Lanterns: Infiltrating the Weenie

Sinestro’s supervillain vibes were already off the charts during his brief appearance in episode 2, where he actively encouraged Hal to see John as a threat. We return to this scene in the opening of episode 4 after last week’s flashbacks. Now, Sinestro goes a step further, advising Hal that he’ll have to kill John if he wants to retain control of the ring.

We know that Hal wasn’t always as obnoxious as he appears in 2016. He used to be more dedicated to his Lantern duties, and judging by the friendly demeanor of his decade-old holographic replica, that personality shift took place sometime in the past ten years—potentially in reaction to Sinestro’s betrayal. In 2016, Hal identifies as a lone wolf, stating that personal attachments are a weakness. Yet he appears to be in denial about his own lingering attachment to Sinestro, as evidenced by how easily Sinestro manipulates him during this prison visit.

Hal has traveled all the way to Sinestro’s prison to ask about Manhunters, but Sinestro refuses to answer until Hal has shared his thoughts on John’s traineeship. “All he does is follow orders,” Hal complains, describing John as “too perfect,” and saying that he’s just a “contingency plan” rather than Hal’s potential replacement. Hal’s resentment is embarrassingly close to the surface, and Sinestro’s advice is simple: John is the enemy, and Hal must now defeat him by any means necessary.

At present, John and Hal are hoping to identify the Manhunter in Rushville and hand them over to Antaan, the alien who kidnapped John in episode 2. But Sinestro suggests a different strategy. Hal should continue the investigation alone and deliver the Manhunter directly to the Guardians, thus proving his own worth and disgracing John in the process. (Since John chose not to tell the Guardians about the Manhunter’s existence, this plan would reveal his duplicity while Hal saves the day, offering a valuable asset to his bosses.) Sinestro also advises Hal to pretend that John really is proving himself, in the hopes that John will become overconfident and reckless. “Is that how you fooled me?” Hal asks bitterly.  

Back in Rushville, John is hard at work. Visiting a local gun store, he buys a sniper scope and installs himself in the town’s water tower, where Hal finds him surveilling William Macon’s compound. Apparently a helicopter keeps visiting Macon’s property at regular intervals, landing in a location that’s visible from Macon’s surrounding watchtowers, but hard to spot from outside. John notes that this is a perfect location for a “weenie,” an architectural term I’m fairly sure the show does not understand.

A weenie is a concept invented by Walt Disney for the theme parks: weenies are designed to attract attention, acting as “visual magnets” to help guide people around a park: the Tower of Terror, the big Disney castles, etc. But John is using the term to describe a building that’s purposefully hidden from outsiders. He only deduces its existence by watching the compound from afar, theorizing that the weenie would be a likely location for Macon’s secret benefactor (i.e., the Manhunter) to hide.  Maybe I’m misunderstanding something here, but there’s a significant difference between a visual magnet and a building that’s literally hidden from outside eyes—meaning this episode is named after a reference that doesn't fully make sense. Good word, though! 

Architectural nitpicking aside, watching the helicopter land near the weenie prompts Hal and John to hatch a plan. They need to infiltrate the weenie. Meeting up with Sheriff Kerry, they tell her about the Manhunter—and about Antaan’s threat to destroy the town if the Manhunter isn’t identified by tomorrow. Conveniently, this scene also eliminates Kerry as a suspect because her personal records date back to before when the Manhunter arrived on Earth with Abin Sur. (Kerry was born in Gotham, and since her surname is Kane, she may well be related to Bruce Wayne’s maternal family.)