‘Lanterns’: Poorna Jagannathan and Garret Dillahunt Unpack Those Zoe Manhunter Twists

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Episodes 4 and 5 of Lanterns. Lanterns may have finally revealed the truth about Zoe Macon (Poorna Jagannathan), but Episode 5 makes it clear that being a Manhunter is only part of her story.

After Episode 4 exposed Zoe as the mysterious figure John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) have been hunting, the latest episode pulls back the curtain on how she and her husband, William Macon (Garret Dillahunt), have quietly controlled Rushville for years. While William has presented himself as the powerful man at the center of town, Zoe has been able to stay safely in the background, building a network of people indebted to her for everything she has given them.

But the arrival of the Lanterns threatens the world the Macons have built, and Episode 5 forces both Zoe and William out of the roles they have carefully played. TV Insider spoke with Jagannathan and Dillahunt about the real power dynamic between the couple, whether the Macons actually see themselves as villains, and the deadly consequences of Zoe believing she understands humans better than they understand themselves.

In truth, William and Zoe are the perfect couple. They both know how to manipulate others and use fear to their advantage. How do those differences define them?

Poorna Jagannathan: Zoe uses them to hide, so she will manipulate their perceptions. She has William be in the forefront, and Zoe can just hide behind him, so she’s not detected.

Garret Dillahunt: He is used to being the most powerful guy in town. He’s a big fish in a small pond. He’s wealthy. He’s got his own militia. Things are starting to heat up a little bit when the Lanterns show up. They are starting to encroach on our territory, and I’m starting to be afraid for my partner’s safety. That’s his modus operandi for his is fear and intimidation. Unfortunately, these guys feel no fear.

In Episode 4, we learn that Zoe is the Manhunter, which also changes how we understand William. What does that reveal tell us about the role these two have been playing together?

Jagannathan: There is a real sense that Zoe is who she is, and is comfortable in this town, being who she is. That first scene in Episode 5, where she makes that contract with Kerry, [we] really get the sense that she’s made that contract with every single person in town. So every single person in town owes her, which is why they are willing to take up arms for her.

But as soon as the Lanterns come, she has to go into hiding. We have to get the Lanterns out of here, right? Everyone knows they are onto me, so the whole town galvanizes to get the Lanterns to leave.

Dillahunt: It’s here that the power shift takes its true form. It seems like I’m the boss, but I’m the first mate. This whole time, I’ve been first mate. She’s the powerful figure. She saved my life. She set me up, and I love her for it. I owe her for it. And this is what we’ve been waiting for. This is what we’ve been rehearsing for all these years.

Your characters are portrayed as villains, especially in the beginning, but in reality, they are far more complex. Do you think they see themselves as victims, or even heroes?

Jagannathan: What I love about it is that she is presented as the “villain” or the “antagonist,” but you quickly realize it’s a primal need for survival.

It’s two superheroes who do not act like superheroes — they fall victim to their own power struggles and their own vices and greed — and Zoe is also as human as they come, in terms of emotions and needs. She’s taken a human form, so she feels very human.

Dillahunt: Sometimes I’m a little shocked that we are described as villains right out of the gate, in a way. I feel like he has a different idea about achieving the same end the Lanterns have. It might be a bit middle American, typical, but he knows who belongs here and who doesn’t. And his way of trying to protect that world is different then the Lanterns have. But I think Macon thinks of himself as a hero.

He holds Zoe in high regard as a hero. She saved the whole town.

Jagannathan: The Lanterns see us as a villain, and we see them as a villain. And the truth is, we are both the heroes and both the villains.

Dillahunt: William thinks he’s a good man. He’s doing the right thing. Can you imagine if the world had its own Manhunters? There’s no one in the hospital. The fruit trees are bursting out. Everyone is happy.

Jagannathan: It’s peaceful.

Dillahunt: It’s a real oasis in this crazy world. I think he’s fortunate to have lived that long under it. He should have been dead from cancer, and he’s not. He’s in this thriving little community riding his horse.

John P. Johnson / ©HBO / Courtesy Everett Collection

Do you think she is more dangerous because of her powers or because she understands people so well?

Jagannathan: Her understanding of humanity is what blindsides her at the end.

Because she knows her programming, and she knows how she can’t go against her programming; At the end of the day, she has to follow her programming. Even in times when she doesn’t want to. When she meets John Stewart and she makes that contract with John Stewart, she’s got him! Game over! She’s blinded by the fact that John goes against that contract and kills her at the end. She’s never met a person like that. She never met a person with so much integrity. At the end, she smiles. It’s a moment of deep respect.

I didn’t know I was a Manhunter until I read it. They didn’t tell me. Nothing. I was as shocked as everyone else. And I assumed it would be a man. Never in my universe did I think it would be me.

I asked Chris, going into Episode 5, “Now that she knows that they know, do I play her differently? Do I play her more mechanical? Or does my tone change? Does my motivation change?” His thing was, “The Manhunter has chosen the human life. She has chosen the human existence, the nature of humans; you are very much still human. But your survival mechanism, your need to survive at all costs, is what sets you apart.”

Lanterns, Sundays, 9/8c, HBO Max