Halo (1×08) Allegiance Review

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

After a dreadful episode last week, Halo is back to some regularly scheduled programming as it resumes the Master Chief/John story which may very well now be the Master Chief/John and Makee story as they came to terms with their shared experience with the halo. Something was definitely coming. Schreiber and Murphy each deliver strong turns as John and Makee.

There’s a connection between the two characters that can’t be denied but nevertheless, her true allegiances were still a question. However, things were starting to tilt away from her previous captors as Makee increasingly came face-to-face with her own humanity for better or worse. Either way, she and John were not that different as their journeys have more or less echoed each other over the course of the season thus far though they could have been handled a touch better. Ultimately, it was all about finding that second artifact and the location of the Covenant. However, trusting Makee was still an issue but John certainly did as they took their relationship to the next level.

This did not go unnoticed by Halsey who continued her scheming from her semi-exile which was set to be a full exile. Trying to convince Makee to join her side was a failure, showing her true colors which weren’t so different from what she left behind (McElhone was pure sinister here). There was doubt there. Nevertheless, she still had the Spartans in her back pocket, or at least the ones who haven’t broken free. From there, the mutiny began, communications were severed, and the tension was at an all time high as she interrupted an attempted test between Makee and the UNSC artifact. The key was inevitably Cortana as she initiated a battle between John and the other Spartans minus an incapacitated Kai. What was an exciting fight scene eventually came to end with Kai who had freed herself.

The real trouble came for Makee whose former life was exposed and Halsey who was also exposed but didn’t care. Her mission came first as she was unwilling to give up despite suffering a fair share of losses here. She surely has a few more tricks up her sleeve. As far as the former was concerned, her only play was to make contact with the artifact thus prompting another surge which may very well be the end of her. Whether or not that is the case remains to be seen.

These are the characters the series should be focusing on instead of trying to force a world around them. Building from the inside out is much better than the outside in. It may be dated though not for any fault of its own but it should trust viewers more. Kwan and Soren were victims of a messy storyline, however, there are still some loose ends there despite the last episode. The season has quite the task ahead of itself to rectify things. That being said, if these last episodes are of any indication, that scenario is in the realm of possibility.

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.