DC’s Lanterns: Review: OutKast

Okay, so episode three of Lanterns just dropped, and honestly, “OutKast” is exactly the kind of payoff we needed after that slow build-up last week. The show is finally finding its groove, and you can tell the writers are leaning hard into the tension between Hal and John. This episode felt like a proper thriller, not just a standard superhero show. The pacing was incredibly tight, and I was glued to the screen the entire time just waiting to see what would happen next.

The whole storyline with the rogue Lantern this week was crazy. When they finally revealed who the “OutKast” actually was, it completely changed how you look at the Green Lantern code and what it means to be chosen. Seeing John Stewart have to defend a guy who basically broke every rule in the book put him in a really tough spot. Hal was ready to just blast the guy and ask questions later, which is classic Hal, but John kept trying to find the deeper truth. It made their partnership feel real and flawed, which I honestly loved.

Visually, this show continues to blow me away. The space sequences in this episode were top tier, and the way they used the green light constructs in the dark actually gave me chills. The acting is really stepping up, too. The guy playing John is carrying so much weight in his expressions, especially when he’s arguing with the Guardians of the Universe. You feel his frustration. It doesn’t feel like someone just reading lines off a script; it feels like a real person dealing with absolute madness in outer space.

Overall, “OutKast” is definitely the best episode of the season so far. It balanced the grounded detective work on Earth with the heavy sci-fi politics in space perfectly. If the show keeps going at this pace, it’s easily going to be one of the best things DC has put out in years. I can’t wait to see where they go next week, because that ending cliffhanger legitimately left my jaw on the floor. Don’t sleep on this show.