- 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
- Commander Miranda Keyes-Olive Gray
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
- Captain Briggs-Anna Koval
- Lt. Mullins-Dani Klupsch
Religiously zealous aliens threaten human existence as they search for artifacts which they believe will help usher in a new existence for them by leading them to a powerful device
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Onyx
- Directed by Otto Bathurst
- Written by Sarah McCarron
- March 7, 2024
This show is written by people that think cool or should-be-cool stuff is all it takes to make good science-fiction. A generation raised on spectacle or stuff just meant to impress. For example Kwan Ha (Yerin Ha) gets involved in further space magic stuff circumventing the need for anybody to be proactive. It also means less time for the better-known Halo stuff and more for this new crap.
We also get the Spartan-III Program with Kai-125 (Kate Kennedy) heading up the training. Among the volunteers (no kidnapping which may be an open secret) is Corporal Talia Perez (Cristina Rodlo) who had no real combat experience and was always up for a good emotional breakdown. She talks down to her superiors. Cries repeatedly. And she’s always right currently. Practically in the mold of Michael Burnham.
And Makee (Charlie Murphy) is back for more uninteresting action. And again her performance is that of a teenager about to have a meltdown. It’s not imposing or threatening. She’s just on the verge of a foot stomping tantrum.
Her long-distance boyfriend Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber) is on the run and when characters discuss a possible sighting of him he is described as the biggest human they have ever seen and he is heavily scarred. Really? He is not nearly as bulky as other characters and unless he was walking around shirtless there is no way anybody would see the scars. Did nobody think here? No. They were busy trying to sound cool.
There are the usual plots and counterplots that one would find in more simplistic narratives. The scenes in the show more often have one character dressing down another rather than actual character development. Somebody’s angry with A and dresses them down and tells them how terrible they are.
Visually good but narratively poor.
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Thermopylae
- Directed by Dennie Gordon
- Written by Ahmadu Garba
- March 14, 2024
I will start by saying Thermopylae is an improvement over the preceding episode and maybe over the preceding season. That is a really low bar to hurdle. Somebody in the lowest of lowriders could cross it and feel nothing. Not perfect or amazing but better.
What could have been genuine greatness in comparison to preceding material is hindered by the number of seasonal plot threads that are coming together in this episode. Thermopylae jumps around to so many different stories that before you become invested in what is being shown they move onto another making it difficult to care about anything happening. Difficult but not impossible.
The initial focus of the episode is the dynamic between Ackerson (Joseph Morgan) and Parangosky (Shabana Azmi). Despite looking like the internal villain of the season Ackerson has been refashioned into a more sympathetic character who is the victim of ONI and only trying to do good and wants the Spartan-III Program to be successful. F**k the already proven Spartan-IIs who he undermined and screwed at every opportunity! Ackerson has played the game for a long time and is now just developing doubts?
We get more on the crumbling relationship of Soren (Bokeem Woodbine) and Laera (Fiona O’Shaughnessy) because a dissolving marriage instead of an interstellar conflict is so much more interesting. We never see dissolving marriages in drama or science-fiction or television in general. What new territory!
And how can we forget Talia Perez (Cristina Rodlo)? She’s a Spartan-III because, well, reasons. I really have no idea how she got into that program and it’s really bothering me. She’s not a communications officer of any type in her squad. She doesn’t handle the radio in her group but rather appears to be in charge and has looked so from the last episode despite not officially being so.
Because of previous space magic incidents and Kwan Ha’s (Yerin Ha) growing importance to the entire series she solves a mystery introduced in this episode where some kind of device unlocks another device that holds some secret about human DNA and alien DNA. There’s no build up to it. It’s just dropped in to this episode.
Kwan Ha, Dr. Halsey (Natascha McElhone), and her daughter Commander Miranda Keyes (Olive Gray) all make the discovery which bothers me a bit. In the games Master Chief is largely the driver of discoveries and general action but here he barely factors.
Fifteen episodes in and we finally see an actual Halo ring despite the title of the show. And that was what made Thermopylae worthwhile. Not great but enough to get a long-suffering viewer like myself excited. It is just a tease, but I was like “Finally!”
We may get something worthwhile yet for the finale yet.
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While I can’t say I was overly thrilled, the most recent one did give me some hope for the final episode. We will see. Maybe Halo can deliver.
Warren Watched A Movie 