Lanterns Star Poorna Jagannathan Is Almost Unrecognizable In This Underrated Hulu Sitcom

Since her breakout Hollywood performance in the HBO crime drama "The Night Of" in 2016, Poorna Jagannathan has been a low-key fixture in prestige drama and comedy, with roles in "Better Call Saul," "The Blacklist," "Ramy," "Big Little Lies," and "Never Have I Ever." But if you only know her as Lucky from the underrated and recently canceled Hulu sitcom "Deli Boys," then you might not recognize her in DC Comics' live-action adaptation "Lanterns." 

From the moment that the HBO series gets started, we're thrust into a series of mysteries. One of the most enigmatic people that Green Lantern Corps veteran Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and his protégé John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) encounter is Jagannathan's Zoe Macon, whose casting announcement describes her as casually self-assured and more than capable of holding her own in a battle of wits against the likes of Jordan, Stewart, and her planetary nativist husband William Macon (Garret Dillahunt). 

These attributes are also on display in Jagannathan's scene-stealing performances in the two-seasons of "Deli Boys," but while Zoe is subtle and mysterious, Lucky is mercilessly emphatic. Also, Lucky has a mob wife's garish fashion sensibility and much bigger hair than Zoe.

"Deli Boys," one of the best shows streaming on Disney+, follows Pakistani American brothers Mir (Asif Ali) and Raj Dar (Saagar Shaikh) whose lives are turned upside down when they learn that their entrepreneurial immigrant father Arshad "Baba" Dar (Iqbal Theba) was running both a convenience store chain and an underground crime ring. When he suddenly passes away, circumstances force them to help continue the family business.

Poorna Jagannathan's Lucky, who served as Baba's consigliere, takes on the seemingly insurmountable task of turning her nephews into bona fide gangsters. Zoe and Lucky may have a few things in common, but Jagannathan's "Deli Boys" character is much funnier ... even while engaging in homicidal violence. 

Whatever Hulu's reasons for ending "Deli Boys" might've been, the show probably didn't get canceled for taking itself too seriously.