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Lanterns Continues Tonight: Our Season 1 Ep. 6: "Bad Optics" Preview

With only three episodes remaining, here's our updated preview for tonight's episode of DC Studios and HBO's Lanterns, S01E06: "Bad Optics."

It all gets underway tonight, folks. The final three episodes of the first season of Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King's Aaron Pierre (John Stewart) and Kyle Chandler (Hal Jordan)-starring Lanterns. Between a new midseason trailer and the promo for tonight's chapter, we've got a very dead Hal, an entire town that wanted him dead, John on the case, Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) making it clear why he's not a Hal Jordan fan, and two very telling meetings. One between Hal and John, and the other between John and… Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen)? How much of that goes down tonight remains to be seen; the answer will be known in a few short hours. With that in mind, we have an updated preview for S01E06: "Bad Optics," as well as a look back at how last week's episode came together, and the DCU connections in the previous two chapters. 

Lanterns Season 1 Episode 6: "Bad Optics" Preview

Lanterns Season 1 Episode 6: "Bad Optics" – Written by Damon Lindelof & Tom King, here's a look at what's been released so far for this weekend's new episode:

Everyone's favorite Lantern (according to Guy). See how Guy Gardner's been handling the ring in the next episode of #Lanterns, this Sunday at 9pm on @hbomax. pic.twitter.com/YW6H5sI0QC

— DC (@DCOfficial) September 18, 2026

Give me your best guesses for tonight's episode. #Lanterns pic.twitter.com/bTQhT2m1OD

— HBO Max (@hbomax) September 20, 2026

Lanterns S01E05: "Lights Out" – DCU Footnotes

Sheriff Kerry Kane's Backstory Gets Much More Gotham: Tonight's episode opens with a flashback to 2007, where we learn that Kelly Macdonald's Kerry Kane was on the run from some very bad people. It seems her father was a thief who was caught and imprisoned, and then decided to talk, which was not a good idea. After killing her father, the goons track Kane from Gotham (they reference Gotham license plates) to a diner in Rushville, sent to kill her, too, to keep her from talking. Zoe/Manhunter (Poorna Jagannathan) steps in to save her, giving the goon Kane's finger as the "proof" he needs that she's dead, in exchange for him leaving and never coming back. In return for her help, Zoe sets up Kerry with a new life – but not before making her promise that she will save Zoe when the time calls. Could we be looking at goons sent by the DCU's Penguin?

Abin Sur: It Wasn't an Accident… It Was Murder! Another big change to the Green Lantern mythos concerns Abin Sur, who would serve as the jumping-off point for all the Green Lantern action and attention that Earth starts getting. In the DCU, Abin Sur wasn't killed in any kind of accident. As he's recovering from his car accident wounds that she healed him from, John gets Zoe to admit that she killed Abin Sur after he got her to Earth because of the fear and panic that she had that Abin Sur would have a change of heart and reveal her existence to the Guardians.

Guy Gardner: Green Lantern Substitute Teacher? It looks like we have a clearer picture of all of those Earth-focused Green Lanterns. By the end of the episode, Hal's pretty much not in a position to get the ring back, and John's turned down the offer. We're going with Guy as the next choice (assuming there wasn't any trial and error in between). At this point, it would seem that someone like Guy Gardner would be the perfect quick fix for the Guardians. In late August, Fillion paid a visit to ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and that visit included a clip (starting around the 10:45 mark in the video below) in which Fillion's Guy Gardner shows up in Rushville for a little one-on-one time with a jailed John Stewart.

Lanterns S01E04: "The Weenie" – DCU Footnotes

Ch'p Clip Debuts: While driving, John asks Hal if he talks with the other Green Lanterns, with Hal responding no because he's the only human. Hal then references one of the Green Lanterns being a squirrel – a ten-ton hint that Ch'p is not only a Green Lantern Corps member but also DCU canon. The extraterrestrial who resembles an anthropomorphic rodent first appeared in Green Lantern #148 (January 1982) and was created by writer Paul Kupperberg and artist Don Newton. A reference to Ch'p was first teased in one of the show's original teasers.

Hal Jordan Confirms Sheriff Kerry Kane's Gotham Roots: When Hal and John explain to Kelly Macdonald's Sheriff Kerry Kane about the Manhunter situation, Sheriff Kane asks Hal how he can be so sure that she can be trusted. That's when Hal reveals that he ran a background check on her, confirming that she was originally from Gotham (and referencing her senior

Hector Hammond Is Introduced… Kinda? Jason Manuel Olazábal played a mysterious individual named Hector Hammond, who owned Atlas Inc.: a series of high-tech slaughterhouses with tech that's definitely not from this planet. When Hal and Jon trace the satellite that went after Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan) back to him, Hammond drops a whole lot of attitude and threats. But after running him down as unimportant, Hal calls Hammond's bluff, prompting Hammond to reveal that he's a human named Hector Gutierrez, an engineering student who has been running under the name "Hector Hammond" to help maintain the Manhunter's cover. Created by John Broome and Gil Kane, and first appearing in DC Comics' Green Lantern (vol. 2) #5 (April 1961), Hector Hammond is a long-running Green Lantern villain known for his genius-level intellect, telepathy, telekinesis, and ability to control minds. For now, this seems like a fun easter egg… but could there be more to it?

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