Monsters of Television

“You look like a Norm.”

If there’s one thing to like about Green Lantern: The Animated Series, and there is more than one, it’s the gradual unrolling of the yellow power rings. The fear-inducing, power draining properties of the yellow minerals are being developed across episodes, as opposed to just appearing with Sinestro (who hasn’t been seen or mentioned). I like this slow build about a very important aspect of the Green Lantern universe.

But that’s about all the good I have to say about “Fear Itself,” which I think is a remarkably dull and predictable episode. While I’ve been talking about how Green Lantern recycles tired and true plots of broader science fiction stories (and this one is no different), “Fear Itself” does little to alter the general scope of the “partners on different sides of misunderstood rival factions”, leaving it dead in the water.

Apart from those yellow rocks, the episode doesn’t enlighten us about our characters or their histories. We already knew Kilowog lost his family when his planet was wiped off the map and so his yellow mineral-tinted dreams (one of the better parts of the episode) don’t offer us anything new, or any particularly insightful understanding of Kilowog’s motives as a Green Lantern. We can certainly infer his desire to protect people stems from his loss, but the show doesn’t completely make that connection, leaving a dangling motivation for a central character.

Instead, I’d rather have seen Hal made more complex, some sense of what Hal is afraid of, the fear that lurks under his willpower (that powers the green power rings). But we’re given more of Hal being a paragon of heroism and understanding, coming to terms with the non-speaking mining jelly fish rather quickly, and helping Kilowog, and the others, break free of the yellow mineral’s influence. It’s a little tiring, so I hope future episodes complicate Hal a bit more.

The struggles of Razer, on the other hand, continue to be the more impressive aspect of the show. His unwillingness to charge his ring, even though he needs to do so continue to fight alongside Kilowog and Hal and to eventually kill Atrocitus, is a nice bit of character work in a show that largely lacks such things. Aya coming up with an alternate oath based on the rhythm of the Red Lantern’s oath is just the button on this small B-plot.

Here’s hoping next week is a bit better.