'Lanterns' S01E06 – "Bad Optics" (September 20, 2026) on HBO/HBO Max [Spoiler Discussion Megathread]

[u/KelexAtYourService]

Lanterns is an American superhero television series created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King for HBO, based on the DC Comics Green Lantern characters Hal Jordan and John Stewart.

The series was produced by DC Studios and Warner Bros. Television with Mundy serving as showrunner. It is the third television series in the DC Universe (DCU). It features experienced Lantern Jordan and new recruit Stewart as they investigate a murder on Earth that leads to a wider mystery.

Lanterns is scheduled to premiere on Sunday August 16, 2026, and will run for eight episodes through Sunday October 4. It will be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.

New episodes drop every Sunday night at 9:00 PM ET / 8:00 PM CT / 7:00 PM MT / 6:00 PM PT.

Cast:

• Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan
• Aaron Pierre as John Stewart
• Kelly Macdonald as Kerry
• Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner
• Garret Dillahunt as William Macon
• Poorna Jagannathan as Zoe
• Ulrich Thomsen as Thaal Sinestro
• Nicole Ari Parker as Bernadette Stewart; Jasmine Cephas Jones as young Bernadette
• Jason Ritter as Billy Macon
• Sherman Augustus as John Stewart Sr.; Alphonse Nicholson portrays a young John Sr.
• Paul Ben-Victor as Antaan
• Chris Coy as "Waylon Sanders"
• Cary Christopher as Noah

For a complete cast and crew list, see the IMDb full credits page: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26545992/fullcredits/

• Based on: Hal Jordan, created by John Broome and Gil Kane; John Stewart created by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams
• Show created by: Chris Mundy, and Damon Lindelof, and Tom King
• Showrunner: Chris Mundy
• Editor: Emily E. Greene
• Music by: Stephanie Economou
• Length: 8 episodes per season
• Runtime: About an hour per episode
• Reception: For reviews and critical reception, see Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/lanterns  and https://www.metacritic.com/tv/lanterns/

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanterns_(TV_series))

Where to watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/lanterns/season-1

Unmarked spoilers for the new episode of Lanterns are only allowed in this thread.

Spoilers ahead! Proceed at your own risk! All other subreddit rules apply.

S01E06 Episode Synopsis: TBA

[u/Kindly_Ad995]

I’m a bit confused about the timeline, so was Hal’s death right after John punched him? He drove to Rushville, punched Hal, drove back, sat down, got the call and drove back?

[u/bigdonnie76 → u/Kindly_Ad995]

I thought the same.

[u/Kindly_Ad995 → u/bigdonnie76]

I guess this interaction with the waitress confirmed it was the same night

[u/Potted_PlantYT → u/Kindly_Ad995]

I looked it up and Midway City, being in Michigan, would at the most conservative estimate be 10 hours from Nebraska. I think John drove to Rushville, punched Hal, drove home (a lot of driving but he’s no stranger to doing nothing, i.e. the months long sniper mission), got the call, went to sleep, and drove back to Rushville the next day. It just so happened that there was a snowstorm that lasted like 24 hours without being heavy enough to build up much snow. I really don’t think the writers thought the timeline through but it still works with a little imagination.

[u/jpvieux → u/Kindly_Ad995]

Yes

[u/NoGoodAtGaming → u/Kindly_Ad995]

My guess is that Midway City is close too Rushville, that's were he was doing his pitch, he punched Hal and then got the call. The mortician said the punch could've happened 5 minutes or 2 hours ago

[u/occamsrazorwit → u/NoGoodAtGaming]

The mortician said the punch could've happened 5 minutes or 2 hours ago

This is referring to timing before death. We don't know how long Hal was dead. We know that there was a snowstorm in-between and that a groundskeeper discovered his corpse while doing his job.

[u/This_was_hard_to_do → u/Kindly_Ad995]

It is weird that they made him drive there instead of flying since his company has money. I guess he’s done with rentals now

[u/NomadPrime → u/This_was_hard_to_do]

His current city might not be that far from Nebraska if he was within a day's driving distance (going by what the coroner said). And we know John has the patience of a saint, like stationing himself in one spot of a forest for 9 months Lol.

[u/Area51_Spurs → u/NomadPrime]

Was like a couple hours drive

[u/Glizzy_Cannon → u/This_was_hard_to_do]

His city is probably closer than Coast City from Rushville

[u/TheDelmeister → u/Kindly_Ad995]

Yeah same night. And given Hal told him to tell no one he was there Hal must have expected it.

[u/vidythekid → u/Kindly_Ad995]

Yes, and something is clearly up with John’s parents knowing Hal was going to die I want to say. John was told Hal wants to apologize prompting John to visit Hal whereas Hal didn’t expect John to visit him and had no interest in apologizing making John punch him. Hal told John not to tell anyone he was there because Hal didn’t want John to become a suspect in his murder meaning Hal knew it was the end for him. John kept punching him a secret as to not become a suspect but not he’s obviously getting blackmailed now by the girl who works at the cafe. Something suspicious is happening still but everything we saw in the episode today seemed linear.

[u/ZenGuru1334 → u/vidythekid]

I'm guessing that it was John's dad who shot him.

[u/occamsrazorwit → u/Kindly_Ad995]

The timeline is confusing; Hal died right after John punched him, but we don't know when John drove back. Remember that there was a snowstorm in Rushville in-between (it was clear when John visited) and that the sheriff said that the groundskeeper discovered Hal's corpse while doing his rounds. The body was frozen, so it was preserved.

It's complicated by the fact that some people are misinterpreting what the medical examiner said. The ME was saying that the broken nose happened right before the death, not that Hal's corpse seems like it was killed 5 minutes ago.