Halo Ep 1, “Contact” Review

Halo Ep 1, “Contact” Review

There is something to be said for a bigger company like Paramount getting ahold of the Halo license. Thus far, we've got the web series, “Forward Unto Dawn,”, “Nightfall” the anthology series: “Halo: Legends”, and the shorts from “Halo: Evolution”. With movies we've gotten: The Fall of Reach. There have been numerous other shorts, parodies (Red vs. Blue!), and spin-off series. The sheer breadth of what the series has done is very impressive. It helped launch the original Xbox console, cement Bungie as a big developer, and so much more. 

This series starts with something I didn't get much of from the other parts of the Halo Metaverse: a look at the normal side of things. Playing the games, it was just the military that I really saw (unless that changed after Halo 3). It all begins early in the Covenant War, given the rebel human faction had no idea of what they were fighting. Even worse is the lack of technology to fight the Convenient. The knowledge of the fight against the Covenant is way more limited here. We get to see them assaulting a human settlement and just see the difference in what UNSC can fight with compared to an insurgence force. The walls seemed almost paper to the plasma weaponry, and the assault rifles were close to meaningless against the shields. When things were looking dire is when the Spartan team showed up, led by John-117, Master Chief. Most of the settlement is still wiped out, only Kwan, daughter of the rebellion leader Jinn Ha, survives by pure wit and luck. She witnesses her whole settlement's slaughter at the hands of the Covenant, even with the intervention of the Spartans.

Kwan and her friends had left the settlement to find some “fun” flora that grows locally. She hear some strange noises and saw the Covenant ship before anyone else. Unfortunately, the Covenant forces ambushed her friends and killed everyone else as she tried to make it back to the colony. This is where we see the sheer power of the Covenant against the civilian population. Gets used as leverage as well, trying to get Kwan to give a statement to back the UNSC to help bring other rebellious factions into line. She refused, understandably, for what the UNSC did to her home planet. She is holding her line for her father and everyone who had just died fighting the Covenant. They wanted freedom, and she marks herself by standing firm. This shows us a lot about her.

The Spartans investigated an excavation the Covenant started here and came across a strange object. John-117 touched it and started to see things: what he thought were visions. The other Spartans John ordered to take the Covenant ship back to command and that he'd follow with the artifact and the survivor: Kwan (who got knocked out by a cloaked fleeing Elite). After touching the Artifact, Master Chief is plainly changed in some fashion. What he sees as visions, feeling like a family, Halsey seems to know are his memories. More importantly, there is something more that neither of them can see just yet, that the Elite watching sees, a Ring.

The rest of the episode happens in the Reach base. Miranda Hailey is observing the changes in John-117 from his contact with the artifact. She wants to study the artifact to learn more about it and is claiming propriety since a Spartan captured it. We also learn she’s up to some borderline ethical experiences that revolve around cloning and AI. We do eventually get the name of Cortana, the AI who becomes Master Chief’s greatest ally for a number of his adventures. This puts everything earlier than any of the Halo games already. It is a different timeline completely does have me wondering just what Cortana will be like and if we’ll see the progression of that project throughout the whole of the season or the series.

First, it is important to know that the Halo series on Paramount+ resides in its own timeline. This is different from everything in the established canon of the video game series and its supporting metaverse. This is one of those cases where you can use the game knowledge as a base, but it is meant to be something very different. Look at it as something new, even if it has a familiar coat of paint on it. That's what I did throughout the episode, and it worked well for me. This isn't something that builds on the previous lore, and it takes advantage of that. Being a TV show, yes, the protagonist can just wear their helmet all the time, but it does create a barrier between the viewer and the character. It works fine in games and some other media because we can still be intrigued by the person behind the mask without having to know more about them. More often than not, we bond with them because they are who we’re playing as! It is better the viewer eventually gets to see the face behind the mask. It gives us that important connection that can otherwise just get lost.

The biggest change is seeing John-117, Master Chief, the icon for the Spartan program, going rogue from UNSC. Even bigger than taking his helmet off, this is a game-changer. Previously, it seems he would mechanically carry out his orders without question. After contact with the artifact, he starts to think more for himself. It is clear that memory suppression is in effect on him, that he doesn’t remember his family. It is clear in the games this didn’t happen (mostly from the supporting media, but Master Chief isn’t exactly talkative). But this point does set up something big for the whole of the season, if not the series. This is a slow burn part for sure.

We also get a much earlier look at Covenant High Command as well. It is definitely strange seeing a humanoid working with the Covenant as an Oracle, a Blessed One. While just a single scene in this particular episode, it is something we're going to see again. It is worth questioning what we'll see in the future there. Is this Oracle human or something else that has a human shape (or can assume it). This is a big question and something of an unknown here.

One thing that this show does incorporate well from the games is the first-person perspective. This used to be more expensive to shoot, but it definitely has gotten easier with the improved technology since Doom. Many of the same sounds from the original game have carried over as well. It's easy to hear the shield break, the beeping that it's empty, as well as the recharge noise as well. A lot of the HUD we see from the Spartans is close to the game's display itself. It made for a fun section and something I hope will come back later on if there is another big fight against the Covenant.

The big mystery is going to be that strange artifact for now. Why does it resonate with Master Chief? How does it factor into the Covenant’s prophecy? Most importantly: What does it do? It has so many unknowns right now, and it’s something I’ll always enjoy hearing about while watching the show. For me, it is a good show. It’s not trying anything new for Halo or this style of a Sci-Fi show. Where it goes in the future, we’ll just have to wait and see with its weekly release schedule (instead of the binge-friendly season drop).


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