Today, in keeping with my weekly Lanterns analysis, I ask the question, who is the villain? At first glance this might be a confusing question. Obviously, The Manhunter is the villain. Or, perhaps I mean, now that the Manhunter is dead and there are three episodes left, they must be adhering to the True Detective mantra of introducing the villain but Not Obviously Announcing Him.
In this case, my question of who is the villain simply means what it asks. Who is the villain in the first five episodes? It’s reportedly the Manhunter but has the Manhunter behaved villainously? Let’s examine.
What is a Villain?
I think the first thing to examine is the nature of a villain. What role does she or he play in the three-act play? If we use writing parlance the villain is actually the antagonist. The villain, or antagonist is defined as a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary. This is a relatively simplistic definition and Wikipedia goes into the concept more deeply.
Is the Manhunter a Villain?
The agency hunting the Manhunter tells us it is the villain. It wiped out an entire civilization and is now hiding in small-town Nebraska. Sinestro tells us the Manhunter is the most dangerous villain in the galaxy. It must die. Ok, fair enough. Exposition on villain qualifications achieved.
Do we see the Manhunter behaving villainously? What awful things does it do? In True Detective we get firsthand experience of the villain in the opening scene where the staged body is displayed. That’s the act of a sick, vile, evil person. No doubt about it. Whoever did this is a villain.
In Lanterns we don’t see the villain doing anything sick or evil. The Manhunter fled pursuers and established itself in a small town. It healed people who were sick. It helped people in trouble. It is beloved. The entire town wants to protect it.
What brought danger, violence, and destruction to town is the group hunting the Manhunter. They blow up innocents. They threaten to destroy the entire town. By any standard, the Manhunter is the hunted victim just trying to lead a quiet life. Shane. The Manhunter is beloved, a doting grandmother and wife.
The only evil thing the Manhunter does is allow John to burn up in his car although it was Hal who directly caused the accident and ensuing fire. Even then, the Manhunter heals John while Hal doesn’t ever bother to check on him.
Who is the Villain?
So, I ask again, by any standard, who is the villain in Lanterns? It’s not the Manhunter and that fact does enormous damage to the story. Why am I rooting for John and Hal? Shouldn’t those internal bomb toting aliens be the ones we hate? The Guardians aren’t helping. John and Hal are certainly not helping.
Just to be clear, I’m not saying the villain can’t be nuanced. The villain doesn’t have to be Voldemort or Sauron, unadulterated evil for the sake of evil.
When John shoots the Manhunter there is no sense of accomplishment, there is no closure. We don’t hate the Manhunter and therefore the ending leaves us indifferent.
There is an obvious parallel with True Detective here. When Rust and Marty kill Reggie Ledoux in the fifth episode false ending, we are satisfied. Bad people died. Yes, we know there are more episodes, there is more to come but the ending is good. Ledoux was a terrible man and his death is satisfying. That guy deserved it. The Manhunter’s death, on the other hand, is deeply unsatisfying because it was not established as the villain.
Tom Liberman