Whilst Halo Season 2 has improved upon its previous season, the end result demonstrates a show uncertain of its identity outside the both beloved and hated games.
(Spoilers for Season 1 ahead).
Unlike Season 1 of Halo, Season 2 decides to push itself boldly into the established lore of the Halo universe – firstly by bringing in some new faces to take up popular roles and secondly by bringing the Fall of Reach to the screen. It is a shame that the show still struggles to keep the core values of Halo whilst establishing their own original cannon within the Silver Timeline.
Season 2 takes place a few months after Season 1 ended – Chief has made a total recovery and is back with Silver Team, though the price extracted to keep him alive is one he’ll have to come to face. Though this isn’t 117 only enemy this season. Whilst Makee’s death still weighs heavily on the Spartan leader, he now has to content with Colonel Ackerson of ONI, played fantastically by Vampire Diaries and Originals alum Joseph Morgan. Ackerson, now more for his part in the Halo novels, brings an interesting divergence from the typical narrative of Halo which often sees the Chief facing off against overwhelming odds and somehow mircaculously surviving. It pits John 117 against the Office of Naval Intelligence who, for some reason, are keeping the invasion of Reach in the dark.
But its not just ONI and the Covenant that Master Chief have to face down this season. As he becomes a symbol for the war effort, Master Chief must look inside himself and find out what exactly it is he’s fighting for – not just as a Spartan of the UNSC but as a man who’s heroism comes from something deeper than drug trials and a super-suit.
Season 2’s eight episodes are action packed and filled with promise that was missing in its first outing. Like Netflix’s The Witcher, it seems fan response and a change in the writers room has properly motivated Paramount to produce a show that more accurately captures the tone and the story that is central to the Master Chiefs journey.
Make no mistake though, the show still has problems – at many a time very few of the characters so far introduced feel as though they have been established within this narrative. Characters such as Captain Keys (Danny Sapani) feel much reduced from their original source material. And newcomers such as Corporal Talia Parez (Christina Rodlo) seem uncertain as to where exactly they fit in.
The simple fact of the matter is that, despite recovering from their first outing, the series still feels a little lack cluster at times. Pablo striders master chief still feels rough around the edges and doesn’t resemble the character we’ve come to know in love from the games. Perhaps this is unfair, given that Pablo’s performance this season, as with much of season two, is an improvement upon season one.
Even The Covenant feel like more of an actual threat as they managed to defeat humanity at every single turn. New villains, such as The Arbiter (not the one from the games, most likely the predecessor to him) and the other present manipulations of the ONI provide a sense of subterfuge to this war and correctly villainises the people in power behind Earth and its planets military forces.
If I’m being honest, I would’ve liked to see a few more episodes of this season. There was a real sense of momentum in the first four episodes. It does feel like the show was put on notice, as if Paramount limited amount of episodes was an effort to say ‘you really have to prove yourself’. And they absolutely did.
It’s taken awhile, but the show has finally arrived at its titular destination, and we now closer than ever to seeing the plot of the games actualised… With a few adjustments. Overall, halo is a fantastic series with a brilliant second outing. Those still needs to earn its place separate from the continuity established by a long series of both fantastic and terrible video games.
Halo seasons one and two are streaming now on Paramount plus.
