Lanterns Episode 2: 5 Best Easter Eggs That You Missed, Ranked

HBO’s Lanterns Episode 2 is a little looser and allows its two leads to wander off on their separate but interrelated adventures. John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) is sent back to Coast City on an errand that’s really a test (or maybe not), and Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) continues to work on the Rushville extraterrestrial mystery.

It also has dense (and missable) Easter eggs, not just related to lore, but also to the wider DCU and even wider pop culture. A couple of these are strictly for die-hards, but even casual Lanterns fans will appreciate them. Here are the 5 best of them. They are ranked from bottom to top.

5 The Keyser Söze Nod

Embedded in Hal’s bravado is a pop culture allusion that has nothing to do with the world of Green Lanterns: He talks about Keyser Söze, the phantom mastermind played by Kevin Spacey from The Usual Suspects (one of the greatest movies where the bad guy won). It’s just another throwaway line given with the same nonchalant tone that Hal uses to avoid talking about things he doesn’t want to talk about.

Hal name-checking one of cinema’s most famous unreliable narrators is important

4 Earl the Plant’s Little Shop of Horrors Vibes

Hal’s absentee-landlord approach to mentorship extends, apparently, to his houseplant. Earl is a half-sentient, meat-eating specimen John is tasked with feeding. John’s veganism worsens his situation. And before he actually sets his eyes on him, he has no idea who Earl was. Though knowing Hal, he should have expected it wouldn’t be a dog or cat. Earl’s like a direct descendant of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors (1986).

3 The DCU’s Pocket Dimension Connection

Hal’s primary purpose in sending John to Coast City is to retrieve the Lantern. It is really a Power Battery that Green Lanterns use to charge their ring (the power runs out every day or so). And the box that houses the Lantern is not really a box. Instead, it is a pocket dimension that is unlocked by Hal’s voice.

It fits perfectly into a series of events in Superman (2025) that started using unstable pocket dimensions as an existential threat to reality itself. There is more to the preponderance of the pocket dimensions in the DCU, methinks.

2 Sinestro’s Guardian-Killing Backstory

Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) finally makes his appearance in Lanterns Episode 2. He is imprisoned at Oa, the home world and main base for the Guardians of the Universe. Now, like in the lore, Sinestro was put there by Hal himself. That was because he had been a GL himself, led a rebellion, and even killed one of the Guardians. His backstory is quite interesting in the comics. But here, it is condensed into a loaded exchange

1 ‘Mogo Doesn’t Socialize’

This was the most interesting Easter egg for me. The phrase was the password Hal uses to open the pocket dimension housing the Lantern. It is also the most abstruse Easter egg, as it’s the title of the backup story in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ 1985 Tales of the Green Lantern Corps backup from DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore (via DC Comics). So, Mogo is a sentient living planet (if it reminds you of Ego the Living Planet, you are not alone), and also a GL. He also doubles as Corps’ home base (besides Oa).

Which of these easter eggs caught you off guard? Drop your picks in the comments below.

Lanterns Episodes 1 and 2 are now streaming on HBO Max.