One last wink: Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan says goodbye in the Lanterns finale
The comment section has one question: if it was only a hologram fading out, how did it know to call John Stewart "Junior"?
HBO MaxStory of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 282,862 views a day, 13 times a normal first day on this channel (22,150).
One last wink. #Lanterns
In the season finale of Lanterns, Hal Jordan goes out the way he lived, with one last joke at John Stewart's expense. HBO Max cut that moment into a short, "One last wink. #Lanterns," and it passed 300,000 views in about a day, on a channel where a new short usually ends its first day near 22,000. People wrote under it about twenty times faster than they usually do.
The scene belongs to Kyle Chandler's Hal and Aaron Pierre's John. From what viewers describe, Hal's projection seems to be glitching away. John tells him he loves him, Hal answers by calling him Junior, and then comes the wink of the title.
That nickname is what the comment section keeps turning over. Several viewers point out that a hologram should not know to use it. Some wonder whether Hal faked the glitch just to hear John say the words first. Others think something of the real Hal must have survived. One of the most liked comments simply credits Chandler with making his Hal a character people fell for. A short from the weekend had already billed him as Coach Jordan, a nod that Friday Night Lights viewers would not miss.
The finale, "Dirt and Stars," closed an eight-episode season that is now streaming in full. HBO Max put two other videos up around it. An Inside Episode 8 featurette with Pierre, Chandler and Kelly Macdonald also ran far ahead of the channel's usual first day. The last episode of the official podcast has Juju Green sitting down with co-creators Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King to talk through Hal's death and the new Green Lantern oath that John takes on.
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What viewers say
One last prank at John. Truly, the most Hal thing to do before fading away.
@Death_Korps_OfficerSee it on YouTubeKyle Chandler made us fall in love with his Hal Jordan performance.
@jamainegardner4193See it on YouTubeI feel like a widow now... my sundays won't be the same
@GabrielFontes99See it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
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- Channel
- HBO Max
- Subscribers
- 3,190,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 12,992,985
- Channel views, pace per day
- 1,066,946 (on a normal day: 5,503,243)
- Video published
- October 5, 2026
- Video views so far
- 309,742 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 290,281
The numbers
A short goodbye scene, and a first day far beyond what this channel's shorts usually see.
💡 Test your knowledge
Before playing Hal Jordan, Kyle Chandler starred as Coach Eric Taylor in which series?
Kyle Chandler played Coach Eric Taylor across all five seasons of Friday Night Lights and won an Emmy for the role in 2011.
