HBO's 10/10 Sci-Fi Noir Series Is Still Getting Better After Just 4 Episodes

Published Sep 10, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT

Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock.

When Lanterns premiered on HBO a few weeks ago, it was a breath of fresh air. The grounded, True Detective-style approach was a massive risk — when the dreary first trailer dropped, comics book fans expecting to see space cops fighting alien supervillains with their magical rings were outraged — but it’s fair to say it paid off. Lanterns isn’t a faithful adaptation of the comics, but it is faithful to the spirit of the Green Lanterns, and to the characters of Hal Jordan and John Stewart.

Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre couldn’t be more perfectly cast in their respective roles, and they have the fizzling on-screen chemistry to make their buddy-cop banter look effortless. Lanterns is Training Day with superheroes; it’s Mare of Easttown with aliens; it’s True Detective by way of Men in Black. It shouldn’t work, but it does. The superpowers and alien visitors should undermine the gritty realism, but they don’t. The gritty realism should ruin the fun of space cops, but it doesn’t. It’s the best of both worlds: it has all the fun and spectacle of a superhero blockbuster, but with the emotional weight and rich themes of a prestige HBO drama.

As soon as that first episode dropped, Lanterns made itself known as one of the best new TV shows of the year. Hal and John’s dynamic arrived fully formed, and the mystery of the Manhunter was set up nice and succinctly through the chilling real-world scenario of a mass shooting. The shocking twist ending, revealing Hal’s frozen corpse sans his Power Ring, had us locked in for the season.

But that pilot episode was just the tip of the iceberg. As Lanterns’ first season unfolds, the show is just getting better and better with each new twist and turn. The additional context we’ve gotten from flashbacks and flashforwards has only enriched all that great stuff from the pilot episode. The hints at John’s messed-up childhood, Hal’s obnoxious insistence on calling him “Junior,” the stark contrast between bright-eyed early-career Hal versus jaded present-day Hal — it all felt very poignant and pointed the first time around, but we understand it all so much better three episodes later.

Lanterns Is Officially Past The Halfway Point

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With the release of its fourth episode, “The Weenie,” this past Sunday, Lanterns has now aired four out of its eight episodes, so we’re officially past the halfway point. When this week’s episode drops, ominously titled “Lights Out,” we’ll be going into the second half of the season — the endgame, if you will. The first four episodes have done a great job of building up an intriguing mystery around the Manhunter and Hal’s untimely demise. Now, the next four have to pay off all that buildup, and I have faith that the series can pull it off.

So far, it’s felt like we’re in very safe hands with these creators. They know exactly who these characters are, they know exactly what story they’re telling, and they know just how much information to give us to keep us hooked on the mystery while leaving us mostly in the dark. The unique tone and curious genre mashup at the heart of Lanterns can be attributed to the special alchemy between three equally talented but creatively very different writers.

Ozark showrunner Chris Mundy brings the gritty, grounded intensity; Woman of Tomorrow’s Tom King, a legend of modern superhero comics, brings the geekdom; and Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof (who previously adapted a different iconic DC Comics property, Watchmen, into a slick modern TV drama) pulls it all together. Lanterns achieves the same balance of superhero spectacle and searing social commentary that made Watchmen one of the best miniseries of the past decade.

It could all go downhill over the next four weeks, so I don’t want to speak too soon, but Lanterns’ first season has been a stellar debut so far. The back end of the season still has to stick the landing, but, to paraphrase the oath: in brightest day, in blackest night, no mediocre television shall escape my sight.

Lanterns