Better late, than never! This week I cover Star Trek Strange New Worlds, and episodes 4 and 5 of Lanterns. After watching Lanterns last night, I thought, this is just relentlessly depressing. I seem to have recovered this morning enough to write up the episodes.
Star Trek Strange New Worlds Orders of Magnitude
In an intense episode, Federation hero Simon Reeger happens upon the Enterprise as he’s traveling through space tracking a cloaked ship that killed millions on a planet called Vaarden. Pike and Una are investigating a distress call on a seemingly empty planet, and Spock is in charge.
By chance, James Kirk has popped by the Enterprise as well, hoping to talk to La’an.
When Reeger commandeers the Enterprise to pursue the cloaked ship, Spock points out that Kirk is the senior officer on board, so Kirk becomes Reeger’s Number One.
Staff are thrilled to have Reeger aboard, there’s some real hero worship. Not for Kirk, though, whose father’s Star Fleet career took a turn for the worse after the battle Reeger heroically won.
Tracking the ship to an outpost planet with a small population, they lose the enemy craft’s signal. Reeger won’t lose that ship when he’s so close. He gives orders to have the planet fired upon with a battery of weaponry that assures no life is left on the planet and the ship, in hiding, is destroyed.
Kirk can’t comprehend the loss of innocent lives and he rebels, attempting to be a one man team who stops the carnage. It is interesting that while everyone else is also uncomfortable with the decision to fire, they seem ready to do so, as they are under orders, and from their hero.
Lanterns Episodes 4 and 5
Ep 4
Hal and John close in on the Manhunter. They’re exposed to local rancher Macon much more fully than necessary, but the man insists he will protect his mentor at all costs. John gets closer than ever with Zoe, who pursues him even though her husband clearly knows and must be jealous. The aliens led by Antaan who have given John an ultimatum to reveal the Manhunter are closing in.
When Zoe’s car is blown up as she leaves John’s motel, somehow this solidifies for both Hal and John that Zoe is the Manhunter.
Ep5
Hal decides to keep John out of the whole endgame by jumping out of their car and leaving John trapped in it crashed against a phone pole.
We see the full reveal of Zoe’s takeover of the small town, how she got even the sheriff to owe her life to the Manhunter. It’s apparently a way the Manhunter operates, surround yourself with people you’ve saved and who owe you everything, and who will die for you.
Hal gets the action in the episode, fighting off death rays downtown and saving lives, then sending Antaan and crew after Macon who Hal says is the Manhunter. Hal’s plan is to grab her, fly her to OA in space and hand her over to the Guardians. Be the hero.
Zoe’s plan is to have Hal use up the charge of his ring, then she kills him. Instead, John, beyond anger and sick of Hal, fights Hal, takes the ring and the Lantern, and tosses them on the table in front of the Guardian, saying he doesn’t want it.
Three episodes left! Somehow we get from here to that last scene of episode one where the sheriff shows John Hal Jordan in the stands at the local football, dead, frozen, no ring. John also doesn’t have the ring. I thought then, someone has killed Hal and taken the ring. After episode 5, we have to ask who has had the ring all this time? What a hoot if it's John's mom.
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