Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre Illuminate the LANTERNS Finale: ‘I Did Have to Gently Wipe Away a Tear’

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede HBO’s LANTERNS just wrapped up its season on Crave, and stars Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre were following along episode by episode, just like everyone else. “I think I’m feeling quite emotional, to be honest with you,” Pierre said. “With that eighth and final episode coming out (Sunday), I just sort of relived it, and I don’t know … I’ve said it a thousand times, and I’ll say it a thousand times more, every single person who had a hand in this show, and every single department, everyone gave everything, and we really were like a football team. No matter what happens next, this is one of the proudest moments of my career.” Chandler admitted, “I just watched the final episode today, and I was trying to catch up with all the twists and turns. There was a lot going on. Something that really struck me is the last scene I did with Aaron in the show. Because it’s like when you win the state championship, tears come to your eye, because all the work that you put in slams into you at one moment on the field. It happened to me this morning while watching it. I did have to gently wipe away a tear, so my wife didn’t make fun of me.” Chandler and Pierre took part in a virtual media session mere hours after the finale aired (the entire season is available now on Crave). It’s a rare thing to have the stars of a show getting together to talk about it so quickly following the last episode, but it speaks to how strongly both Chandler and Pierre feel about the project. SPOILER ALERT: Some general details about the season are going to be discussed. LANTERNS was far more grounded in human stories and emotions than most superhero-themed shows. The story initially followed experienced Green Lantern Hal Jordan, played by Chandler, and new recruit John Stewart, played by Pierre, in 2016, as they investigated an incident in Rushville, Nebraska, that Hal believed had extraterrestrial undertones. Hal turned out to be right, but both he and John made risky decisions that had disastrous and deadly ramifications for the town. After so much damage had been done, John chose not to possess the ring that he had worked his whole life to earn, because he couldn’t remember why he wanted it any more. Then, 10 years later in 2026, the paths of Hal and John came together once again, but under very different circumstances. “The father-son aspect of this show, for me, is just incredible,” Chandler said. “I lost my pop when I was 14. And you know, Hal had that going on with John, that father-son relationship. It became apparent while we were shooting it, that wisdom, and being able to give back a little bit. So that love story is, he won my heart over again, and I was able to do what my father would have done for me.” With the parameters of that particular relationship in mind, Pierre acknowledged that there’s a tonal difference between the John Stewart we see in the first half of the season, and the John Stewart we see in the last half of the season. “John’s superpower, in my opinion, subjectively, is not being fearless, it’s the ability to acknowledge fear and overcome it,” Pierre said. “And I hope what people catch in (episodes) 1-4 is that he sort of quietly, quite stoically, accepts the fact – maybe he doesn’t articulate it – but he’s like, ‘yeah, I’m not ready for the job yet.’ But he leans into it so heavily. He doesn’t lean away from it. He doesn’t lean away from it with arrogance, or with this delusion. He leans into it, and actively searches for ways to become everything he knows he can become, if he just makes himself the student that absorbs, versus deflecting when he doesn’t know something.” Beyond their own contributions, both Chandler and Pierre acknowledged that LANTERNS had a stellar cast from top to bottom, particularly Kelly Macdonald, who played Kerry Kane, the Rushville sheriff with multiple world-changing secrets. Other key cast members included Laura Linney as Lianna, Ulrich Thomsen as Thaal Sinestro, Jason Ritter as Billy Macon, Garret Dillahunt as Will Macon, Poorna Jagannathan as Zoe Macon, and Shea Pritchard as the teenage Noah Macon in the 2026 timeline. To end the virtual media session on a lighter note, Chandler was asked what he would do if he had the Green Lantern’s powerful ring for 24 hours. “I’d make a construct where everyone who is out to do bad, and not being part of the human community, the human experience, but veering too far off for themselves, or towards places they shouldn’t be, would sort of fade away so you could barely see them, or their words were taken away from them, they were mute,” Chandler said. “They had no way to express themselves until they were able to be intellectually worthy to use words to speak, and to make actions. That’d be fun to do for 24 hours, just 24 hours. And maybe the TVs didn’t work at the same time.” Chandler then realized what he had said. “No, not the TVs, we want the TVs!” he added with a smile. “Anyway, you get my point. I mean, you want HBO working, that’s for sure!” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv