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Contains spoilers for “Lanterns” Season 1, Episode 4 — “The Weenie”
For much of the first half of “Lanterns” Season 1, the show has kept viewers guessing about the true nature of its shadowy villain, Manhunter. Now, the secret surrounding the space-borne threat hiding out in Rushville, Nebraska appears to have been cracked — unless, of course, the series is setting us up for another reversal before the finale. By the end of Episode 4, “The Weenie,” Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) conclude that Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan) is the Manhunter. It is framed as a major reveal, especially after the episode seemed to show her being obliterated by a killer satellite. Still, for anyone tracking the clues closely, the twist may not land as quite the shock the show wants it to be.
Ever since William Macon (Garret Dillahunt) first entered the picture, “Lanterns” has presented him as intensely paranoid and controlling — except, notably, he admits that he is not truly the one running the compound. Zoe, meanwhile, moves through that world with unusual freedom. She interacts with the Lanterns despite William’s open distrust of them, and her relationship with John unfolds with a level of openness that William reacts to with surprising restraint. Taken together, those details have long suggested that Zoe is far more significant than she initially appears. If viewers still had doubts, her comments shortly before the satellite strike came very close to spelling it out.
In that sense, the series has been planting evidence in plain sight. That may also explain why “Lanterns” briefly appears to kill Zoe off while positioning the fake Hector Hammond (Jason Manuel Olazábal) as the one responsible. The apparent death functions like a narrative smokescreen, nudging the audience away from a suspect the show had already made unusually compelling.
Could Lanterns be misdirecting us with Zoe after all?
Matt Kennedy/HBO Max
Then again, this is still “Lanterns,” a mystery thriller co-created by Damon Lindelof — a storyteller with a long history of misdirection, delayed answers, and major late-stage turns. Given his work on twist-heavy projects like “Lost,” “The Leftovers,” “Watchmen,” and “Mrs. Davis,” it feels almost too tidy for the series to reveal its central threat with half the season still remaining.
So if Zoe is not the final answer, there are plenty of other candidates worth considering. William Macon remains suspicious enough to plausibly be an otherworldly robot in disguise. Antaan (Paul Ben-Victor) is another possibility, especially if his real agenda differs from the one he has presented so far. The same goes for Jason Ritter’s seemingly mild-mannered Billy Macon, or even Kelly Macdonald’s Sheriff Kerry Kane. And then there is Laura Linney’s Guardian of the Universe — a figure whose authority does not necessarily prove that she is exactly who she says she is.
At this stage, that is part of the fun: almost anyone could still be hiding something. The show could even lean into the eerie-child angle and reveal the Manhunter to be Cary Christopher’s quiet young Noah Macon. After all, did he not pick up that football throw a little too fast after a few pointers from John?
“Lanterns” Season 1 is available on HBO and HBO Max.
