Lanterns Season Finale Review: “Dirt and Stars” Finally Makes John Stewart a Green Lantern
My name is Lance Ringold , staff writer for the tv cave and in my haste to get this review out and a reaction video my article got messed up and names were misplaced, I should have vetted my article properly and for that I apologize. Please enjoy the revised article.
We finally made it to the Lanterns season finale, and after everything John and Hal went through this season, “Dirt and Stars” had a lot to wrap up. There were some really strong moments here, especially when it came to John finally stepping into his future as a Green Lantern, but there were also some choices that left me sitting there thinking, “That’s it?”
The episode starts by taking us back to 2016, when Kerry went looking for Hal. We learn that Hal knows he will be charged with wreckless endangerment, and we get more context for why he ended up where he did. Then we jump back to 2026, where Kerry picks Hal up from prison with flowers and beer. Kerry gets rid of the flowers, This also shows us that Kerry lied to John when she first told him about Hal’s death and how they reconnected, she left things out the story.
The two go out to dinner. The entire restaurant is basically staring at him because, yeah, this town absolutely hates Hal Jordan. Kerry doesn't care, though. She stands up for him and basically tells everybody that Hal did his time, came back, and is trying to make amends. She even makes it very clear that he's with her while casually tearing apart some garlic bread. I actually loved this moment because Kerry doesn't give a damn what anybody else thinks about Hal.
Then we get one of the funniest Hal Jordan moments of the entire season. After some time together, Hal and Kerry have been intimate and Hal is in bed wearing cowboy boots and absolutely nothing else. Yes, this man is just casually rocking the cowboy boots in bed Kerry invites him to Noah's game on Friday, setting up everything that eventually goes down.
Things take a turn when Hal is feeding Earl and somebody throws Molotov cocktails through his windows. Earl is terrified, but Hal does his best to save him but he falls though a staircase and goes unconscious . Hal wakes up in the slaughterhouse with the same skin tag John had after being revived. Noah is the one who healed him, and we find out that Noah's mother doesn't know that he knows what he really is and Noah wants to keep it that way .
We then return to John and sinestro and we learn that Noah was actually the one who broke sinestro out of prison. John doesn't believe that Noah saved Hal just to turn around and kill him, but Sinestro isn't interested in hearing it. He wants to talk to Hal. John, however, isn't playing around anymore. He dips Sinestro into the fear water despite Sinestro begging him not to, and Sinestro reveals that he forged a Lantern for Noah. And this is where things get really interesting.
John hesitates on charging the ring and wonders if Sinestros lantern would even work , but Hal shows up and tells him not to. John still wants answers. Sinestro tells them that Hal followed Noah and discovered his portal, and Sinestro was apparently part of Noah's revenge plan because he is the only one who has ever killed a Guardian.
After leaving Sinestro to rot John refuses to charge the ring because he thinks he can still get through to Noah. Hal tells him that Noah is going to kill him if he doesn't. John goes through the portal anyway, only to discover that Noah moved the other end. He ambushes John and takes his ring.
John finally explains what happened with his grandmother. Noah thought john killed her out of pure hate but john tells him that he actually cared about her. She saved his life, but there was a reason she kept him at the brink of death. She needed him vulnerable enough to do what she wanted: kill Hal Jordan. John and Noah eventually reach a literal crossroads, and John asks him which way he wants to go.
Obviously, that question has a much deeper meaning than just which road they're taking. They head to the game, and Noah explains that he didn't burn down Hal's house. He actually went inside to save him. John tells him that at least he's not a slave to his programming, but Noah can't even bring himself to fully admit that he killed Hal. You can see how much he's struggling with what he was programmed to do.
John wants to know if Noah is going to kill him. Noah doesn't know if he can overcome his programming, so he asks John to kill him instead. He knows what he's becoming, and he just wants to play this final game.
When Noah gets out of the car, John calls for Hal , but hal. doesn't answer. John finally admits that he needs him, and honestly, that was a really good moment. After everything John has been through, hearing him actually admit that he needs somebody was important. Sinestro also reveals that he can bring Hal back to life, which has to be pure BS, but it has been done in the comics.
Then we get to the football game, where a whole bunch of scouts are watching Noah play. Noah is still focused on his teammates, which shows that even with everything going on inside of him, there's still a part of him that cares about other people.
Kerry confronts John about going to the storage unit alone. John tells her he didn't know if he could trust her, and then he reveals what his mother did. Kerry is completely shocked. “My mother held her breath for my entire childhood.” That line really stuck with me. John knows Kerry understands exactly what he's talking about, and he calls her out over the Manhunter situation and the murder.
This is where everything finally comes together. We see what really happened. Hal wanted Kerry and Noah to leave town, maybe even leave the planet, but Kerry couldn't do it. Then we find out Noah wasn't even Billy's kid. Zoey grew her finger back and somehow she became pregnant, implanted with Noah, She also didnt even realize that Noah knew he was a Manhunter.
In a flash back we see that Kerry completely loses it and shoots Hal in the head. His last words are, “I love you.”
John then wants to know why Kerry called him and told him about Hal. Kerry knew John would eventually figure out what happened. She wanted to know if she had been raising a monster. John reassures her that Noah was good, but he tells her that Noah asked him to take his life even though John refused to do it. Kerry says she'll turn herself in, but John doesn't think that's what Hal would have wanted. SOME MORE BS! And while all of this is happening, Noah wins the game and gets into the college of his choice.
John calls Guy, and Guy is obviously not thrilled about being summoned. He sees the ring and the Lantern, and John basically tells him he's done following everybody else's rules. He calls Guy the Guardians' errand boy and tells him to take the stars while he takes the dirt. John is breaking the chain of command.
He gives Guy a message for the Guardians: if they search their hearts, they'll find it in themselves to let him be. Then John tells Guy to lose the gold tooth and sends him flying. And I'm sorry, but the way guy flew off looked rough as hell, you can tell he was on wires, he looked so uncomfortable.
Then Hal shows up one final time. Hal tells John that he is going to be better at this job than Hal ever was and that he's ready. He tells John to charge the ring and reminds him not to be afraid to be afraid. That's actually one of the best pieces of advice Hal could have given him. Hal also tells John to create his own Lantern oath because the traditional Green Lantern oath doesn't feel like him.
We see the Hal o gram hesitate with something and he asks John what his final words to Kerry were, he says he glitched out when that part of the conversation happened John tells Hal that his last words to Kerry were “I love you.”
Hal responds, “I love you too, Jr.”
And that's the moment John finally charges the ring. He returns Hal's belongings to the safe and drops off Maggie's money with a note apologizing to her. Then he goes home and sees his family, including his father, his mother and Earl.
Finally, John speaks his own oath:
“In brightest day, in darkest night, I’ll embrace my fear. I’ll do what’s right. I chose this ring. I chose this fight. In service to this Lantern’s light.”
And then we see John take his first flight, which looks amazing but it would have looked better with an actual suit on but I guess we have to wait until Man of Tomorrow next summer. No suit. No Corps. Just John Stewart and the ring.
And honestly, that's probably the part of the finale that worked best for me. The whole season has been about John trying to figure out who he is, dealing with Hal's shadow, dealing with his family, dealing with Noah and trying to understand what being a Lantern actually means. Ending with him choosing the ring on his own terms makes sense. But here's the thing: I didn't hate this finale, but I didn't love it either.
There are some really great ideas here. John's relationship with Hal, Kerry's connection to Hal, Noah's struggle with his programming and John's decision to create his own oath all worked for me. I also liked that John didn't simply become another Green Lantern because someone told him to. He made the choice himself.
At the same time, some of the reveals felt like a lot to throw at us in one episode. Noah being a Manhunter, the whole situation with Zoey, Kerry killing Hal, Sinestro's involvement and John finally becoming a Lantern is a LOT. Still, after everything, John Stewart is officially ready to take that next step. And that final flight is where the season leaves us.
John has the ring. John has his own oath. And now he's finally choosing his own path. I just wish the finale had landed a little harder for me because after the buildup this season, I wanted to walk away saying, “Damn, that was incredible.” Instead, I walked away saying, “That was good... but I expected a little more.” I didn't hate it.
What did you think?
Loved it
Hated it
So/So
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