Three episodes into HBO‘s “Lanterns,” and here’s the thing nobody expected: this is turning into one of the more emotionally honest shows on television right now, superheroes or not. What started as a slow, sometimes confusing mystery in the Nebraska cornfields has become something with real teeth, and it’s the kind of show that rewards patience in a way a lot of streaming dramas simply don’t anymore.

If you’ve been on the fence about “Lanterns,” here’s what changed, why episode three is the one to watch, and what it means for the rest of the season.

What “Lanterns” Got Right (Eventually)

The pilot didn’t exactly hook everyone right away. Early reviews pointed out that the opening felt like it was working overtime to convince us John Stewart was brave before we’d had a chance to actually meet him. And the initial dynamic between Kyle Chandler‘s grizzled, impatient Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre‘s stoic, sidelined John Stewart played more like an obstacle than a relationship worth investing in.

But then “Lanterns” got to Nebraska. Once Hal and John started actually working the case, chasing down whatever happened in that small town, the show found its footing. Suddenly it wasn’t just another origin story. It felt more like a detective drama that happened to have a couple of guys with glowing rings in it, and that tonal shift made all the difference.

Chandler’s take on Hal Jordan deserves credit here too. This isn’t a young hero learning the ropes. It’s a man who’s had unchecked power for decades, and it shows in every impatient, arrogant, occasionally reckless choice he makes. Watching that power curdle into something uglier is honestly more interesting than watching another hero get their wings.

John Stewart’s Origin Story Changes the Whole Show

Then came episode three, “OutKast,” and “Lanterns” made its boldest move yet.

Instead of another chapter in the present-day mystery, the episode pulls back into John Stewart’s childhood, told through a two-hander interview between Pierre’s John and Laura Linney‘s unnamed Guardian of the Universe. What unfolds is the story of a family nearly torn apart the night the ring almost chose John’s father instead of Hal Jordan.

J. Alphonse Nicholson plays John Sr., a proud man who watches his own near miss with greatness curdle into obsession and self-destruction. Jasmine Cephas Jones is the real backbone of the episode as Bernadette, John’s mother, who talks her husband down at gunpoint and then makes a decision that will define her son’s entire life: she tells the Guardians they’ll raise John without fear, whatever that costs him.

It’s a heavy hour of television. The show doesn’t shy away from showing how that decision plays out as something that looks a lot like a childhood built on tough love that tips into something harder to watch. And it reframes everything we thought we understood about why John puts up with Hal’s dismissiveness. He’s not just a disciplined ex-Marine following orders. He’s been groomed his entire life to replace a man he’s never even resented out loud.

Linney, for her part, is quietly one of the best parts of the season so far. Her Guardian carries this unbothered, almost maternal confidence that cracks just slightly every time a human pushes back on her, and that friction is where a lot of the episode’s best moments live.

Where “Lanterns” Goes From Here

What makes “Lanterns” worth sticking with right now is that it’s clearly playing a longer game than a typical superhero drama. Showrunner Damon Lindelof has a track record of shows that ask a lot of their audience, for better and for worse, and “Lanterns” is leaning into that same instinct. The time jumps between decades can be a lot to keep straight, and the show occasionally seems more interested in withholding information than earning the mystery it’s building. But when it slows down, like it did with John’s origin story, the payoff is real.

The supporting cast keeps pulling more weight than you’d expect from a comic book adaptation, too. Kelly Macdonald‘s local sheriff and Poorna Jagannathan‘s Zoe Macon both add texture to the Nebraska side of the story, while Garret Dillahunt and Jason Ritter round things out with the kind of “that guy is great in everything” energy longtime TV watchers will recognize immediately.

Three episodes in, “Lanterns” has gone from a show that made us question its choices to one we’re actively excited to keep watching. If episode three is any indication of where the season is headed, HBO might have something special on its hands, provided it can balance its ambition with a little more room to breathe.

The Bottom Line

“Lanterns” started shaky, found its voice in Nebraska, and then blew the doors off with John Stewart’s origin story. That’s a pretty remarkable turnaround for three episodes of television, and it’s exactly why this is one of the most talked about new shows of the season.

New episodes of “Lanterns” are streaming now on HBO Max.