HBO handed Lanterns the same 9 PM Sunday real estate that's housed some of the network's biggest dramas, and based on the reaction rolling in from Barstool's ranks, the show earned it right out of the gate. The DC Studios series, from Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King, stars Aaron Pierre as rookie John Stewart and Kyle Chandler as veteran Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops thrown into a murder mystery in the American heartland.
Two of the show's leads sit in a car, one behind the wheel and one in back staring out the window, as the episode sets its tone.
Jeff D. Lowe wasn't holding back, calling it an "awesome first episode" and singling out both the Pierre-Chandler chemistry and the way the season got framed up in a single hour. That's not nothing for a pilot — superhero shows live and die on whether the first episode makes you want a second one, and by the sound of it this one did the job.
Lanterns earning every bit of that Sunday 9 pm HBO time slot in episode 1
Clem's take was more about placement than plot: Lanterns is "earning every bit" of that Sunday 9 PM slot, the same window HBO has historically reserved for its prestige swings. That's a real signal of confidence from the network, and if the show can keep pace with the buzz from its debut, it's a spot worth defending.
Not every Lanterns post in the wild was actually about the show — Robbie Fox's #LANTERNS TIME tweet ran a clip pulled from the old Green Lantern movie, playing on the name rather than reviewing the new series. Worth a laugh, not a review.
An old Green Lantern film clip gets recycled as a pun on the new HBO show's name, not an actual preview of it.
The bigger critical world is a little more split — reviews elsewhere note the premiere crams a lot into one hour and isn't quite the True Detective-style slow burn the marketing hinted at, with a closing twist around Hal Jordan's fate that's already got people arguing online. But the Barstool crowd's early verdict lines up with the more favorable reads: strong lead performances carrying a premiere that sets up a season worth sticking around for.