Lanterns Ep 5 Breakdown: Ending Explained — Full Breakdown & Transcript

[00:00] Welcome to the Headdy Spoiler Day Show, I'm your host Paul, and this video we're breaking down that.

[00:12] We're back for what I'd say is the biggest episode of the season. Industry insiders who've seen the rest of the series have said that the 2016 storyline wraps up here, and I definitely feel like it brings an end to this chapter.

[00:24] In it, we see Manhunter Zoe putting her plans in motion, while John and Hal desperately try to stop an all-out alien war in Rushville. This is all while also trying to stop each other from claiming the title of Green Lantern. Another war in Rushville is the centrepiece.

[00:36] I also think that, at its heart, this is a war between John, Hal and Zoe. At its cold, cold heart. It's an absolute non-stop rollercoaster of an episode that answers almost all our questions about what's going on in Rushville.

[00:48] Brings John face to face with his destiny and also everything that comes with it and I can't wait to talk about it. In the shadow of the central power battery, every lantern carries a heavy burden. The constant threats across the sector, the whispered fears that try and crack your will,

[01:01] the constructs that demand everything you've got, it can leave even the strongest ring bearers drained, trapped in a dark fog with far too much weight on their shoulders. Now, we've all felt that pull, that quiet fear and anxiety that our own lives demand more than we can give.

[01:15] I carried that anxiety for years, and whenever I fell behind on a deadline or things didn't go the way I'd hoped, I'd tie myself in knots with worry until I felt completely drained. The one thing that finally helped me was therapy.

[01:27] Simply voicing what I was feeling became my greatest ally. There were no power rings and no O3 citations required. That's why I've teamed up with BetterHelp, the paid partner of today's video. Here at the channel, we want to bring you this powerful offer

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[02:32] That's betterhelp.com slash heavy spoilers for 10% off. Just click that link for 10% off and let's get back into the breakdown. Now, we started this episode in the year 2007, which breaks our 10-year timeline jumps. I was expecting us to jump through time at decade-long intervals,

[02:48] and due to the mention of 1986, I did think we'd be heading out there at some point as well. But who knows? What we do know, though, is that a young Kerry Kane is hauling us down the road to Rushnell. The car gives out, and we also see that Kerry has banks.

[03:00] Yes, that is it. Batwoman confirmed! This is something that Hal mentioned last week, though, when we were talking about how he saw an old photo of her with them. You are from Gotham, and... It's very nice seeing your photo like it while you drop the banks.

[03:13] And we've been getting hints at Kerry's secret past in Gotham throughout the series, and with our last thing being Kane, we had talked about how she might be part of the Kane family. This is the immediate family of Bruce's mother and his cousin KK who later became Batwoman.

[03:25] In the comics, KK wears a long red wig while operating as Batwoman and this is so she can hide her distinctive short red hair with bangs. So making Carrie from Gotham with the name Kane and this specific mention that she used to have bangs, I did think it was clearly a not-to-the-character in the comics.

[03:39] However, we will discuss in just a moment why I think it's more of a homer than a simple confirmation. I also want to point out this great shot we get to open up the episode as Carrie drives into Rushville and we see a red sky at night.

[03:51] This symbolises how, whatever it is that she's running from, she's driving herself into something much worse. And yes, I know it's technically orange, but I don't know, I would refer to this as a red sky at night. Shepherd's Delight. Then you see Carrie pushing her car into the infamous cafe outside of Rushville.

[04:05] This has been a big place in the show where a lot of major meetings have gone down. I do even wonder if Zoe sort of waits here because it's a place that she can kind of man the gate. She probably just hangs out at the Steiner or a time in order to make sure no one is coming into town looking for her.

[04:19] The cafe is conveniently just outside of the actual town, and it gives her the perfect vantage point to identify any threats before they enter. We even see she's sitting in the exact same booth that she was in when she conveniently ran into John after his meeting with Tantan.

[04:32] As Carrie sets down at the counter, we then see that she's being followed by two goons. The two shady-looking gentlemen then sit right next to her and tell her that if she really wanted to disappear, she would have changed the Gotham plates on her car. It's a lot like the robbery scene from History of Violence, I think, and like the characters there, it goes wrong for the baddies.

[04:49] They mention that she's a thief like her father, and how he could have been somebody if he just kept his mouth shut. How about, before the goons can take out Kerry, Zoe comes up from behind and snaps one of the guys' necks. She then slams the other guy's face into the counter with a gun pressed against his neck as she casually introduces herself to Kerry.

[05:05] Zoe then finds out he was sent in to kill Kerry and bring back her pinky as proof to his boss, to which Zoe just says, okay cool. She then grabs his knife and asks Kerry if she wants to do it for her. However, Kerry says that it's better if she does it and takes a couple of breaths before then

[05:20] chopping her little piggy off and sending it all the way home. Now, based on what we hear from these thugs, I don't think Kerry is playing a version of Batwoman. Unfortunately, in the comics, KK's dad was a military man and he became her guy in the chair when she took on the mantle of

[05:34] Batwoman. This archetype of being a thief is obviously something we've seen in Catwoman as are but I think it just shows how bad things are in Gotham rather than there being any connection there. How about we also know from episode one that Carrie still seems to be in contact with

[05:47] some of her old friends from the city. She mentioned a bar at the police station in episode one which was most likely referencing Barbara Gordon and she was probably on the phone with Commissioner Gordon. So if that's the case then yeah she's not on the run from the law in Gotham

[05:59] but rather from some group of shady criminals. I feel like whoever Carrie's dad was he might been an undercover cop for the GCPD or potentially even a snitch and he was discovered by whoever these guys worked for. Kind of shows the protection that Zoe offers as well and basically how

[06:13] siding with her gives you the life you've always wanted. You can go from being a thief on the run to now being a cop and also someone who's dying of cancer to a rich and wealthy healthy man. With a weenie. And while we don't know anything about the DCU Batman or Gotham

[06:27] City yet, this would tie nicely with what we've seen in the Matt Reeves Batman universe. The corruption of the GCPD was the primary focus of the Batman, and Kerry's dad could have been a victim of trying to uncover that before Riddler exposed it to the world.

[06:39] The boss these guys are referring to could also be Carmine Falcone, who took control of the police after the death of Bruce's father. This could also tie nicely to HBO's other hit DC series, The Penguin. Yeah, these thugs could be part of Carmine's gang, and yeah, somehow his dad betrayed them.

[06:52] Now, though we don't know if the universes are connected, Robert Pattinson has teased at them going in a radically different direction when promoting Primetime. Kelly MacDonald, who plays Kerry, also said in a recent interview that she watched Penguin religiously in order to nail down her accent, as she knew the character was from Gotham.

[07:08] All that being said though, I think Kerry being an R2K Kane is intentional, but in reality, she's just a random person from Gotham who was swept up in the city's corruption. Her name could also be an homage to both Batman co-creator Bob Kane and Hal Jordan co-creator Gil Kane.

[07:22] But now that we've uncovered the mystery of Kerry's time in Gotham, let's get back to this meeting with her and Zoe. After cutting off the pinky, Zoe then gives it to the thug and tells him to take it to his boss as proof that Kerry's dead. She says that if it doesn't work, she'll kill him and his entire family.

[07:37] Okay, I guess she really is the Manhunter. The cavalry worker is also completely unfazed by all this and just asks Zoe what he should do with the bodies. And she just casually tells him to call Betsy and tell her they need a table for one.

[07:50] This is obviously code for, you know, burying one body. And it just shows that the entire time is kind of working with the Manhunter. To the point they even have a whole protocol for it. She's protecting the entire town and has likely offered a safe haven to people just like Kerry.

[08:05] Kerry nurses her hand. Zoe then sits down and says that the reason she helped her is because she's been in the same position. She knows what it's like to run from something you can't outrun and being backed into a corner. How about Zoe says that someone gave her a chance when she needed it the most

[08:18] and now she's offering Kerry that exact same chance. She says she'll give her protection and acquire life in Rushville on the one condition that she'll help protect Zoe when the time comes. She says that one day people will come looking for her, and that she needs someone who is strong and willing to give a piece of themselves over to her.

[08:35] This obviously plays into the finger thing, and Zoe needs people who will literally harm themselves in order to keep her safe. So he then says that they'll make her a new pinky, and we see later on exactly how the healing works here. Now, I did try and put myself in the position of the people of Rushville, and to be completely honest, I think I would have done the same thing as Kerry, and even questioned if Zoe was really the bad guy.

[08:55] I think you're definitely supposed to have that read, but it all just plays into the themes of manipulation. We've seen characters like the Guardians, John's parents, Denestro, Hal, and now the Manhunter,

[09:07] who are all willing to offer something to someone in exchange for something else. And Zoe is just doing that too. I also want to point out Zoe's line about someone offering her a chance, which is obviously her talking about Abin Ser.

[09:19] As you know, he was the one who brought her to Earth, and it seems like he wasn't actually working with the Guardians' interest when doing this. But yeah, theory time debunked there. Now we did have our doubts about whether Zoe was really the manhunter, but we can see that she is definitely the one controlling the town.

[09:34] So our Zoe being Sinestro's daughter theory is officially busted. Oh no! I still stand by our evidence for it, yeah, but we were wrong, and I'll admit to it begrudgingly.

[09:46] I do like the whole that this episode wastes no time following up on the manhunter reveal from last week. In saying, it shows us the real Zoe and gives us a sense of just how ruthless she is. This also feels like a great showcase of how the Manhunter operates and is taking over Rushville.

[10:01] Calls back to Hal for our last episode about how the Manhunter is programmed to latch onto weak points in a community and find a path to power. We see that Kerry is very, very vulnerable at this point and she becomes a perfect weak point for Zoe to exploit.

[10:13] We then meet back up with John and Hal in 2016. Though John survived the crash, Hal isn't done with his lesson yet, and we get this cool The Batman-style shot of him coming into frame as the camera focuses on John trying to escape.

[10:25] As Hal approaches the car, he then apologises to John for trying to kill him, but he says that it's time that he gets him off the game board. He says that he should understand, given that he was working with the Guardians to replace him. He also again calls him Junior, which is super condescending, and kind of him showing who the person in charge here is.

[10:42] But John tells him to fuck off and then his plan to tell the Guardians that he killed Zoe and disgraced him just won't work. However, Hal points out that the lanterns don't kill people. He then reveals his real plan to use Antan and his crew as cover to distract Makis.

[10:54] While they're busy fighting each other, Hal will then swoop in, grab Zoe and then take her to Oa. There he says the Guardians will be kissing his ring and basically saying you're the best. You're better than Ryanair you are. He's got nothing on you. You're the best, Paul.

[11:08] Hal then tells John that he was never going to replace him and that his training is over. It looks like Hal has finally gone off the deep end and that Sinestro implanting fear in him has actually worked. This is his first step towards losing the ring as he's now given in to fear and though we said last week this did seem like attempted murder, I don't think that Hal was actually trying to kill John.

[11:27] As he said, lands didn't still kill people so if he killed John, the Guardians would fire him anyway. Hal also knows that John is better than him, which he admitted last week, so by bringing in the Manhunter, Hal will also be proving he's still fit enough to carry on the job.

[11:40] This will also make John look terrible, as he's been bested by some washed up losers. Leaving John on the side of the road, we uncover Rushville where alarms are going off. There's a tannoy telling people to prepare for defensive measures, and the day they've been waiting for has finally come.

[11:56] You can see as pretty much everyone in Rushville has been recruited into Zoe's Manhunter cult, as the whole town is locked and loaded. This spells off the town hall meeting in episode 2, and at some point, I think she's probably made a deal with all of them. Also, if you go back to that scene in episode 2, you'll see they're clearly discussing the defense of the town.

[12:13] How that hound walks in, and this guy then just starts riffing and talking absolute shit. You were about to say something? Yeah, um, I guess I wonder what we're teaching them if we just pack it up and force it.

[12:26] Whatever their problem, be it big or small, she's helped, and now they're ready to defend their android leader. Really quick as well, we can also see the sign for Billy Macon's law firm that reads Macon and Dulles Law Firm. This is a nice little touch as Dulles is the Latin legal term for deceit or someone having evil intent.

[12:43] Which symbolises how the entire town is basically a front to hide Zoe and he's not even a real lawyer, I will say that as well. Yours owns the bloody bar. Not saying that lawyers can't pass the bar and own the bar, but they're all in on it.

[12:55] Including Noah. Back at the Macon ranch, Zoe and Carrie then get ready to put their plan in motion. Billy begs them to let him come along, but Zoe says Billy is a baby bitch boy and needs to stay on the ranch to protect Noah. You see he still tossing that fuck all around and Zoe comes to fill him in on what going on She tells him that a lot of people he knows are going to die today including possibly herself If she does he needs to remember everything she told him and I was sitting there wondering like do you want to elaborate on that a bit Zoe

[13:23] What did Noah learn from the street manhunter grandma? We know it's not how you throw a football. Make a sound. Okay, I'm making a sound. Anyway, that takes us into one moment in theory time.

[13:36] Give me one more moment of your time Now, because she's a machine and something that happens later, I do wonder if there is a way to revive her conscience.

[13:48] If you go back to last week, we know she has no issues with faking her death, and the fact that she survived being blown up by a laser beam and then dies from a headshot, I don't know if that makes much sense, mate. Now look, she did fire the laser herself, so that could be a possibility.

[14:02] However, with all the healing going on and the idea of consciousness being tied to objects through a backup of Hal and the ring, it did make me think that Zoe could return. Somehow Zoe returned. You can also see that Noah seems to sort of know what's going on

[14:14] here as when Zoe tells him people he cares about will die, he doesn't really have much of a reaction. So I do wonder if Noah's been briefed on how to revive her and with her being a robot, I think there must be a duplicate of something somewhere. I mean, we have like three episodes left now,

[14:29] what else are they going to do for three hours? It possibly could be her just being like, Remember what I told you there, to be nice and always hit the thumbs up on videos as well But yeah, it did seem like there was something else here

[14:41] Anyway, that's in a theory time I'll do it, I will do it One moment in full form Zoe then gets a call from Macon saying that the town is mobilising And that he's located John with their satellite

[14:54] We then cut to pulling up to him still trapped in the car As he's trying to escape, the light then catches fire and John begs Zoe to help him How about Zoe just stands there, very cold-blooded, and watches as he continues to scream for his life.

[15:07] She's clearly allowing this to happen rather than helping, because she can use this as a way to make him owe her something. Plus to see John actually showing emotion here, and that when it comes down to it, he may not truly be fearless. Zoe then continues standing there and just watches John burn, and she lets this all play out so she can come in as a saviour.

[15:25] I feel like this is even more messed up, given that last week we saw that John genuinely had feelings for her. I love how the episode also just starts off punching us in the gut and it doesn't have none of that like, oh Zoe is the Manhunter but maybe there's more to it.

[15:39] No, she's just straight up bad and living up to the brutal reputation that the Manhunters have. Meanwhile, Hal watches the town prepare from the water tower as they scramble around and basically get ready for whatever attack may come. Hal then uses his pocket knife to spark the ring and tells it to activate the sentry protocol.

[15:54] I think it's kind of like rubbing a battery and it's similar how he knocked it against the truck of the car to repower it in episode 2. This then manifests to Hal Graham, who is surprised to see him, but the real Hal isn't there for chit chat and tells him to shut the hell up, hit the thumbs up and then he needs a targeted sweep for the hostile ET.

[16:10] He calls it the highest level of priority and shows him the picture of Zoe that John drew last week. I find this kind of ironic as well, as John drew it as a picture to show he was clearly thinking about the character. Now though, it's being used to kill her and Hal, even in the end, John doesn't mind leaving her shragged and bagged, which was cold blooded.

[16:27] The hologram also asks about John, saying that he likes him and wonders why he isn't helping them. But Hal tells him to shut up about John and just go and find Zoe. Also love how the hologram just immediately fell in love with John just from their little meeting.

[16:40] This also highlights how much Hal has changed over the past 10 years, and I wonder if we'll get it filled in to what made him turn shit. My guess is that it has something to do with Sinestro, and maybe seeing his mentor fall is what turned him cynical.

[16:52] I think it also speaks to how Hal has become so bitter and shut up from the world that he's just consumed with maintaining his puddleless Green Lantern. No matter the cost that comes with it, because that's all he is. As you've seen, he has an empty mansion that has nothing inside of it

[17:06] except his Green Lantern's system power battery. If he loses that, then he loses himself, and really, that's all that matters to him. As the hologram then begins his search for Zoe, we see that Kerry's on the move and half-lies down to stop her in the middle of the road.

[17:18] He starts off things cordially, but Kerry just pulls out her gun and begins to open fire. How she knows the bullets with this ring as she empties the whole clip, But how about as she starts to reload, she tells Hal that Zoe can't hear them, but she can see them.

[17:30] Obviously, she has satellites everywhere and has to make her look like she's trying to kill Hal. She also says that everyone in town with the cell phone is receiving a kill note of him as they speak, and I imagine this is like the end of John Wick 2 or something. Harlan asks Kerry what her game is, and she reveals that Zoe's been pulling the strings.

[17:46] Harlan calls her out for being a puppet and how she's protecting a war criminal just because she's afraid. But Kerry says she keeps the town safe and that Hal doesn't understand. She then reveals that she's not afraid of Zoe, but owes her, saying that she gave her a miracle.

[17:59] Hal then tells her to think of Noah, but she says that's exactly what she's doing. Wait, holy shit, Noah is really a Manhunter! Nah, now, um, the word miracle is something I went back and forth on.

[18:11] Though it could be referring to her life in Rushville, it could also be because she gave her Noah. We know that the Manhunter is able to assume different forms, but we know now that she can also create human tissue, given that Carrie has all of her fingers back.

[18:24] So, I wouldn't bet my house, but I'd bet my Green Lantern ring that Zoe somehow helped Carrie get pregnant with Noah. Or just straight up crated him. I don't know, but I knew there was something off about that kid.

[18:37] This would also explain why Carrie owes Zoe so much. I mean, yeah, she helped her out of that jam in the beginning, but that doesn't seem like a big enough favour to just be totally cool with everything in Rushville. I feel like this is also a great callback to Carrie's line at Hal in episode 2, where she told him that making is not something he wants to owe.

[18:53] There, it kind of painted her out as being a prisoner, and I do wonder if there's a part of her that longs to be free from Zoe. Due to her ability to heal tissue, I also think that it adds way to our theory that Zoe could resurrect Hal. I was even thinking they could bring his body back to life, and then maybe use the hologram to recreate his consciousness.

[19:11] Sort of similar to Vision in WandaVision, you remember that, mate? Just seems weird cutting Hal off in episode one and having all this shit and being like, no, he's never coming back. Alan offers to take Carrie and Noah somewhere safe, but Carrie refuses and begs Hal to leave.

[19:24] She says that if he stays, Zoe will be ruthless and open fire on the town just to draw him out. She says that if he wants to save lives, then he'll leave, but of course, Hal is not going. Carrie then says that everything that happens next will be on him, and asks if he's willing to accept those consequences.

[19:40] And I mean, yeah, you should have seen what he did to John. Hal does not give a single fuck anymore. Well, even less than he did before, to be fair. We then cut back at John, who we see is somehow still alive and is going in and out of consciousness as Zoe wheels him to the hospital.

[19:54] John is thoroughly cooked, literally, and he sees Zoe standing over him. Zoe then asks John why, if he knew she was the Manhunter, why didn't he tell the Guardians? But John says it's because he doesn't trust them. He calls her inhuman as well, and I think that the season is going to ramp up to him finally questioning his orders and standing up against them.

[20:12] His entire life, he's followed the guidance of his parents, the Marines, the Guardians, and done their orders without question. How that he's seen how duplicitous that they are, and they even screw over their own lanterns if the opportunity presents itself.

[20:25] He also talks about how Anton told him that the Guardians were protecting the Manhunter. So he says this is obviously not true, and gives us a bit of a backstory on how they were initially created by the Guardians to enforce justice. How that, deeming their methods too brutal, the Guardians then put a switch that deactivated all the Manhunters.

[20:41] But for some reason, Zoe survived. Now this is a bit different from the comics, and the Manhunter's Rebellion came to an end when one of them tried to charge their stun guns containing the Green Lantern's power with the central power battery on Oa. This caused all the Manhunter's stun guns to overload, which left them powerless.

[20:56] The Guardians then banished them to their last inhabited world, as they refused to kill any sentient beings. They believed that without their power from the central power battery, the Manhunters could never threaten the galaxy again, which is a bold strategy, Cotton.

[21:09] Did it pay off for them? No! Now, as usual, I don't think Zoe's telling this full truth yet, and there's probably a bit more to the story of why she's supposedly the only Manhunter left, if that is even true.

[21:21] Zoe then lays it all out on the table for John, telling him that Hal will die today, but that he doesn't have to. She then offers to heal him, in exchange for him telling the Guardians that Hal died heroically protecting Rushfellow from a random attack by Hantan.

[21:33] This will allow John to become the Green Lantern, and take the ring that she says is rightfully his. It's a Faustian deal once more, and much like the thing that Zoe offers those who come to Rushville. I think it's all clearly a deal with the devil type of stuff,

[21:46] and she offers these people in hopeless positions a way to potentially change their fate. And while John is all wrapped up like a mummy, you can see a small teardrop from his right eye. Damn, she is good!

[21:58] You can just imagine how he pulled the same kind of game with pretty much everyone in Rushville, and granted their wishes to turn this small town into her own personal army. We have talked about the Manhunters a fair bit in our videos and they often arrive places and do this to get people on side.

[22:12] Zoe then says that she's going to force Hal to use his ring and tear his stead and then make him dead. This also builds up how Carrie said that she is more than willing to attack the town in order to bring Hal out of hiding. Speaking of Hal, as John makes a choice between his destiny and his Manhunter girlfriend, we pop back into town where Hal touches down and sees the streets covered in bullets and bodies.

[22:31] Making his way into the cafe, he sees more dead and is ambushed by Anton's men. He opens a file on Hal as he creates another bubble to protect himself and Hal loves those damn bubbles. How about once the shooting stops, Antan enters the room and asks where John is.

[22:45] Hal lies and says that he's been compromised and that he's come to make a deal. He then drops his bubble construct as a sign of good faith and says that they both want the same thing. But we know that Hal is, yeah, simply just playing them and he tells Antan that the Manhunters make it.

[22:59] This plays into his ruthlessness too and shows that Hal is really willing to put the people of Rushville at risk just to create a distraction to get Zoe. This further symbolises how much Hal has fallen and he's been fully driven by his need to be a Green Lantern.

[23:12] However, Anton isn't buying with Hal's selling so quickly. He says that if John was compromised by the Manhunter, that means he must have had sex with Nathan. Wait, what? Explains that intercourse is the Manhunter's most powerful tool of persuasion

[23:25] and this is what they use to basically seduce the strongest in the community. Damn, so she was just playing John the entire time? Well, at least we got that right. Buss explains why William was so cool with another man eating off his grill,

[23:38] as he thought it was being something she had to do. How about this kind of offends Hal in a hilarious way. He does want to admit John is better, and says that John may have fooled around with him a bit, but he was the one fucking making.

[23:50] Which Anton still questions, saying that Hal has always presented as straight. But Hal's like, buddy, when you bang your way through the galaxy, what even is sexual preference anymore? We then hear the phones of the dead Rushville mob going off,

[24:02] and see Hal's kill order that Kerry mentions gone out at the time, then agrees to their alliance, but warns Hal that if he's lying, innocent people will die. We can see that Hal looks a bit worried after he leaves, and I love how we just get this

[24:14] moment of the true Hal. Though he's brash and has a devil-maker attitude, I think he's still the guy deep down that does want to save people. I love how he looks down at the ring, almost as if he's questioning if he's doing the right

[24:26] thing, which you're not. But in Hal's defence, no matter what he does right now, it will result in innocent people dying. If he leaves, he risks Ant-Man blowing up the whole town in their fight with Macon, and if he stays, Zoe is just going

[24:38] to start blasting people in the streets. Back with John, we see him laid out on the table, burnt as hell as Zoe prepares for operation. A few minutes ago here also has to be a visual reference to Anakin becoming Darth Vader at the end of Revenge of the Sith. It symbolises

[24:51] what Zoe is about to do, and how this will change him forever. We can also see that this operating room is lined with the same camera lasers that sliced up the cow last week. How about this time the lasers are blue and not red showing that they're meant to heal John. Before

[25:05] starting the process John then jokes that if he comes out white then the deal's off. He then asks Zoe about her skin and she says she's had many. How about this particular skin she chose for power. He says that the fastest way to take over a community or culture is to come in as an outsider

[25:19] and that being at a disadvantage is the best way to understand a civilization as adversity makes someone stronger in ways comfort can't. I feel like we can relate this back to her line about her being with Macon and

[25:31] she basically brought up how he was an eccentric white man. She picked him instead of being a blonde bimbo from Texas because it would make her different and people might suspect her less. This also builds off Mrs. Stewart's

[25:43] line about how people don't see them because of their skin. So she used this same tactic in order to hide herself with Macon knowing that people on Earth wouldn't think that an alien would intentionally take the form of someone where they'd get looked over. She also

[25:55] sad-oofed Makin and made him wealthy so that people paid attention to him over her. This also calls back to how Manhunt is a program to find weak points, as Yana didn't understand the complexities of race on Earth, but Zoe does.

[26:07] She's studied human civilization and has seen the weaknesses that we have in accepting each other over trivial things. This also explains why she identified Jon as the strongest between him and Hal and then sought to seduce him. In her mind,

[26:19] Jon has lived his whole life overcoming adversity due to him being a minority and she thought that this would be something they could bond over and that he would be the stronger path to power Zoe then tells John to open his eyes but he still hesitant and tells her to wait Although Zoe says that she knows he doesn want Hal to die

[26:36] but that his death will bring peace. She then drips a drop of her blood into his eye before sealing John in a metal cocoon. Cocoons are obviously symbols of transformation, you know. Caterpillars go in, butterflies go out, and the blood going in the eye,

[26:49] it's sort of like her connecting with him, sort of a Jesus metaphor, I think, drink my blood. There's lots of imagery I start to see. Playing with the whole death, rebirth and resurrection thing We then see as his life flashes before his eyes Which happens just before you die apparently

[27:03] This takes us back to his fifth birthday When his parents told him about his destiny become a Green Lantern We then see John jumping out of the plane on his assassination mission As his mother tells him that the Guardians want him to be fearless We then jump to John's first Apple shooting lesson

[27:16] And his dad asking if he's afraid This then ends with him in the first car crash up the cliff And then finally we see him being burned in the car You can also see that while John is in the machine, he's surrounded by yellow light. This is obviously the colour of fear, and it symbolises how John is being surrounded by the fear he keeps deep inside.

[27:34] John then emerges from the cocoon like a fresh newborn baby, and completely healed from his injuries. John then questions Zoe about Abin Sir. He says that he knows she killed him because he was the only one in the galaxy who knew she was alive,

[27:46] and that she wouldn't risk the chance that he may have a change of heart until the Guardians. So he then confesses to the murder saying that she simply couldn't help it. But we can see that she nearly burst into tears in this moment which seems to suggest that she really didn't want to but she basically unable to overcome her programming despite what she may want.

[28:05] She also kind of liked this John as well and how a lot of the characters in the show. We have seen that John has had to sacrifice much of who he is on his way to being chosen for the ring and despite what he may want with his life like being an artist he's unable to ignore his true nature and the path he was set on.

[28:20] This should be why he tells her that he understands, and Zoe says that why she's drawn to John is because he sees her. Which is a line that plays off later. But yeah, lots of characters are kind of giving into their programming, as Carrie's also had to go along with the programming to protect Zoe.

[28:35] Hal went along with the Guardians, even if he didn't agree with them, and the ones who stand up to their masters often end up like Sinatra. However, I 100% think she's still playing in the air and trying to exploit her own family trauma.

[28:47] Androids, don't cry, man! Get the hell out of here! So he then gets a call from Macon, who tells her that Ant-Man and his crew are on their way. So he then starts speaking to him in an alien language, and I did go back and forth on whether he could be a Manhunter too.

[28:59] Now, I want to say a big well done to everyone last week who pointed out he had a pacemaker score, which I didn't notice, and this could have hinted that he had something done to his heart. So he wasn't a Manhunter, because it's the whole heart thing.

[29:12] But yeah, even with that knowledge in mind, I did kind of go back and forth on whether he was one, and yeah, just him speaking that language. you bloody got me. The two then take their goodbyes with Zoe making sure that Makin is ready.

[29:25] She Makin him say that he loves her and then thanks him for everything and Makin then thanks her and makes her up for it and says he loved every minute of it. It was making him... we'll start with the Makin jokes. I feel like this is meant to be a kind of emotional scene but given

[29:42] what we know about how Zoe operates, all I can think about is how he was completely manipulated into being her full guy. So it's just funny and ironic how the guy who was all like, I'm gonna be invaded by no aliens,

[29:54] is the one who brought the manhunter to Rushville, and it invaded the town. As Macon hangs out, we then see a car pull up to the ranch. The guy stopped by Macon's soldiers, and the man gets out claiming he's just looking for directions. How about when Macon's men go to search him,

[30:07] we then hear him start beeping, and he blows up, and if you ever hear beeping like that, that ominous beeping, it is not a good sign. This obviously builds up the first Alien Men series, who explain that they have neutron bombs woven into their skeletons.

[30:19] Ant-Man and his men then storm onto the ranch, and all hell breaks loose. One of his men even jumps out of the car, and kamikazes himself into Macon's weenie. This destroys their stockpile of alien weapons, and we then see Macon in his office, nervous as hell about what's about to go down.

[30:33] He grabs a gun, and then sits at his desk, nervously moving around, trying to make himself look intimidating. Like, fuck, I don't know what to do with my hands! Macon then decides it would be best to put the gun in his desk

[30:46] and when he reaches down we can see he has a stack of some kind of tape they're all colour coded with one's reading something negotiations and another labelled fair the labels are quite hard to read so it's anyone's best guess as to what they are

[30:58] and I'd love to hear yours but it feels like they're meant to show how Zoe and Macon have multiple backup plans for this exact scenario as it's what they've been preparing for since they met Macon then grabs himself a drink to calm his nerves

[31:10] as Anton walks in and Makin hovers his finger over some kind of trigger on Anita's desk. You see this activates the cube that we mentioned sitting on Makin's desk last week and it locks onto Antan with the red laces. This shows that Makin really did have Hal and John at gunpoint,

[31:25] like we thought during his interrogation last episode. Antan then questions whether Makin is really the Manhunter speaking to him in the same alien language that Makin used with Zoe. How about he saying it's not like him to take on the disguise of an elite,

[31:37] which kind of plays off what Zoe said earlier. Anton then asks Macon what the first thing he said to him was when they met, along with the last thing he ever said. Macon says don't stare at the thumbs too long, and the last thing Anton said was that he was a monster.

[31:51] Anton then asks what the names of their children were, which Macon clocks as a quick question and says they were never able to conceive. So, yeah, it's clear they've had a hell of a lot of history, and it's quite clear that Macon and Zoe have been through this exact same conversation many times,

[32:06] and shows that Zoe was not just preparing for the Guardians to find her, but Ant-Han as well. But Ant-Han was banging the Manhunter, and I love this reveal here because, yeah, he clearly fell in love with her, which led to the genocide of his people.

[32:18] Much like how it's, you know, Rushville's going to be rocked by this because of Megan's choices. Ant-Han is now willing to die for the cause of taking her, though, because he's already been past the point of willing to be sacrificed. It really sets the stakes and shows that Zoe is more than willing to kill the Rush villains as well.

[32:34] the Rush Villains or however they're called. Leave it in the comments below, leave as many comments as you want, engage with the video! However, Antan still isn't buying it. He says that if Makin was really the Manhunter he would have killed him immediately. Makin then deactivates

[32:47] the lasers and knows that Antan will just blow himself up if he tries to kill him. However, Antan says he would never be so blinded by revenge to just blow themselves up without confirming that he really was the Manhunter. He knows that he's mastered his language and

[33:01] memories but he's missed one important thing. All of a sudden he then throws a knife in the Makins chest and jumps across the desk to pin him down. He then reveals that the real man hunter would never welcome death as he rips Makin's fucking heart out. He then holds it in front

[33:14] of Makin and confirms his suspicions as his heart doesn't crystallize. You also see that Makin is still alive for all of this and though I was not sad to see Makin go I wasn't expecting this Mortal combat style finisher.

[33:26] And we've got to take a moment to acknowledge something here, because I think we were, I think it's safe to say we were wrong about a lot of stuff. Firstly, Makin is in the Black Hand,

[33:38] and secondly, Ant-Han and his crew are clearly not Red Lightens. No atrocities here. So yeah, theory times busted, I'm sorry folks. However, I will just say, in our defence, I do think that some of these were intentionally meant to mislead us into

[33:50] trying to dig through the comics to figure things out. I mean, Tom King is in the writer's room. There's no way he didn't see some of these same parallels that we've talked about, either between Atrocitus and his sector being wiped out by the Manhunters in the comics,

[34:03] or how the Black Hand is targeted by him in order to fulfill the Blackest Night prophecy. These are events that are kick-started by the mysterious circumstances of Adam Ser's crash, just like the show, so excuse

[34:15] me for being thorough. I do feel like the show knew exactly what it was doing with its comic book references, though, and that it deliberately used them to extend the themes of the series, which is that nothing is as it seems.

[34:27] Which, if true, is fucking genius, and Hal is not dead as well. As Macon bleeds down his desk, Ant-Man then sees Hal on the satellite team who's standing in front of the middle of the street and calling for Zoe to come and get him. Also, love how he waves his middle finger in the air with the ring on it.

[34:41] Classic Hal. However, Zoe then makes good on Kerry's threat and starts shooting down races from the sky. This begins to destroy downtown Rushville, and we can see multiple people get caught in the blast. You can instantly imagine what Antan went through and how his people were led towards death by Zoe in the past.

[34:57] As Hal flies in the sky to take down the satellite, we then cut back over to the hospital, where John chokes out a god watching him and makes his escape. I love that he was also playing Zoe so that she could heal him, and that shagging her wasn't good enough to completely brainwash him.

[35:11] John then grabs himself some hospital scrubs to protect his new skin, and finds the keys to a car to escape the hospital. I also want to point out the rabbit foot that we see on the keys, and that the camera focuses on for a good couple of seconds.

[35:23] Rabbit feet or rabbit foots are often seen as symbolising good luck or protection against evil. Now, while John didn't intentionally pick these keys, it shows how he's going to need all the luck he can get in order to stop the evil Manhunter.

[35:35] However, I feel like this could also have a deeper light here, because why would someone feel the need to protect themselves against evil or bad luck, unless they were afraid of it? Because of this, I think the rabbit's foot is acting as a symbol of the superstitious fear of the unknown.

[35:49] We talked last week about how the show seems to be playing with the differences between being afraid and being fearless. True fearlessness comes from overcoming one's fears, and not just from not feeling fear. But since John never learned what fear was, he's unable to identify it in himself.

[36:04] So the rabbit's foot could be John looking for something for protection, because deep down, he's afraid of what's about to happen. As John drives down the road, he sees the lasers are still coming down in Rushville, and he makes his call to his dad to contact the guardians.

[36:16] Now I do wonder if Liana is acting alone and this whole thing to betray Hal has not been sanctioned by the rest of the Guardians. Which is why she's the only one we ever see being contacted.

[36:28] I even think John might be a sort of pet project to secretly replace him. Which is why she wants John to take the ring from Hal rather than the Guardians having to give it to him. However John's parents are just more concerned about whether or not he took the ring from Hal with his mother coming on the speakerphone and saying they've been waiting by the phone for the past 24 hours.

[36:46] John then pulls up to the gun store, breaks in, and gives his parents their update on the situation as he starts putting together a rifle. I mean, technically, he did buy it last episode. He basically fills them in on what's happened and that he's finally going to take what's his.

[37:00] Now, you can see here that John is letting his emotions get the better of him, which echoes his dad's advice from episode 1. He says how Hal is trying to provoke him and that John just needs to be cool and the job is his.

[37:13] But this really reflects the characters and shows how John is starting to stray from the path just like Hal. Back outside we see Hal take down one of the satellites but they just keep shooting down laser beams on Rushville. People are dying everywhere and Hal has to use the ring to create barriers.

[37:27] How about this takes his ring power down to 5%. More in the chaos, Hal also notices a woman trapped in her car and shows that he isn't completely lost as he does help her escape. How about this also weird cut here as a group of Macon's goons drive by and then start shooting at them.

[37:42] So I'm not sure if she made it. As Hal takes cover behind the car, the hologram then starts talking from his ring and says he's located Zoe near the water tower. Hal then jumps out from behind cover and uses his ring to blast Macon's soldiers coming back for another run.

[37:55] They then get some cups from the deputy and flies off to find Zoe. I love seeing Hal actually getting to use the ring power for something other than playing 70s pop songs on a jukebox. And it's just a nice scene that feels like what I wanted to see from the show, along with him actually having to save people.

[38:10] That is, if he didn't use this woman as a human shield. We then get this awesome, almost POV shot flying through Rushville as the lasers keep coming down, and Hal drops down and immediately grabs Zoe. He then puts his ring against her head like a gun and holds her hostage.

[38:24] However, as Hal puts the cuffs on her, she orders her men to blow up the water tower, then tumbles to the ground, and she's actually being used to hold the black smoke that Macon's weapons used in his ream. This is a crazy reveal in hindsight, as the water tower's just been there in the background there,

[38:38] and yeah, even Hal and John were hanging out there last episode. This was Zoe's ultimate defence against them and it was literally under their nose the whole time. As the black smoke surrounds Hal and the soldiers, Hal then shows he's not too old for the superhero game just yet

[38:52] and beats the shit out of one of them and then takes his glasses. We caught all these last week in the weenie and they provide a sort of night vision, thermal goggle vision thing that allows him to see through the smoke. We then get an awesome POV fight sequence

[39:04] with Hal making his way through the smoke and taking down Zoe's soldiers. I think it's also a nice touch that the light on the lens is green, which plays into the night vision goggles, but also just the green lanterns in general, making him appear more like his original costume with the green domino mask.

[39:19] And though, yeah, it's obviously not the same, it just shows he's stepping more towards that. This also reminded me of the big final fight scene from Aaron Pierre's breakout role in Rebel Rich. At the end of the film, he uses a similar tactic of throwing out smoke grenades to conceal himself,

[39:33] as he takes down the corrupt police force that's pinned him down. I do think that's what probably landed him the role in the show Hal using these goggles could also be a subtle reference to what called the Emerald Sight in the comics this is a rare power of the Green Lanterns that allows them to see glimpses of the inner future and was discovered by the Green Lantern Simon Batts As Hal makes his way through the soldiers

[39:52] we then hear a beeping as he is surrounded by smoke and see Antan entering the field. He calmly walks into the black smoke to blow everyone up, but Hal catches him just in time and sucks him up in a tornado construct. It's a great death that technically means

[40:05] Hal didn't kill him, I guess, but yeah, Antan is definitely not a atrocitous. Toss it in the failure bin. Hal then finds that Zoe has chopped off her arm and escaped like a coyote. Obviously she can heal herself, but I think it plays into how she will do whatever it takes to stay alive.

[40:20] Making soldiers in start opening fire on Hal, and he jumps in the helicopter to fly himself to safety and find Zoe. But notice how Hal doesn't use his ring to fly off or fight off Zoe's soldiers. He, of course, knows it only has 5% battery left and is saving every last bit of juice.

[40:36] We then see Hal touch down at the motel as the ring warns that the power is nearly out. Hal then rushes inside to grab his power battery and charge up, but he's ambushed by John. He then takes him to the ground and pries the ring off Hal's finger while saying he doesn't deserve it.

[40:49] However, Hal says that the ring chose him and tackles John to the ground. He surprisingly starts beating his ass a bit before he then tries to strangle him. Again, Hal, yeah, he may be old, but he still has plenty of fight left in him. However, it also shows how Hal is now completely up to the end and willing to kill John over the ring.

[41:05] In the beginning of the episode, he just let him trap because Latins aren't supposed to kill people, but now he's willing to step over the line just to keep the thing that he's sworn to uphold. I feel like this is also meant to symbolise the corrupting nature of power and the ring's hold over John and Hal.

[41:20] In this moment, both John and Hal seem more than ready to kill each other over the ring, and it's turning them into the worst versions of themselves. To me, it's sort of playing with the Lord of the Rings dynamic, where the power of the ring is just too much for one person to handle.

[41:33] Inevitably, it results in them becoming completely consumed by their desire to maintain that power, and this scene in particular of Hal trying to strangle John is almost a perfect parallel to Siegel choking Deagle. I know it's a super nitty reference, or sick reference,

[41:47] if you're Peter Parker and Ned, but it really highlights just how lost both John and Hal are here due to their desire to be a Green Lantern. They're so focused on this while the people of Rushville are getting shit on by lasers outside,

[41:59] and it's all while they have this little tussle. However, as Hal tries to choke the life out of John, John breaks Hal's hold and then starts slinging to him. He beats the hell out of him and tosses him around the motel room and Hal defiantly tells him that he'll never replace him before John then spot and kicks him through the closet.

[42:16] John then drags Hal up again and puts him in a chokehold. We then see the room start to shake and hear the satellite laser powering up. But Hal is able to use the last bit of power he has left to form a bubble around them and protect them from the blast.

[42:28] You can also see that John doesn't look back once as the laser starts to crumble the motel. He's just completely focused on trying to take out Hal and get the ring. even though doing so would kill him. Fair to play this into how it's corrupting him

[42:41] but also that he may have actually killed Hal here if not for Hal saving them both. Well at least he didn't care if the laser took them both out which may even be more messed up. As the motel blows up and the dust clears we then see John make a run for it.

[42:54] Hal's trapped beneath the rubble and we get a quick shot of the rush hole sign that carried past in the beginning of the episode. Along with this is a shot of Nathan's ranch completely blown to hell confirming that it was this that we saw destroyed at the end of episode 1. As Hal starts to come to, we then see Zoe walk up to the motel and ask Hal where John went.

[43:11] Hal then says he promoted himself, but Zoe says she's the one who did it. How about Hal just starts to laugh and says that if there's one thing he knows about John, it's that he's not a coward. He says that if he wanted him dead, he would just do it himself.

[43:25] Zoe then pulls a gun on Hal and asks why John would leave him for her to find him, and Hal says that his gut tells him it was for bait. Zoe then realises what he means and turns around to see that John has her locked in his sights This builds off a big panel in the comics where John has a sniper rifle

[43:46] But there it's built out of construct Zoe also smiles, almost accepting her fate and eyes finally over Or potentially she knows that this is the perfect way for her to fake her death And lay low until Noah brings her back

[43:58] Yes, I'm sticking with that theory As Zoe's body hits the ground like a stack of bricks, we then see John making his way through the town and stopping to see all the destruction and death left behind by their fight. Bodies all over the place and we see a dead guy with his wife and daughter crying over him.

[44:11] Just absolutely devastating but I like how we focus on all this chaos for a moment. Makes us feel just how terrible this all is as John realises it was for himself. He then hands the little girl her father's watch and tells her he's sorry.

[44:24] The watch is something that the Guardians tested him with building, with John having to construct his father's watch to show how well he knew him. Here it feels like a memento of the past, and a pointless gesture that won't do anything to get him back.

[44:36] John then grabs a backpack off the street and makes his way back to the motel, where he gives Zoe the Mortal Kombat finisher and cuts out her heart. It crystallises as it hits the air, confirming that she was the Manhunter. Now, I felt super bad for John here.

[44:49] Despite who Zoe really was, John genuinely cared for her, or at least the person she was pretending to be. And not only did he have to kill her, but he then had to physically cut her heart out. Well, android heart, but still, it counts.

[45:02] It's yet another example of something terrible he's had to endure on behalf of the Guardians. He builds up all the people he killed in the military, which he justified as being all part of his path to becoming a Green Lantern. John then grabs the lantern as Hal starts to regain consciousness again, and John pries the ring off his finger.

[45:17] Alan asks him if it was worth it and we see John is asking himself the exact same question John looks down on the ring as he puts it on his finger as super ominous intense music plays in the background for John this is not a moment of victory in his dreams coming true

[45:31] but rather it's a symbol of how he's lost himself in order to claim what he believes he deserves as John puts on the ring a bird then flies in the room I think in John's mind this is a guardian now coming to make sure that he'll complete his mission and betray Hal

[45:45] Though Mrs. Stewart admitted that she lied about birds, there's still been enough clues in the interview room and at the end of episode 3 to think that she was indeed right. To me, this seems like confirmation that the birds were really the Guardians checking in on John's progress.

[45:59] This bird was sent to remind him what he's done and that it was indeed worth it. The bird is almost keeping him on track and being like, look, we are watching, continue the mission. He then leaves Hal in the motel as he takes the ring and power battery.

[46:12] As Hal tries to tell him that the Guardians will do the same thing to him one day, John just keeps walking and doesn't look back. We then see John making his way through the town, carrying the backpack and the battery as Macon's soldiers surround him. How about Kerry steps in and tells them to stand down.

[46:26] She asks John where Hal is and says that he's back at the motel. And Kerry just gives him a grim, almost disgusted look as he storms off. Which she probably thinks is because John killed Hal. I mean, the motel has been blown to shit.

[46:38] I do think she definitely likes Hal as well, and even wonder if the pair might get together after the dust settles here. We then see John arrive at Billy's bar, where he finds the Guardian Liana waiting for him. Sure so, has the perfect term to describe the events.

[46:51] Shit storm. But the ring does look good on John. How about John doesn't say anything, and he just walks over to the bar and starts chugging some vodka. He begins telling Liana that Hal is still alive, and informs her that the backpack is the Guardian's sins and consequences.

[47:06] Liana then gets out the crystal manhunter heart and says that even the guardians make mistakes but all they can do is correct them. She then shoves the bag off to the side as if she's just wiping her hands clean of the whole thing. Clearly not acknowledging all the issues that they've caused, all the destruction and it's just like, yeah whatever so now...

[47:23] Nice, well on to the next one. John then tells Liana that all his life he imagined what this moment would feel like. He thought that putting on the ring would make him feel proud, grateful and powerful. How that, when he finally put on the ring, all he felt was empty.

[47:37] I think a lot of people can relate to this. And hell, I remember chasing a million subscribers for years and years and years, and I thought, oh, this is going to make me so happy, it's going to be amazing. And then it happened, and the next day I was like, oh, is that it?

[47:50] Thanks everyone, I get next to the million. Really appreciate it. It doesn't really make you feel happy, and you often realise that you sacrifice yourself for a trivial goal that didn't magically change things. John then says that Hal betrayed everything in order to keep the ring and that it completely broke him.

[48:07] The sad thing is that Hal probably doesn't even remember why he wanted it in the first place and John then takes the ring off his finger. He then tells Rihanna that neither does he. He then walks away from what he thought was his ultimate destiny and we focus on the ring as we then go to the credits.

[48:21] So, after all that, John doesn't even take the ring. What the hell is this? I'm sick of it! I'm joking, I actually really, really like this. We've seen how being the Green Lantern has literally consumed every aspect of John's life since he was born.

[48:36] He was constantly training under the threat that he would be seen as not being good enough, either by his parents or the Omniscardians that were apparently always watching him. The all of nature, John did what he was told, in order to claim what everyone was telling him was his destiny.

[48:50] However, now being faced with the consequences of where that path leads, John is finally making a decision for himself and realising that this isn't who he wants to be. He sees the destination of the path represented by Hal, who as John said, betrayed everything he ever believed in, in order to keep the ring.

[49:06] This brings us back to our Lord of the Rings parallel, and in that Hal is Gollum, and he's someone completely consumed by the power of the Green Lantern Ring. On the flip side of this, we have John being Frodo, who's tasted the power of the ring, but clearly recognises that in the end, he'll end up just like Gollum.

[49:21] We already saw that happening during his fight with Hal in the motel, where John was ready to have both him and Hal blown up by Zoe, because he was so focused on getting it. However, I think the moment that John had to shoot Zoe and cut out her heart is what made him realise that this path is not the one of his choosing.

[49:38] He'd become just another puppet of the Guardians, and he'd either end up like Hal, Sinestro, or Zoe. All are creations of them, and all had their lives ruined because of it. Both Hal and Zoe are also victims of their mistakes, and he's more or less been forced to clean up their mess.

[49:51] Think about it. Zoe was a homicidal android, but as she said herself, she can't ignore her true nature. This was programmed into her by the Guardians, and Zoe operated just like they did. The Guardians recruit people with the promise of power

[50:04] in order to get them to do exactly what they want, which is pretty much exactly what Zoe did with the people of Rushville. The Green Lanterns protect the Guardians and the people of the galaxy, and the people of Rushville protect the town and Zoe.

[50:16] So it's just the same thing on a smaller scale. The same thing goes for Hal as well, who became corrupted by the immense power that the Guardians bestowed on him without knowing how much that would affect him, as there'd never been a human Green Lantern before.

[50:29] Diana even admitted herself that the selection process was a bit flawed because they didn't understand humans well enough. So now that John sees what serving the Guardians leads to, he decides that he's done playing their games and is taking his life into his own hands for the very first time.

[50:45] And, well, I don't even know what else to say, but what a goddamn great episode of television that was. I mean, yeah, just foot on the gas the entire time with hardly any time to breathe. There's so many great moments, but what I really loved is that we never lost focus on the culminating dynamic between John and Hal.

[51:02] There's so much going on in the episode, but the heart of it still centres around their individual arcs and how the ring has changed them for the worse. I also love how they played Hal sort of full from grace as he clearly lost his way but doesn't go full on villain

[51:15] he still stopped to save that lady in Rushville and was doing what he could to save the people on the streets from being blown up by Zoe's lasers and though we may have gotten some bits wrong okay pretty much everything wrong but I don't even care

[51:28] this was a super satisfying episode for me and it really brought together everything that we've seen in the show thus far however I do still think they are still playing this a bit with some of the parallels from the comics which again, if that's true, is so smart.

[51:40] I hope most of the hero shows and films do take a note on the lens, playbook style and how to use comic references and parallels to play in the themes of the story. And not just doing random nods, which we do love, but this was really clever.

[51:52] I also think they've paced out this mystery really well over the last couple of episodes to provide this payoff. I think if you had another one kind of dancing around things that it could have started to get dull, but they just laid everything on the table,

[52:04] which is super bold to do when we're like just over halfway through the season. It's crazy to think that there's still three more episodes because this really feels like a series finale level episode. But I can't wait to explore the full out of this

[52:17] and as always I'd love to see you back next week and make sure you leave your thoughts below. Let us know and don't be a bad bro or a ho. Also subscribe for more breakdowns like this every week and if you want to check out what we're doing

[52:30] why not follow us on Instagram at Heavy Spoilers. Did you know as well that members of the channel get early access to videos like this every single week and for just $0.99 a month you'll get early access to an early breakdown. At the moment we have Alien 3 which has just dropped for members on Wednesday.

[52:45] We are also dropping June Part 2. So yeah lots of things to watch if you want to be a member and it's just $0.99 a month as well. That's been $12 a year. What a bargain. Anyway if not thank you for sticking through this video.

[52:57] I've been your host Paul. You've been the best. I'll see you in the next one. Take care.