Lanterns: OutKast

I have been having mixed feelings about the Lanterns series. It’s well written and acted, I’m not disputing that. But the characters barely resemble the ones I’ve read about for decades. Hal isn’t a jerk, and John isn’t someone who just sort of goes, “Ok, I’ll do that,” whenever anyone tells him to do something. So once again divorcing the adaptation from the source material, I’m enjoying it. For the most part. Now in “OutKast,” we see exactly how John ended up being selected for Hal’s either backup or replacement, depending on which version you believe.

The episode opens in 2016 with John in an unusual situation which he handles with his customary lack of reaction. This John Stewart is certainly stoic. He wanders through an abandoned mall, where among other things, we see an ad for Janus Cosmetics. Janus is the company that Roman Sionis owned before he became Batman foe Black Mask. It also may have a connection with the upcoming Clayface movie. Eventually, John finds a woman in an office, and shows how remarkably stubborn he is. Even she seems to be impressed with his resolve. The interview unfolds with a few interesting reveals, and we learn John is better informed about some things than most people of Earth.

This leads to a flashback, the first of many throughout the episode. When John is just a baby, something very weird happens to his father, showing that the Stewart family has a link with an important bit of history in the DCU. Later, there’s a tv interview with rising hero Green Lantern, and John Sr., John’s father, has a very vehement reaction. The scene shows John Sr. is an understandably damaged, or at least rattled, man. It also shows that Bernadette, John’s mother, appears to be utterly fearless. Maybe the Guardians should have given her a ring.

Much later, Bernadette is taking out the trash and has an unexpected visitor. This kind of follow up isn’t something I recall ever reading in the comics, and it’s an interesting twist. Bernadette continues to be unflappable, and we see yet another difference between the comic books and this adaptation of Green Lantern lore. This particular change seems utterly meaningless, and I’m not sure why they did it unless they were just going for a dramatic effect. Bernadette and her visitor have an interesting conversation that will completely change young John’s life from that moment forward.

Back in the 2016 interview, John mentions this visit to his mother and we see some appreciable holes in the knowledge of the interviewer, who is apparently named Liana. That, too, is a comic book nod to a character from Green Lantern mythos. We start to get an idea just how determined John has been to earn his place, and that he achieved an impressive rank before leaving the military. Which of course brings us back to another flashback.

This time, John meets a superior officer in a rather unusual location. He gets briefed on a special mission, shows how observant he is, and accepts a very difficult task. John accepts it with a quiet confidence, having no doubt he will succeed. It’s not bravado or boasting; it’s complete faith in himself. There’s also come conversation about his father, and his “struggles.” This bounces to a scene back at the Stewart home, where John Sr. and Bernadette talk about her recent visitor. John Sr. is understandably confused by a change in Bernadette’s attitude, but she explains it and they plan for the future.

John begins his mission and it does not have a smooth start. Just another obstacle for John to push through, I suppose. He absolutely has a stolid determination that will not accept failure. The next scene shift returns us to John’s interview, and tells us a bit about his departure from the military. It also focuses on Hal Jordan, Sinestro, and Liana’s failure to grasp human nature. John has a line that pretty much sums up a great deal of the episode: Humans love the people that raise us. Even if they’re crazy.

On that ominous note, we return to John’s childhood. On his fifth birthday, he gets some very unusual presents and his brothers grow jealous. At least we get to see something else that’s comics accurate, even if briefly. Bernadette and John Sr. spin some lies, plan out John’s life, and push what he’s interested in aside. I don’t recall John Stewart ever being a tragic figure before, but they’re sure making him into one here. While John and Liana talk about his early training, we see John on his mission, overcoming more difficulties. We also get John and Liana’s family situations contrasted.

As a young John gets trained by his father, his parents have another argument. Why they are still together at this point I’m not entirely sure, unless it’s one of those toxic “Stay together for the children” situations, which is never a good idea for anyone involved. This culminates in yet another test of John’s bravery, which has crossed well over the line into child abuse at this point. Scenes of John on his mission are overlaid with more conversation between John and Liana, and her continuing to fail to understand families. There is definitely some cultural confusion here. Maybe she, and her organization, need some kind of anthropologists to advise them.

An almost normal scene of John with his brothers gets interrupted by more abusive training from the parents. As John navigates his latest “challenge,” we see a reference to Midway City, which at various points in the comics has been home to Hawkman and Hawkwoman and the Doom Patrol. This version of the DCU does seem to be taking their time to build some connections and hint at other characters, which most DC movies and projects before this point have failed at. Maybe they’re finally learning from the MCU. We see some aftermath from this latest training mission, more talk with John and Liana, and a really devastating line from John about what growing up that way was like.

There’s more training/child abuse, and Bernadette could give lessons in ruthless ambition to Lady MacBeth. I also wonder how they haven’t been reported to the police for the way they do some of this. This is followed by a scene that shows one of John’s other talents (that best I can tell is borrowed from a different Green Lantern entirely), and a weird talk with Bernadette that’s partially encouragement, partially explaining how the world works, and leads to Bernadette confessing to an ongoing lie. Poor young John just can’t win. In their interview, Liana continues to press John about some things he’s holding back.

John’s mission comes to a completely unexpected ending that no one saw coming. This leads to an ugly debriefing where John once again is put in a completely unfair position and just shrugs it off. Actually, a shrug would have been more reaction than he actually showed. We do at least learn how the strange ending came about, and it’s a believable bit of weirdness. Later, John has returned home, which is not something I think I would have done in his position. Then again, he very likely doesn’t have anywhere else to go. Bernadette comes in with some odd news, and I wouldn’t blame John if he got whiplash from her change in attitude about something that’s always been important to him.

The end of the episode has a lot of fast scenes that show things developing. John gets a different special assignment in his new life, which was very much a test about something else entirely. This, in turn, links back to the odd situation John was in at the start of the episode. At least they resisted the trope of John narrating and saying something like “You’re probably wondering how I got here…” John and Liana’s conversation grows more intense, and she asks him about a difficult situation he might be in. Once again, John takes the stoic route and says something to the effect of “If those are my orders, it doesn’t matter if I’m comfortable with them or not.” The more I think about that line, the more disturbed by it I am. Especially with the current political situation in the US, where Federal employees and members of the armed forces are doing things that are illegal and immoral both, I am not at all happy with the vast power of a Green Lantern ring being given to someone who sounds like they’d be fine with the “I was only following orders” defense.

John goes home again, and gets a whole series of surprises. There’s a sort of passively racist line from a character that once again doesn’t seem like something they’d say. We get some set up and explanation for the tension between two characters that’s been going on most of the series. John sort of turns an ongoing lie into a joke (one of the first hints of humor we’ve gotten from him) and the episode ends.

What I Liked: I’m not at all sure how to write this part of the review. The episode was written well, within the confines of this odd version of the Green Lantern characters. It was certainly acted well. There was some explanation about a few things they have touched on in the past.

What I Didn’t: This was an emotionally difficult episode. How John hasn’t had a full on breakdown I have no idea. His parents are horrible people, even if they think they’re acting on good intentions. I really am less comfortable with John getting the ring at this point than Hal is. I don’t at all like what they are doing to either Hal or John.

I’m torn on how to rate this. I guess I’ll give it a 4 out of 5 for acting and internal consistently, no matter how little I like some of the choices made.

Trivia fact: John Stewart being a military vet was not part of his original character. That background came decades later in the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited cartoon, and it’s grown to dominate every depiction of him since. He used to be an architect before that version took over.