‘Lanterns’ Episode 8 Review - A Finale About Love, Forgiveness and Free Will

With its final episode, "Dirt and Stars," Lanterns fully establishes itself as a show that speaks about choosing love over programming, optimism over pessimism, and independence over corporate slavery. The identity of Hal's killer is finally revealed, and along with it, "Dirt and Stars" reveals some other surprising things. So who is the culprit? It's, are you ready for this, none other than... Kerry! What? So Hal's intuitions (or rather, his hologram's) were really right when he told John that he sensed feelings of guilt within Kerry? And why did she kill Hal? Didn't he love her, and didn't she love him?

Here comes the second reveal: Kerry's son, Noah, is a... Manhunter! This is something the real Hal came to know through his investigations (he secretly tailed Noah), and when he confronted Kerry about it, she acted on her instincts as a protective mother and shot Hal in a panic. She immediately regretted shooting him, but she, alas, is no Superman who can fly around the Earth to reverse time. RIP.

Can Noah one day turn towards the dark side? He can become president and press a button to unleash a nuclear attack on other countries (Hologram Hal's words, not mine). Anything is possible in the future, including the possibility that Noah can turn out to be a good, kind, loving human being. He can let Kerry's "good" genes dominate him. John, anyway, chooses to look at the bright side. He essentially leaves Noah to decide his own path. John also forgives Kerry instead of making her pay for her crime.

This message of love, forgiveness, and freedom lies at the very heart of "Dirt and Stars," and it gives the episode a warm sentimentality. Nonetheless, not everything is convincing. I can buy into the scene where John and his mother embrace one another lovingly, but I didn't believe in the enthusiastic welcome that John's brothers give him. A few episodes ago, they were complaining about being sidelined by their parents as kids while their parents devoted all their time to polishing John's abilities. And wasn't one of the brothers severely disappointed with John for not giving priority to an important business meeting?

And yet, not only this episode but the whole show has continuously managed to tide over its flaws through the sheer sincerity of its actors. It's hard not to be, even if mildly, moved by the last goodbye between John and hologram Hal, which provides a closure for the former that he didn't receive with the real Hal when he was alive. It is difficult to overstate how much heart and honesty Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre bring to their roles—their presence, their lines.

Chandler, especially, with his puppy-dog eyes, lends a certain amount of sweetness, innocence, and tragedy to his scenes, where his Hal is sad and regretful about the actions that destroyed most of Rusville. He finds acceptance only in the arms of Kerry, who, at the risk of undermining her position in front of the angry residents, sits opposite Hal at a restaurant and takes his side. She says that she has chosen to forgive him and that others are not forced to be as forgiving, but at least they should grant Hal peace.

There you go—even Kerry exercises love and forgiveness and the right to make an individual choice. Kerry is kind. And on that note, I would just reiterate that I hope Kelly Macdonald returns for a second season of this series (if there happens to be a second season of this series). It's hard to shake Macdonald from your head once you watch her in anything. If Kerry is kind, then Kelly is spellbinding.

I don't know who, according to the title, is "Dirt" (maybe Sinestro or the Guardians), but Macdonald is surely among the "Stars" in the series. She twinkles and shines brightly. Macdonald is just... lovely.

Final Score - [6/10]