Halo (1×03) Emergence Review

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

Things are starting to get interesting as all roads lead to the infamous keystone, a weapon that Master Chief/John may very well be the key to find and that connection became clearer as the series universe opened up and its pieces started to come together. That being said, there’s surely much more to the story yet to be revealed. Meanwhile, the introduction of a familiar character may be the key assuming they could be trusted.

The next character to get a quickie cold open backstory was Makee who was spared by the Covenant as she was believed to be someone special hence her title as the Blessed One. It certainly did not take her long to do some damage on her way to Madrigal in a horrific sequence where she conned her way onto a UNSC ship.

Admiral Parangosky (Shabana Azmi) disdain for Halsey continued, entrusting Miranda Keyes (Olive Gray) with a parallel team to research the artifact. Speaking of Halsey, her clone of herself was merely a means to an end with the episode foregoing the existentialism of it all, and the chance for more Natasha McElhones, to use her to get her Cortana (Jen Taylor) project off the ground by implanting her into John. Despite her perceived benefits, she was merely a means for Halsey to spy on him unbeknownst to John. However, that relationship saw some obvious growing pains, generating some fun moments thanks to the chemistry between Schreiber and Taylor.

In the end, John’s programming hindered him from connecting again with the artifact. It connected more with his human side therefore in order to move forward, he needed to find that side once again to understand his past and his memories which suggested a second artifact connected to his redacted past. Feeling things like a normal human again was an experience to say the least with the episode going out of its way to show. John needed to go back to his home planet to figure out the truth. Wanting to keep an eye on her investment, Halsey tagged along in search for the other artifact and what the two could possibly create and thus creating an opening for Keyes. Though there may be a risk in doing so, it was a risk she was willing to take because of Cortana though her loyalty to Halsey seemed to be faltering.

Kwan felt helpless and wanted to stop Grath. Keeping his eyes on her and the potential payday she would generate, Soren wasn’t too far behind as they also headed back for Madrigal. Woodbine and Ha as Kwan and Soren make a great pair and the potential of that relationship could make their journey a fun one though with Makee heading there as well, things could get tense for them.

Slowly but surely, Halo is making us care about its characters but whether or not it could sustain that remains to be seen. Though the production value is there for the most part, there are still silly moments that are hard to not look past.

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.