“Lanterns” has finally pulled the biggest card from its sleeve, and Episode 5 should be where the consequences of that reveal begin to hit. The discovery that Zoe is the Manhunter changes almost everything we thought we knew about the case. More importantly, Hal and John are no longer simply investigating the same mystery. By the end of “The Weenie,” Hal has lost whatever trust he had left in John, while John is left trapped in a situation he may not be able to explain his way out of.
The biggest question going into the next episode is what happens after Hal sends John crashing into the telephone pole. John has no ring in that moment, and Hal has deliberately left him behind. Hal now believes John may be compromised because of Zoe, and with Antaan's deadline getting closer, he may decide that he cannot afford to wait for John to figure things out. Early coverage of Episode 5 already points toward Rushville being thrown into turmoil, suggesting that the meeting between Hal and Antaan will not go according to plan.
I expect Hal's first priority will be getting to Antaan and convincing him that they have finally found the Manhunter. The problem is that Hal may not have the evidence Antaan wants. Antaan's group has already made it clear that they are not exactly interested in trusting the Green Lantern Corps, and Hal's history of keeping information to himself is hardly going to help. If Hal tells them that Zoe is the Manhunter, they may demand that she be handed over immediately.
John, meanwhile, is likely to become the emotional centre of the next episode. He has spent much of the season trying to prove that he can handle being a Lantern, but now his biggest weakness is staring him directly in the face. He has feelings for Zoe, and that makes his judgment impossible for Hal to ignore. The interesting part is that John may not actually be protecting Zoe because he believes she is innocent. He could simply believe there is more to her story than the Manhunter label suggests.
The possibility could become one of the show's biggest surprises. Zoe's identity has now been exposed, but we still don't know exactly what she wants. Episode 4 already suggested that she has developed something resembling genuine feelings for John, despite the fact that she has been manipulating people to protect herself.
Instead of immediately hunting Zoe down, John may try to find out what happened after Abin Sur's crash and why the Manhunter remained hidden in Rushville for so long. We could finally learn more about Zoe's connection to William Macon and the mysterious technology that helped him. If she really saved Macon's life, there may be a much bigger relationship between the two than we have been shown.
William Macon could also become much more important in the next episode. Until now, he has looked like the obvious villain, but Episode 4 deliberately pulled the rug out from under that theory. If Zoe was the real benefactor all along, then Macon may have been protecting her rather than controlling her.
I also wouldn't be surprised if Episode 5 gives us another piece of the larger mystery surrounding Hal's past. Sinestro has been deliberately feeding Hal information while pushing him toward increasingly extreme decisions. Hal thinks he is using Sinestro to protect himself, but there is a real possibility that Sinestro is manipulating him into becoming exactly the kind of Lantern he wants him to be. The more Hal loses trust in John, the easier that manipulation becomes.
By the end of the next episode, I expect the Manhunter mystery to be less important than the question of whether Zoe can actually be saved. The show has spent four episodes making us ask who the enemy is now that we have an answer, the more interesting question is whether that enemy is truly beyond redemption. If John discovers that Zoe has been fighting against her own programming, his decision could put him directly against Hal, the Guardians and possibly even Antaan.
Read more: Lanterns Season 1 Episode 4 Recap
