Halo Season 2 Review: A New Season That Starts from The Right Changes
Stars: Pablo Schreiber, Natascha McElhone, Joseph Morgan
Director: Debs Paterson
Streaming Platform: Paramount+
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four stars)
Halo Season 2 on Paramount+ in the name of revolution, renewal, the desire to be more in line with the videogame universe, and what the feedback (ruthless it must be said) had indicated as the most serious shortcomings in the first part. Mission accomplished for Master Chief, who is finally as we had always dreamed of him, as well as the rest, from an aesthetic point of view, fully embracing science fiction in the most classic and even highest sense. Truly a nice sigh of relief, a nice recovery, after all, it would have been a crime to do otherwise. The first season of ‘Halo: The Series‘ was quite good, but fans of the franchise were somewhat disappointed with some of the decisions made by those responsible. This caused the team to change completely for the second season, and now that I have been able to see the first episodes of season 2 of ‘Halo, I can say that these small modifications have suited it very well If you’re a Halo fan, you’ll get pissed off again sometimes.
Two years after the first season, a new batch of eight chapters arrives, in which the war between humans and Covenant will reach new heights of intensity, setting in motion the events seen in the Halo video games on Xbox, although with important differences. We have seen the first four episodes of the season, and we can affirm that, at least in this first half, Halo is a stronger, better-constructed, and more satisfying series. It premieres with a double episode on February 9 and then an episode per week on Paramount+. However, I always say the same thing: adaptations of a video game can be free, without always having to be attached to the original format. After all, a series or a movie is a different format from gaming and has its narrative conventions, so changes, if implemented correctly, are welcome.
Halo Season 2 Review: The Story Plot
This new season of Halo picks up where we left off, with Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber also now a producer) who is called to seek a compromise with his new superior, Colonel James Ackerson (Joseph Morgan), who has succeeded the fugitive Dr. Halsey (Natascha McElhone) is in command of a team in which new members and old problems continue to coexist. After discovering something about his past, Master Chief is left with doubts and hesitations about the role he and his team will have in the fight against the Covenant, who he senses is preparing something big, but he doesn’t understand exactly what. He is not believed by Ackerson, whose position and strategy do not always appear clear. Meanwhile, unanswered questions remain: where has the artificial intelligence Cortana gone? Who is he and what fate awaits humanity? What role can the Rubble resistance play in all this? Only the Halo seems to be the resource they need. Or not?
The first season of Halo was one of the biggest television disappointments of recent years. It arrived on Paramount+ with a lot of expectations, with a lot of hopes, not only for the massive number of fans of the most famous video game saga of all time but for science fiction lovers in general. But instead of having something faithful or in any case coherent with what was given to us by Seropian’s Bungie in 2001, from showrunners Kyle Killen and Steven Kane we had a sort of inconsistent and not very cohesive mix of different short-lived narrative lines, devoid of their true driving force, of an ability to give us something that would honor that very varied and varied gaming world. There’s no denying it, Halo represents something so iconic, so important in the triumph of video games in our civilization, that breaking away from it as it was done was a gross mistake.
Pablo Schreiber himself had recently criticized the first season, above all with the desire to also create a sentimental dimension for his Master Chief without a reason, the digressing too much into parallel narrative lines on the secondary characters which then, gradually went on, they were simply pushed aside with bad grace. Even more importantly, Halo did not have an aesthetic up to par, at various times it was noted that the CGI, the sets, and the direction of the action scenes themselves, were not so dissimilar to those of a B-movie, someone even risked a fan movie, despite the vastness of the budget available. All of this was the result of a rather troubled production process with substitutions, changes, departures… all defects which, however, this second season seems to have understood and remedied.
The first season of Halo suffered from an identity crisis. As a video game adaptation, it deviated too much from canon, with a humanized Master Chief that many fans did not recognize (especially without the helmet). As a first approach to the world of Halo for a new viewer, it was an overexposure of information with no emotional anchor to support it. The result was a series that could rarely fully satisfy anyone, neither the fan nor the neophyte, but that had enough virtues (interesting and gray characters, genuinely brutal action scenes) to deserve a second chance. And from what we have been able to see, they know how to take advantage of it. The first thing you should know is that one of the biggest defects of the first season, the division into two parallel plots (that of Master Chief and the Spartans in the UNSC, and that of Soren and Kwan on the planet Madrigal) has been corrected in this one, at least as far as we can see.
Now everyone rows towards the same place, which is the imminent arrival of the war against the Covenant on Reach, the main human colony. Those who have played the games (particularly the prequel Halo: Reach) or read the novel that accompanied the first Halo Combat Evolved from 2001 can imagine what will happen. The counterpoint to this is that, in the first chapters, the action is scarce. While the first season began with a surprising (and disproportionately violent) battle scene, season 2 opens with a more low-key action scene, shrouded in the gloom of fog. Appropriate, yes, for the first steps of the season: secrecy and conspiracies within the UNSC, much changed after the end of the previous season, in which James Ackerson replaced Dr. Halsey in command of the ONI.
This new character is one of the great successes of the season, thanks to a magnetic performance by Joseph Morgan, the kind of character that we are going to love to hate for the rest of the season. Dr. Halsey is now a fugitive, but she is still present in the plot, although for now with a minor role, and for the moment inconsequential, the same as Soren and Kwan, who after completing their alliance in the first season are now looking for reasons to stay relevant in history. Whether they succeed or not is something we still don’t know. Those who benefit the most from this new batch of chapters are undoubtedly the Spartan companions of the Silver Team: Vannak, Kai, and Riz in particular (Nathasha Culzac) present a greater evolution, now freed from Halsey’s yoke, questioning orders and reflecting on his existence.
And how about John-117, our Master Chief? Well, more quarrelsome and protestant than ever, now that he is “independent” and doesn’t even have Cortana. The fate of the AI seems to be one of the biggest unknowns of the series (including aesthetic changes that have not convinced us at the moment). Although some fans are angry because, in these first episodes, he wears the helmet even less than in the first season, it is difficult not to get excited watching Pablo Schreiber argue with Ackerson or his teammates. This actor has always been one of the best things about the series, no matter what they say, and here he continues his evolution as a leader, without giving up more sensitive moments (but without the forced romanticism of the first season), like the ones he shares with another of the new additions, rookie marine Talia Pérez (Cristina Rodlo).
Halo Season 2 Review and Analysis
The creators of the Halo Series took it very seriously to change what didn’t work in the first season. If you were thinking about the cliffhanger of the last chapter, here there is a total disconnection and there are moments in which the series seems like a reboot. However, what may be a negative point, I think it works in its favor because it allows us to fully enter a darker and harsher series than the one, we saw almost two years ago. I have to say that the plot with which ‘Halo: The Series‘ begins is well known to Halo fans, but I think they will also notice some changes that have been introduced that may generate some controversy. Perhaps the biggest problem with the Halo Series is the nickname ‘the series’, which seems to give shape to a 100% faithful adaptation that in reality is not. Those responsible for it and Showtime want to create a dark product that fits with the spirit of the network (although it is broadcast through Paramount+), and to do so, small plot modifications must be made, like those we witness in this second season. Without wanting to go deeper into the plot of season 2 of the Halo Series, I think it can be summarized in a story more attached to video games, and at the same time with a certain personality.
This, together with the greater action present in each episode, results in a much more entertaining season, although perhaps also divisive. When you have the opportunity to watch season 2 of the Halo Series, you will notice that these chapters are much more mature on a plot level, with arcs and stories that have greater weight than in the first season. The characters have also evolved, although others like Cortana have been left in the background with a redesign that is, to say the least, controversial. And visually, ‘Halo: The Series‘ is going to mark a before and after when it comes to television adaptations of a video game, without reaching the level of excellence of The Last of Us: the CGI has been improved and the direction photography is very powerful. Also pay attention to the successful action sequences, which will leave you with your mouth open on more than one occasion.
Halo makes a nice turn right from the first minutes, and corrects the course, first of all with regards to the setting, the atmospheres, in which we find clear references not only to what Ridley Scott gave us forty years ago with his Blade Runner, but also to what Denis Villeneuve included in the sequel a few years ago. And here we are in fact in a dark, violent, classist metropolis, among dangerous planets, but then the connections to Asimov, to Starship Troopers, to Alien, to all that cinematic and also literary universe that has proposed us a future of uncertainty and tyrannical technology. The new season bears the signature of David Wiener, who puts aside any desire to ingratiate himself with the general public and opts for a sci-fi product tout court, without any second thoughts. There is also a good ability to provide tension, we also notice greater care in the screenplay which however also becomes an advocate of greater depth as regards the psychology of the characters.
Not only Master Chief, to whom Schreiber continues to fit like a glove and give her a spirit that is as stoic as it is fragile, but also Soren-066, Riz-028, Miranda, David Wiener, and the new entries are well structured. The visual aspect appears much more refined, it also seemed clear to Paramount from the feedback that what we had been offered was not up to the fans’ expectations. In short, this second season of Halo is a nice turnaround, also in terms of the quality of the script and dialogues, which although connected to an entertainment product, knows how to strike the right chords. Fans of the Halo saga will notice major connections with the novel “Halo: Fall of Reach”, basically the cornerstone of the narrative universe of the entire franchise.
The action scenes are excellent compared to the first season, in terms of concept, fluidity, and the ability to want to be plausible. Of course, there remains the feeling of a sort of dutiful act, of the fact that it was not possible to do what Apple was able to do with The Foundations: create an alternative universe from a diegetic point of view, even if faithful from a semantic one. Halo continues to lack real audacity, as well as the ability to create something truly new and innovative in the sci-fi genre. In any case, given the disaster of the first, this second season of Halo passes the exam with flying colors, which is not to be taken for granted given how cancellation or insisting despite everything remain the most popular options for productions today.
The change of showrunner has been good for Halo. Although this first half of the season starts somewhat slowly, and there are still pieces whose function is to be determined, it serves as a true first act of a much larger, more important, and focused story. Instead of saturating with information and diverting attention with multiple subplots, the season takes its time to build up tension and allow the characters to enjoy some “calm calm” before things explode: yes, we can tell you that, when Things explode, explode in a big way, with one of the best chapters of the series so far.
Without seeing how the season continues, it is difficult to find too many defects, beyond the CGI, which is still somewhat irregular, although it is a much smaller problem, especially because the action scenes and choreography are brilliantly directed and are as impressive as the first season. These four episodes predict a great future for Paramount+’s Halo and if they take advantage of the momentum, this score could very well rise a few points when analyzing the season as a whole and become one of the great television adaptations of video games.
Halo Season 2 Review: The Last Words
If the first season of Halo was spoiled by an unconvincing and at times forcibly epic narrative construction, the second narrative arc of the Paramount+ series sweeps away any doubts. Leaving aside the dogmatic adherence to the events told in the video games or derivative works, the return of Halo shows evident narrative solidity. Continuing from what we saw in the previous episodes, the plot of the series comes alive with a convincing synergy between the events involving future humanity and the inner dimension of the characters.
Halo Season 2 Review: A New Season That Starts from The Right Changes - Filmyhype
Director: Debs Paterson
Date Created: 2024-02-08 18:17
4
Pros
- Improved focus: Many reviewers agree that Season 2 has a clearer focus on the war between the UNSC and the Covenant, something that was lacking in the first season.
- Deeper exploration of Master Chief: There's more emphasis on John-117's internal struggles and humanity, making him a more relatable character.
- Better action: The action sequences are generally considered to be more exciting and well-choreographed than in Season 1.
- Stronger performances: Pablo Schreiber continues to impress as Master Chief, and the supporting cast delivers more consistent performances this time around.
Cons
- Deviations from the source material: Like Season 1, Season 2 takes significant liberties with the Halo lore, which may alienate some fans.
- Unresolved mysteries: The season introduces new mysteries without providing satisfying answers, leaving some viewers feeling frustrated.
- Uneven pacing: The story can drag at times, and some characters are underutilized.
