Stole My Line - A Fireside Film Podcast
'Lanterns' Dives Into John Stewart's Backstory: Does It Work? - Fireside Discussion

Drew:
John Stewart is shockingly normal for the traumatic childhood that he had.

Grant:
Yeah, honestly-

Drew:
And lowkey-

Grant:
-he has handled everything pretty well.

Drew:
-the horrible parents that he had.

[Intro]

Grant:
Welcome back to Stole My Line - A Fireside Film Podcast. I am Grant.

Drew:
And I'm Drew.

Grant:
We were talking about Lanterns-

Drew:
It's true.

Grant:
-season one episode three. This is the only outdoor movie and TV podcast.

Drew:
True.

Grant:
Drew, what did you think of Lantern's episode three?

Drew:
Look, I don't love bottlenecks-

Grant:
This is a bottleneck episode.

Drew:
-in general, I've said that on basically every TV review bottleneck episode that we've had.

Grant:
Including Wonder Man, which had a very funny bottleneck episode.

Drew:
Oh, is that the Josh Gad one?

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
I think about that episode...

Grant:
It was a funny episode.

Drew:
...more frequently than I thought it would.

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
Um, but all things considered, this was a- like, you understand the point of this episode.

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
And as much as I wanted to hate it, I don't. I think it's very good. The quality is the same. And the level of, like, clarity it provides to who John Stewart is-

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
-I think it's pretty high, which is good.

Grant:
If you were deeply invested in the mystery of the show, I'm sorry you're going to have to wait another week.

Drew:
I know.

Grant:
Because you get- I mean, I do think this adds some layers to what we saw in the first two episodes, but this- this is not really furthering the mystery whatsoever.

Drew:
True.

Grant: Which, I go back and forth on this because, in a sense, it is very good to get all this character backstory out of the way for John Stewart so we can get on with the mystery and be invested in his character for the rest of the season, and that is a good thing.

Drew:
I agree. And because he's also going to be, spoilers, if you're off the internet completely, the Green Lantern for the DCU.

Grant:
Yes. Here's the thing, though. This show also could have worked in his backstory throughout the entire season.

Drew:
True, but I don't hate that it's an episode.

Grant:
No, I, I, I agree.

Drew:
Okay, okay, okay.

Grant:
Again, that's what I'm saying. I go back and forth because, like, this show could have been well-structured in that format. We haven't seen the rest of the show, so I could be wrong. Maybe it just would not have worked at all. But also, it's good to get this out of the way now. And then I think about it, I'm like, "I love week to week." I think that's the best way to watch TV.

Drew:
100%.

Grant:
I'm a pretty overall big fan of week to week TV. This would have worked better in a binge, bottleneck episodes usually do-

Drew:
Yeah, that's true.

Grant:
-because you can click play. So if you're catching up on Lanterns, great. So like, that's probably a good thing. Unfortunately, in the week to week, we got to wait another week to get on with the mystery that we have been invested in so far. But that's not a huge gripe.

Drew:
No, I think it's fine.

Grant:
People are going to hear me hating. I'm not hating. I'm just saying, this is- we grind the pacing to a halt a little bit.

Drew:
Which is not bad.

Grant:
No.

Drew:
Especially when the bottleneck episode was good.

Grant:
I agree.

Drew:
Which this one was.

Grant:
It's more forgivable, because the quality of this show is higher than other TV shows. Before we dive into what actually occurred in this episode, hit that subscribe button-

Drew:
You should!

Grant:
-if you're new to the channel, check out our other Lanterns reviews. If you like basically anything superheroes, or also just film and TV, we cover that on the channel. Leave a five star review if you're listening on audio platform. It helps us. Drew, let's dive into John Stewart's backstory.

Drew:
Jasmine Cephas Jones from Hamilton!

Grant:
Yes! I knew I recognized her! I knew I recognized her!

Drew:
I knew I recognized her too!

Grant:
She was good!

Drew:
Oh my- she was great.

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
I was like, "where do I know her from?"

Grant:
I had the same thought. I'm like, "I know this girl. Where is she from?" She's from Hamilton.

Drew:
Because I watched the Disney+ Hamilton a million times.

Grant:
Which is actually out on Blu-ray, by the way.

Drew:
Oh really?

Grant:
They finally released it on physical media.

Drew:
Good job, Disney.

Grant:
Like, six years later.

Drew:
Hamilton's great. Not what we're talking about. But Hamilton's phenomenal.

Grant:
Um, okay. Let's talk about John Stewart.

Drew:
Gosh, that's hilarious.

Grant:
This adds context-

Drew:
Yeah, she's Peggy Cart- or not Carter. Peggy... whatever her last name is. Schuyler?

Grant:
Schuyler, yeah.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
But she also plays the-

Grant:
Schuyler sisters.

Drew:
But the- Hamilton cheats with her too.

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
Yes, oh my gosh.

Grant:
It's been way too long-

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
-since I've seen Hamilton.

Drew:
Spoilers for Hamilton, I'm sorry.

Grant:
Hamilton's a real person, by the way.

Drew:
Yeah, that's just historical events.

Grant:
Anyway. Okay.

Drew:
Wild, okay.

Grant:
John Stewart's backstory. We get context on the whole very cool scene at the beginning of the show that was like-

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
-"are you afraid?" And his dad shoots an apple off his head when he's a kid.

Drew:
True.

Grant:
Now we know why he does that. I had not read any Green Lantern comics. Very unfamiliar with the character. So this was helpful for me to understand John Stewart, the character.

Drew:
Neither have I, if you have, because- and this has kind of been debated in our comments and just on the internet in general. But people are like, "oh my gosh, they're doing Hal Jordan so much justice in this show." And then on the complete other side, and it really is about 50-50.

Grant:
It's kind of wild.

Drew:
"They're butchering Hal Jordan. This is a horrible representation of this character that I loved." So now I will ask a question for John Stewart: how is this in the comic adaptation sphere of things? Is this accurate to what happens in comics? I don't know. We haven't read them.

Grant:
And I would love to answer that question for you. I just have zero clue.

Drew:
We just don't know, but.

Grant:
This is really my first experience with Green Lantern besides The Lego Movie.

Drew:
Right, yeah.

Grant:
So I am excited. And I continue to get invested in these characters, which is a good thing about the show. And like- a bad bottleneck episode would make me less invested in the show.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
But I think from a character perspective, I am more invested in the show.

Drew:
I will say this: John Stewart is shockingly normal for the traumatic childhood that he had.

Grant:
Yeah, honestly-

Drew:
And lowkey-

Grant:
-he has handled everything pretty well.

Drew:
-the horrible parents that he had.

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
Yeah. I mean, specifically, what's her name? Oh, she doesn't have a name. The mom.

Grant:
Yes, mother.

Drew:
Just a horrible mother. But that's fine.

Grant:
Is it?

Drew:
Well, no.

Grant:
Is it fine?

Drew:
No, good mothers are valuable.

Grant:
Yeah. Please don't raise your kids this way. Even if a space alien comes in and says, "hey, we want your son to probably be a Lantern maybe one day."

Drew:
Yeah. Let your kid go to art school.

Grant:
Yeah. Which she does.

Drew:
Yeah, but-

Grant:
And it actually turns out to be very helpful.

Drew:
It is true.

Grant:
I guess to break down everything, it makes sense why- I think everything makes sense, relatively. Even the jump- even though the jump that the parents take is a jump.

Drew:
It is a leap. And I was thinking that in the episode. And it's like almost far enough for me to have a problem with it. But I don't think I do.

Grant:
And again, this is a superhero universe.

Drew:
Right.

Grant:
So at a certain point I can be like, "okay, whatever," but.

Drew:
But I do think that watcher kind of breaks down because this show is so grounded. And here's the other problem-

Grant:
This is a very grounded superhero show, honestly. Yeah.

Drew:
This specifically is very grounded. So like that logic breaks down. But then you can be like, "well, Superman's in this universe and Creature Commandos." And I don't know, James Gunn.

Grant:
We can go in circles. For this show, that was the biggest leap for me in his backstory.

Drew:
I agree.

Grant:
I think everything else made sense.

Drew:
Sure.

Grant:
And then once you get on board with his parents, kind of want to trade him to be Green Lantern and treat him very special.

Drew:
Kind of just-

Grant:
And like-

Drew:
-like psychologically abuse him.

Grant:
But then also like comfort him. It's just weird.

Drew:
Also his brothers are just neglected, which is horrible.

Grant:
Yeah. Yeah, it's like, if you ever felt that your sibling was the favorite, imagine that, but like explicitly-

Drew:
Times a million.

Grant:
-explicitly was actually the favorite. Like that just is like- I literally thought in the episode, I was like, "yeah..." Imagine if my youngest brother was like training to be the next, you know, Superman, next Green Lantern, whatever. And I'm sitting here at home like, "yeah, my brothers-" you go out to the bar with friends like, "yeah, what are you up to these days?" "Well, you know, my brother just became Green Lantern. My parents trained him his whole life and just didn't pick me." And like-

Drew:
"And I'm a plumber."

Grant:
And I, yeah-

Drew:
How do you-

Grant:
"I- uh..."

Drew:
How do you go to talk about anything you care about?

Grant:
"I work in sales."

Grant:
It's probably- it's honestly how I imagine like siblings of famous people act like, "yeah."

Drew:
Yeah, that's fair.

Grant:
"You know, my sister's Emma Stone, you know, the famous actress."

Drew:
"And I teach third grade."

Grant:
No, it does kind of suck, especially because the parents did show like explicit favoritism, but also it kind of makes sense because of what John Stewart Sr. goes through of like-

Drew:
Sure.

Grant:
-almost being picked. And then he does what any sensible person would do in his shoes and say, "yeah, I'm afraid. What the heck?" And then he kind of gets mad that he wasn't picked, even though he's pretty qualified.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
So what do you do in that situation Drew? I don't know.

Drew:
I don't know if I would raise my child that way.

Grant:
I would not. I wouldn't do that.

Drew:
But I think there's enough groundwork for the parents to understand the motivation enough to buy into it, which I think is what the show needs to do. And I think it does that relatively well there. I think the structuring of this episode is super interesting. Very True Detective-y, obviously. Like the non-linear storytelling.

Grant:
Yes, yeah, yeah, I would agree. Yes-

Drew:
I like it.

Grant:
I will agree.

Drew:
I think it's great, easy to follow, keeps you super engaged. The tie together at the end is super awesome when he's at the art studio, he starts drawing, he throws down the black hole.

Grant:
Honestly, that payoff was worth it, lile-

Drew:
Yeah, I think it was great.

Grant:
It was a really cool moment, for sure. We have Laura Linney! Actual actress, by the way. I did do some research. But she's in this episode as the Guardian. She hasn't been introduced in the DCU before? Question mark?

Drew:
I don't think so. I'm going to go with "no."

Grant:
We're going to venture "no," if we're wrong, fact-check us in the comments.

Drew:
I think there's a bat around the light.

Grant:
Honestly, yeah. That kind of fits the DCU vibe.

Drew:
Could it be Batman? We did get a Gotham shout out last episode.

Grant:
We did, actually, yeah.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
That's cool. I think that Laura Linney does a serviceable job as the Guardian and the catalyst for this backstory episode. It's hard to justify this episode's existence besides we need backstory because it does grind the pacing to a halt. But she works in this episode. I mean, everybody all around here is good. Like, it is good. This is a good episode.

Drew:
I will say this: and this is not a knock on this episode. It actually might be a strength, even though I'm going to- it's going to sound negative coming out of my mouth. The moment Hal Jordan shows up, the show is- instantly feels back-

Grant:
To what it is.

Drew:
-to where it almost needs to be. Like, we instantly laugh when he cracked a joke. And I was like, I thought consciously, I'm like, "I think this is the first time I've laughed-"

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
-"in this episode." Not that this show is a comedy, not that that's what it needs to be.

Grant:
No but it needs something to break the tension, for sure.

Drew:
But I also think it shows the distinction between these two characters-

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
-which is what we love in the first two episodes. Like, when you're watching John Stewart, you're locked in. You're like, "all right, serious guy, doing serious things, traumatic parents."

Grant:
He's awesome.

Drew:
"Okay, he's sick." He's like, this is the level of discipline I want to have in my ideal manly self.

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
Don't, obviously, but.

Grant:
But then, yeah, he has flaws, and I want to talk about that.

Drew:
True.

Grant:
But yes.

Drew:
But then the moment Hal Jordan comes in, you're like, "we're back," and the laughter alleviates the tension. I think that distinction is super interesting.

Grant:
And I honestly want to be Hal Jordan in a different part of my manhood.

Drew:
Yeah, like, I think I do.

Grant:
Maybe not the best part, but it's funny that he just-

Drew:
Yeah, he's hilarious.

Grant:
-goes in and ragebaits people. Like, this is funny. I do like that the show has written in, I guess, issues and flaws with their characters. Like, Hal is obviously not perfect.

Drew:
Sure.

Grant:
But even in this episode, John walks in. Like, he is, "I will follow orders literally no matter what."

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
And that's a problem.

Drew:
It's almost a flaw.

Grant:
And they go overboard with it on purpose.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
Like, it is a good thing that, from a writing perspective, that they make him do this stuff. Like, he walks into the, I don't remember where he was, Texas Roadhouse, whatever.

Drew:
Sure.

Grant:
Whatever restaurant. And he's in his full uniform. Like, that's a nice little writing touch-

Drew:
Sure, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Grant:
-that makes him, like, "yeah, he goes too far in obeying orders. And that's a problem."

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
So I like that they've written that into the character well and, like, made that distinction. It is good writing. So.

Drew:
I agree.

Grant:
I am excited to see Hal Jordan and John back together again, hopefully, in the next episode. I don't really personally need a Hal Jordan full backstory right now. I'm okay. I like the John Stewart backstory that we got. And let's get back into detective-ing.

Drew:
We also have one more massive plot point that we can kind of speculate on. Some alarm going off way back-

Grant:
Some car alarm's going off-

Drew:
just way back where.

Grant:
-like, two streets over.

Drew:
Okay. Um, and this is kind of set up in the trailers a little bit, but, like, the Guardians tell John.

Grant:
Oh, yeah.

Drew:
That, uh, John is not Hal's replacement.

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
Well, he is, but not in the way that Hal thinks.

Grant:
But he's not training him up. Like, you know, he is going to take Hal's job.

Drew:
He's going to take Hal's place, implying, like, without Hal dying, which is what Hal has said the entire show.

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
Which I'm super interested to see where this all goes. Because Hal is also dead in 2026.

Grant:
Allegedly.

Drew:
Allegedly.

Grant:
TBD. We shall see.

Drew:
Ugh. The show has potential.

Grant:
But he does add another layer of, like, "well, I mean, who killed Hal Jordan? Who, who even freaking knows?"

Drew:
Yeah, "was it the- was it the Guardians?" Probably not. That would- I don't think it was.

Grant:
I don't even know, but that's the thing, is like, we don't have any answers right now, which makes a show very interesting-

Drew:
Right.

Grant:
-when you want the answers and you don't have them yet, but I think that John Stewart is a sympathetic protagonist. I like him more and more every week. Again, I'm just excited to get back to the actual mystery that we were getting invested in.

Drew:
Agreed.

Grant:
So, as for bottleneck episodes, this is a better one. I can think of some of my favorite shows that have pretty bad bottleneck episodes. Severance Season 2 has a very hard to watch bottleneck episode, that is, like, overall good for the story-

Drew:
Wait, which one?

Grant:
It's when- slight spoilers for Severance Season 2 and Severance...

Drew:
The Gemma one?

Grant:
No, it's- no. That was a good- that was a really good...

Drew:
I was about to say, that's incredible.

Grant:
No, it's when Cobel-Selvig, she goes on her, like, 30-minute side quest.

Drew:
That one is a little boring.

Grant:
And we get, like, a good plot point there that matters for the show.

Drew:
That one's boring, yep.

Grant:
That one was boring. Again.

Drew:
That episode, like, nine, too, wasn't it?

Grant:
Like, eight or nine, yeah.

Drew:
It was like the- yeah, yeah yeah yeah.

Grant:
It was kind of brutal.

Drew:
That is brutal.

Grant:
No, the Chikhai-

Drew:
The Gemma one was great.

Grant:
Chikhai Bardo was so good. That was such a good episode, man. But again, this works within the universe. Some people are probably going to be like, "why do we have this whole backstory episode?" I think it was a well-told character backstory for a character that we like and want to get more invested in so I can forgive it.

Drew:
And again, like... Again, like, this is a weird way to set up the DCU, 100%. But also, John Stewart will be a main player, so understanding his backstory-

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
-is important.

Grant:
Yeah, he's super watchable. So I don't really have much else. This episode weirdly was relatively straightforward.

Drew:
Yeah.

grant:
There's not a ton of theories we needed to get into here because we didn't get any developments on the mystery at all. So if you have more theories on Lanterns in the coming week, let us know in the comment section what you guys think of Lanterns.

Drew:
Yep.

Grant:
Our fire's going out-

Drew:
It' true.

Grant:
-so it might be time to hop off this podcast.

Drew:
It is, it's waning.

Grant:
Drew, do you have any more thoughts on Lanterns, season three, no- gosh. Season one, episode three.

Drew:
Not really, but-

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
-if you like this, we got a lot more in the pipeline.

Grant:
Yep.

Drew:
Obviously, we're talking about Lanterns until the show's over. If you're into the DC, we have Clayface coming up. We have Dune, Doomsday. Fjord trailer just dropped. If you're into artsy movies, we got Behemoth by Tony Gilroy, who's the same guy who did Andor.

Grant:
Yep.

Drew:
We have other stuff-

Grant:
So much stuff.

Drew:
-that I'm blanking on. But any movie TV that's coming out, we're going to talk about it.

Grant:
Stole My Line stock is going up, this way, upwards.

Drew:
Tomorrow, we are dropping the biggest episode we've ever done.

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
Like conceptually, it's something completely new.

Grant:
We're- I'm honestly scared.

Drew:
I'm pretty nervous actually.

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
Like real talk. And we're also pairing it with the biggest Stole My Line announcement of all time.

Grant:
Which I'm also scared.

Drew:
I'm also scared for that.

Grant:
We- listen, on theme with Lanterns, we are very scared.

Drew:
Yeah, if the ring came to us-

Grant:
We would be scared.

Drew:
-we would crumble.

Grant:
No, but it's also very exciting. Thank you for being with us on this weird fireside journey.

Drew:
Yes.

Grant:
And hitting that subscribe button if you're new to the channel. Again, if you have comments, thoughts, concerns, theories, anything, comment it below.

Drew:
Do it.

Grant:
We will respond to the best of our abilities.

Drew:
Tune in tomorrow for maybe the craziest episode you've ever seen on a television period.

Grant:
Also, we just did a review of Buddy. It might not be up yet. We are still-

Drew:
I don't think it's gonna be up.

Grant:
We don't know when.

Drew:
But it's coming!

Grant:
It might come up Wednesday.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
But we will post our review of Buddy, which is the killer giant orange unicorn movie-

Drew:
Yep.

Grant:
-based on kind of like Barney-

Drew:
It's true.

Grant:
-the big purple dinosaur.

Drew:
Which is de- it was pretty good, honestly.

Grant:
We actually liked it. I liked it more than I thought I would.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
And it met my expectations.

Drew:
Yep.

Grant:
We will talk fully about that.

Drew:
Agreed.

Grant:
So if you like anything movies-TV, hit that subscribe button. Take a break...

Drew:
..and enjoy a film.