Halo Season 1

Creator(s) - Steven Kane (Closer, The Last Ship) and Kyle Killen (Awake, Fear Street: Part One - 1994)

Starring - Pablo Schreiber (American Gods, The Devil Has a Name), Shabana Azmi (The Black Prince, Next of Kin), and Yerin Ha (Sissy, Troppo)

Release Date - 2022

Genre - Sci-Fi

Format - UHD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I’m a product of being born in the mid-80s and growing up in the 90s. I can remember when my dad bought me the first Playstation when they were released. This was the dark gray brick before they released the smaller version and called it the PSOne. I can also remember the day my day took me to get the PS2 on launch and how I was one of the few kids in my class to have one. This would be the end of my Playstation fandom. A friend of mine down the road bought the first Xbox when it was released, and we would have lan parties to play the first Halo: Combat Evolved. I didn’t get that Xbox but when the Xbox 360 was released you can bet your sweet ass and half a tit that I got one. I’ve been an Xbox fan ever since. Halo was such a huge part of my middle school and high school years and I played a good chunk of them until Halo Reach. I was big on the multiplayer aspect to be completely honest, so I never really picked up on a lot of the mythology and lore from the storyline aside from what little bit was mentioned in Red vs Blue. When the news about the show was announced I was looking forward to checking it out, but I completely forgot to watch it until I received the blu release for review. I knew this was one I wouldn’t sit on too long before watching. 

      The series follows the UNMC in the 26th century who are at war with an alien collection known as the Covenant. The UNMC has a group of soldiers known as Spartans who have enhanced strength, endurance, stamina, and so on thanks to their years of testing and scientific advancements. When the Spartan’s leader Master Chief interacts with a Covenant artifact awakening a great power, he finds himself torn between memories he thought he had forgot and the UNMC that he had dedicated his life to and has been lying to him since he was a child. 

      I’ll be completely fucking honest with you when I say that I don’t know a lot about the Halo mythology and lore. In fact, if it wasn’t in the first Halo game’s story line or in multiplayer then I have no clue what is going on. I fucking loved the multiplayer in the series, but I never explored the story so I’m not one that can verify how close to the source material this show actually is. With that being said, I really enjoyed the show but there was some seriously cringy moments. It had a hard time capturing the tone of the game and failed at making a show that stood out from others like it. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed it, but it doesn’t hit like the games do. The acting in this is very well done. I liked the casting for the most part, but I just wasn’t feeling Pablo Schreiber as the unmasked Master Chief. His performance wasn’t that bad, but he was the weakest of the series. He didn’t really fit the character, at least in my eyes, and his performance was extremely dry when compared to everyone else. I know the Spartans are meant to show zero emotion and so forth, but he just felt the least genuine to me. With that being said, I felt the other three remaining Spartans were perfectly cast. They did so much with their roles and was able to pull off the emotionless aspect in a far better way. Also, the supporting cast is phenomenal as well. The story for this one doesn’t try to follow what was established by the game franchise, at least from what I can tell. Instead, it takes key moments and characters and revisions it for its own purpose in a similar fashion to the MCU and DCEU. I loved Halo’s blend of comedy and action, yet I didn’t see the humor in the show which was a huge disappointment for me. When fighting the grunts, needlers, and so on you could find comical moments that made the game have that comedic tone about it. However, the show keeps the same alien types, but they lacked the personality. The shows focus to a gritty military drama does take away from the overall film especially when you see the Covenant grunts and they not be funny. Also, the show struggles to find it’s own identity. It feels like a blend of Mandalorian and Star Trek: Discovery while implementing characters from Halo. It’s fun but there is very few things that separates it from other sci-fi shows like it. Finally, the props, locations, and practical effects look fucking fantastic. Some of the best I’ve seen especially in recent years. However, some of the visuals we get look fantastic while others were horrible. I liked the look of the Covenant aliens but the action scenes of the Spartans is straight up garbage. I don’t know who approved those clips but they are the worst visuals I’ve seen especially for something of this size. Overall, Halo season 1 has it’s own issues but it’s still a fun sci-fi show. If you are into shows like Mandalorian, Star Trek: Discovery and any other modern show centered around the military with sci-fi elements will want to check this out. I enjoyed it but it could have been better.