Halo the series is owned by Paramount Plus
Directed by Otto Bathurst
The Fall of Reach has come and gone with some surprising changes to the status quo and many questions to answer before we finally get to that darn ring everyone keeps talking about. Still, a big event like that needs some time to decompress so it’s time for a budget-friendly talky episode that I tend to enjoy much more than the action. Sure, it’s there if you want it, but a show has to be more than that and this season has had a bad track record of developing its characters and establishing themes. Will this be the turning point for the series that I’ve been waiting for, or is it back to business as usual after the big mid-season blowout? Let’s find out!!
With the fall of Reach, humanity is on the brink of annihilation as few defenses remain between The Covenant and Earth. The UNSC is fighting amongst itself due to the machinations of Ackerson and the ONI, Makee (Charlie Murphy) managed to get one of the sacred artifacts off Reach before it blew up, and Silver Team lost Vannak (Bentley Kalu) in all the chaos. While Chief, Halsey, Soren, and Riz (Pablo Schreiber, Natascha McElhone, Bokeem Woodbine, and Natasha Culzac) were able to escape the planet with the help of Kwan Ha and Laera (Yerin Ha and Fiona O’Shaughnessy), there’s little hope to be found on that ship as they head their way to a remote mining planet where Soren and laera hope to find their son Kessler (Tylan Bailey). It’s a dark chapter for The Master Chief as the galaxy presumes him dead and the ONI did everything in their power to make it so. Chief is used to having his back against the wall, but with so much against him, can he get back on the saddle and finish the fight, wherever that fight may be? How is everyone else dealing with the fall of Reach and the loss of everyone there? Do you think maybe we can chill out on this planet for a while longer as it’s not bathed in constant darkness? I mean, it still doesn’t have sunlight but at least I can finally see what’s going on!
It’s no secret that season two’s abrupt changes to the established tone left me underwhelmed, to say the least, and while the last episode delivered on the promise of action, I was still left wondering what it was all for. Thankfully, we might have an answer to that question; not one that retroactively fixes the problems with the first three episodes of the season, but one that at least gives us hope for whatever happens next. This is, by far, the best episode of the season and is also one of the best episodes of the series, and all of this is achieved without firing any shots or punching any aliens in the face. Aside from an opening skirmish that explains how our heroes escaped, we’re left to sit and brood on what happened and the show finally allows these characters to be more than cardboard cutouts miming their way through a dime-store conspiracy thriller punctuated by sci-fi explosions. Grief is the main theme of the episode as everyone has their own way of dealing with it; some in healthier ways than others. Soren and Laera get a fantastic subplot as they finally get to hang out as a couple and see how they handle themselves as they try and find their missing child. Laera was almost a bit player in the last season and I love that they’ve given her so much to do here while Bokeem Woodbine continues to impress as the one character in this show who knows how to relax, but there’s a texture to it in this episode that points to this being an emotional wall he’s built up to protect himself rather than deal with difficult situations and the back and forth between him and his wife was the highlight of the episode for me.
Speaking of walls, Chief is in deep denial about everything that’s happened and can only think of dragging everyone to the next battle which is the conflict that drives the rest of the episode as he argues with Halsey, Kwan Ha, and even Riz about how to move forward. This, in some ways, mirrors a conflict Makee is having with the Arbiter (no, not that one), but where John is forced to confront the humanity and autonomy of his comrades, she is forced to manipulate him to do her bidding. It’s an interesting contrast as both occupy similar roles on their respective teams and Chief is ultimately being made better by the company he keeps and the losses he accepts whereas Makee is stuck being an outsider wherever she goes and I’m curious if there’s a path back for her or if she’s finally burned too many bridges with humanity. I’d be more interested in seeing if she will be instrumental in the Sangheili defection, but that’s perhaps a little too far ahead to start speculating on. By the way, you heard that right. The episode has both Makee and Kwan Ha; the two characters some fans have insisted are ruining the series. I couldn’t tell you if the great character work in this episode is enough to temper the performative outrage, but I’d be hard-pressed to find any reason to get in a fury over their appearances here as Kwan’s actions are in service of Chief’s arc and Makee is keeping us connected to the Covenant side of the war while also moving us closer to the Halo ring that everyone wants to get to. The character work in this episode is infinitely more interesting and engaging than anything with Ackerson and ONI which also leads us to the one sour note in the episode and that’s the stinger at the very end. Having her join up with Ackerson like this still doesn’t feel right despite the first three episodes nudging her in that direction, and having the big reveal be that she’s the leader of the Spartan III program leaves me ambivalent, to say the least. It feels like we’re starting to bloat the series with canon instead of letting it stand on its own as something separate from all of that. It’s one thing to use The Rubble and Soren as elements to flesh out the wider world; it’s another to drop Spartan III into this before we’ve even gotten to the Halo ring which either is going to shortchange the Spartan III storyline or be an unnecessary distraction to the Halo storyline. Still, I’m so impressed with how well this episode turned out that I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt and stay cautiously optimistic, at least for the time being. You finally earned your second chance, Halo. Let’s try not to blow it, okay?
The Reviewers Unite 