HBO’s Lanterns is presented as an ambitious eight-episode superhero detective drama that combines Green Lantern mythology with a rural crime mystery. The review praises its focus on the contrasting fears and traumas of Hal Jordan and John Stewart, whose uneasy partnership drives an investigation into a mass shooting with possible extraterrestrial links in Nebraska.

Hal, played by Kyle Chandler, is depicted as a dishevelled and instinctive veteran, while Aaron Pierre’s John is a disciplined, thoughtful soldier shaped by an abusive childhood ritual. Created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King, the series is compared to True Detective and Yellowstone, using a neo-Western setting to make its cosmic elements feel grounded while slowly unfolding a conspiracy involving the Manhunters.