Halo (1×02) Unbound Review

For our review of the last episode of Halo, click here.

With the major players out of the way, it’s time for the story to really begin.

Following up the events of last week’s premiere, Master Chief/John is given more humanity as the series offers a glimpse into his origin story and his indoctrination and development into a Spartan at a younger age. He was certainly a strong believer in the Spartan program and the mission early on but to put that in perspective, it is contrasted with the story of his friend Soren who did not share those beliefs as he caught him escaping their base. Despite that indoctrination, John still showed some care for his friend in aiding in his escape by giving him a head start.

That being said, there was still some figuring out to do in the present regarding himself and his current situation. This journey took John and Kwan to a place to hide out called Rubble, a refuge for various outcasts in the middle of an asteroid field. At this point, there were several parties interested in Kwan dead or alive, including the new UNSC-sympathetic leader of Madrigal, Vinsher Grath (Burn Gorman), who vowed to rid the planet of the previous regime. There they found Soren (Bokeem Woodbine) who had since rid himself of the effects of the Spartan program and had made a life for himself.

There was still some resentment between John and Soren but the chemistry between Schreiber and Woodbine made for a fun dynamic to watch. Meanwhile, the rest of the Spartan team, Kai-125 (Kate Kennedy), Vannak-134 (Bentley Kalu), and Riz-028 (Natasha Culzac), were not too far behind while Makee (Charlie Murphy), referred to by the Covenant as The Blessed One, was ready to do the job herself. Despite the objections of her inner circle, being a human was obviously an advantage. In the end, their trip was not in vain as they discovered the truth about the Covenant artifact and John’s connection to it.

John was one who can summon a weapon that would end existence or one who could stop it by destroying it and himself. As far as he was concerned, he needed to go back to the UNSC and Halsey, who in the meantime leveraged the situation with Master Chief to push her Cortana artificial general intelligence project, for answers but as far as he was concerned, was going to do it alone thus leaving Kwan behind on Rubble with Soren. However, John certainly made it hard for himself and the Spartan program. Nevertheless, Halsey was still on his side, if only to stop his regression away from his programming. Her smile made those ulterior motives abundantly clear if it wasn’t already. She was and has always been in it for herself. McElhone does a great job at keeping it just below the surface.

Perhaps going back to Halsey was a mistake?

still courtesy of Paramount

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.