral, and this is where things get REALLY interesting. Noah is wearing an outfit that looks extremely familiar.
It looks a lot like the outfit worn by the person we saw standing behind Hal in the midseason trailer, Yeah... I'm paying attention to that. Guy eventually comes through for Hal and John. He shows up in his Green Lantern suit with the ring on, and once again flies off with that sonic boom. Then we get another big appearance. Carol Ferris is here!
She asks John to give the eulogy for Hal, and John actually wrote one assuming that there would be a lot of people there, both human and alien. The eulogy starts off pretty rough because, well… Hal was Hal. But underneath all of the jokes, John is clearly starting to understand that Hal more and more.
John tells Kerry that he's planning on sticking around for a few days. And then we get the ending. Later that night, John is digging up Hal's body when he gets a call from the colonel. The colonel basically tells John that he isn't worthy of his time and hangs up on him. Marcus is obviously not happy about any of this either.
John then takes Hal's ring and taps it the way hal showed him back in 2016 and The hologram activates. The Halogram and John stare each other down and then look at Hals dead body and well they got some work to do. And honestly, I feel like this was the plan the entire time.
“Bad Optics” is another episode that continues to build the mystery without giving us everything at once. We're getting more pieces of the puzzle, we're learning more about Hal's past, and John is becoming more personally involved with Rushville and the people who knew Hal.
We're also getting more Green Lantern mythology mixed into the murder mystery, which is exactly what I want from this show. The biggest question now is what Hal left behind in that ring, who actually killed him, what Maggie knows, what Noah is hiding, and exactly how far the Guardians and Sinestro are going to factor into all of this.
Because at this point, there's no way Hal's death is as simple as it looked in episode one.
What did you think?
Loved it
Hated it
So/So
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