- Also known as Halo: The Series
- Developed by Kyle Killen and Steven Kane
- March 24, 2022 to Present
- Paramount+
- Based on the Halo game series by Xbox Game Studios
Main Cast
- Master Chief Petty Officer John-117/Spartan-117-Pablo Schreiber
- Admiral Margaret Parangosky-Shabana Azmi
- Riz-028-Natasha Culzac
- Kwan Ha-Yerin Ha
- Vannak-134-Bentley Kalu
- Kai-125-Kate Kennedy
- Makee-Charlie Murphy
- Admiral Jacob Keyes-Danny Sapani
- Cortana-Christina Bennington
- Soren-066-Bokeem Woodbine
- Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey-Natascha McElhone
- Laera-Fiona O’Shaughnessy
- Kessler-Tylan Bailey
- Colonel James Ackerson-Joseph Morgan
- Talia Perez-Cristina Rodlo
Recurring Cast
- Prophet of Mercy-Julian Bleach (voice)
- Louis-036-Marvin Jones III
- Danilo-Christian Ochoa Lavernia
Guest Cast
- The Mother-Olwen Fouéré
- Antares-Ivanno Jeremiah
- Julia-BronteCarmichael
- Ackerson’s Father-Bill Paterson
Religiously zealous aliens threaten human existence as they search for artifacts which they believe will usher in a new existence for them.
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Halo is a rich and complicated game universe. My playing of it has been minimal with most of my experience with the game watching others play it but what I’ve seen says that there is plenty there to adapt into something intelligent and sophisticated that would easily engage the non-fan and please the knowledgeable gamer too.
Sadly in Season One they took the basic mythology in broad strokes (at best) and applied it to characters and situations with very little in common with the source material. It was clear then that these were not people strongly appreciative of the source material. While it would satisfy people interested in space-based science-fiction, it was not as deep as it could’ve been. Yet maybe because of hate watchers or may because it has a genuine fanbase, Paramount+ greenlit a second season and here we are.
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Sanctuary
- Directed by Debs Paterson
- Written by David Wiener
- February 8, 2024
It’s nice to see them focusing on Master Chief’s (Pablo Schreiber) feelings. I mean that after all is what the games are all about. Not action. Not dealing with the Covenant. Not a grand eon spanning mythology. Master Chief and what he feels on the inside. There’s nothing else to worry about in all of Halo. Seriously though Master Chief spends too much of this episode getting angry as well as looking inward.
What is the deal with that introduction of Halsey’s replacement Colonel James Ackerson (Joseph Morgan)? He adds nothing to the meeting we first encounter him at. His character shows up, is mysterious and a little sinister, and then breezes out. All he does is act antagonistic towards the Spartans. It’s not as if he starts out as part of the meeting and the meeting takes a turn. That’s just what he does right off the bat. Then again this is what you get when you hire CW level writers/producers who hire CW actors.
Bokeem Woodbine shows up once again as Soren-066. Within a few words of dialogue I knew exactly what was going to happen to his character. There is no mystery which is rather unfortunate. I was just wondering how long it would take them to get there. And as I said elsewhere the obvious isn’t bad as long as those behind the production make the trip interesting and this wasn’t interesting at all.
From the looks of it somehow these events now connect to the return of super awesome revolutionary girl Kwan Ha (Yerin Ha). I don’t know how but she is saying all this mysterious stuff about a monster right after the UNSC forces take Soren-066 into custody. I was not a fan of hers to begin with and am disappointed to see her shoehorned more intimately into some generic space psychic stuff that even Stevie Wonder could see was important.
And why did it take all this time to finally capture Soren? I’m not even talking about just from the start of the show. Who and what he was clearly was no secret. He wasn’t a minor pirate but somebody of some significance. So that begs the question: why now? Is this just to screw the character over or will it play into the overall series as part of some plot.
The one thing they got right out of the whole entire first season has been removed from Master Chief’s mind. I’m not sure if they hinted that she is still buried within him somehow because it also seemed like they were kind of were hinting at Makee (Charlie Murphy) who deflowered Master Chief in Season One. Master Chief was also making a holographic sex worker look like Cortana while thinking about Makee so it was all confusing. Then again this is a show rife with poor writing.
As per usual, this show keeps Master Chief largely out of his helmet which makes him into just another character. He’s not a mysterious other. He’s not a soldier separated from his humanity. He is just another one of these petty cast offs from a CW teen drama-emotionally stunted or overly emotional at the wrong moment.
Visually this is absolutely stunning. The problem is it doesn’t get the concept right. This is like any number of police or rescue or whatever shows with adults who are extremely wrapped up in their own personal ambitions or drives or plots that you as a viewer are wondering how they were ever get able to get into a position where they have authority or power. This has all the intellectual depth and complexity of a game of checkers.
The closing moments of Season One promised to reset things in a more game authentic way. Maybe not entirely but this runs in the completely opposite direction. While a visually satisfying episode as worthwhile science fiction it leaves you a bit wanting. It plays at complexity, it pretends to be complex, but it’s really just superficial.
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Sword
- Directed by Debs Paterson
- Written by Ahmadu Garba
- February 8, 2024
Ugh! Kwan Ha (Yerin Ha) and now Soren‘s son Kessler (Tylan Bailey) are getting significant screen time. Spunky awesome girl and sort of precocious son together for a mediocre story! While there are supporting characters in the Halo game universe, the main character is Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber). He is the linchpin upon which so much turns yet he is continually pushed aside for new, less interesting characters.
In the games Master Chief had the respect to one extent her another of those around him but here he barely has the respect of his own squad. More importantly he has no respect coming from Ackerson (Joseph Morgan) who is continually being antagonistic towards Master Chief.
Rising in the ranks requires a certain political acumen, so pushing buttons and creating animosity needlessly feels like a play right out of The CW. It does not help that Joseph Morgan got his big break on The Vampire Diaries. Admittedly Ackerson doubts Master Chief but he’s doing nothing really to sway those doubts or prove them right. He is just trying to pick a fight.
I need to mention something. It has been something that has been occurring since Season One. An ongoing change. The Spartan Program was initially framed as some secret program but as the season progressed it kind of felt like a secret program with an open-door policy that eventually was known by the public. Huh? There is a great deal of common knowledge about this continuing in Season Two. I think somebody even in the general public mentioned that Master Chief was replaced by a clone as a kid.
Coms Team member Talia Perez (Cristina Rodlo) looks well on her way to becoming important because the cast of this show wasn’t bloated enough. We get to meet her and her family when Master Chief goes to her place to ask questions. Perez expresses her feelings by having a good cry with John. Crying is a human reaction, but it always seems that in TV shows and film women cry when they’re having a serious discussion. You can talk about something serious without breaking down into tears.
And Makee (Charlie Murphy) is apparently still alive. Yay? So many of the less appealing elements of Season One are made clear that they will continue to be a part of Season Two. At least Sanctuary ended on a high note with possible action on the part of Silver Team.
Speaking of Silver Team, does anybody monitor these guys? They’re all taking their pellets out with absolutely no consequences. This pellet is designed to suppress a lot of things in order to keep them psychologically in peak fighting performance at the cost of their humanity. Considering that these are all significant assets for the UNSC it would be logical they would get semi-regular medical exams. Logic is missing. I’m not talking that of reality but one that works in the fictional world that is presented.
Sanctuary seems to be doubling down on all the worst aspects of Season One. From Master Chief never really being in his suit to the return of Makee to everybody so focused on their own personal agendas with the war storyline falling in the background we are certainly getting more of the CW same. My hopes for the future of this show are dim.
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Visegrad
- Directed by Craig Zisk
- Written by Marisha Mukerjee
- February 15, 2024
So that unauthorized mission that Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber) took his team on added little to the story and advanced no plot lines. It was just to get him in trouble. What could have been some cool action or something to advance the war story fizzled in seconds. It is the bait and switch often found in low budget shows. And now he doesn’t even have the support of his fellow troops. How can this man lead anyone into battle if their support dissolves so rapidly under outside pressure?
We get more on Kessler (Tylan Bailey) and super awesome revolutionary girl Kwan Ha (Yerin Ha) along with Kessler’s mom Laera (Fiona O’Shaughnessy). The cast continues to expand as do the subplots. But those are not the only people getting more screentime. Riz-028 (Natasha Culzac) is now getting her own story where we delve into her feels. Halo may be based on a videogame, but what we get is nothing other than the side quests.
We learn Ackerson (James Morgan) has no love for Spartans. Turns out his sister was one of the failures. Why would ANY government give somebody with a personal axe to grind control over a program that is strategically important as well as great for public relations? You’re an unpopular government and you give control of a public relations plus to a guy that might want to destroy it? This feels like illogical writing.
The plot to get Soren (Bokeem Woodbine) off The Rubble is about a treasure (pirate stuff because he is one) but also that somebody named Ruby wants to take over The Rubble. Who is Ruby? I honestly have no idea. Are they a new character or somebody shown earlier that was utterly forgettable. Don’t know.
Where did the bond between Kwan Ha and Laera come from? Kwan Ha risked a lot to save Laera but she also left Kessler on his own. That kid is in the single digits from the looks of it and she leaves him to fend for himself on a transport going to who knows where just to save Laera.
This doubles down and expands upon everything wrong with the series. Illogical decision making on the part of the characters to needless antagonism based on personal vendetta‘s. I’m not saying people have to be perfect or not have their own drives, but this episode as well as the preceding to have been more soap opera than drama.
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Halo Season Two so far looks to be embracing all the bad elements of modern television/streaming shows. Petty squabbles and a focus on the minor.
Warren Watched A Movie 