Lanterns has been an unadulterated success for HBO Max and the DCU. Following up House of the Dragon is no easy feat, and setting the complicated and floundering DCU back on its feet seemed an impossible task before the show launched.

But then, all the fears were put to rest. It was a top-five HBO series premiere. It has been a huge hit with critics and fans alike (94% critics and 80% audience score). And after episode three, it’s clear that there are thematic layers beyond the typical superhero show.

There’s just one unfortunate problem.

Lanterns Season 1 is Just Too Short

By almost every metric, Lanterns has been a hit. It’s got great review scores, it’s dominating the discourse in film and television right now, and the streaming numbers back up the idea that everyone is watching the show. It is the definitive media property at this moment.

There are certainly problems with the show. Almost no show is perfect, though Lanterns has been pretty close so far. And while the major problem with the first season of the show has nothing to do with the actual content, it is a problem nonetheless. The season is too short.

While the first three episodes have been perfectly paced, it has still left the show with a ton to explore in the final five episodes of the first season. The good news is that it’s not a limited series, so there should be more seasons in the future. Nothing has been greenlit yet, though it feels likely given how successful the show has been.

The problem is that a lot of what’s being explored needs to be wrapped up by the end of this Lanterns season, since they (SPOILER) revealed at the end of episode one that Hal Jordan is dead in our current DCU. The timeline where Superman and Supergirl exist has no Jordan because he is dead.

That’s the kind of thing that can’t be left until a future season, especially with Guy Gardner being in Superman and John Stewart poised to appear in Man of Tomorrow. And while the Manhunter issue is technically the central mystery, a big piece of the show is what exactly happened to Hal 10 years later.

That’s two things that have to be addressed in the final five episodes, but there’s more. John has to get to the point where he can be included in Man of Tomorrow. We are undoubtedly going to get some of the backstory between Hal and Sinestro (and perhaps just more of Hal’s origin and connection to the Stewart family). There are so many conversations being had about race, generational trauma, legacy, fear, and more that will probably be further explored, too.

While there’s no reason to panic just yet, especially since the first three episodes have given no reason to, it is an unfortunate byproduct of modern television that it’s an eight-episode season. I don’t want to sound like a “back in my day” person and say that this deserves a 22-episode season, but it should be longer. For selfish purposes, yes, but also because there’s just so much to get into.

And in the modern TV era, speaking of, television shows, even successful ones, get cancelled all the time (looking at you, Wonder-Man). There’s no guarantee that there will be a season two or anything beyond that, so hopefully, the creators put everything necessary into these eight episodes, which is a daunting task. Nothing is guaranteed, and it would be a shame if some of these excellent plot threads were left untouched.

Ultimately, though, this is a personal complaint and fear because the first season of one of the best new shows is so short. They certainly have the capacity to get it done, but more breathing room would leave me feeling a little more confident that this season will wrap up perfectly, just like it started.