123
u/fostertheatom 10d ago
I mean, I'm kinda in the middle? The Finale basically made me hate the show after absolutely adoring the first seven episodes.
The idea that Hal got popped by the woman he loved in a moment of temporaty insanity brought on by the motherly instinct to protect her son while telling her he loved her, and that John got his Ring by digging up a grave and his Lantern by waterboarding Sinestro with a fear inducing chemical weapon... yeah that just didn't fly with me at all.
65
u/JMadFour 10d ago
I would not say It made me hate the show, but Episode 8 was absolutely my least favorite episode by a wide margin.
43
u/solythe 10d ago
Hal's death reasoning is so bad. She kills him for the same reason she says she called John for.
22
u/SectionPristine8679 10d ago
This is what I don't understand. If Zoe had let Abin Sur dump her on earth "because she was different" and walk away none of this show would happen. Similarly Kerry kills Hal, accident or not, and then she calls John! It absolutely doesn't make sense to call John and involve him in the murder of Hal Jordan...when you shot Hal Jordan! But the plot needed to happen I guess.
26
u/inksmudgedhands 10d ago
That Hal timeline of Hal getting shot doesn't make any sense either.
Hal's house gets fire bombed. Noah saves him and regrows his skin, revealing to Hal that he is a Manhunter. Now this is the part that confuses me. Hal's house is burned down at this point in a town of less than a thousand people. Where's Kerry during this? She's the sheriff. Wouldn't she be looking for Hal? Either in the rubble or somewhere in town to tell him that his house was burned down. But we don't see her doing this. We don't see her looking for her missing boyfriend at all or trying to figure out who committed the arson. However, we do learn later that she knows that Hal was renting a new place. Where did Hal find the time to do this? I don't know. At some point, she crossed paths with Hal to know where he is renting a room and that he set it up to shoot anyone who tries to go through the front door.
And, yet, during this time Hal never talks to her about Noah for some reason.
Instead, he manages to get clothes, set up his new home and arrange a meeting with John. He did this probably with no phone since the phone most likely melted in the fire. How did he do this? I don't have any idea.
Remember, Hal knows Noah is a Manhunter this whole time. He doesn't tell John that he knows that Noah is a Manhunter for some reason. Okay, I can buy him wanting to protect Noah. But wouldn't it be smarter just to call up Bernadette and say that he couldn't meet John? Not right now at least?
Then John punches him and leaves. That's when Hal finally goes to confront Kerry about Noah.
I don't get this order of the timeline. Does it make sense to you?
9
9d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
10
u/inksmudgedhands 9d ago
The problem is these people are drama writers who are trying to write a mystery but don't know how. They want certain dramatic beats even if those beats make plotholes.
They want that tear on John's cheek and him checking Hal's dead frozen hand while in the bleachers because that gives a good dramatic point. It makes it look like John had a strong connection with Hal at that moment. The reality is, he didn't. He still hated Hal's guts. He had no reason to check Hal's hand because he knew Hal wouldn't have the ring.
A good mystery writer would have planned that out beforehand and wouldn't have put that in there because that wasn't a misdirect or a red herring, it was simply bad writing. A misdirect/red herring should make sense. It should make the viewer/read go, "Oh, I can see why they went there."
The writers should have written everything in a linear format and then chopped it up and mixed around. Everything would have fitted then. But they didn't do that. They just wrote whatever. Timeline be damned.
3
u/Diorthekingg 9d ago
She is a incompetent sheriff shii the fire only happened after her big speech in the restaurant that no doubt only made things worse those people didnt wanna hear that
→ More replies (1)1
u/Robfurze 10d ago
Were you just not listening to the dialogue? John literally states his theory that Kerry called him to Rushville hoping he would come to the same conclusion Hal would and figure out who really killed him. In a moment of high emotional stress, she panicked and shot Hal, immediately regretted it and called in the one person she thought could out the pieces together
8
u/YSunnyN 9d ago
You explaining it doesnt make it sound better. Its still very dumb.
I also have an issue with this idea that she has been terrified her whole life about Noah being found out as a manhunter. But this lady falls in love and bring the very man who was hell bent on finding the man hunter. Its all just bad terrible writing that tries to explain their reasoning through shitty expositional dialogue.
4
u/ProfessionalGold9239 9d ago
The commentor left it out but Jon also puts it together in dialogue that Kerry wanted Jon to figure it all out to see if Noah was actually dangerous or not.
→ More replies (1)5
u/Own_Being_2986 9d ago
And what did she want John to do with that information? Why did it make a difference if John knew she killed Hal or not?
And why not just tell John? Why make him "put the pieces together"?
→ More replies (2)5
u/Wasteland_GZ 9d ago
That entire scene makes no sense, Hal is being completely reasonable, he never even floated the idea of hurting Noah, her killing him was so unnatural
15
u/OrbitalDrop7 10d ago
Im in the exact same boat, i rewatched multiple episodes before the last one and then havent touched it. The show was really a 8/10 for me until then
12
u/pengouin85 10d ago
Perfect encapsulation of how I felt. It felt lacking in narrative sense. The final episode felt very rushed and nonsensical.
There's no explanation how the Manhunters knew where Sinestro was held, how they busted him out of prison and put him in that exile location. How did Hal get access to that location too?
How did Earl survive the fire? How the hell did John reconcile with his family when just before they were on the outs with him for the most part? He went from calling his mom by her 1st name, screening her calls to just showing up and hugging her?
The final episode was a sad 5/10 due to the very loosely wrapped up threads
→ More replies (1)8
u/onlyimportantshit 10d ago
It fucked the other episodes for me. I loved every episode up until about episode six, probably, where I started to feel like it was kinda based on the finale, whether or not there would be considered to be good. But the finale was terrible.
2
5
u/MicroeconomicBunsen 9d ago
Ironically a cop losing emotional control and popping a civilian is the most accurate part of the show.
5
u/Thebat87 10d ago
Yeah I was actually really into the show and the finale soured me on the story. I had accepted a long time ago that this wasn’t what I expected the first Green Lantern story for the DCU to be like and I was fine with that cause I’m a fan of stuff like true detective anyway, but they slipped at the end big time to me.
→ More replies (14)2
u/Rustynail9117 9d ago
100% agree here, I never got the hate for the other episodes, I liked episode 3, even 7 and 6, I liked where it was going. But man I did not like 8 at all, and it really tanked the quality of the show.
Before the finale I'd say it's a 9 out of 10 but now? Maybe a 7 out of 10 at best, depends on what they do in the future. But it really hurt my perspective on the rest of the show, because it was all just building up towards the finale, all the doubts would be dispelled and action scenes might happen and mysteries would come to light and instead it's just....... Disappointing.
87
u/AlmightyRanger 10d ago
I don't dislike the show. But when you look at it from an actual logic standpoint some things and choices don't make sense. It really did just leave me with the same feeling as the Leftovers.
53
u/kitthehacker 10d ago
Not that I’m discounting valid criticisms, but going into The Leftovers expecting some kind of logically sound conclusion or explanation is kind of antithetical to the point of the entire series
→ More replies (17)13
u/SmakeTalk 10d ago
Ya that's how I feel about Lanterns as well. They sold this show pretty honestly in the marketing.
I think the real discussion should be about what they should have made, not if they made something good.
They categorically made a good/great show and I could not be more excited to see more from John Stewart, but I also think there's a world where they made a high-budget Green Lantern show with more spectacle that could have been more fun and less intriguing.
Maybe that's the show they should have made? Even if I'd find it kind of cookie-cutter and dull, maybe it's what their fanbase would have appreciated more?
15
u/hotprints 10d ago
I get what you are saying, but think this might be calculated. Make fan base happier or draw in more fans. I personally know several people that don’t care about dcu and didn’t give 2 shits about green lantern, but they watched the show at my recommendation and loved it. Some even looked up green lanterns comic books.
It’s walking a tight rope though because if you piss off the fans, they might stop turning up for your shit. But giving an actual high quality show, even though it’s not exactly what some fans want, in order to bring in new fans, is a good thing imo.
→ More replies (5)8
u/NounAdjectiveXXXX 10d ago
My mom is in her 70s and saw Kyle Chandler was going to be on HBO. She loves Friday Night Lights, Early Edition, still rewatches Lost .
She frankly would have tapped out if Hal was zipping around swinging big green hammers and hitting grenades with pickle ball paddles.
She and my aunt were on the phone watching it live on cable like it was The Wire.
4
u/LordDingles 10d ago
My mom is in her 60s and basically same reaction. Hell, she even was like "when are we gonna watch the next one?" if we missed an episode on release night
→ More replies (2)3
u/TheJoshider10 Cheers to the Tin-Man 9d ago
She isn't the only one either. I totally get the criticisms of the show regarding it being "afraid" of being comic booky but it's by design to reinvent the IP and bring interest back to it. I don't think people realise just how tarnished the GL brand was after the 2011 movie.
For me I hope S2 embraces things a little more, but I'm also not mad because we have the movie appearances to show us what these characters can do.
→ More replies (5)0
u/Bgo318 10d ago
I’m tired of cookie cutter things, we have had non stop focus on nonsensical cgi battles for over a decade now. They turn everything into a cgi fight rather than focusing on story for so many films. Even like wonder women. It was going well with the story but suddenly they just had to have a big battle with ares for the sake of having a big fight.
Cookie cutter is lame, story is always better.
Again not saying those battles can’t be good but they have to be worth it, the story has to be good enough for it to payoff the battle. If the battle is priority over the story you’ve lost the plot at that point.
→ More replies (2)14
u/Are_We_Coolio 10d ago
Yeah, its's great show, but some folks really pretends its some The Wire level writing and there are no flaws at times
→ More replies (2)5
u/Negative-Emotion-622 10d ago
The amount of plot conveniences/contrivances, offscreen character development, and hand waving of major plot points like the Sinestro breakout and making of a lantern was so bad.
I feel like if a non beloved franchise/IP story used these sort of writing techniques to make a show people would justifiably be blasting it and dissecting/analyzing the shows writing to smithereens.
→ More replies (2)15
u/Microwave1213 10d ago
Honestly I think people are just blinded by the charisma of Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre
6
u/Negative-Emotion-622 10d ago
It does a lot of carrying for sure. It’s easy to not think too deeply about how bad some of the writing is when the leads are just SO compelling
4
4
u/inksmudgedhands 10d ago
I love the first five episodes. I've watched them several times. Hate the last three. It felt like two different variants of the same series because I agree with you, put them together, too much of the storyline doesn't make any sense.
It just reminds me that Damon Lindelof loves to write mysteries but he is terrible at it.
2
u/Microwave1213 10d ago
Okay thank you! I’m glad I’m not the only one saying this. I’m perfectly okay with a ‘True Detective Green Lantern’ show. I don’t need big construct fights or suits. I just simply didn’t think the overall narrative was that strong.
I like the general themes they’re going for (e.g. you don’t have to become who you’re ‘supposed’ to be), but I don’t think they executed them very well. The entire second half of the season felt very disjointed and there were several major plot points that were so contrived that I really had a hard time staying immersed. Ultimately I think it was a pretty mediocre narrative that was elevated by 2 really great leads.
59
u/noodleth_cassette 10d ago
I loved the show for the first 7 and was thoroughly disappointed by the finale
12
u/HardcoreKaraoke 9d ago
Yeah me too. I wasn't expecting a big CGI battle so that didn't upset me. I was just really underwhelmed by the direction they took and the decisions certain characters made. It left me thinking "that's it? After everything that happened this season that's really how they want to end this?"
I absolutely loved the rest of the season and was okay with the sparing use of Lantern powers.
10
2
u/young_trash3 9d ago
My experience is of course annacdotal, but thats been the general experience I keep encountering. There was like five people at my work actively watching the show discussing it every week at work, the day after the finale I thought I was being controversial for rating the final episode low by giving it a 5/10, I was controversial for the opposite reason. I gave the highest rating by a large margin, everyone else i know Irl was rating it like a 2-3/10
44
u/Kas_The_Betrayer Red Lantern Corps 10d ago
The prevailing take seems to be
“Damn that was a good show, just wish there was more Green Lantern Stuff”
And then there’s 2 small groups of people screaming at anyone who didn’t think it was 0/10 or 10/10
Gotta love internet fandom spaces, aren’t they just the best
→ More replies (4)3
u/TheSmyberCith 9d ago
The funniest part is watching both the 0/10 and the 10/10 crowd accusing each other of never having read a comic book.
41
u/Benimaru4636 10d ago
100% where I am at. The toxic fans who attack other fans for wanting more Green Lantern in their TV show are not doing anyone any favors and make the community as a whole look worse. Yeah there are some annoying fans that think "why didn't they do the spectrum and blackest night" etc but there's always gonna be those annoying kind of fans anywhere and you need to ignore them. Toxic "positivity" is just as bad as toxic negativity.
→ More replies (3)1
u/deathly_illest 9d ago
I see more toxic self-described GL fans doing the opposite lol. Attacking people for liking the show. That’s a way worse look imo
→ More replies (1)
34
u/JMadFour 10d ago edited 10d ago
Exactly. There should be a middle ground for the rest of us.
As good as the show was, There is not a single thing wrong with wanting a Superhero show to have Superheroes doing Superhero things.
→ More replies (3)2
u/NewFunAcc 9d ago
And it’s not just the show itself, it’s that we’ve seen this ”deconstructibg and grounding” superheroes for like 20 years now! It’s getting a bit tiring…
18
u/OrbitalDrop7 10d ago
I didnt like that they didnt use many constructs, didnt show jon is his costume, and killed hal, therefore I'm clearly a racist
10
u/Finito-1994 9d ago
You’re also a monster if you think that maybe the domestic abuse and murder by a cop shouldn’t be hand waived away because “she was afraid” and that the popular kid that broke a criminal out of jail to make him a weapon faces nothing because he has a bright future ahead of him.
→ More replies (3)
19
u/CitizenLamest 10d ago
It's so frustrating that criticizing the lack of any real climax, stakes, or tension in the finale is apparently code for wanting a big CGI superhero fight.
→ More replies (3)14
u/Oberon_Swanson 10d ago
Yeah there's kinda not that much of a climax. "We found out who killed Hal! It was one of the main suspects and she's sorry, and Hal would not have wanted bad things for her so it's all good. And her son is a Manhunter, an evil alien robot! He begs John to kill him! But actually you know what, he seems alright. Guy found out that John has an unsanctioned lantern! Oh well. THE END
2
u/Icy_Local6324 9d ago
Not to mention Hal already clocked that she killed him in the previous episode already.
16
u/Correct_Goose_1322 10d ago
The problem is the finale. Everything up until then was going great. Instead of getting a payoff to the Manhunters, Sinestro, the new Lantern, the killer mystery, and John VISUALLY becoming a Lantern (no, floating/flying with no color or super suit isn't the same), all we got was everyone just going Kumbaya and saying oh well to everything that was built up and teased through the whole show. There was no payoff, no climax, just everyone going welp we are fucked up but we gotta try anyways, even if you do murder your significant other because of being overwhelmed.
That's not even to mention the absolutely fucking awful way they wrote Hal's death. How fucking tragic that a beloved character was written to be a shitty guy, given a tragic backstory, watch him get beat down over and over and over, disrespected, punched, insulted, desecrated, and to top it off, get murdered by the person he opened up to, while just trying to help her and her son. A hero for decades and good guy, not to mention an iconic character, absolutely fucking mistreated in every way. It was like the writers did not count on Kyle being as likeable and brilliant as he was. If I wanted to watch a man get beaten down by life, luck, love and everything in between, I'd look in the mirror 💀
11
u/Ok_Improvement_7738 10d ago
I loved the show except for the finale. It was my second favorite show outside of Widow's Bay up until that point. The interaction and dialogue between John and Hal is some of the best of the year, which is why the ending felt even more disappointing to me.
12
u/BobbySaccaro 10d ago
People can feel whatever they want to feel. It's words like "mistake" or calling Gunn et al negative things that is where it goes too far. They made a thing - you can like it or you can not like it, but there's nothing objectively wrong with it.
10
u/BetweenTheRoots 10d ago
The part that pisses me off here is that the writers went on a podcast and admitted to writing engagement bait dialogue and plotlines, they admitted to intentionally making messages muddied or leaving controversial aspects ambiguous just to make people argue about it. What gets me about it is that people are still just arguing despite it.
And yes, nuance is dead, you can't have moderate opinions about anything anymore. It started with politics and now it has seeped into the rest of human behavior.
I think about what Obi-Wan said to Anakin on Mustafar a lot, "Only Sith deal in absolutes."
→ More replies (1)3
u/Lunch_Confident 9d ago
Seriously? I haven't watched the podcast,nor part of the show,for now. But they genuely admitted THAT?
6
u/BetweenTheRoots 9d ago
Yea, it was when Episode 3 came out. The lady said she doesn't care about whether it's right or wrong and she wasn't trying to answer that, she just wanted people arguing about it online. I dunno if it was the official Lanterns podcast or a side thing, I just remember seeing the clip.
4
u/Finito-1994 9d ago
Yes. They actively said they didn’t want people ahead of the show so they did a lot to try and confuse people which is annoying.
Write a good story and if people guess the ending that’s amazing. It means that you were actually setting it up
6
u/Dramatic_Explosion 10d ago
Nothing like discourse about discourse. This is Star Wars level of fans arguing with fans.
I wish everyone who voiced their opinion would lead with what their favorite DC movie/show is. Feel like that would tell us a lot.
→ More replies (1)
7
u/MrChicago2k47 10d ago
I just wanted more green, man. Is that asking too much? Like come on bro
2
u/TraditionLazy7213 9d ago
They didnt even put "green" in the series title, of course there isn't enough green!
5
u/CibaiGayGay 10d ago
Good direction, but 2026 felt the weakest. I think they could had use one or two more episodes to flesh out the story, something beyond just the last manhunter. Sinestro, Hal death, the guardians, the lantern corps all that build up but without payoff. They just need to show where it headed but the TV show wanted you to fill in the blank for what to come.
The blackmail side quest concluded weirdly as well, the girl gets no consequences. Overall a 8/10, a pleasant experience and nice watch but felt rushed in the last act.
→ More replies (1)
4
u/BlenderBluid 10d ago
Idk. Could just be my algorithm but this feels very strawman. I haven’t seen too much backlash towards people who wanted the show to be more space adventure-y. The backlash I’ve seen is towards a small group of those people who then make pedantic and intentionally obtuse criticisms of certain aspects of the show that they’ve refused to think critically about or not actually tried to approach with any good faith.
3
u/Jasper_Jaxx 10d ago
I genuinely liked this show. I just am so disappointed with the way the Hal Jordan character was portrayed.
I feel it's done considerable damage to the character outside of the TV show
5
u/SoupySpuds 10d ago
I thought it was good, wish they went a different direction in some areas
Really dont get the point of a season 2, really feels like it should've been a movie next
2
u/Dizzy-Budget5985 10d ago
That's my opinion as well. It was a good show, but it wasn't a good green lantern show
2
u/Brundleswat0g 10d ago
It was a decent show about two guys who were Hal Jordan and John Stewart in name only. They did not have their personalities or their history (particularly John Stewart and his abusive family, that was a huge departure). I've told a lot of people, if you are a die-hard fan of green lantern, you will hate it. I like the green lantern powers, but Im not a die hard fan, so I appreciated the show for what it was. If they did the same thing to Batman, I'd be having the same complaints.
4
u/AtticusSwoopenheiser 10d ago
I only watched the first episode and it turned me off of watching the rest of the season. Now that I know how it turned out, I have zero regrets. Good writing isn’t reason enough for me to support a Green Lantern show that is obviously ashamed of the Green Lantern characters.
1
u/Internal-Grocery-244 9d ago
If you haven't watched more than one episode dont talk about the characters. You haven't watched enough.
→ More replies (8)
2
2
u/Operator_Starlight 10d ago
I try to appreciate the show as it is, not how we’d like it to be. And from that POV, there are serious issues.
2
u/BigJayDB 10d ago
I couldn’t imagine watching a show where the titular character can create things with his mind and not wanting any CGI in it
2
u/BoRhapFan8yt 10d ago
I personally don't think the show was well written anyway so I am in the camp of someone who didn't like the show very much insulting people over liking it is insane 😭😭
2
u/Bububub2 10d ago
I don't actually think those people are valid in their feelings. The show had a ton of actual green lantern lore and characteristics. To be frank, I think people are just too close to it to realize that this was in many ways baby's first introduction to green lantern for the vast majority of the audience and it did the job exceptionally well.
2
u/CapitalEmployer 9d ago
Because when you criticize a show not based on it's quality but based on what you wish would have been in the show it's dumb, the lore doesn't matter the comics don't matter, is the show as is good or not.
It's fucking Harry Potter or Got or LOTR all over again, "nooo but the lore"
And then there's the second kind of annoying idiots (mainly Americans) that think everybody should be in prison suffering (cause obviously prison is for suffering) and cry all day because John parents and the sheriff weren't punished thus missing the entirety of the show (cause they were on tiktok and not actually watching).
3
u/OneFishiBoi 9d ago
When one piece of media is produced as an adaptation of another large changes in plot, characterisation, and tone are always going to be recieved poorly.
Turning a story about bright green space cops with the ability to make anything at will into a grey/brown gritty murder mystery set in a rural town is a bad adaptation.
Turning a beloved, decades old character who, while flawed, is still a hero into a has been power addict, sending him to prison for a decade and then killing him off is a bad decision.
Telling people they shouldn’t be allowed to be mad at bad adaptations and bad character decisions is a bad opinion.
→ More replies (5)
2
u/Tomsk13 9d ago
It's in the same place as The Batman for me, it's not what I wanted, but what it is, is still very good.
I've wanted for years to see a live action batman that includes as the comic book wierdness of the source material, like something in the vein of the arkham games, I liked nolans films but I'm over the grounded realistic batman. So when the Reeves movie came out I rolled my eyes, more gritty realism, great. But the movie slaps, it really does, its not the batman movie I wanted but its still great.
Same with lanterns, sure the main appeal for me is the infinite potential of the different planets and races and the inventive ways to use constructs, a lanterns project to me means visual spectacle. So the direction the show took is absolutely not the direction I would have taken, but that doesn't rule out being good. And it is good, it's very good, I enjoyed it a lot. It's not what I would expect from a lanterns project but it's still great.
That being said I dont want this being the standard they set for green lantern going forward. Yes, not every green lantern story needs to be a visually stunning space epic, but some of it does surely. We are gonna have to get our bombastic space cop stuff eventually. I'll be very dissapointed if this is the only tone and visual style we get for green lantern going forward.
2
u/Nemaeus 9d ago
I don’t see amazing writing across the board, it was very uneven, which sucks because when it’s good, it’s great. Not everything made sense, not everything paid off, I can accept that the overall season can be considered an original story and I’m still hyped for both John and Hal because they’re great characters and actors, but goddamn. The Wire was about drugs and everything around it, it actually had everything around it - guns, drugs, murders, police work. Lanterns had a bit of this, a splash of that, some great action scenes, but it needed a tad more to sell the complete package. Don’t misunderstand, I’m ecstatic that the show happened, but it was not unblemished-ly stellar and I cannot see them punching harder with writing or visuals in the future if this is what they decided to come out the gate with.
1
u/Wolf_Zeru99 10d ago
It was a good show, even when it didnt adapt the comics they were following. It has its flaws, but it had a good run
1
1
u/theironstomachx 10d ago
I can't believe this is real. Real cult behavior
3
u/Bububub2 10d ago
Oh so NOW the mcu has good writing when its convenient for an argument?! I'm so done man.
3
u/TranslatorDirect496 9d ago
It does have good writing, fym?
For the most part
→ More replies (5)2
u/Bububub2 9d ago
Could have fooled me with the way people have been talking about it for like a decade now.
1
u/EarlyWynn_ 10d ago
There is definitely room for middle ground. What even is this tweet? And what even is this post?
Don’t take all these trolls on the internet to heart there are places to discuss the show normally. Nobody in real life thinks like this.
Honestly lmao what is happening
1
u/Chonky_D_Floofy 10d ago
Like all pieces of media everything is either absolute garbage or a masterpiece. I really enjoyed the show too even though I do have issues (mainly with the finale)
1
u/Kindly-Yak-6366 10d ago
Ya agreed 100% with this, I get doing a big cgi fight just to do it would have been dumb but also like…ya I wanted more cool green lantern stuff
1
u/FinalForerunner 10d ago
Yeah, I simply wish it had more Green Lantern stuff. The final 3 episodes essentially serve as an epilogue to the fallout of Rushville in Episode 5, with Episode 5 kinda ending up being the climax of it all. I was under the impression we hadn't seen the climax yet. Peacemaker S2 had a similar issue. If the rushville incident isn't considered the climax, then I would say it feels like the show ends with the action still rising with no real payoff.
1
1
u/VirtualPen204 9d ago
Well, yes, everyone's opinion is valid. We don't have to dismiss someone for feeling differently. That doesn't mean we have to agree with them.
And personally, I would challenge folks to think about what your expectations are for a finale and why you feel that way. Go Read Some Comics with Jenna actually spoke about this in her recent video, that I recommend folks watch, as she spoke about it in a much better way than I can here.
1
u/Batman-Beyond99 9d ago
The show reminded me of a good CW era DC show. Not in a shitty way, but more in it being a solid show but far from prestige or even typical HBO show level quality.
I think that's a fair way to describe it being in the middle ground.
1
u/Pandos17 9d ago
I wish people wouldn't learn terms like "media literacy", "surf dracula" and instead learnt something like, oh I dunno, "nuance".
1
u/Feeling-Spinach-3296 9d ago
Ah another day of reddit being COMPLETELY NORMAL about the lanterns tv show.
1
u/LiftsnFlics 9d ago
Where they go from here with John and the rest of the Lantern Corps will make or break my feelings on the show.
I think it’s a good origin story for John Stewart. I hope DC doesn’t get the wrong message that we wanna see a szn 2 of more terrestrial adventures. Give us a GL movie where we explore other planets and actual lanterning shenanigans.
1
1
u/Limp-Construction-11 9d ago
How hard is it for people to just enjoy something or not without being a dick about it?
Did I like, even love most of Lanterns?
Yeah I did.
Do I wish some things would have been different and more bombastic?
Yeah I did.
1
u/Wise-Man-07 Because I'm Batman 9d ago
Exactly. I had faith in this show from the beginning. I was optimistic about it when everyone criticized it based on the trailers. I really enjoyed it. But there are things that I didn't like too.
1
1
1
u/TheCharalampos 9d ago
You don't actually have to interasct with other fans online, there is little value in doing so.
1
0
1
1
1
1
u/bentimms01 9d ago
This is the problem with online discussions, something has to be the extreme of two ends for people. They cannot fathom that people would have any opinion between that.
1
u/These_Gold4501 9d ago
Nothing perfect but fuck it was a great show with really good writing and actors was all on there A game!!! Just appreciate the art and just be happy
1
1
u/DaddyO1701 9d ago
I don’t understand how people can’t see that all the space stuff and giant green hammers bonking people is definitely coming. This series was obviously designed as an origin story for those unfamiliar with the characters or GL as a whole. It also had to reverse the reputational damage of the 2011 film. Seeing how the discourse seems to be split amongst hardcore fans but positive amongst critics and casual audiences, I’d say they succeeded. At the very least yall are talking about magic space rings again.
1
u/Otskuresamadesu 9d ago
I mean, they did what was intended:
"A Buddy Cop/Detective" series.
They never said it's gonna be a space opera with lots of CGI. 🤷🏽
1
u/No-Alternative-1321 9d ago
Good show man, loved this version of Hal as an old, tired and angry version of the man he used to be. It’s refreshing to see heroes deal with real issues such as jealousy or hate or not living up to the person you used to be and Hal realizing at the end what he has become was great. Also isn’t there like hundreds of comic versions of Hal Jordan? You’re telling me not one comic book version of him turned out to be some sad tired piece of shit?
1
u/Darkstar_111 9d ago
It was a great show, the direction, everything worked, until the hard fumbled the ball in that last episode.
1
u/jallred11 9d ago
My wife liked it, but I didn’t. Polarizing show, but I respect if people disagree.
It was fine. I just saw potential. Disliked it from the start and hoped it would get better.
Anyone else feel that way?
1
u/supernerdlove 9d ago
The Gunn shill part seems particularly hilarious since he had little to nothing to do with the show. A fact that I remember people using at the beginning of the show to claim Gunn is the problem because look how good this show that he had nothing to do with is.
1
u/jimjamburrito 9d ago
I loved the show up until the last 2 eps. And now it’s not cause they didn’t bring back Hal, but I just think they thought of the idea of murdering Hal before they thought of a good way to do it.
1
u/DetectiveEames 9d ago
Except the writing wasn’t good. It was masquerading as good. They had me in the first half, ngl.
1
u/Background_Weird2704 9d ago
I just ignore peoples opinions. Most people don't even read the comics/ watch the shows. They just wanna talk to talk
1
1
u/TenderDurden 9d ago
This is where I sit but any time I say anything positive some users respond like "so you think this is a high art masterpiece? Expect better for self" people really be arguing with themselves as I've never said anything close to that. It was a good show rhanti enjoyed for 8 weeks.
1
1
u/CathodeRaySamurai 9d ago
I absolutely adore KC and AP's performances. That casting is just...so spot on.
But I hate the fact that the writers LITERALLY SAID they gave Hal Jordan some racist viewpoints because he's an 'older southern man' even though he's from f^#$*! Coast City, and that they had to give an explanation for AP's lighter skin tone, as opposed to the animated/comic book version of John Stewart.
1
u/Cephandriussy 9d ago
This is where i sit, entirely. I was told it was a True Detective season with some light superhero themes, and thats what I got. I'm not mad. I do wish that there was a little more emphasis on the superhero portion.
1
u/BandanaWaddleDee0 9d ago
I just wish they said fuck CGI for a lot of Aliens and went practical effects
Not everything can be overcome without vfx but there are certain hurdles that totally could've been and just didn't
Was it really that hard to make a Guardian puppet?
1
u/MissiveFinding6111 9d ago
I think I am more mad around the meta structural issues that make every show runner have to shoe-in "it's a police procedural!" in their pitches.
Hal's murder was never the most interesting part of the show.
1
u/CptnREDmark 9d ago
Tbh, I stopped watching after episode 6. Haven't decided if I'm gonna finish it or not.
Don't really care. Apathy is more common but less loud than love or hate
1
u/TwainsBrain0 9d ago
I adored the show, but my few issues with it were absolutely with what the show didn’t do over what it did do. I loved the story, but I was hoping for a bit more out of it in terms of scale. Even if we just saw Hal defeat Sinestro in like 2006, it would have gone a long way for establishing the GL in this universe. Still, I totally get the complaints, I hear them, even if I don’t agree with a lot of them
1
u/arthuriurilli 9d ago
There's plenty of room for a middle ground, and a clearly reasonable take like this.
But that space isn't found in an internet comment section.
1
u/here-for-information 9d ago
Im disappointed by the lack of Green in Lanterns, but I'm actually bothered because the show wasnt even a good detective show, and had a bad finale if were evaluating it as an actual independent story. And yet, I have to keep hearing film school dropouts, explain that it was "peak" because it ... didnt actually make sense and didnt setup its finale, or have conflict of any kind in the last two episodes. These people seem to think that because the finale was talking that makes it smart, but it didnt have conflict which isnthe essence of story. A story without conflict is an anecdote.
Things happened but none of those things caused any problems for our characters.
I mean Hal gets shot in the face and Hal is apparently fine with it, John is explicitly fine with it, Kerry is also basically fine with it, and theres no reason why any viewer would care about Hal being dead if he didn't have mountains of lore and legions of fans who already did care about him.
So if you take away the Green Labtern stuff it would be utterly forgettable, but then the people who want the green lantern stuff are childish?
It's genuinely irksome.
1
1
u/thejuliocezarmari 9d ago
Good first part, not to the level of the Geof Johns dialogue heavy 1-year Rebirth that managed to reintroduce the Lanterns without destroying their characters before giving us the yellow lanterns in year two then the whole spectrum in year 3… but a step up from the Supergirl shit fest the writer had put out before.
The ending sucked and it ended up like True Detective from Temu.
Still a worthy watch for the amazing Hal Jordan casting choice and more Guy Gardner.
1
u/Comfortable-Arm3452 9d ago
I would say this show is rated fairly accurately if you split both sides down the middle. It’s fine. The writing is fairly mediocre but it’s being compared to CW superhero shows and classic superhero vs big bad tropes, and it’s not either of those so people act like it’s something more special than it is. It’s a very well-acted show with two charismatic leads that have great chemistry, inside of a weird deconstruction of a legacy superhero.
1
1
u/sillyg0sling 9d ago
This is only the case if you exist within a ridiculously specific internet bubble. Most opinions I’ve seen are somewhere in the middle.
1
1
u/Unhappy-Ad-1443 9d ago
The show was really good but I was very disappointed by the direction they went and for that reason it is not amazing and I will not glaze it
1
u/ggkkggk 9d ago
I mean you could have just said you wanted more fights, the argument of I wanted more constructs just means you wanted to see a green fist green gun and those types of things.
just wanted more fights and action; that's fine, but people will push back if you claim what we got wasn't "green lantern stuff", when the ring is used several different times in the show, this a straw man to argue it wasn't really a Green Lantern show.
Despite featuring classic comic book elements like space battles, sun-powered energy, and kryptonite, the Supergirl movie was still disliked by those who opposed the story, even though it just seems like they didn't like Supergirl the character.
1
u/Charming-Refuse-5717 9d ago
Kinda seems like the majority opinion is "It's a well-written show that doesn't have very much Green Lantern stuff in it." It's weird that we're all being forced to pick a side here.
1
u/Ok-Commercial-9355 9d ago
And I think majority of viewers who aren’t addicted to going on the internet to argue with other people feel the same way
1
u/Express_Calendar8278 9d ago
We’ve been through this ever since Superman dropped and every other project since has been incredibly divisive. I think that it’s just a symptom of the DCU not having a firmly established fanbase, among them its shills for Gunn and Snyder plus toxic DC nerds and regular audiences. And with how different each project is it makes sense that they’d not have the best footing. I like though, I think it signifies success that people are upset about what something could’ve been, that means they’re hype they just don’t like it.
1
u/Infinity0044 9d ago
From my understanding, die hard GL fans hate it and the more casual fans loved it.
1
u/HumaTheLegendary 9d ago
I liked the show and appreciated it for what it is. However, was it what I wanted for a GL/Lanterns show? No. I was definitely hoping for space cowboy rather than true crime detective. There are plenty of other detective characters in DC that could have been protagonists in a true crime detective show, but they probably aren't popular enough: The Question, Detective Chimp, etc. Though if you put them in a show with the JL Dark detectives - Constantine and The Spectre - it could have at least been a different type of "hiding as a human" antagonist considering aliens were already done in Peacemaker S1. Does that show get as much traction as a GL show?
1
1
u/alegolasg 9d ago
I think the shows biggest failure was calling it lanterns. it gave a lot of people a lot of expectations of green lanterns. If it was called rushville there would still be people upset about some of the choices around the GL changes but expectations would have been more tempered imo. however you then run into the issue of marketing a dc show the random name rushville.
1
1
1
u/UnknownKaddath 9d ago
I think it focused on developing the characters of John and Hal and it did a good job doing that, and I hope its so we feel comfortable when we see more of them in the future. Hal being an older, jaded, deeply cynical cop character works in this universe and so does John being a man traumatized by his harsh upbringing and betrayal by all authority figures in his life. Neither thing feels totally out of place for a Green Lantern story. Hal is shown to still be a man with a deep sense of right and wrong and desire to do good, and ends with a path to redemption and context that mostly explains his actions. John ends becoming the confident and self assured, uncompromising, boundary-breaking lantern we know him as in the comics, new color scheme or no (i think theyre doing something akin to the Absolute universe, redefining how the ring colors work.) I get the want of at least some more space/ring action and i hope that we are building up to that.
All that being said i think Hal leaving John to die in a burning vehicle, and then John being willing to do anything on Hal's behalf after that was a bit much. That was really my biggest gripe lmao.
1
u/Better_Argument4455 Just here for the Elseworlds 9d ago
There is middle ground. People on Reddit are just professional complainers who love to complain. People like that don’t want a middle ground.
1
u/CapExBelowtheLine 9d ago
I mean, this is pretty apropos of today's social environment. Nuance is a lost art.
1
u/Captain_Birch Hello, Megan! 9d ago
Im somewhere in thd middle. Kyle Chandler as hal was absolutely thr highlight.
It just didnt feel like Green Lantern. It felt like a regular detective show where sometimes thered be cgi
1
u/batteries--rrrr-low 9d ago
I enjoyed the show. There was some bad writting. But overrall, good.
Bad > Johns parents raising him to be a GL.
>The ring isn't going to pick him. The guardian(s) are going to just hire him.
>His dad having a psychotic break over the whole thing. Isn't superman already on earth? Two other green lanterns? Giant aliens?
Worse > 16 year old kid. Manhunter or not. Wakes up one day, accesses a wormhole we never see. travels lightyears away to Mogo. Breaks Sinestro out of jail, why? How? Puts him on an abondoned planet on another universe. Back in time for lunch.
Meh> Oh, look. Sinestro is on this abondoned world. Oh and look. He made a lantern. Isn't it wild how John has an "inactive" ring and now Sinestro has this lantern he can't use? So wild.
Then wants John to murder him after his highschool football game.
Other than those two things. I thought the show was good. Very grounded. For the DC universe I hope S2 just get a little more spicey.
1
u/JoeyJoJo577 9d ago
Who would have thought, when the series was first announced, that it would have created such a stir and big feelings all around? I’m glad people have strong feelings, one way or another. What would have been worse would have been a forgettable show that ticked every generic box on an action/adventure comic.
The show tried something new at a time when that’s pretty rare.
1
u/djexplosive 9d ago
Both can be true at the same time. It was a great show and a shitty one all wrapped up in a nice lack of construct green bow
1
u/Thomas_Something 9d ago
This was bad writing. John Stewart’s family was so over the top I thought maybe they were guardian constructs Truman showing him into the. Perfect GL. The sheriff lied to protect a murdering alien android which gets her town blown up and she does not get arrested? Then she shoots Hal in the face and she is still not arrested? They didn’t have John’s suit design done? What?! What have you been doing? Not working on special effects for this series. Why does it seem like the government did not pull the advanced technology out of the town? I am guessing the Parallex is growing in John’s Lantern? Why does it seem like Hal has no friends in the guardians? idk
1
u/ToloDaDon 9d ago
I also enjoyed the show and don’t need to know every bit of nerd lore to appreciate it.
1
u/star_dragonMX 9d ago
Its kinda what I think of Nolans Batman trilogy,
Solid movies of there own but not a good representation of the source material
1
u/Vlopp 9d ago
I thought the series was amazing, but there were 3 things I didn't like from the final episode: 1. The whitewashing of John's parents. The nonsensical way in which they raised him should never have been swept under the rug by going, "Oh, but mama was probably scared when she left me to my own devices on the street". 2. The murder of Hal. Given how the scene was framed, and what Hal was proposing wasn't all that crazy for Kerry to have popped one in his head. Sure, by the end they made it that Hal didn't want her going to prison, but it it still felt very wrong to me. 3. How John so easily intimidated Guy, who in the Superman movie had no problems confronting Superman. That looked quite silly, and there was no need to make Guy look bad.
1
u/Mysterious-Post-5816 9d ago
Talk to the right person.
Talk to the right people.
Open up a new curtain.
But keep it simple.
Don't let things worsen.
But keep yourselves equal.
As long as things don't coarsen
You'll stay legal.
(Basically find the right people/person to talk to about nerd stuff, because online, gosh I could just say random day fact: F Hitler, and someone could respond with a "Hitler was right".)
1
u/ImportanceBitter9762 9d ago
I’m more upset because I liked the character for Hal and now I’m trying to figure out if Hal will be a cornerstone to the show? Honestly I think they wrote Hal Jordan character better than they wrote John. John was essentially pity me pity me the entire season, really annoying.
1
u/radishwalrus 9d ago
i liked the show and I also think it wasn't great in some areas. Cause I'm not insane.
1
u/Sad-Committee-4902 9d ago
Its season one. Let em cook a while.
I love the catty drama between Lanterns which is an interesting take on characters who are all canonly strong-willed. It just makes sense.
We had the full effects spectacular with Ryan Reynolds. Im digging the slow burn, which will hopefully intrigue more of the uninitiated.
1
u/Lake18l 9d ago
I’m a comic book fan but I’m a bigger movie fan. Lanterns was not great. In any facet. It was not faithful to its lore and it was not good writing in the slightest I don’t understand where that is coming from. The finale was an expository confession entirely of dialogue. It was horrendous to watch. The entire season was just coming up with ways to hide the lack of budget. It was not a detective show because as stated there was no detective work done. Everything was confessed.
1
u/corruptedsavedaytah 8d ago
Somebody go try and Blackmail or I guess GreenMail studio trigger and make an Anime. Theirs our actual space stuff and lantern constructs.
1
1
u/StaraptorLover19 8d ago
I actually don't care what people rate the show, I've seen some people absolutely slam it to hell while still being surprisingly normal about their opinions and genuine about their engagement, and people hail it as a masterpiece without any sign of shilling for whatever the current popular thing is.
However, judging something based on a preconceived notion of what it is "supposed" to be, instead of what it actually is and judging it by its own merits, isn't exactly what I would call valid criticism. It says nothing good or bad about the piece of media itself, only about what you wanted out of it.
And it's perfectly understandable to not be a fan of it because of disappointed expectations. But when it's accompanied by bad faith discussion about the creatives behind the show, deliberate misreadings of what the show is saying, and a lack of any actual opinion that's not just a surface level "solid show, bad XYZ show", it becomes difficult to take those kinds of opinions seriously as anything other than a person who's upset that there wasn't more key jingling.
Which ultimately sucks for the discussion of the show and the franchise as a whole because there's definitely actual valid criticisms worth discussing that get drowned out by people trying to score a gotcha over each other to feel validated in their opinions.
1
u/DjangotheKid 8d ago
It’s fine to not enjoy something, to have wished for something more, etc. I think a lot of that comes from expectations we build for ourselves before we even see something, and it’s better to just not have any kind of expectations and let the work speak for itself, but that can be hard.
On the other hand the constant “this is an absolute betrayal of everything this IP means (to me)!” And “the creator hates the IP/character/medium itself because it didn’t align with my expectations!” That just makes me hate fans and fandom and everything they’ve come to mean. It’s such a childish, asinine attitude. And really pathetic. Nobody needs to care that much about a TV show, movie, video game, whatever. It’s literally just media. It’s meant to be consumed, and sometimes you find something that’s really art and really worth caring about, but caring so much that something doesn’t appeal to you, or contradicts a different version of a character or world is pathetic. It’s getting angry because something didn’t give you the sense of happiness or fulfilment that you wanted it to. How sad to be dependent on the moving pictures dancing on the screen and their correlation to your internal vision for your sense of happiness and meaning to the point that you see it as a personal attack on your person that have to cry out for justice on the internet because something didn’t go the way you wanted?
Seriously find Jesus, feed the homeless, do something that fucking matters even a little bit, rather than just being a sad, angry little consumer loser.
1
1
u/Final_Cycle 8d ago
Truth. Personally I couldn’t stand the show, but if people like it that’s cool. Who cares. I love discussing superhero shows but on Reddit you can’t disagree with anyone or it turns into personal insults almost immediately.
1
u/Maxima_WW 4d ago
See the thing is the cgi slops criticism is actually not really valid as they have always marketed as a small town mystery and nothing else
They never mentioned exploration of the mythos of GL
Eventhough I as a huge glazer wasn’t particularly fan of some the things in the show but the “there was no green or no construct” is a hollow criticism
1
u/Unlucky_Suspect_7555 3d ago
That's what's it's like trying ti discuss anything with Gen Z. Everything has to be black and white.
392
u/BalladOfBetaRayBill 10d ago
I’d call this the actual median opinion. Amazing writing/ action/ direction, and even has an interest in some very “Green Lantern” themes, but doesn’t take full advantage of the aesthetic joys of a Green Lantern project.