Category Archives: HBO Max

Lanterns S1 E7

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“The Jordan Boys’ Legacy”

The penultimate episode of Lanterns takes a look into the past of Hal Jordan, while John and the Hal-ogram continue to try to discover the killer of Hal Jordan in 2026.

The show started off in 1975 and young Hal did not want to give up a baseball to another player who was replacing him on the mound. He was two outs from a complete game and the coach tried to remove him from the game. Young Hal would have nothing of it.

The baseball thing was, of course, a direct comparison to the ring that Hal did not want to give up either.

The Hal-ogram was fun as he encapsuled a happier, kinder, though still an asshole version of Hal Jordan with John. John wanted the Hal-ogram to use his voice to open the mysterious vault, but the construct wanted to meet the sheriff first.

After meeting Sheriff Kerry, Hal-ogram stated that she had killed him. Of course, the construct had also accused John of the same thing.

Later, Hal-ogram admitted that his own father had committed suicide and that maybe Hal Jordan had done the same thing. He called it the Jordan Boys’ Legacy, as apparently the grandfather killed himself too. Hal-ogram thought that maybe the guilt that he thought he saw in Kerry’s face was from her covering up the suicide, much like young Hal had done for his father.

They also found a portal to another planet. This was the same planet that the aliens from earlier this season who were searching for the Manhunter lived on and had been killed on by a poison gas. The gas nearly did in John too, but Hal-ogram was able to stop John from killing himself.

They came across Sinestro on the planet as well, leading into the finale next week.

I enjoyed the talking time between John and the construct and this made me wish there was more of this between John and the real Hal.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe S1 E10

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“Spoiler: Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience”

I speculated last week that the big bad would be revealed this wee. I was wrong. The floating shit, as they called it, was not revealed in the season one finale.

Instead, we did a whole meta, She-Hulk-esque final with Stuart and the others realizing that they are inside a sitcom. They started off at the comic book shop and only Kripke could hear the canned laughter, but they all would hear it by the end.

Watching the characters watch themselves greeting the audience was wild and cute.

I’m not sure where this goes as they walked across the studio.

This season was up and down for me, but I am going to say that I would watch another season of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.

OJ Unseen: Exploitation of Evil E3, E4

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“It Has Escapability”

“Reckoning With Reality”

I finished the OJ docuseries on HBO Max tonight with the final two episodes talking about the time OJ and a group of creators tried to make a hidden camera prank show called Juiced.

The last two episodes really showed just what a bad idea this prank show was. It was shaky after the first two episodes, but there were some simply horrendous things such as OJ pretending to work at a car sales lot and selling the white Bronco or doing a rap that was in remarkably bad taste.

The whole project got tore down by a leak from within the project. I think that was a great thing, considering how scummy this was.

It followed the story right up until OJ’s death in 2024 and covered his arrest for the robbery of his old sports memorabilia that sent him to prison for nine years.

The discussion from the people who worked on the crew of Juiced was fascinating, though most of them were truly lowlifes too.

I am glad I watched it…. but a little ashamed too.

Lanterns S1 E6

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“Bad Optics”

John Stewart- grave robber.

After last week’s major conclusion of the 2016 storyline, we find ourselves back in 2026 to continue that story that dropped in episode one.

Hal Jordan is dead. Shot in the head.

There were a lot of speculation that Hal was not really dead from the online pundits, but that seemed to be definitively put to bed with this episode.

I really have some questions about John’s motives in this episode and the town’s anger and resentment toward Hal. We learned that Hal and Kerry had a relationship after she split with her husband. John had come back to Rushville because his mother had told him that Hal wanted to apologize. That was a surprise to Hal. John hit him, perhaps breaking Hal’s nose in the process.

We learned that Hal was shot point blank in the head, which was an odd situation. Just off the top of my head (poor pun there) I am guessing that Noah is the one who killed Hal. That would make sense why someone could get that close to Hal to kill him.

John Stewart contacted Guy Gardner with the Green Lantern-signal, which is in the middle of the town, provided by Guy. However, a bunch of men showed up, including Billy, Kerry’s ex-husband, to threaten John. John kicked all of their butts, and eventually ended up in jail for assault.

Guy showed up as John was behind bars. John asked Guy to retrieve Hal’s suit and decommissioned ring so they could bury him in it. Gardner was not anxious to help, seeing as that he would have to fly to Oa to get it. He wound up doing it after all because John had told him that everything he had was because John had refused the ring.

Guy dropped the piece of info that Sinestro had escaped from the space prison. He also confirmed the existence of the Phantom Zone in the DCU.

Carol Ferris made a debut in the episode as well. Carol had a previous connection to Hal Jordan, specifically a main love interest in the actual comic books. She apparently had become the Star Sapphire in the comics, which I did not realize since I do not collect the Green Lantern books.

John, Carol and Kerry were the only ones in attendance at the funeral, and they did bury Hal, only for John to come back at night and dig him up to retrieve the ring.

Did not see that coming.

I kept waiting for the ring to fly off Hal’s hand and choose John, especially as John was reading Hal’s handwritten eulogy. This scene reminded me of the episode of The Boys where Hughie read the letter written by Frenchie.

Of course, the ring had 5% power left for some reason and John used it to bring back the Hal-ogram with the intention of using it to help solve the murder.

Two more episodes remaining.

OJ Unseen: Exploitation of Evil E1, E2

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“He’s Back”

“You Should Be Afraid of Me”

Okay, I feel a little dirty.

I have to admit that I was fascinated, as much of America was, in the case of OJ Simpson. When I saw a new four-episode limited series on HBO Max that chronicled the life of OJ during a time frame where he was recording a “Reality Show” called Juiced, based upon the Ashton Kutcher Punk’d or Candid Camera, I knew I wanted to watch it.

The documentary used all kinds of unseen footage from behind the scenes of that show, including direct interviews with OJ himself. The first two episodes truly set the stage for some explosive results.

The show gave us a look at OJ and his reactions to a lot of the situations that he was placed in. OJ was very charming and had a lot of charisma, which is undeniable. Still, every time you wonder about him, you couldn’t help but picture the gruesome scene of Nicole and Ron’s murder.

While OJ was certainly reviling in the attention and infamy, the fact that the creators of the show were exploiting him could not be lost. Did he deserve it? I am sure that there are plenty of people who would say absolutely. Still, it felt a little wrong.

That does not mean that I am not engaged in the series. I am two episodes in and I really wanted to continue on to episode three, but I had other things I needed to do. In fact, I had originally intended to do one episode over the next four days, but after episode one, I was enthralled enough to just let the show move on into the next one.

We will see where this goes and how this docuseries finishes up.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe S1 E9

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“Spoiler: We Couldn’t Get Green Lantern”

So Amy Farrah Fowler married the Flash.

Or… at least, Jay Garrick, the original Flash.

What a strange episode. It was fun seeing our crew in Gotham and Central City, with Stuart name dropping all kinds of DC lore.

At the end of last week, Stuart, Denise, Bert and Kripke were stuck on a comic cover, but they were able to figure out a way around it… by sliding off the cover and into the actual book. Stuart came up with an idea to find the Flash and have him run on the Cosmic Treadmill to get them back to their own universe.

I like how they used the Golden Age Flash in this episode to avoid all that other Flash nonsense around. Having Amy be married to Jay was a weird choice, but it was a way to get a Big Bang cameo into the episode.

Mr. Freeze was brought in as well, which led to some slipping on ice jokes that were not very funny. Stuart postulated about why Flash was fighting Mr. Freeze and not Captain Cold. This felt like an important line of dialogue, though nothing apparently came from it.

This is another episode that felt too short. It was over before it even began. It was fun with the references though.

It ended with the gang back in Stuart’s comic shop, but it was floating through what looked like space, and a laugh track that was noticed by Kripke. I assume that this is heading into a season finale next week. Maybe leading to the person behind the whole thing. I am guessing Sheldon Cooper.

Lanterns S1 E5

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Spoilers

“Light’s Out”

This big week’s episode made me feel very icky over all.

We were led to believe that Hal Jordan denied his oath and was not the hero expected. I don’t see that. Him leaving John in the car (which eventually blew up) was not cool, but the show tells me that Hal broke his principles. They indicated he was like an addict, but I just did not get that from him.

John was rotten through the entire episode until he left that ring on the bar in front of Lianna. John made a deal with the Manhunter, who, if you did not realize it last week, was Zoey, to heal himself. However, he did not follow through with his end. He attacked Hal and they had a knock down battle and he took the ring off his finger. I really did not like John Stewart in this episode, until he left the ring on the counter.

So much was finished off this episode. I am not sure where this goes from here. Zoey is dead (killed by John), there is no Lantern, the whole town got blown up real good.

Huge Lantern battles had been missing, but everyone must be happy with the amount of Lantern power being used. Still, I found this episode to be my least favorite of the season because it seemed like a lot of the characters were doing things out of their normal behavior.

Seeing next week’s previews, it looks like the story is heading back to 2026.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe S1 E8

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Spoilers

“Spoiler: We’re as Confused as You Are”

Time travel.

It is always confusing. Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is no exception.

They do not stick around in the centaur universe long as Stuart, Denise, Bert, and Kripke went back in time to try and get the other machine from themselves. Only those army people turned out to be themselves after all.

Like I said, always confusing.

Penny was back again this episode as a military lawyer who was prosecuting Stuart, Denise, Bert, and Kripke for desertion after they tried to leave the army world again. Penny wound up getting transported back to the centaur world just before Stuart, Denise, Bert and Kripke left again. Penny seemed to like being a centaur.

We did some timeline jumping and it was fun. It did not feel that significant, but I liked it more than some of the other episodes.

The four of them wound up in a comic book at the end of the show. I am looking forward to that next week, although unless this was just another momentary pause like centaur would was.

Lanterns S1 E4

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“The Weenie”

This is an interesting show that has set up some compelling interactions between its main characters. I am not really sure about the true thoughts of Hal Jordan or John Stewart, because they have both had others try to manipulate them into certain actions, and it feels as if they only tell the other pieces and parts of the truth.

Sinestro was trying to manipulate Hal into believing that John was the most dangerous foe he would face, moreso than the potential Manhunter in the little town. Lianna tried to manipulate John into just taking the ring from Hal. She told him to recite the Lantern oath the next time Hal let John use the ring in a practice session. There was something suspicious about Lianna this week, and I am not sure she is the Guardian that she claimed.

So who is the Manhunter? It sure seemed like the show was pointing to Zoe, who was apparently killed by a laser beam from a satellite in space. It was after she had slept with John again, and told him that it would be the last time. She wanted him to leave town. He refused. She then blew up in her car. However, perhaps she sent that laser herself, and she was able to escape the blast because of that. John, we find out later, did not believe that she had been killed.

Hal and John’s trip into the compound of William Macon was not very successful as they got captured with some darkness tech that prevented the use of the ring. Macon kept mentioning his “Benefactor” and Hal and John speculated that the Benefactor was the Manhunter. I am not convinced that is the case. I still think we have something coming in the series to shock us.

We had the mention of Hector Hammond, who was a classic Green Lantern villain, but I am not sure if this Hector Hammond was the real one .

The banter between Hal and John was strong this week and I have been missing the chemistry between these two the last few weeks. This episode was much more of the “buddy cop” type episode that we expected from the show. There are plenty of mysteries going on in the show, including some that we have not touched upon since the first episode.

By the way, what was up with Macon being naked?

And they blew up a cow.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe S1 E7

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“Spoiler: Dexy’s Midnight Runners Get a Royalty Payment”

I have not been much of a fan of the last couple of weeks of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe. It had felt lacking of any real story beats and, despite the enjoyable cast, I was not pleased with what they had given us. The episodes felt too short to have any sort of a developed story.

Then episode seven was dropped on HBO Max and I was back in, full bear.

In this episode, the crew wind up in a universe where everyone has telepathy, which is a great hook for some funny comedy bits. It also has one of the best defenses to the power ever imagined… singing Come On Eileen in your head.

Also, one of the funniest lines came from Bert wondering why Kripke’s mind has a lisp.

But the episode had more than that. It had a sudden twist as Stuart and the group run into another Stuart and the group with their own machine. Then a military version of the group showed up. Suddenly, the mystery of the show was slapping us in the face.

I loved this idea that there may be countless Stuarts jumping around the multiverse, all trying to figure out what is happening.

Who started this whole thing going? Why did alternate Stuart come to see Big Bang Stuart only to do the same thing again?

I’m intrigued and excited. There are only three more episodes of the show, and I hope that means that we get some of the mysteries answered. However, since the show has been renewed for a season two, I’m worried that it will be spread out over the years.

Bernadette made a memorable appearance in the Telepathy universe as a tap dance instructor with a bunch of foul-minded little kids.

Lanterns S1 E3

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Spoilers

“OutKast”

Episode three of DC Studios’ Lantern spends the entire episode in a flashback as we learn all about the path John Stewart took to become the trainee of Hal Jordan.

Who knew that John Stewart had overbearing stage parents. We learn that John’s father was rejected as a potential Lantern, and that the Guardian (Laura Linney) came to apologize and ended up having coffee with John’s mother Bernadette. The fact that the Guardian told her that her baby, John, could be a choice for a Lantern in the future. With that, she became obsessed with training John to become a Lantern.

The father John joined in and they were crazy. Young John does a tremendous job with everything that they make him do, even though he may be putting on a good face.

I have to say that the switch from crazy parents to not crazy and helping John get into the art school he wanted to go.

We get the details about what John may think about Hal. He definitely had some issues with Hal Jordan prior to becoming his trainee.

The interview with Laura Linney was wonderful and written brilliantly. I love how it was able to show parts of the character of John Stewart through their dialogue.

I enjoyed this flashback episode that gives us a deeper understanding of John Stewart.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe S1 E6

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“Spoiler: Corn is Delicious”

Okay, I was not a fan of this one.

Cow universe? The whole cud thing got old really quickly. I kept waiting for there to be some kind of twist, but it never came. Kripke and Bert left the universe but they were stuck between universes.

This one just had no story at all. I suppose there was some progress on the relationship between Stuart and Denise as they seemed to enjoy the whole cud thing, and the licking of the salt lick was gross.

Raj showed up again. Here, he was someone ranting about the end of the universe.

We see the other Stuart again who arrives to convince our Stuart to leave the cow universe. Stuart and Denise head out too.

Just a poor episode that I was not a fan of.

Lanterns S1 E2

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Spoilers

“Trust Fall”

Episode two of DC’s Lantern’s series stuck it out in the 2016 timeline, leaving last week’s shocking conclusion during 2026 for a later date.

Instead, the episode split Hal and John into different places. John is sent to retrieve the Lantern to charge the power ring, and Hal sticks around to go see Macon again.

Hal ends up getting shot as a warning and John gets nabbed and dragged away when we hear the term “Manhunters” for the first time.

I know enough about Lantern lore to say that this is not the Martian Manhunter, aka J’onn J’onzz, but not much more after that so I am curious to find out what this piece of DC history is all about.

The show brought out some awesome Green Lantern stuff this episode. First, as I mentioned, they showed us the power charging Lantern that Hal needed to recharge the power on his ring. It was stored in a cool pocket-dimension found in Hal Jordan’s house.

Second, we get to see the Green Lantern costumes. There were three of them hanging in Hal’s closet. Hal did not seem overly anxious to put it back on.

However, third, he did put it back on and he flew into space to a satellite of some kind where we meet, for the first time, Sinestro. Sinestro is Green Lantern’s arch enemy, and is being played by Ulrich Thomsen.

John Stewart could not fly when using the ring, but he was able to create a bird that followed him the whole episode, even when he did not have the ring on, even when he was unconscious after being snatched at Hal’s house. I get a feeling that the bird has a deeper meaning for down the road.

I am excited about the mysteries of the show, and I am wondering when we will be heading back to 2026. Next week looks to be a John Stewart-centric episode with more of his past coming to [Green Lantern’s] Light.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe S1 E5

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“Spoiler: Bert Gets Married”

Following up my favorite episode of this show this week, we got a strange one with a tribe of people who share everything, all the time, and a completely peaceful.

With an injection of Kripke into the society, that does not last long.

Kripke immediately started warping things by showing the kind hearted people the idea of “mine.” It does not take long for the natural selfishness to come out, especially when Kripke made a Communist comment.

Meanwhile, Bert met a woman who asked him to share sex that night, but it turned out that they sleep with someone different every night. Bert introduced her to the concept of monogamy, and asked her to marry him, even though she does not understand the term.

Stuart realized that the machine was broken and he went in search of a message from the mysterious overlord that had been sending them messages. He found it at the bottom of a pile of bear poop.

Red quartz is what they needed to fix the machine, and there was only one bit around… on a necklace around the neck of the man who was jealous of Bert’s new relationship.

This episode continued what I think one of the biggest problems of this show is… it felt rushed. There is so much that can be discovered in these universes but are just brushed across most of the time. These episodes should be 45 minutes at least, but they are sticking with the half-hour focus, and there are just too many big ideas.

In the end, it all turned out to be just there and this episode did not blow my socks off. I am not a big fan of Kripke and I think they could have left that character off and still not have issues filling the time. There was no Big Bang Theory cameo this week and that was definitely missing.

Lanterns S1 E1

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Spoilers

“Pilot”

The first episode of DC Studio’s latest TV show premiered on HBO Max this Sunday night. Lanterns started off with Hal Jordan training John Stewart as his replacement.

We start the story in 2016, with a gruff Hal Jordan being very tough on his trainee, John Stewart.

The show ended in 2026 with Hal Jordan dead on the bleachers of a football field.

There had been rumors about Hal Jordan dying at the end of the pilot, but with the 2016 story going on, this is how we will get a full season of Hal alive and John moving forward.

Of course, there will be some story in 2026 too since the dead body of Hal nor John had the Lantern ring. Where is it? Who took it? Who killed Hal? These points I expect will correspond to the storyline from 2016.

I do like shows that play with the manner in which the narrative is presented. Of course, LOST is the immediate show to come to mind, and former LOST writer Damon Lindelof is a writer and executive producer on the show. That always could hook me.

I have enjoyed Green Lantern as a character, despite not collecting his comic title. I think the way this show has been set up, kind of a True Detective-style show, with this mystery of what is going on in this little town in Nebraska where Hal Jordan originally received the ring was some solid writing.

I found Kyle Chandler to be excellent as an older, grumpier Hal Jordan, who was training his replacement John Stewart despite not wanting to have a replacement. Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, was good, but I do not think he had the amount of material by comparison yet. Pierre is a solid actor and I think he will get better as the series goes on.

I am invested in the mystery that has been set up and the ending with Hal’s death only served to increase the interest I have in this series. I expect to be watching this every Sunday night until October.