John falls asleep in the bed in Lanterns episode 2. Someone walks into the room. He pours water on John. John gets off the bed. His t-shirt is wet. He’s furious to blame Hal for doing it to him. Hal says it’s time to get up. He tries to get out of the room. But John asks Hal what did the Guardians say? He mentions they got four dead aliens on a football field. Another one just blew up half the sheriff’s station. Hal says he’s not calling the Guardians. He tells John that he’s training him.
John walks out of his room. Hal is waiting for John. He tells him that he can just take his time. John asks his teacher what they’re going to do. Hal mentions John has been busting his balls for a month to learn how to fly. He wants to teach it to him. But John says they got a case to work. He points at the car. Hal asks John to take it easy. He asks him is he ready? Hal gives his ring to John. John wears the ring.
Hal asks John to fly. But John makes a green bird in the air. The bird flies on John’s shoulder. Ring nearing depletion. John returns the ring to Hal. But the bird doesn’t disappear. John says ring gets low on charge, there’s a one-time trick re-up. He hits the car with the ring. Ring charge, five percent. He says new flight plan. He hands over the paper to John. He tells him that he booked him a window on an airplane. There’s seats near the windows, there’s seats near the aisles, and there’s seats in the middle as well. The point is he needs the lantern to charge the ring. He needs John to go back to Coast City to his place and get it.
The address is on the back of the paper and the key is out front under the rock. John takes a look at the paper. He finds out that it’s already booked. He asks Hal what would he has done if he could fly? Hal points out that John didn’t. So, it doesn’t matter. He asks John to go to take the flight. He needs the lantern. He asks him to feed Earl for him. His food is in the icebox. But John doesn’t know who Earl is. Is it a dog or cat?
Hal gives John one more training exercise. He asks him to take the bird and bring it back alive. John loses concentration, it disappears. It disappears, he fails. John shouldn’t fail. Hal is going to enjoy not answering John’s questions. He gets in the room.
On the football field, Hal sits in the stands. He looks at the field. He walks to the field. He studies it. He drives away the field. He calls Kerry’s office. Kerry isn’t in her office. Hal gets off his car. He flies into the air to look at the town. He finds Kerry. The ring runs out of charge. Hal falls on the ground.
Hal gets in the building. He sees Kerry and the people. He figures it out that they were badmouthing him. He walks into the crowd. He finds a seat on his own. Kerry says they were talking about whether to go ahead with this Friday’s football game. Would that be traumatizing, or could it help pull the community together? She asks Coach what he wanted to say. He says he has been talking to the boys, and they’re pretty shook up.
Billy joins Hal. He tells him a good news that he got the judge to drop his assault charges. Hal thanks Billy. He asks him how much he needs to pay. Billy tells Hal that it’s free. Hal is free to go back to Coast City. Or anywhere else he feels like going for that matter. They were talking about that five people just died here. An alien blew himself up at the sheriff’s station. That’s a lot to process.
Hal asks Billy did his wife tell him that alien was chirping about vengeance before he blew himself up? Here’s what he’d really like to talk to him about. He ended up on that football field because of a hunch. Just a gut feeling that it was gonna be extraterrestrial. But his father’s men, they shot four people. And yet, those guys’ friend ends up being an alien? It’s just a roundabout way of saying he doesn’t shoot people because of a gut feeling.
Billy claims that he knows nothing about it. So Hal asks Billy how is it that father’s men knew who to target? Billy tells Hal that he should ask his father about it. Hal tells Billy that he’s asking him as his attorney, someone who cares about his well-being, and apparently, his travel schedule.
Kerry tells the two that if they’re gonna keep talking, she’s gonna need Hal to leave. Hal feels wronged. Because Billy started it. But Kerry says she has got about 30 seconds of patience left. Hal stands up. He says he only needs 40. She will be happy to give them to him when they’re done here. He asks her how long is that gonna take? She says it will take as long as it takes. He says he doesn’t think he can keep quiet that long. He gets a call from John. He leaves the hall.
John complains it to Hal that the house is insane. He cannot find the key. Hal asks John did he look under the rock? John asks Hal which rock? Hal says to the left of the door under the bush. It looks like a potato with a smile. Or a frown if he left it upside down.
John finds the key in Hal’s help. He gets in the house. He asks Hal how’s it going over there? Hal says he gets the feeling everyone wants him gone. Kinda makes him feel like he needs to stay. He tells John that the lantern’s in his closet. If he’s at the front door, it’s upstairs to the left. John asks Hal how much do Lanterns get paid anyway? Hal says not enough. But John doesn’t think so after he saw Hal’s house. Hal explains it to John that he got the house from a rich guy. Saved his kid. His father felt guilty because he couldn’t help. Hal didn’t want to emasculate him anymore, so he accepted the house.
John asks Hal when he will move into the house. Hal says he has lived in the house for eight years. He carries the body out of the room. John points out that Hal has got no furniture. Hal claims that he has a bed. John finds Hal’s bedroom. Hal tells John that the lantern’s in a box in the back of the closet. Go into the hallway and turn right. John finds Hal’s uniform. He asks Hal if he needs him to bring a uniform back. Hal doesn’t want to wear the stuff. Because he cannot pee if he wears it.
John looks at himself in the mirror when he holds the uniform. He tells Hal that he sees the box. Hal says it’s voice-activated, so when John gets it next to him, put him on speaker. John opens the box. He doesn’t find the lantern. He tells Hal that it’s pitch-black. Hal says it’s a pocket dimension. John needs to feel around in there and he will find it. He got the lantern. Hal asks John not to forget to feed Earl. Spoons are on the counter.
John takes out the beef and bison from the fridge. He looks for Earl at the house. He walks out of the house, and he finds Earl’s glass house. He gets in the house. He finds Earl who attacks him. Earl is a Carnivorous Plant. John tells the guy that he’s John, and he’s here to feed him. He asks him not to eat his bird. He says once upon a time, hamburgers used to be his thing.
Hal takes the body to the field. The gate detects that the body is an alien. John walks out of Hal’s house. He tries to put the key back. But he’s attacked by some guys.
John wakes up in the van. His hands are tied up. He asks the guy where are they going? Where’s his bird? The guy tells John that his bird is safe. He releases his bird. John catches the chance to fight the guy. He runs out of the van. But he’s hit by another van.
Hal drives the alien body on the street. Kerry stops him. He asks her is this about him not being on the insurance? He explains it to her that he wanted to talk to her about it at the meeting, But she shushed him. She thinks he’s killing her. A slow, painful death. He tells her that there’s more going on here than she realizes. She mentions he went to the stadium and drag the corpses through the metal detector. He now realizes that it’s an alien detector.
He learns that she understands what happened. She tells him that he has caught up to her. She asks him to let her do her job. But he thinks it’s not a good time to talk about jurisdiction. Because she seemed really hung up on what was terrestrial and what wasn’t. So why she didn’t share the information with Hal. She did it because she hates him? She still doesn’t trust him even if he saved her and the people in the town. Is she a workaholic? So, she wants to take care of the alien case.
Kerry asks Hal where are he going with these bodies? He says they’re going to visit her father-in-law. She tells him that it’s a profoundly bad idea. He asks her did the guy put up those detectors? She says William did. He asks her does she know where William got them? Kerry’s stance is rather awkward. If her father-in-law asked her to do that, why she doesn’t tell it to Hal.
Kerry tells Hal that she doesn’t know where William got them. He asks her is she not even curious? She says it’s not against the law to be obsessed with aliens. She wishes it was. It’d make her marriage a hell of a lot smoother. He’s surprised that her marriage is unsmooth. She says the fact is, Macon hasn’t done anything illegal. Now, he was cordial when he needed her, but if she shows up today with all her questions and all her attitude, it’s not gonna go well.
Hal asks Kerry whose side is she on? He asks something that I want to ask. Kerry tells Hal that she will take him, but he lets her do the talking. He nods.
Kerry and Hal go to the ranch. Hal tells the guard Ben that he wants to see his boss. Ben opens the gate. He says he’s afraid his boss isn’t accepting visitors. Hal gets that. He tells Ben that sometimes he just gotta accept things that take him out of his comfort zone. Ben asks Kerry is Hal speaking for her? She says the guy’s pretty much just speaking. Hal says this is part of an official investigation. Kerry tells Ben that what Hal said is true. So he asks her for her warrant. Hal sees William who’s riding horse with his men.
Ben reports it to William that he told them he’s not seeing any visitors. William tells Ben that it’s fine. He tells Hal that he’s a fan of his work. He doesn’t understand why he’s still in the town. Four aliens are dead, their accomplice blew himself up. And yet, he lingers. Hal tells William that his son told the same thing to him. But he thinks William is hiding something on the property he doesn’t want him to see. William mentions he had Hal as a guest here just the other day. Hal thinks William did it because he wanted him to prove that that fella in custody was an alien.
William tell Hal that his work is done. But Hal needs a minute of William’s time. William tells Hal that he has had it. He asks the sniper to shoot him. Hal learns that he’s threatened. He tells William that he got four head bodies in his car that set off the hidden camera and alarm when he drags them through those metal detectors William got set up at the stadium. He doesn’t want to disparage his small, little town, but he has been all over the galaxy, and he doesn’t think he has ever seen technology quite that sophisticated.
William mentions he told Hal that people who walked this land before him, they got caught flat-footed when the settlers come in and colonized them. He’s not about to make that same mistake again. Hal asks William about the technology. William says it’s a very generous gift from the man who funds the property. Hal realizes that it’s William’s benefactor. He asks William to tell him the truth. Is he even real, or is this some Keyser Soze situation?
William assures Hal that the benefactor is very real. He refuses to tell the guy’s name to him. Because of the NDA. Hal tells William that he wants to know what other technology he got in this compound. But William says there’s a man with a rifle in the guard tower with instructions to shoot anybody who trespasses on the property. Kerry tells Hal that William can do that. Hal thinks it seems unneighborly. He threatens William that he will use his ring if he shoots him. He’s shot.
John wakes up in the building. He sits in the chair. He’s tied up. The guy tells John that his bird is a wildly impressive construct. He asks him how does Hal continue to project it from such a great distance? John tells the guy that Hal doesn’t do it. He does it. The guy mentions John isn’t wearing a ring. John asks the guy did he tie him up to ask him questions about his bird? The guy denies it. He tells John that he tied him up to ask him about Manhunters. He thinks he should know it since he’s close to Hal.
But John tells the guy that he’s not even close to Hal. In fact, Hal sent him here to get rid of him, so he’s sorry, gentlemen. But they’re about to torture a man who doesn’t know anything. The guy laughs. He tells John that they don’t want to torture him. They want to recruit him. John says he doesn’t tell someone when he gonna recruit them. He has to be more subtle. The guy says they don’t have time for subtlety. One of the most dangerous beings to ever exist knows it has been found, which means right now it’s preparing its brutal response. John asks the guy is it a Manhunter?
The guy is surprised that John thinks the Green Lanterns came first. John says he really doesn’t know. The guy thinks that makes things much easier. He doesn’t have to change his mind. He just needs to stamp it. He says enlighten. John claims that he doesn’t need enlightenment. The guy reveals there was a time of chaos in the galaxy. Then the Manhunters came. They don’t know where they came from, just that they were synthetic. And able to build new bodies, which meant they could take the form of any species and embed, undetected, within any society.
The ability to build allowed them to invent technologies far beyond the limits of the planets they inhabited. They were brutal. They were deceptive. They carried out what they called “justice.” Entire species were lost. And then, as mysteriously as they arrived, they were gone. At least they thought they were gone. In reality, one of them remained on their planet, passing as one of them while he quietly engineered a holocaust.
The guy asks John has he ever been deceived by someone he loves? John says yes. The guy tells John that he will understand when he experiences what the Manhunter did to them. John is caught. He’s forced to see it. The guy unties John. He tells him that the effects of their collective loss will remain with him for some time. The scale of their tragedy drew the attention of a Green Lantern sent by the Guardians. The Lantern took the monster into his custody and guaranteed he’d be executed.
The guy doesn’t know why the Green Lantern did that. But they knew the Manhunter was still alive. So they searched for years. Until they discovered where he was hiding. Rushville. Their detection is limited. There’s radiation unique to the Manhunter, though he could be disguised as any human. To find out which, they had to get close. But their team was exposed and killed. And who should arrive an hour later? It’s Hal.
John asks the guy if he thinks Hal was trying to protect that thing. The guy says perhaps. Their target knows they’ve located him. And they cannot enter Rushville without being detected. The guy asks John to find the Manhunter. But John thinks he cannot do that. The guy tells John that his bird is proof he can achieve the impossible. Now, they could fulfill their mission by walking into the town square and detonating themselves, but that would destroy Rushville. No reason for innocent lives to be lost. Because the Manhunter took a human form, it could be killed as a human. They have 48 hours. He asks John to contact them once he finds the Manhunter.
Hal wakes up at the hospital. He sees Kerry. He complains it to her that those guys shot him. She points out that he was trespassing. Might as well have walked onto that ranch with a sign that said, “Shoot me.” She asks him how is he feeling? He says a little sore. He asks her how long has he been out? She says not too long. They cleared him to go. Just wanted him to sleep off the anesthesia.
She asks him about Sinestro. He asks her why is she asking him that? She says he kept saying his name in his sleep. He says he’s not authorized to talk about that. She thinks it’s not exactly top secret. She checks her cell. It says he was a Lantern, attempted a coup, killed one of the bosses. It also says Hal was the one who took him down.
Hal asks Kerry to take off the handcuffs. She rejects it until he listens to her. He agrees. She tells him that because every time he doesn’t listen, or he steals bodies, or storms her father-in-law’s compound and don’t let her do the talking, what he’s really doing is cutting her legs straight out from under her. She’s the sheriff. If he doesn’t follow her lead, he’s legitimizing this idea that Macon is the seat of power. And trust her, he doesn’t want to help push that narrative. This is her town. She has worked hard to earn people’s respect, and she cannot have him undermining that.
Hal agrees with what Kerry said. He apologizes to her. She asks him is he gonna go back to his motel and let her do her job? No more storming the compound? He swears on Tom Osborne’s life. She unties him. She tells him that she’s not on his side. She’s not on Macon’s side. She’s on her side, trying to hold this town together. He asks her if she knew about the alien detectors, why did she fight him on jurisdiction? She says the others were dead. She assumed if Waylon didn’t set off the alarm, he wasn’t an alien. She was wrong. He comforts her that it happens. But she thinks it shouldn’t. She apologizes to him for trying to obstruct him.
She just didn’t want Billy’s father to incite the people in the town and get them all paranoid about invasion. The plan failed. Hal thanks Kerry for being honest to him. She thanks him for not dying in her jurisdiction. She asks him why is he still in town if the threat’s over? He says he can feel it that something is off here. He asks her why does she want him gone? She says everything feels like it’s about to explode for no good reason. The place is losing its mind. He kicking up dust and getting shot isn’t helping. If she needs him, she can call. He tells her that she was at his bedside. She reveals she was reading the book.
Hal and Kerry go to the nurse station to check out of the hospital. He asks her where is she from? He thinks she doesn’t exactly scream Rushville. She tells him that he’s a snob. He points out that it doesn’t mean he’s wrong. She says she’s from Gotham. Moved here on a whim. He thinks that sounds like a story. He notices that he doesn’t see other patients. She says it’s a small town, not exactly a big patient pool. He says like it was taken out of the crate. She says mostly everyone’s smart enough not to get themselves shot.
In the evening, John is in a taxi. He lets the driver drop him at the cafe. He gets in the cafe. He asks the waitress for a decaf. He notices that Zoe is sitting at the table. She tells him that it’s a small town, bound to happen. The booths are more comfortable. He says it’s been a long day. He’s just trying to clear his head for a second. The waitress brings the decaf to him. He takes the decaf to walk to Zoe.
He says for the record, he wouldn’t have slept with her if he knew she was married. She’s glad he didn’t know. He asks her if their relationship unconventional? She guesses he has seen her husband. She asks him what he thinks. He tells her that her husband is a weird guy. She laughs. She says her husband is. He points out that she isn’t. She asks him how can he be so sure? He says he sees her.
He doesn’t think she would do anything without thinking about it first. She says white men have the privilege of being eccentric. White men with money? They can do whatever they want. Play cowboy, build castles. She likes the security. She also like that he could’ve bought some blonde bimbo from Texas to be his arm candy, but he wanted her. John tells Zoe that a lot of people want her. She points out that those guys couldn’t give her what William has.
She knows it’s a lot to deal with, but it’s worth it. When she needs a break, she just takes one. He learns that she will put up with some deeply weird White man with a savior complex just to live the life. She denies it. She says she’s with her husband because she loves him. She knows he loves her as well.
She asks John about his White man. He laughs. He says Hal wanted him out the way, so he sent him to fetch his things. She asks him is that why he was trying to clear his head over there? He denies it. He says he’s just trying to figure out if he can trust Hal. She points out that if he has to ask the question, then he already knows the answer.
Zoe drives John to the motel. He gets off her car. She drives away. He walks toward Hal with the bag. Hal sits in the chair to drink. John notices that Hal was hurt. He asks him what happened. Hal complains it to John that his girlfriend’s husband got a sniper to shoot him. John guesses Hal’s shoulder was shot. He thinks it’s a good shot.
Hal tells John that good to know he’s a fan of William’s work. John throws the bag to Hal. Hal catches the bag. He opens the bag, and he finds the suit. He mentions he told John that he didn’t have to bring the suit. John explains it to his teacher that maybe he couldn’t bring himself to just disrespect it. Hal asks John what else was he doing while he was rummaging through his stuff? Dance around in my bathrobes? Sing into his hairbrush?
Hal recharges the ring with the lantern. He tells John that there’s something on that compound. Benefactor’s the key. They’re not leaving here until they find out who he is and what they’re hiding. John checks his car. He sees something on the seats. He asks Hal about it. Hal reveals it’s alien goo.
John asks Hal what does he know about Manhunters? He says their buddy Waylon had friends. They followed him onto the plane, snatched him outside of his house. They’re convinced there’s a Manhunter here in Rushville. Hal asks John what did the aliens want with him? John says they want him to ID the Manhunter. And give him a call in 48 hours. Otherwise, they’ll blow up half of western Nebraska.
Hal asks John why the aliens chose him. John tells Hal that the aliens don’t trust him. In fact, the alien made it explicit that John shouldn’t tell Hal any of this. He thinks the Guardians may have hid the Manhunter here. John told the alien that the Guardians wouldn’t do that. Hal says he knew there was something about this place. And his gut is never wrong. He guesses Abin Sur must have brought the Manhunter here and the Manhunter killed him. Then Hal got the ring.
John asks Hal what else can he tell him about Manhunters? Hal tells John that it’s above his pay grade. John doesn’t think so. He points out that he told Hal about the Manhunter. Hal asks John if he wants him to break the rules. John says the aliens don’t know what form the Manhunter’s taken. He could be anyone in town.
SEE ALSO: Lanterns Episode 1 Recap
Hal asks John did he report it to the Guardians? John denies it. Hal mentions John brought the bird to life with his subconscious. He believes that it must mean something pretty deep. John says it’s just a bird. He returns to his room. Hal wears the suit. He flies away.
Hal visits Sinestro in the jail. He asks him to tell him what he knows about Manhunters. But Sinestro wants Hal to ask him how has he been? Hal does it. Sinestro says if one Manhunter still existed, it’d be the second greatest threat Hal’s currently facing. He asks Hal to tell him about John.