Spoilers coming your way via reddit.com/r/LanternsTVSeries that might have plot details for the entirety of Season 1 of Lanterns.
EPISODE 1: The episode is bookended with flash-forwards of John Stewart and Hal Jordan being interrogated by strange, alien voices in dark, unearthly rooms. They explain how they met.
The main story is set in modern day USA. In a town called Hope Springs in Iowa, an elderly man is murdered during a robbery. The murderer steals a glowing green lantern and a green ring. There are visual hints that the old man once had some connection to the Justice Society of America, a group of superheroes active in the 1950s. It feels vaguely Watchmen-ish.
The next morning we meet Hal Jordan, flying a fighter jet high enough to see the stars. He wakes up and it’s a dream, he’s living as a drifter bumming it across the country kind of like he was in the 90s comics. He’s got the white temples and is way more angsty/jaded than Ryan Reynolds‘ Hal. He DOES NOT have his ring, but still has a heroic streak that shows when he stops a gas station robbery. He moves on before the police can find him.
Meanwhile the sheriff of Hope Springs, Kerrie Kane, investigates the murder from the opening scene. GL John Stewart arrives. Sheriff Kerrie is surprised to see him, saying she knew the previous Green Lantern and he wasn’t black. John states that he’s new. John initially thinks investigating a small-time murder in bumfuck nowhere is below his pay grade, until he finds out who the murder victim was: Golden Age GL Alan Scott. John picks up an energy signature at the crime scene using his ring.
Hal arrives in town shortly after, and uses the last of his money to purchase a few hours flying a prop plane. It makes him happy, but he realizes he needs a job.
Hal approaches Sheriff Kerrie. Apparently they once had a relationship in the past, back when Hal was Green Lantern. Kane isn’t particularly happy to see him, since she now has a husband and children. However, she sees Hal is down on his luck and lets him have a job as a janitor at the police station. While working, Hal sees John visit with Kane as GL. John has no idea who Hal is (he’s mentioned he “never knew the guy” who owned the ring before him).
