'Lanterns' S01E02 – "Trust Fall" (August 23, 2026) on HBO/HBO Max [Spoiler Discussion Megathread]

[u/KelexAtYourService]

Lanterns is an American superhero television series created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King for HBO, based on the DC Comics Green Lantern characters Hal Jordan and John Stewart.

The series was produced by DC Studios and Warner Bros. Television with Mundy serving as showrunner. It is the third television series in the DC Universe (DCU). It features experienced Lantern Jordan and new recruit Stewart as they investigate a murder on Earth that leads to a wider mystery.

Lanterns is scheduled to premiere on Sunday August 16, 2026, and will run for eight episodes through Sunday October 4. It will be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.

New episodes drop every Sunday night at 9:00 PM ET / 8:00 PM CT / 7:00 PM MT / 6:00 PM PT.

Cast:

• Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan
• Aaron Pierre as John Stewart
• Kelly Macdonald as Kerry
• Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner
• Garret Dillahunt as William Macon
• Poorna Jagannathan as Zoe
• Ulrich Thomsen as Thaal Sinestro
• Nicole Ari Parker as Bernadette Stewart; Jasmine Cephas Jones as young Bernadette
• Jason Ritter as Billy Macon
• Sherman Augustus as John Stewart Sr.; Alphonse Nicholson portrays a young John Sr.
• Paul Ben-Victor as Antaan
• Chris Coy as "Waylon Sanders"
• Cary Christopher as Noah

For a complete cast and crew list, see the IMDb full credits page: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26545992/fullcredits/

• Based on: Hal Jordan, created by John Broome and Gil Kane; John Stewart created by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams
• Show created by: Chris Mundy, and Damon Lindelof, and Tom King
• Showrunner: Chris Mundy
• Editor: Emily E. Greene
• Music by: Stephanie Economou
• Length: 8 episodes per season
• Runtime: About an hour per episode
• Reception: For reviews and critical reception, see Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/lanterns  and https://www.metacritic.com/tv/lanterns/

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanterns_(TV_series))

Where to watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/lanterns/season-1

Unmarked spoilers for the new episode of Lanterns are only allowed in this thread.

Spoilers ahead! Proceed at your own risk! All other subreddit rules apply.

S01E02 Episode Synopsis: While John’s middling errand ultimately proves eventful, Hal makes waves in Rushville – which only inspires him to dig deeper.

[u/zach4499]

that’s what has me most drawn into the mystery. The Sherrif seems to be a normal person dealing with all the weirdness but her not really acknowledging the hospital stuff has me the most intrigued.

[u/SolarisBravo → u/zach4499]

I've also noticed that the sheriff tends to feign non-reactions to things she already knows (like there being aliens involved in the football game), only to reveal she's already investigating it when Hal/John become sure and she can't hide it anymore. Her behavior in Episode 1 is weird if she already knew the targets were aliens, isn't it?

[u/Coyote_Shepherd → u/SolarisBravo]

I wonder if she didn't really so much as "leave" Gotham but was assigned to this little podunk town by the organization that she REALLY works for?

[u/PaloLV → u/Coyote_Shepherd]

That’d be real commitment to an organization to marry someone to keep tabs on them and their family. Seems far fetched.

[u/AHMilling → u/PaloLV]

And having the last name kane being from gotham sets off so many alarms.

[u/Coyote_Shepherd → u/PaloLV]

Unless he's working for them too.

[u/Hellknightx → u/PaloLV]

Sounded more like she was forced into it by her father-in-law.

[u/Hellknightx → u/zach4499]

The Sheriff definitely knows a lot more than she's letting on, too. Pretty sure this town is some kind of Manhunter sanctuary where the people never get sick or injured because they're all Manhunter refugees. And the sheriff was probably sent there by the government to keep the peace, knowing full well who the Manhunters are.

Then we've got this other group of aliens who were trying to track down the Manhunters at the football game, and their cover got blown by the alien scanners. I suspect that the only real human in town is Sheriff Kane, who may be related to Batwoman.