HBO’s Thriller Series That Inspired ‘Lanterns’ Is a 10/10 Crime Masterpiece

Lanterns has been the most exciting superhero television show in quite some time because it doesn’t adhere to genre conventions. Instead of offering just another origin story, Lanterns explores the relationship between two members of the Green Lantern Corps across three timelines that intersect to form a larger mystery. It’s the shake-up that the DCU needed, and it’s no surprise that True Detective has been cited as a primary influence on Lanterns. When True Detective debuted on HBO in 2014, it elevated what “prestige television” could be. Not only was it a weekly show that starred A-list actors, but also a creative, impeccably crafted work of storytelling that featured filmmaking better than the majority of what was released in theaters that year. Although not every subsequent season has been quite as good, Season 1 of True Detective is one of the most accomplished projects that HBO has ever released.

Creator Nic Pizzolatto began developing the story of True Detective as a novel, which makes sense considering the show is filled with dramatic depth and relies on subjective memory as a core tenet of following the mystery. The series explores the dynamic between two very different Louisiana homicide detectives — Rustin “Rust” Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) is a spiritual, nihilistic isolationist, whereas Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson) is a family man who watches his seemingly idealistic life shatter as a result of his indulgences. Although these two men are tied together by a group of killings that they suspect are linked to a serial murderer, True Detective expands into a tapestry of conflicts that show the long-suffering consequences of undelivered justice.

HBO’s ‘True Detective’ Was a Cinematic Television Series

The procedural crime thriller is one of the most classic genres on television, but True Detective didn’t take the traditional route to a mystery because it opens by showing that Rust and Marty were unsuccessful in 1995, and that it has haunted them for 17 years. The mystery that emerges is twofold; there is a question of why these two men haven’t spoken to each other in a decade, despite being former partners, and why the case still haunts them, despite the mention that it was “solved” back in 1995. A typical crime show would show the detectives as being an instrument of justice that serves the greater good, whereas the stakes in True Detective are far more personal. Both Rust and Marty feel that catching this killer has become their destiny, and they have lost so much along the way that they feel obligated to finish what they started. The fact that they would be able to speak to one another again is also a sign of dramatic significance, as it suggests the villain is so malevolent that these two rivals would be willing to set aside their personal animosities.

True Detective doesn’t feel like a television show because it has the scale and ingenuity of a film, and it became one of the first examples of an “auteur series.” Shows typically employ multiple directors because of the demanding shooting schedule, but all of Season 1 was helmed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, resulting in a consistency of tone that made it feel like a complete statement. The episode “Who Goes There?” is perhaps the most iconic installment of the series because of a thrilling raid sequence in which Marty and Rust break into a stash house, which was completed in just one take; it isn’t just a gimmick, but an effective tool to show just how quick-witted and strategic Rust and Marty have to be when they are on the verge of a breakthrough.

‘True Detective’ Has a Perfect First Season

True Detective was one of the rare “watercooler shows” that became a true phenomenon due to the speculation and theories that came with the revelation of new clues. While it’s a satisfying show on a purely plot-based level, Season 1 holds up upon subsequent viewings because of the allusions to the supernatural and the influence of philosophical thinkers. Although television had already had its fair share of anti-heroes by this point in time, True Detective was subversive because it showed how flawed, yet well-intentioned men evolve into more self-destructive characters who begin acting out of spite. McConaughey and Harrelson have both been in many great films, but True Detective represents the greatest acting within either of their respective careers.

True Detective is arguably the most influential show of the 2010s because it created a model of thought-provoking, out-of-the-box storytelling that many wanted to replicate. It was a model that the show itself couldn’t top; Season 2 has some interesting ideas, Season 3 has a terrific lead performance, and Season 4 starts strong, but none of them have had the same cultural footprint as Season 1. That being said, Lanterns feels like the true spiritual successor to True Detective, because it does for superheroes what Pizzolatto did for homicide detectives. It’s not clear when True Detective will return for a fifth season, but Lanterns is a satisfying replacement.