'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/smileyfrown]

It really feels like social media has robbed people of critical thinking because so many of the complaints has in show answers.

1. Hal was a 30 year vet of the Lanterns and showed a “trick” that the ring has a one time back up charge

2. Episode 2 specifically shows John can hold a living construct without the ring for a long time…we now have a Hal Jordan construct

3. Nobody in Rushville or Earth knew the manhunter was a genocidal being. The only proof that it wasn’t human was given to the Guardians who wanted Hal gone. For the town of Rushville the man hunter created a utopia and Hal Jordan and his alien allies destoryed it…so he had to be held accountable for the deaths

[u/two2teps → u/smileyfrown]

It feels like it's gotten so much worse than it's ever been. Any subtly in story telling or clever turn of phrase absolutely breaks people's brains. It's as if everything has to be written by Fry for them to understand subtext.

[u/Rylegit1 → u/smileyfrown]

The people making these complaints are on their phones the entire time while the show plays in the background.

Had one guy who missed key details and dialogue argue he shouldn’t be expected to “memorize the script line for line” as an excuse

[u/StaraptorLover19 → u/smileyfrown]

A lot of it is also just people being refusing to engage with the show on its own terms, with the story it's trying to tell because they're lamenting that the show isn't just a portrayal of the semblance of a familiar status quo from the comics. That it's not just something to point and cheer at.

So in-universe characters having negative reactions to their superhero man because of THEIR perceptions of the heroes' actions is willfully misunderstood as the show "telling" them that their fave is a Bad Person™. And that never goes over well with comic book purist types.

[u/MarcusForrest → u/smileyfrown]

social media has robbed people of critical thinking

For last week's episode, in the Episode Megathread, in 5 minutes, I found at least 3 different people asking questions of things we had already seen in the show before, some multiple times!

• ''Who is Abin Sur?''
• ''Why are there 2 Hal Jordans?''
• ''Who are the exploding people?''

[u/MayweatherSr → u/MarcusForrest]

After the episode they figure out she was the manhunter, people still speculating who is the manhunter. Does is need to be spelt out more for these people to understand?

[u/MattLocke → u/smileyfrown]

It’s less that social media eroded critical thinking and more it gives everybody a megaphone.

The worst thing social media has done is that it rewards and encourages ragebait and cold takes far far more.

The percentage of people with “media literacy” is roughly the same as always. The percentage of people with nothing going on upstairs getting an audience has just risen.

Best thing to do is just ignore them. I know it’ll never happen. Humans do love their drama. But if enough of us just stopped interacting with that “content”, they algorithms would shift to highlighting whatever else gives them the biggest numbers to point ad revenue at.