Lanterns Episode 1 “Pilot” sees Earth’s first Green Lantern, Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), and his first trainee, John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), heading to Rushville, Nebraska to investigate a mysterious murder involving aliens. Given that this is an HBO show, though, that’s not the only action that the guys see.
**Spoilers for Lanterns Episode 1 “Pilot,” now streaming on HBO Max**
Partway through Lanterns Episode 1, John Stewart hooks up with a gorgeous local named Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan).
Up until that point, John Stewart is presented as the far more straight-laced of the two leading men. Hal Jordan is someone who barges into situations, shows up to work hungover, and delights in provoking arguments. John, on the other hand, is a by-the-book former Marine who is polite to a fault. So when Zoe begins flirting with him at a bar, it’s somewhat surprising that John happily rolls with her invitation to meet him in her truck for, well, you know.
“Poorna is so lovely. I love her. She is just a wonderful human being and an equally wonderful artist and it was such a joy to collaborate with her,” Aaron Pierre told DECIDER last week.
Pierre explained that while John is an “expert compartmentalizer,” he’s also a human being.
“These characters, they’re not one-dimensional and they are deeply human on the sort of purest level. And John is someone who is not shy to indulge in what he identifies to be his needs. And in this moment, that was one of them,” Pierre said.
He then chuckled.”He did what he did. You saw.”
When DECIDER asked Poorna Jagannathan about the scene, she was all business — before gushing about Pierre.
“I think Aaron is a consummate professional and we approach those scenes very technically as one does,” Jagannathan said. “But I’m really kind of blown away by Aaron’s performance in this. I cannot emphasize more how much I believe he was born for this role and everything he’s been doing has been leading up to this.”
Pierre shared one reason why he loves the scene is because it secretly winks at how John and Hal are actually similar.
“One of my favorite parts of that scene is, if you recall, there’s a moment [in Episode 1] where Hal — call it what you will, flirting or whatever — and he sort of manifests this bottle opener,” Pierre said. “And John is like, ‘Oh, here he goes.’”
“But if you recall in the truck, after they’ve been intimate, she says, ‘Are you gonna lecture me?’ John says, ‘No, I’m gonna give you a light.’ And he gives her a light with the ring.”
“So it also plays into what Hal and John show each other versus what they actually feel,” he said. “John probably low-key thought [the bottle opener] was pretty cool.”
Of course, because HBO’s Lanterns is setting up a multi-decade murder mystery, complete with plot twists, it turns out that Zoe isn’t just a random Rushville local. She’s married to local big shot William Macon (Garret Dillahunt). Meaning that by indulging in his needs, John might have really stepped in it.
Lanterns returns next Sunday, August 23 at 9 PM ET on HBO and HBO Max.
