‘Lanterns’ “Trust Fall”: When A Power Ring Fails, Privilege Prevails

Spoilers Ahead

Episode two of Lanterns titled “Trust Fall” showed us what a Green Lantern is made of when the power ring isn’t a factor anymore due to being uncharged. You would think that having a power ring depleted of energy and dead in the water would make the user of said power ring move more cautiously as they conduct their investigation in an unfamiliar town. A normal Green Lantern would do all that but Harold Jordan? “Big Cal(iforn-I-Aye)” Hal ? He ain’t doing none of that shit. If it’s sensible, he ain’t with it. If there’s no danger, then consider him a stranger. Hal Jordan said, “My power ring dead but all this bravado I got is not.” That man used the last bit of energy his power ring had to find out where all the townspeople were just so he could be a menace to everybody at once instead of goin’ door to door.

Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan gives us brilliant nodes and shades of Hal Jordan from the Green Lantern lore. Which is what fans hope for when watching a tv adaptation of a comic book. However, this version of Hal Jordan’s character not being just like his comic counterpart gives us the chance to see a new more modern take for this hero that’s been around for 63 years. Lanterns‘ Hal Jordan is older, surly, wily, and brash mixed in with some charm and a lot of “Can we get on with shit already?” That’s been Hal’s demeanor since he landed in Rushville. I mean come on, there’s four dead aliens and one alien tried to blow up in his face? Now, you can be an alien and doin some shit like “what the fuck” but never on a Sunday, but these aliens in Rushville doin some “what the fuck” through the entire work week tho?!

Nah, we can’t have that, and Hal knows that. He’s just gotta prove it’s happening but folks getting in his way talkin’ bout some bullshit like: the formalities of jurisdiction dealing with Sheriff Kerry Kane, a judge asking him what bureau he reps, and this dude William Macon riding round like he Boss Hog talking bout, “We can’t let these space aliens come and colonize us like we colonized this land and its people.” Yo, why he talking like that? It’s too much weird goin round to ignore. So Hal interrupting that town meeting where he knows there were talking bout him and sitting in on that meeting, scooching by folk towards an empty seat like he came in late to service at a (Black) church, is how he lets this whole town know “I ain’t fucking leaving!”.

Again, it’s one thing to do that knowing you got a full charged power ring on your hand. It’s another to do that shit knowing that ring ain’t charged, you real touchable, but still choosing to move like you Elliot Ness. Seeing how Hal Jordan conducts his investigations is insane. This man entirely of the couth (uncouth). He returns to the scene of the crime and is testing these “metal detectors” by taking pieces of metal through it. Eventually taking the front grill of John’s rental car through the detector to see and realizes it doesn’t detect metal. Which prompts this man to break into the town morgue, take the alien bodies, bring them to the crime scene, and drags them through the detectors. This makes them go off.

*Places palms on forehead*

Yo, I know it’s a small town but my god. The white privilege in the line of thinking for this is so wild. Hal said, yeah this is happening and just went through with it. He then proceeds to ride into town, gets pulled over by Sheriff Kerry who comes to his driver’s side window literally catching Hal Jordan riding dirty. Actually, no, not dirty, riding fucking filthy, because these dead aliens got goo all over. This man Hal Jordan driving round in John’s rented Toyota with these dead aliens leaking outer space Nickelodeon gak on the car seats. And making jokes that he’s getting pulled over cause he not on the insurance cause it’s John’s rental car. That’s funny, but the funniest part of all this? Hal believing he is informing Sheriff Kerry with info she doesn’t know but she’s already onto the fact that the stadium had alien detectors. So, it’s actually Hal Jordan that has caught up to the Sheriff, not the other way around.

Now, I’m of two minds. If Hal had his ring powered to protect himself or at the very least was in the Green Lantern uniform doing all this (instead of just going by his face and celebrity status) then I’d be more inclined to shoot him some bail and say, he’s acting within his jurisdiction of space sector 2814 as decreed by the Guardians of the Universe. Which Hal has done for the past 40 years as a Green Lantern. Now, without the uniform it feels like Hal is kind of an undercover peacekeeper (I don’t like referring to Lanterns as cops/police) that everyone knows is undercover cause he purposefully blew his cover on national tv. However, considering he ain’t do none of that shit? Mans was acting off the purest of white privilege running round town (even though its small town and everyone may have still been at the meeting).

Regardless, Sheriff Kerry asks Hal, “Exactly what was the play here with the dead members of Alien Ant-Farm sitting in the car?” and with a straight face Hal Jordan tells her he was going to pull up on William Macon and see what’s what. This man might as well of told her, “I’m planning on some some shit like ‘what the fuck’?” Now, it’s important to remember that the comic book Hal Jordan isn’t a man without a plan per say (he totally is), he’s a man that makes up the plan as he goes along, and that plan usually boil down to “Fuck it, let’s see what happens.”

Now, let’s talk about what happens. Sheriff Kerry warned Hal to follow her lead. She warned this man that if he showed up on Macon’s compound doing his best 2019 Emmanuel Hudson impersonation (asking all them questions, making statements, assuming?) Then, shit was going to go left. This man Hal Jordan said, “Cool. Cool…Cool.” then proceeded to get on that compound and turn his left signal on. He told Macon, “Aye man, check it out. I been all over the galaxy, and I ain’t seen any tech that can identify aliens like you got this far from the Nobody Beats the Wiz on Biot. I think you want me out of town cause you hiding something on this compound. So fuck your mysterious benefactor, fuck your ten gallon cowboy hat, and fuck your NDA. An NDA didn’t stop Marlboro Man for selling cigs to kids, he pushed that product till Joe Camel pushed him out. Don’t you walk away from me while I’m roasting your ass. I’m goin’ get on that compound motherfucker. I don’t give a fuck about your lil Call of Duty ass sniper, you can’t just shoot me. Sheriff Kerry can he do that? Oh, he can? Word? Man, I don’t give a fuck I can always just use my ring to block the…”

*BANG*

Yeah, sooooo–Hal got himself shot.

Hal was using that ring as a bluff knowing it wasn’t at full capacity. Taking a step forward was calling William’s bluff, but William wasn’t bluffing. Now, if Hal was runnin’ round using his white privilege as protection instead of his ring up to this point; this point is a great example of what happens when white privilege goes up against white privilege. Something had to give, and it was Hal’s shoulder because, big dog what did you think was going to happen? You on William Macon’s private property, this man got the law on his side so much so that he comfortable shooting you in front of the Sheriff not caring if the ring was on or off. Perhaps Hal got too comfortable thinking people wouldn’t test him cause of the ring, or the celebrity, or whatever. All I know is he woke up in the hospital like, “Dude shot me? A whole me? But I’m me!” My friend Sherman Williams once said, “white people be moving in the world like they got the Super Mario invincible star music playing in their heads.” William Macon cut that sound off in Hal’s head in record time. See, Hal was running round flashing that empty power ring thinking that it was one way but found out, it was, in fact, the other way.

Hal also had to get his talking to from Sheriff Kerry about that male privilege. He’s been actively undermining her authority and him coming at William Macon out in the open makes it seem like Macon runs this town. Hal realizes that she’s right and apologizes. Hal’s behavior in Rushville does make me wonder how much time he spent off world during his 40-year Green Lantern career. Does he behave this way on other planets or because aliens know more about Green Lanterns than earthlings, are they more used to handing over jurisdiction and freedom to operate over to Hal? Is Hal more used to that as well? Is the way we do things on Earth more backwards to Hal Jordan having spent so much time among aliens or does Hal mainly operate on Earth and he’s just so used to people trying to hide things from his investigations into the extraterrestrial?

It’s funny. The majority of Lanterns‘ “Trust Fall’ episode is spent with Hal operating with zero protection from his powering. While Aaron Pierre’s John Stewart who is rigid, structured, in control of his emotions, and resides in a constant state of “This some bullshit?” (thanks to Hal’s demeanor) operated through this episode protecting a construct that he made from the power ring. That feels like a very big role reversal. It reminded me of the classic middle school Home Ec assignment of having to look after an egg, which John passed with flying colors despite being knocked out and subjected to the memories of an entire space sector being wiped out. I have been talking a lot about privilege both male and white. It is interesting to note that we get a scene between John and Zoe where they both discuss the duality of both their proximities to whiteness: Zoe, with her marriage and John with his “partner” Hal.

Zoe gives us the role she plays in her marriage and the freedom she won’t deny herself when that role gets to be too restricting. Doesn’t mean she doesn’t love her husband (separate from the perks that his whiteness affords as well). While John relays his issues with Hal sending John to play fetch and have him out of his way. The issue they are talking about circles around race but is also a discussion of trust. John doesn’t know if he should trust Hal Jordan. Zoe’s implying that if he has to ask, then he already knows the answer.

When John links back up with Hal, he’s able to admire the sniper work that went into (and out of) Hal’s shoulder cleanly. Which also may not have happened to Hal had he heeded John’s advice of respecting the chain of command from the jump. If Hal leveled with Sheriff Kerry instead of going about things in his own way, he wouldn’t have any problem doing jumping jacks right at the moment. Also, John coming back to see his rental car’s grill is fucked up and that his car seats got Black suit Spider-Man symbiote bust all over them finally was enough to make him visibly upset with Jordan and bring up his questions about the aliens that wanted to recruit him, the Manhunters issue, and John pulling off a feat with his construct that should earn him praise but Hal being real stingy with the gold stars.

In the end, Hal asks John if he has told the Guardians about any of this information, and we see where John’s allegiances lie. He may want the job from Jordan, he may have his feelings on how jaded Hal has become due to the job, but at the end of the day, John informs Hal that he is the one that John reports to. Nothing has changed. In a way, it’s like saying, I may be the new guy, and the replacement, but motherfucker I am on your side. John is choosing, despite everything, an advice to the contrary to trust Hal Jordan. Which is more than we can say for Hal.

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