Too Much TV
Too Much TV is a weekly podcast where two former college roommates, Josh and Jeff, unpack the standout shows you should be watching.
From buzzy cultural phenomena to quiet streaming masterpieces, they break down the biggest episodes, argue over what’s working (and what isn’t), and highlight the storytelling, performances, and moments that stick with you. Expect spirited debate, quick recaps, unexpected recommendations, and occasional deep dives into craft—perfect for casual viewers and devoted TV obsessives alike. Tune in to discover your next obsession and get a smarter take on the shows everyone’s talking about.
Too Much TV
Lanterns S1 EP4: The Weenie
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This week: Lanterns Episode 4, "The Weenie." Yes, that's the real title, and yes, we get into why.
We think we're finally past the exposition stretch and into real forward motion. John was genuinely funny this episode, the gun shop scene, killing the vibe at Disneyland, and Hal's reaction ("did you just make a joke?") had us cracking up. It feels like John's figuring out that matching ten percent of Hal's energy without betraying who he is might actually be the move, and Hal seems to like him more for it.
Then there's the naked scene. We won't spoil the specifics, but let's just say it's a very human kind of weird, not an alien kind of weird, which somehow spirals into a genuine conversation about how often men talk about their own anatomy compared to women. You're welcome.
On the mystery side: Zoe supposedly dies in an explosion, and I'm calling my read vindicated. She's still the Manhunter, and either that blast was staged or Manhunters just can't be killed that easily. Jeff's not convinced Will Macon is cleared either. We also dig into the excellent detail work, the digging machine John builds off a single drawing, Hal's read on people during the interrogation scene (the man has genuinely great instincts, even if he's kind of an asshole about it), and the John's accent slips through moment that I only caught because a YouTube Short pointed it out to me.
Sinestro continues to be the villain we can't help but like, even though neither of us trusts him for a second. Jeff's officially on record liking him, with the disclaimer that he reserves the right to take it back the moment Sinestro does something horrible. We also get into the theory that Hal might not even be the real Hal anymore, and our predictions for the next episode, including whether that "alien hit squad" is actually as sharp as they're supposed to be.
All right, hello everybody. Welcome to Too Much TV. Today we're talking about Lantern Season One, Episode Four, The Weenie. I'm not kidding. That's an actual episode. Um it is a great name, and it did have a reason why it's called the Weenie. We'll get to it. But things are I think we're finally at the last of like the exposition episodes. I don't know about you, Jeff, but it feels like it feels like we're finally getting somewhere. Yeah. Um I mean at this point, I have no idea who the Manhunter is. Because there's so many different bluffs in this episode. What did you think?
SPEAKER_01I think I was right as fuck. I think I was right as fuck. Zoe Zoe. Yeah. I mean, especially if he says it at the end. No dude. No, no. She's not dead. That's the reason why he's not upset. That's the reason why John isn't upset. How called. But then how is how the car who was in the car? I don't know if that thing, like I don't know if that blast either I have two theories. One is that it was like made to look like an explosion, but it didn't really like maybe it extracted her or something like that. I don't know. That or man, hunters aren't killed by that level of power. Like they need a lot more. I don't know. Those are my two theories. But I'm kind of just, you know, digging my roots into um being right about you know, calling it being Zoe. So I'm I'm just gonna stick with that until it gets fully disproven. But then that that will Macon was the manhunter.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, that's bullshit. No. No.
SPEAKER_01You think so? Weeb is not the manhunter.
SPEAKER_00Also, dude, talk about the uh the double reference, the double meaning for it being called the whole episode being called the Weenie. Oh, yeah. When he has his Weenie out. What the fuck was that? Actually, you know what, dude? Only a sick man could do that. I don't really foresee any aliens doing that. I foresee a dude on a ranch in the middle of rural conservative America.
SPEAKER_01That's a human weirdo.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's a human weirdo thing. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01A thousand percent.
SPEAKER_00A human weirdo.
SPEAKER_01We we come up with that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. We're we're the psychos there. There's no there's no way he's an alien. Absolutely not. It was a really weird scene.
SPEAKER_01This was a this was a funny episode. Didn't you think there's like more humor in this one than we've got?
SPEAKER_00Funnier than I expected. And I was surprised at how funny John was.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. When Hal says, like, did you just make a joke? He's like, what the fuck? What was what was that though? John was funny through the whole thing. John was funny in the gun shop, like getting the scope, you know, that you guys were putting the gun down. You guys are a blast. You guys are a blast. That cracked me up. The the killing the vibe at Disneyland was funny. He had a cup, he was a funny, that was a funny episode for John.
SPEAKER_00I think he's trying to connect with Hal, and I think he understands that that's how it's gonna work. Uh-huh. Match his energy. Just a little bit. Like, but like not completely betray his own identity because clearly he's still very stiff. But he couldn't really match Hal's energy. He can't. No, not completely, but you know, just give just give 10%. Yeah. And I think that will absolutely work. Because I think Hal I think Hal noticed he liked him a bit better. He did, yeah. He's like, who's this guy? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01This guy's kind of fun to be around.
SPEAKER_00I I really hope that by the end that they've and I know this is what they're kind of promising, that by the end they're gonna be like buddy buddy. Like they're really gonna get along. I hope so. I'm not sure, but I really hope so. Um Yeah, we'll see, dude. Going back to the naked scene, the um let's address the elephant in the room. Uh not that elephant. He's talking about his dick, dude. God, do we talk about do men talk about their dicks way too much? Probably, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You think so? Yeah, I mean, come on. It's just it's just a part of conversation. I don't know. Yeah, it's like kind of women like suck my dick is just such a common phrase. Like, you know, classically we're talking about him without even really like meaning literally, you know? Yeah. So I feel like women talk about their breasts a lot. Not as much as us talking about our dicks, though.
SPEAKER_00Are you sure?
SPEAKER_01I mean, it's just there's not as many.
SPEAKER_00I've never talked to you about my dick, Jeff, ever. We've been friends for almost 20 years. Okay. I would object to that. Oh shit. I'm very drunk. German sausage. All right. Well, that's uh I think that's enough dick talk. Um kind of going off a cliff here, Jeff. Um okay. So when they uh raided the compound, the Weenie, I that was another funny scene. You know, where they're on where he's on the booby trap, and it's like, and he's like, Oh, it's a good movie, great movie. And they're talking about Indiana Jones. Yeah. Again, this like cordial attitude between the two of them, it's starting to grow on me. I think we're gonna have one more big sort of confrontation between the two, considering the end of the episode, where he literally Hal jumps out of a car again. Yeah, it's becoming his like move. It's his move to ditch the car. Dude, if I were John, I would not let him drive. No, no, never again. Never again. No. But it makes me think that the the you know, Will Macon being the manhunter, like I is it him, is it Zoe?
SPEAKER_01It's Zoe.
SPEAKER_00You still think it's Zoe? I rewatch you think it's a fake out.
SPEAKER_01No, yeah. I rewatched the scene where they're laying in bed. She says, if I tell you what I know, everything changes. She also says when she met Macon, she saved him. She doesn't say I assisted Yeah, yeah, she was like a nurse or whatever, or doctor. I don't want to think she doesn't.
SPEAKER_00Don't you think it's too obvious?
SPEAKER_01No. They're throwing you off by murdering her with via explosion. Okay. That's the whole point is to throw you off. She just exploded in a truck. You're like, how is she the manhunter? She just blew the heck up. No. No. That's the diversion.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01That's the fake out. Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and again, I mean, again, this really shows the difference between Hal and John. Is that Hal really picked up on John's emotions? Especially that scene where they're interrogating that guy where he says he's the manhunter, the the benefactor. And and again, Hal takes that risk. He gambles everything. And it does pay off. I don't know if you noticed this, but when um when John slams on the table and he says speak up, if you go back and rewatch that scene, his British accent comes out. Oh, really? Yeah. Just go back and rewatch it. Yeah. Speak up. It just it's just a it's just a twinge of the English accent. Oh, yeah. Just a little bit. I'm like, oh, it slipped through there, man. It slipped through. Um I didn't notice that. I should I'll I'll rewatch it though. I didn't notice it until I I got a YouTube short this morning on it and I heard it. And I just you just watch it four times. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I I hear it.
SPEAKER_01It's funny though, you're right. Um Hal has very good instincts. And incredibly good. And he uh I think John at one point says to him, like, how do you know or something? And he's like, I'm never wrong, right? He says, like, I'm he he has a very good like instinctual, I don't know, intuition. It's one of those where it's just he's kind of following his gut, but he's right a lot of the time. I'll give him credit.
SPEAKER_00It it's his like people skills. I mean, it's ironic because he's kind of an asshole. Yeah. But it's his ability to read people that is really gonna get him further along. It's one of the few things where I think that he will be as signific he is a just as good of a lantern as John, just in a different sense. And I think that's just another example. And I think that's why when they the two of them are gonna hopefully work together as the series goes on, the combination of the two, the the the the ingenuity and creativity of of uh Hal with the usage of the ring, and then just the just sheer ability of creation with John. Uh-huh. The combination I think is gonna be pretty pretty fun to see.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think you're right. I feel like Hal reminds me of one of those like old, like burnt-out detectives. Like he's kind of like washed up, but he's still got it. You know, he's still got like the the edge. He's still he still reads between the lines really well. He picks up on those like acute human behavior tendencies, and he can he can like read the signs really quickly. You ever see uh Seven, uh the movie, David Fincher movie?
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, sure. You might have showed me that. I probably did. That's a gruesome movie for people to for someone to show, but that sounds just like me to make people watch a horrible, horrific movie. Isn't that what's in the box? So like Hal is Morgan Freeman and John is Brad Pitt, right? Yeah, yeah. Kind of the mix of the two approaches. Yeah, I mean, I think it's also it's a classic trope, too, right? Like we've seen these before. But there's a reason they keep doing it, it's because it's pretty good. Like it's a it's a it's a combination that works. Uh-huh. Um what else can we cover? Do you want to do Sinestro? Or go ahead.
SPEAKER_01What do you have? Well, just because we were talking about the compound thing, that digging device that John made was freaking sweet. Yeah. That was cool as heck. Like I mean, we saw him make a bird before, a fucking bird. Which cool. Alive, so cool. Not as fucking cool as the digging thing. That was that that was and you're gonna see, I mean, to your point about John being like a really talented lantern. He, I mean, I we haven't seen him create that many things, obviously. That was a really complex machine and it worked really well, and he just kind of did it off a drawing.
SPEAKER_00Like And it's it's it's exactly what needed to get done.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like he was impressed. Yeah. Like he and and Hal's also clearly, I wonder if there's a bit of self-doubt here. There's a bit of worry, there's a bit of are they right that he is better?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, dude. I think you're right. I think you're 100% right. Because it's like, I mean, he's faced with the reality that he's being replaced. And we now see through his conversation with Sinestro that he's aware of what's going on, right? Like he's not he's not even just fooled by the fact that you know John's his like tutor or whatever, you know, uh student. He's not his he's he's not his backup. He's training his replacement. He's he knows what's going on. Like But I mean Sinestro clearly has ulterior motives. Oh yeah, dude. You don't trust Sinestro at all. But I also really like him as a character so far. I uh I think he's a cool.
SPEAKER_00I'm curious to see where it goes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I always dude, I gotta tell you, I always love villains that you don't hate in the show. It's so cool when they're clearly like a villainous character or an antagonistic character. But you actually like so far, I I kind of like Sinestro. I mean, we haven't seen him do anything really bad, so you know I'm not gonna don't hold me to that. Yeah, don't clip me saying, Oh, I really like Sinestro as we watch him like murder thousands of people in the next episode or something. But what were you saying, Jeff? You love this guy? That's my favorite character. Yeah, I love Genocide. No, I um I like him because it's a cool dynamic, number one, that it's it's you we talked about it before. It's like going down the line. Sinestro was Hal's mentor, and then now you know we see that sort of roles passing down the line. But I like that Sinestro kind of it's almost like he's got Hal's back. Like he's he's looking out for him. He's like, hey, don't make the same mistake. You know, don't make the same mistake. Yeah, but are you sure? But he doesn't but he doesn't really. I I would imagine he doesn't actually.
SPEAKER_00Like it's just it's predicting give and take like a vast sort of manipulation from Sinestro. Something icky is gonna happen manipulating Hal, and it's somehow gonna get him out of prison. Like that is my my guess. But I d I just don't know.
SPEAKER_01Well, don't you think it's kind of weird and and interesting that Sinestro is very aware of what's going on outside, even though he's locked in prison. Like we, you know, he doesn't Hal even says, I think, like, you don't have any contact with the outside world or something. You know, it's like you're in prison. Uh, buddy, he seems to know a fuckload about what's going on out there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I wonder what's going on there. And I I you know I'm starting not to trust is the um the guardians. Yeah. Because by the way, we've only seen the one. Mm-hmm. And she did her little shapeshift thing to John's mom. Could that be a big fake out? And she's the manhunter. Oh. Okay. All right. Dude, at this point, I'm the manhunter. You know what I mean? Like Yeah.
SPEAKER_01There we really don't know for sure what's going on, and I don't think we will for a while. I think this is gonna be one of those shows where they kind of establish certain things and then pull the rug out from under you and think you know what's going on. I'm gonna bask in the glory of calling that Zoe is the manhunter for as long as I can, and then I I guarantee you know, I'm sure I'll be wrong.
SPEAKER_00Alright, well, let me get your let me get your prediction for the next episode, dude. Because I I did see, did you don't watch the trailers for the next one, do you?
SPEAKER_01No, I uh that's not like a religious thing for me. I I just sometimes I don't know. I feel like sometimes they give away a little bit too much. Like I don't like when there's like what feels like a spoiler, you know? Sure. So I don't know. A lot of the time I don't.
SPEAKER_00Uh dude, I'm a slut for that stuff. I always watch it. Yeah. You're you're like my friend uh James when we went to see um a movie years ago and the Interstellar trailer came on, he left the theater because he didn't want to see any spoilers. I've always liked James. Yep. It's good. So exactly. Um, they're going to that diner, right? They're going to the diner to meet up with the alien hit squad. I think we're finally gonna get some action.
SPEAKER_01I think so too. I think you're right. It's we're not really sure who's gonna get there, because I guess Hal's gonna go and John is what gonna limp his way there after being in another car accident. The second car accident, what the third car? I don't remember how many car accidents he's been in, but um yeah. I I feel like so. This other organization, right? The one who's tried to find the Manhunter. Um the alien hit squad. Yes, the alien hit squad who's um, you know, recruited John to help them, they've got to be a pretty smart group if they're like an intergalactic hit squad. Uh I just feel like posing as humans. Yeah, well, I just feel like they've got to kind of know what's going on a little bit more than than these two think. I would imagine if this is like a super intelligent group, I I was thinking the entire time, like, how is that phone not just like bugged? Like how you know? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like how again, we going back to our alien talk, how aliens don't get it sometimes. Oh, like like the real intricacies of human life and technology, maybe they don't I don't I don't know. Right? I don't know.
SPEAKER_01I'm just watching the guy who's in charge of the satellites, like who's bugged their stuff. And I'm thinking like this guy's one of our parents' house.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01But like this guy is just one of us, and he's he's smart enough to know to bug everybody and like figure out what's going on. How is this like you know, uh hit squad not doing the exact same thing and probably just monitoring everything that they say? You know, that's just my gut feeling. I was thinking like, if this was me and I was an alien hit squad, I'd probably bug the crap out of the phone that I just happened to give this guy that I happen to trust to like go help me with this mission. I don't know. I just was like kind of seeing a little through this.
SPEAKER_00Well, I'm looking forward to the next one, man. I mean, it's still a little lukewarm for me. I I don't hate it, but I'm not necessarily like dying to watch it.
SPEAKER_01No, I agree. This was my favorite one so far. I'll say that. I'll give it credit there.
SPEAKER_00Like it's there's nothing really wrong with it, I'd say. It's just a little it's simmering. And it's simmering it's been simmering for a while.
SPEAKER_01So I think we're we're we're heading towards like a uh the pinnacle, you know, a climax because we're on a collision course with John and Hal, and then all of these sort of other groups surrounding them who have different interests in how this is gonna play out, right? The the the Guardians are the plan is for John to you know replace Hal. Then Sinestro is kind of telling Hal to you know play it a little differently, and they're kind of you know, it's they're wearing gemalic matters and the alien hit squad and the sheriff. Yeah, dude. There's a lot going on. You are right. We're all driving towards the same point, and there's gonna be a collision. You know, it's just who who's gonna come out on top? How's it gonna play out? We think from what we've seen so far that Hal uh probably isn't gonna make it through, but who knows how that's gonna work.
SPEAKER_00I did see a theory online. Do you want to hear it? Sure. Fan theory, not spoiler, yeah. Go for it. I th well I maybe that that the Hal Hal is a is the dead manhunter who took the form of Hal and then died and is permanently there. Like crystallized. That's a theory I saw. So the real Hal Jordan is alive.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I like that a lot. Well, that makes a that makes a ton of sense. I mean that I like that. I think that's kind of cool. Yeah. So we'll see. We'll see. We'll see where this goes. I think that's a cool idea.
SPEAKER_00All right. Well, I think we'll wrap it up there, finally. And uh so many technical difficulties. But um, all right, well, we will uh see you guys next week. Bye bye.