If you’re expecting this week’s episode to continue that conversation between Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen), then you’ll have to wait just a little longer, as this episode takes us all the way back to the 80s to where it all began. This is easily the best single hour of DC television that we’ve received from within the DCU and overall from DC Studios. It tackles race and generational trauma and recontextualises John’s and even Hal’s story and is worth a watch even if you aren’t following along with the series, as it easily works as an introduction to Lanterns.
This episode cuts back and forth between 2016, where John is being interviewed by the Guardians, and the 80s, where we witness Stewart’s parents hardwiring him into being fearless. For the crux of this interview, I want to discuss what goes down during the flashback, as I’ve not been able to stop thinking about it and didn’t expect a DC show, let alone Lanterns, to be the one to tackle all of these themes.
When the episode begins in 2016, we see John Stewart heading to an interview with a member of the Guardian (Laura Linney), waiting patiently as he’s been told. When the Guardian expects John to ask why him, Stewart responds with “I know exactly why me” before cutting straight to a shot of him as a baby in the 80s. John Stewart has been preparing for this moment his entire life, and now it’s time for us to see how he’s found himself at this interview.
Before Hal Jordan was chosen, the Guardians opted to choose John Stewart Sr and asked him one simple question, “Are you afraid?” Simply, he was and this plays into how the show tackles race and takes inspiration from the comics themselves. At first, Bernadette doesn’t believe Stewart Sr, and it seems like he’s going crazy not only from her perspective but also from everyone around him. It’s changing their lives at home and outside of it.
When Bernadette comes face to face with the Guardian outside her home, she invites them inside after it reveals its true identity, which doesn’t faze her at all. This is the first time that the Guardians have tried choosing a Green Lantern from Earth, realising that their methods aren’t the best for humans. Bernadette isn’t worried about any of that, but only if they’re able to fix what they’ve caused within John Stewart Sr’s social and family lives.
It’s clear from how the Guardian offers a diamond for their troubles that they don’t understand the true effect of what they’ve caused. That they don’t understand what racism is and how it looks for a Black male in the 80s to claim they were trapped mid-air in a bubble in the middle of the night. While for the Guardians, showcasing fear is all it needs for a simple failure, on Earth, there’s more that needs to be considered, and that’s what Bernadette explains to the Guardian. This is beautifully highlighted in the background in how a Black man was able to respond to the question, “Are you afraid?”, in the 80s compared to how a White man responded to it with ease. The fear that John Stewart Sr felt came from a place of trauma, something that Hal Jordan would never be able to relate to.
It’s even sad to hear but not surprising at all that police got involved when Bernadette tried to cash in the diamond, as they didn’t believe it was hers. The Guardian finding this out and her reaction still highlight how they struggle to understand racism on Earth and how the planet operates, which can be said for any shapeshifter on the planet currently with how the events of the first episode turned out.
For the parents, training John to be fearless so that he can be picked so that he can also be better than where he came from, just like them. As Black people, they have faced through a lot and have become fearless, but to be overlooked outside of space and not be considered, they have something to prove by raising John to be a Lantern. This decision puts some strain between John and his siblings, as it seems like he’s receiving extra treatment, and it also puts strain on his relationship with his parents. In a small moment, even when it looks like he’s overcome fear, he ends up facing it when he enters a life-or-death situation with his father.
Another great instance in this episode is the significance of the bird that John constructed in the previous episode. We learn that John believed that the birds watching him train as he was younger were the Guardians watching his process. A story that his mother made up, but it becomes clear that it doesn’t matter to John whether it’s true or not if the Guardians watch him through the birds as he chooses to believe it even as an adult. “Sometimes, a Black man has to raise his own hand. It doesn’t mean you’re not good enough, doesn’t mean you’re not better, it just means they don’t see us. So, we make ourselves seen” is a standout quote from Bernadette that not only sticks with John but also lets him push past that barrier he was struggling with.
As a Black person myself, that quote itself is powerful and relatable, and I’m sure it is something that many young Black people will hear while watching Lanterns, allowing themselves to walk away from this episode either feeling better about themselves or being given the motivation to push forward in life to achieve their dreams. Jasmine Cephas Jones delivers such a strong and heartfelt performance that’s easily the best performance of Lanterns thus far that brings out the resilience in Bernadette. She’s without a doubt the star of the episode and proves to be the mother of the DCU.
John’s relationship is further explained in this episode when he’s sent on a mission, waiting weeks, almost months, for it all to be ruined by Hal Jordan, who zips in at the last minute just to lead into John being dishonourably discharged. To top it off, even when he succeeds in his interview with the Guardian, he’s unable to deliver the good news he’s been waiting all his life for to his parents, as Hal Jordan jumps in once again at that last moment to deliver it himself. It’s also because of Hal Jordan that his family life is complicated and has a struggling relationship with his brothers.
Lanterns Episode 3 might highlight how becoming a Green Lantern is John’s destiny, but it has become clear that it’s a lot more than just making his parents proud. He’s effortlessly succeeded in showing himself to the Guardians and proving himself. With the news that John is Hal’s replacement and not his backup, once again the direction of their relationship shifts and further plays into how it evolves by the time of 2026.
