Anyone else check this out? I’ve only played one of the games myself, and don’t remember which it was even, but still figure it would make a cool show so I watched the first episode. I found it quite entertaining. The interaction between the Rebels and the Spartans when they first show up was neat. I’m interested in where the story is going. I was disappointed he takes his helmet off though. That is not the way.
I watched it, but I need to see more before I'm ready to pass judgment one way or the other. I'm still processing it in my head, so no hot takes yet from me.
chromedog wrote: They've changed a few little details from the games.
Cortana doesn't seem she will be an AI in the same way as the game. The project in the cryotank DID look like Halsey, though.
It has already been greenlit for S2.
Actually, I think she will be. Cortana was created from a destructive brain scan of a Halsey clone. The project in the cryotank is likely a clone who is soon to have their brain destroyed to make Cortana.
Watched it. Was puzzled how rebels who like bunching up inside walls hadn’t all died long ago to indirect fire. Also puzzled how they though firing lines in the open were a good idea.
Toned down expectations.
Saw Spartan take off helmet and look goofy, realised this was going to be at best middling sci fi which will in theory be military but never done with any kind of logic.
Honestly they must have watched mandalorian after spending $100 million, seen him never take off the helmet, looked at their show and got an expensive sinking feeling.
I've yet to watch it but it just seems odd. Why not leave the helmet on and have Steve Downes doing the voice? Why not just base the TV show on one of the numerous books?
I will eventually probably watch it. Maybe they purposefully made a bunch of changes to make it standalone.
I mean, it's not a great sign when the people who made the show explicitly said they never looked or talked about the game when they were in the processing of writing and creating it.
The point where he takes the helmet off does kind of work for what he was trying to do at the time. If he keeps it off it will be the true failure. That lid needs to go back on the can and stay there.
AduroT wrote: The point where he takes the helmet off does kind of work for what he was trying to do at the time. If he keeps it off it will be the true failure. That lid needs to go back on the can and stay there.
I would take the bet where I think it stays mostly off... Most directors can't cope with helmets/Japanese masked theatre/not having their actor gurn away on command. Plus insert rubbish about 'humanising' the character.
Grimskul wrote: I mean, it's not a great sign when the people who made the show explicitly said they never looked or talked about the game when they were in the processing of writing and creating it.
You can tell too.
Not even five minutes in and the first episode feels like something someone wrote after reading a brief summary of Halo and the end result is something that is even more generic and bland. The production values are okay I guess but I really don't feel like a Halo TV series should feel like a Firefly spinoff.
I'm also getting really tired of the current trend of murdering a bunch of kids in viscerally graphic and detailed ways as a short cut to saying 'this show is going to be violent and bloody and anyone can die except they can't we're just going to bop some teenieboppers on screen to tell you this is serious bizniz.' It's been happening a lot lately and it's just lazy. It's the dramatic equivalent of a jump scare and everyone and their lazy edgy cousin seems to be doing it now.
I liked the first episode, but I should qualify that I have never, ever played a Halo game and can probably sum up literally everything I knew about Halo in less than 20 words: It stars a space marine named Master Chief, he talks to a AI hologram named Cortana, and fights aliens. OK, it only took 19.
I will say, even with zero background, Pornstache's face did not fit with what I expected under that helmet. I have nothing against the actor per se but that seems like... questionable casting.
I'm kind of just not impressed. Lots of weird plot choices and about the only thing they've kept from the game's lore besides the names and visuals is all the stupid no-brain stuff Karen Traviss wrote into it. The rest just isn't Halo. Not that Halo's setting is exactly all that special but... meh. The stuff I liked about it isn't here.
I'm kind of just surprised we went from Forward Unto Dawn to this. FUD wasn't fantastic by any means. It could have afforded to explain a few things for people who had no idea what was going on and maybe the plot was a bit too soft-spoken and threadbare, but it was still really good for what it was. It took a setting and made a decent enough movie in it and took a not-bad stab at telling a story about characters who were likable and not shoehorned into something really generic.
The series is worse in every measure. Sometimes by a lot. I soldiered through to episode 2 just to try but the second episode was even worse than the first. I just don't get some of the plot decisions they made. I loathe that the only things they've really kept are the post-Traviss additions to the lore that I've always found really stupid. I'm not even sure why episode 1 and 2 are a thing when episode 2 ends basically resetting the plot to 0 but with a random character development moment that basically skips the development part?
And Silver Team kind of exemplifies it. That's totally Will, Linda, and Kelly. Except they're not. I don't know why they're not. They're just not. For... i don't fething know. I don't know why they invented the Soren character when Grey Team already exists and could do the same role in the plot without any of the stupidity or the plot holes. I have no idea what's going on with the Covernant in this or why there's a random human with them. I can guess but honestly that's such a stupid plot point I don't care. The series spends a lot of time on brain dead dumb politics that I just couldn't care less about. The only thing that made UNSC politics interesting in the past was the subtlety of it and how it wasn't Hunger Games level cartoon villainy but a more quiet sort of oppressor that managed to get by because aliens were genociding humanity, lots of people in the UNSC were genuinely good people (they butcher Keys, both of them, in this series) trying to do good, and the villains were these shrewd operators who behaved intelligently and were more evil for their extremism in the pursuit of their goals than because they were petty and gunning down civilians just to exemplify how evil they were.
Halo isn't exactly a series that reinvented the wheels storywise. I'm confused why they'd choose to make it even more generic and bland at every turn while cutting out the little things that gave it its small amount of flavor. Maybe the action scenes could save it if the CGI weren't so bad and everything so over-choreographed.
I didn’t watch the entirety of that review but I wouldn’t disagree with what I saw. Even not being a big Halo guy it felt pretty generic so far. Not Bad, just ok.
And Silver Team kind of exemplifies it. That's totally Will, Linda, and Kelly. Except they're not. I don't know why they're not. They're just not. For... i don't fething know. I don't know why they invented the Soren character when Grey Team already exists and could do the same role in the plot without any of the stupidity or the plot holes.
Nitpick, they didn't invent Soren. Soren 066 is an established character that appeared in the Pariah short story.
Nitpick, they didn't invent Soren. Soren 066 is an established character that appeared in the Pariah short story.
I reject!
Spoiler:
It's not the same character. If they used the Soren from prior lore, the character would actually make sense because Soren washed out of the Spartan-II program and his augmentations didn't take right. He did defect from the UNSC, but he wasn't a fully trained and equipped Spartan and never would be. Had they used that character, I'd be way less confused. The guy using Soren's name in the series is Soren in name only (no true Spartan!). I mention Grey Team because they explicitly were Spartan-IIs in the belt, operating outside UNSC authority and mostly doing things their own way. They easily could have replaced Soren, and it would explain away a few plot holes cause I could belief Chief would know how to find Grey Team.
The idea that the UNSC just 'lost' not just a Spartan but an entire suit of Mjolnir armor at that early stage is kind of absurd. Even more absurd is that, apparently, they know where he is. I think? Chief knows where he is. How does Chief even know where he is? Soren doesn't seem to be hiding his history as a Spartan either so I kind of call nonsense on that entire element of the character, and feel baffled by it because a few little changes would resolve the issue entirely and make for a more interesting, less generic, character. As the series presents it, it's just a massive, world's luckiest coincidence, that Soren was there.
It's not the same character. If they used the Soren from prior lore, the character would actually make sense because Soren washed out of the Spartan-II program and his augmentations didn't take right. He did defect from the UNSC, but he wasn't a fully trained and equipped Spartan and never would be. Had they used that character, I'd be way less confused. The guy using Soren's name in the series is Soren in name only (no true Spartan!).
Not equipped, sure, but Soren was 16 when he defected, and by that age Spartans were already fully trained, having endured a decade of brutal training regime.
The idea that the UNSC just 'lost' not just a Spartan but an entire suit of Mjolnir armor is kind of absurd.
Even more absurd is that, apparently, they know where he is. I think? Chief knows where he is. How does Chief even know where he is? Soren doesn't seem to be hiding his history as a Spartan either so I kind of call nonsense on that entire element of the character, and feel baffled by it because a few little changes would resolve the issue entirely and make for a more interesting, less generic, character.
John knows where Soren is because Soren told him he was going to The Rubble.
Soren had 1 leg that half worked and another that didn't work at all. His training never completed because he became incapable of completing it. He defected years later at 16 after being unfulfilled by paper pushing. Which was a good story. Lots of Spartan-IIs washed out because the augmentation process was experimental and we were told they were given other duties to make use of their talents since lots of them were still wicked smart. Soren being put behind a desk would be miserable. A prime target for rebels to try and bring to their side, especially with his knowledge of the other Spartans.
That Soren I'd be interested in and even find believable. The UNSC losing a washout who isn't capable of being an overt threat I could buy into.
Soren just walking off fully trained and with his armor is less so. Granted, I recognize this is probably a peeve only someone with prior familiarity and investment would have.
I guess I missed the part where he tells John where he's going... THough I'd nitpick that too because why would you tell this guy who just sort of betrayed you where you're going with no surity he won't tell the UNSC? It's just lazy writing.
I pondered that maybe I should spoiler for anyone who hasn't seen ep 2 so that's why I'm doing that >.>
EDIT: And I guess while I'm ranting Ima rant about the AIs;
Spoiler:
Where are the AIs? The AIs were a huge part of why humanity could even put up a resistance and were central to the UNSC's state but we haven't seen a single one. Do they just want to make Cortana even more special by making her not only the only and first AI, but secretly illegal? Why? One of the most dystopian aspects of Halo was that the Spartan-II program flash cloned its subjects and swapped them so no one would notice their kids were gone. Instead that technology is illegal in this show? Why? Why on Earth would a council that doesn't even blink at their puppet governor executing people in public in brutal fashion balk at the idea of cloning? This is that Karen Traviss gak I keep complaining about XD This completely arbitrary and nonsensical setting detail whose sole purpose is to make the super special soldier guy even more super special because they're not special enough /rant
Soren had 1 leg that half worked and another that didn't work at all. His training never completed because he became incapable of completing it. He defected years later at 16 after being unfulfilled by paper pushing.
Spoiler:
Spartan augmentation was done at 14, so Soren still had ~8 years of military training. Even before augmentation Spartans were described as Olympic level athletes with the training to put any Special Force to shame.
In fact, when Soren defects and is shoot down over the forests of Reach, the UNSC just gives up trying to locate him because in spite of his debilitating mutations, you simply do not successfully hunt a Spartan.
Spoiler:
EDIT: And I guess while I'm ranting Ima rant about the AIs;
[spoiler]Where are the AIs? The AIs were a huge part of why humanity could even put up a resistance and were central to the UNSC's state but we haven't seen a single one. Do they just want to make Cortana even more special by making her not only the only and first AI, but secretly illegal? Why? One of the most dystopian aspects of Halo was that the Spartan-II program flash cloned its subjects and swapped them so no one would notice their kids were gone. Instead that technology is illegal in this show? Why? Why on Earth would a council that doesn't even blink at their puppet governor executing people in public in brutal fashion balk at the idea of cloning? This is that Karen Traviss gak I keep complaining about XD This completely arbitrary and nonsensical setting detail whose sole purpose is to make the super special soldier guy even more super special because they're not special enough /rant
Spoiler:
Agree on the lack of AIs, but (complete) flash cloning has always been illegal. Flash cloning is only legal for organs transplants like flash cloning a kidney or a heart. A full sapient flash clone is illegal because flash clones are not built to last so it is extremely immoral for obvious reasons (also the reason why Spartans were not flash clones). But Halsey being Halsey and ONI being ONI never particularly cared about laws and stuff so they made full flash clones.
Agree on the lack of AIs, but (complete) flash cloning being always being illegal. In the books flash cloning is only legal for organs transplants like flash cloning a kidney or a heart. A full sapient flash clone is illegal because flash clones are not built to last so it is extremely immoral for obvious reasons (also the reason why Spartans were not flash clones). But Halsey being Halsey and ONI being ONI never particularly cared about laws and stuff so they made full flash clones.
You are correct. I forgot about that.
Spoiler:
I think it's an important detail though. The UNSC didn't just grab some kids. It cloned them, swapped them with the clones, and then whistled all the way home. They knew those flash clones would die. That was that point. That way the families of these kids would never know their children were kidnapped and would think their kids just died of natural causes. That's fething evil. It's crazy fething evil. And it forms an important corner stone of the setting because it's intelligent evil. It establishes the kind of organization ONI is, and provides a real and meaningful reason besides pointless empty drama for why some people wanted to end the Spartan program.
Who are these soldiers loyal to? The UNSC? Humanity? Or ONI? The part of the UNSC so evil the entirely of the rest of the UNSC looks at them with constant suspicion and weariness. No one wanted ONI to have its own private army and the Spartans scared them. It provided a reasonable basis, at least before the Convenant War, for why some people wanted to end the program. They knew what ONI was about. They were suspicious of Halsey's motives and methods.
It was also an important piece of Halsey's character before Traviss butchered it. Halsey regretted this. She looked back on the Spartan-II program not as some self-serving exercise of her own ego, but as children whose lives she irrevocably altered. It made Halsey a deep and compelling figure, with her own arc and growth. Completely different from this banal unfunny Rick Sanchez figure she became after Traviss got a hold of her. It also explains a lot about why John and the Spartans could be the 'defenders of humanity' they they are because Halsey did have a conscience and despite her willingness to do morally reprehensible things she had real ideals she believed in. She made the Spartans to protect and advance humanity, not just the UNSC's political interests. She did that even before the Covenant were a known threat.
Maybe that's just me because this retcon is pretty old now, but I liked the original Halsey character, and the one who now appears in every Halo property is just this banal and generically evil mad scientist who maybe sort of cares insofar as it boosts her ego. We need more characters like OG Halsey in fiction because they're nuanced and complicated. Even if we wanted to look at her regret and say 'too little too late you fethed up big' it makes for a much better character than Halsey as an unrepentant egotist full of excuses and arrogance.
The first episode Is up on the Paramount Plus youtube channel. If it's like what they did for various trek shows, it'll only be there for a day to a couple days. The first episode isn't as bad as various reviewers make it seem but there are some really perplexing to flat out dumb choices made by both the creative's working on the show and the characters in universe.
I don't think the show is that bad, there's glimmers of potential in there that may or may not pan out. Hopefully season 2 doesn't get canned, sometimes shows like this stumble and fumble their way through the beginning and finds it's footing later on, especially if they respond to feedback properly.
Ahtman wrote: I only finished Halo 1 and 2 but I don't recall the UNSC basically being a fascist human organization that executed children to save face.
The UEG was basically upheld by the UNSC, especially in the outer colonies where the Insurrectionists would gain much of their support. Many colonies wanted autonomy from the UEG, so in response the UEG sent in the UNSC. The UNSC was seen as an invasive force and the colonies rebelled, at which point the UNSC presence in the colonies was increased again. Then the UNSC assumed control of nearly all facets of the UEG when the Human-Covenant War started and there were serious concerns that it wouldn't give up power if/when the war ended. Throw in the ONI boogeyman that was very much a threat to people who didn't agree with the government.
The UEG wasn't fascist but it's policies in the colonies were certainly close to fascism.
Ahtman wrote: I only finished Halo 1 and 2 but I don't recall the UNSC basically being a fascist human organization that executed children to save face.
It rarely came up in the games and was mostly something you saw in the books.
I also wouldn't say it was fascist. The UNSC was depicted as a sort of military junta, but not cartoon evil. The only evil part was ONI, the intelligence service that dodged oversight and flew around in stealth ships doing whatever it damn well pleased half the time. The insurrectionists were also actual terrorists. They had legitimate grievances with the way the UNSC engaged in taxation without representation, but their response to that actually did consist of bombings and attacks on civilians. The whole thing was a lot more nuanced and John's character development in the backdrop was pretty good in Fall of Reach.
A lot of this was retconned by the Glasslands trilogy, which tossed basically all the nuance out the window because in Karen Traviss' worldview everyone who isn't a soldier is evil, every soldier who isn't a super soldier is well-meaning but hapless, and since politicians are always evil of course the insurrectionists were virtuous heroes (but not super soldiers, so not that heroic).
I'd also honestly agree with a lot of commentary that all sympathy for whats-her-face basically flew out the window when her response to a manipulative but not wholly unreasonable request to work together in face of a crisis was 'give me everything I want or I tell everyone you murdered my daddy and everyone else, I didn't see no aliens.' Like, she's a kid and that's actually kind of a believable childish lashing out, but then again so is the UNSC looking at that response and saying 'feth it we're already fighting genocidal aliens, we don't need this gak.' Of course, they have to kill her because they're stupid evil. The UNSC in the books would more likely have tossed her in a corner sans trial and misplaced the key because they have important gak to do and no time for this nonsense.
I've complained about a few things, so I might as well additionally complain about the butchering of Jacob Keys' character in the series. Keys was the nice guy with scruples in contrast to Halsey. Here he nonchalantly blows off-putting a dictator in power because who cares we got what we want, and that's just the complete and total opposite of who he was.
It's important to draw the distinctions between the UNSC which is a military organization fighting for the survival of the entire species and hiding/protecting the location of Earth and ONI which is a completely evil, the ends justifies everything organization that would kill billions without a blink of an eye if they thought it served their greater purpose. Even if that greater purpose aligns with the ones the UNSC has. ONI for all intents and purposes is it's own separate entity that does all kinds of fethed up gak in the name of their projects.
Lance845 wrote: It's important to draw the distinctions between the UNSC which is a military organization fighting for the survival of the entire species and hiding/protecting the location of Earth and ONI which is a completely evil, the ends justifies everything organization that would kill billions without a blink of an eye if they thought it served their greater purpose. Even if that greater purpose aligns with the ones the UNSC has. ONI for all intents and purposes is it's own separate entity that does all kinds of fethed up gak in the name of their projects.
The series seems to make no such distinction. Maybe I missed it, but I don't think ONI has been mentioned at all. Rather, the entire UNSC is just acting like ONI.
I liked the first episode (I have almost no knowledge about the Halo universum so if there are any errors in the series they are invisible to me.), and intend to watch the second. So far it looks far more interesting than the Mandalorian (which I gave up after episode 5), although I may be biased because from SW I only ever liked their light sabers.
Shadow Walker wrote: I liked the first episode (I have almost no knowledge about the Halo universum so if there are any errors in the series they are invisible to me.), and intend to watch the second. So far it looks far more interesting than the Mandalorian (which I gave up after episode 5), although I may be biased because from SW I only ever liked their light sabers.
I think the show is aimed specifically at people who have heard of Halo and maybe played it a couple times years ago rather than hardcore fans. The second episode is more of a character building slow burn setup from what I've heard.
I especially liked the part in the second episode where Mr Chief walked into a wretched hive of scum and villainy, full of people who were openly hostile to him, and didn’t bother to put his helmet back on first.
I have only played the first game, and thought it was just "ok", but I'm a PC player so it wasn't so groundbreaking.
That said, the series is... baffling. It seems to concentrate on all the stuff people either don't care about (human politics, the new character et al) while at the same time ignoring or rewriting the stuff people did want (the ONI/Earth Government and military dichotomy, most of the human characters which apparently have received heavy rewrites, the covenant diversity...)
Like many times lately, I have to question who is this aimed at.
Albertorius wrote: I have only played the first game, and thought it was just "ok", but I'm a PC player so it wasn't so groundbreaking.
That said, the series is... baffling. It seems to concentrate on all the stuff people either don't care about (human politics, the new character et al) while at the same time ignoring or rewriting the stuff people did want (the ONI/Earth Government and military dichotomy, most of the human characters which apparently have received heavy rewrites, the covenant diversity...)
Like many times lately, I have to question who is this aimed at.
Honestly, you IMO. If you hadn't read/heard/watched the criticism from longtime fans of the IP (games, comics, novels, short films, etc), would those things have bothered you? I think with modern Hollywood ignorance is bliss by design. I wasn't a fan of the Wheel of Time series on Amazon and actively disliked the first and last episodes but the middle ones were ok. Nothing that will spark an interest in the books or IP for me but rather just mediocre throwaway entertainment for a book series that I was unfamiliar with other than the cover of the first novel. That wasn't the case with friends of mine that read the novels for decades who actively hated every episode to varying degrees.
From what I have seen of the franchise (Halo 1, videos of Halo: Reach, the videos from Blomkamp and Forward Unto Dawn)... yes, pretty much. I didn't really need to see any criticism to see that I rather be seeing FUD or the Blomkamp vids again instead.
The action scene of ep 1 was cool, except for there only being elites, which was weird and all, but after that it kinda peters out fast.
OTOH, I was a big Wheel of Time fan back in the day and so far I've found the series entertaining enough, so...
After watching 2nd and 3rd, I like the show even more. Some part of me wants to check every piece of Halo info out there but at the same time I do not want to 'corrupt' myself with the pre-knowledge.
Yeah, it's like taking an off ramp from a highway. The longer you're on it, the further you go away from the highway. If you're not already big into the Halo game/EU canon, it's probably best to just first finish the season watch for a complete frame of reference before delving into the normal lore.
But it is terrible Sci Fi, the implications of their tech simply aren't followed through into the setting. I get it from a game perspective, its fundamentally a standard shooter with some eye catching candy. But really we have a world where it makes economic sense to have children sort recycling and adults oversee them, while having AI's, robots, interstellar travel and the like. Even just supplying them food is more resource than they are creating.
AduroT wrote: Well this week’s episode should resolve the complaint about the lack of diversity in the Covenant forces at least.
Yeah, it was fun to watch all those combined races fighting.
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The_Real_Chris wrote: But it is terrible Sci Fi, the implications of their tech simply aren't followed through into the setting. I get it from a game perspective, its fundamentally a standard shooter with some eye catching candy. But really we have a world where it makes economic sense to have children sort recycling and adults oversee them, while having AI's, robots, interstellar travel and the like. Even just supplying them food is more resource than they are creating.
Unless they are looking in that trash for something of a real value that somehow justifies the costs. BTW I do not say you are wrong, as I do not know the universe of Halo, just speculating
AduroT wrote: Well this week’s episode should resolve the complaint about the lack of diversity in the Covenant forces at least.
So female prophets and elites of color? Kidding. I saw clips of jackals with power swords and grunts from apparently todays episode. I'm glad they added a few more races.
The_Real_Chris wrote: But it is terrible Sci Fi, the implications of their tech simply aren't followed through into the setting. I get it from a game perspective, its fundamentally a standard shooter with some eye catching candy. But really we have a world where it makes economic sense to have children sort recycling and adults oversee them, while having AI's, robots, interstellar travel and the like. Even just supplying them food is more resource than they are creating.
Unless they are looking in that trash for something of a real value that somehow justifies the costs. BTW I do not say you are wrong, as I do not know the universe of Halo, just speculating
Unlike other things, I can see a justification for this at least even though I don't like them turning the Halo-universe government dystopian BEFORE the Covenant near total apocalypse. Even in todays world of AI, smart phones, cloud computing, and next day delivery of almost every conceivable want, there are whole small cities built near garbage dumps in Africa where people scavange for anything that can be resold for food and addiction.
It makes sense really. The first fight was a small strike force to retrieve a believed unguarded relic, so just a team of elites is understandable, and seems to be their MO when dealing with the relics and stuff involving them. This time they were attacking a military camp and went in heavy, bringing a lot more of their forces to bear in a full on assault.
The Prophets being a sexual species obviously have females, with a few of them being characters in the Covenant centric novel Broken Cycle.
As for Elites, there are different ethnicities with different skin colors. Compare the Arbiter's darker grey skin with Jul Mdama's lighter, almost white skin. blue, brown and black are other known skin colors.
Olthannon wrote: I've yet to watch it but it just seems odd. Why not leave the helmet on and have Steve Downes doing the voice? Why not just base the TV show on one of the numerous books?
I will eventually probably watch it. Maybe they purposefully made a bunch of changes to make it standalone.
Because as the shows own writing team has said: Halo showrunner Steven Kane revealed the creative team behind the upcoming Paramount+ series avoided looking at the video games that inspired it.
The show started off pretty slow overall, but by God it just got good. Nice to see the Spartans finally fighting and kicking Covenant ass instead of talking and having an existential crisis.
As to the series proper, it's... ok. The action is cool, some of the other stuff is cool, the helmeting/unhelmeting almost every minute looks stupid, the Madrigal subplot of Kwan and Soren is... pointless and boring, for the most part, but at least there's some things to enjoy.
Highlight of the series for me is Cortana, though.
They're doing the same to the Salty Nerd Podcast, a much smaller channel. They basically have to repost episode reviews 2-4 times for it to not be blocked and it's still claimed so CBS makes all of whatever pennies are left by that point in ad revenue.
I'm hoping Angry Joe is able to effect real change even if temporary and just for a single show.
Some_Call_Me_Tim wrote: I read the title of this post in a certain way and all I could think of was “Hi Dr. Nick!”
The plastic glue must be getting to me.
You’re totally fine because that was my exact thought/inspiration when I titled the thread, though it’s not an exact quote. In fact now that that cat’s out of the bag everyone is required to read the thread title in Dr Nick’s voice.
Finished the last episode, and already cannot wait to see the next season. Really enjoyed the series, and hopefully it will not dissapoint in the future. Together with the Peacemaker, it was the best fiction TV so far this year for me.
I’ll trust the people who are Halo fans when they says it’s not a good Halo series, but yeah, I did enjoy it as a sci-fi series. Hope it gets a second season despite the vocal poor reception because they definitely leave some loose threads.
Yeah, they approved/announced the second season before the first episode aired iirc. Gotta keep the content churn coming for streaming after all and figure it out as you go along I suppose.
It ain't Halo that's for sure. Someone's own SciFi story, absolutely but the only Halo in there is the names and some designs.
Just so much of it is pain. I'm not even really into Halo anymore and the decisions the showrunners and writers made just make me cringe.
This legit feels like it was some generic sci fi TV show that was rejected and salvaged only to slap the Halo brandname on as a way to sell it since it wouldn't have the built-in audience otherwise. I really question the need for master chief going at it with a sex scene with Cortana watching, I feel like alongside him taking off his helmet, we're watching an entirely different character and they're trying to bring in some attempt at GoT risque stuff without going all in on the interspecies loving with Brutes. -1/10 would not watch another season again.
Yeah, I didn't really think we needed Chief to get laid in the series. We didn't need to see his ass either, yet they insisted on showing us that too. Hell, Chief spent more time with his helmet off than he did with it on, and that is a mistake (note that this was NOT the case with The Mandalorian, and that show was overwhelmingly well received). Also, nowhere near enough of the Spartans kicking Covenant ass and taking names, that last episode notwithstanding.
That being said, I overall did enjoy the series, and I'm looking forward to season 2. Maybe we'll actually see them go to the Halo, and even fight the Flood or something.
Were the worm things they attacked the human ship with not Flood? I don’t remember much about them, though I know they’re not supposed to work for the Covenant.
AduroT wrote: Were the worm things they attacked the human ship with not Flood? I don’t remember much about them, though I know they’re not supposed to work for the Covenant.
Grimskul wrote: This legit feels like it was some generic sci fi TV show that was rejected and salvaged only to slap the Halo brandname on as a way to sell it since it wouldn't have the built-in audience otherwise. I really question the need for master chief going at it with a sex scene with Cortana watching, I feel like alongside him taking off his helmet, we're watching an entirely different character and they're trying to bring in some attempt at GoT risque stuff without going all in on the interspecies loving with Brutes. -1/10 would not watch another season again.
Noble Team dies and Reach falls because Master Chief has sex with a Covenant spy who is a prisoner of war, while Cortana watches and sends the recording to Dr. Halsey.
Grimskul wrote: This legit feels like it was some generic sci fi TV show that was rejected and salvaged only to slap the Halo brandname on as a way to sell it since it wouldn't have the built-in audience otherwise. I really question the need for master chief going at it with a sex scene with Cortana watching, I feel like alongside him taking off his helmet, we're watching an entirely different character and they're trying to bring in some attempt at GoT risque stuff without going all in on the interspecies loving with Brutes. -1/10 would not watch another season again.
Wait. What.
She's not just a future USB stick in the "Silver Timeline" that slots into his armor. Apparently she's biotech goo injected directly into his cerebellum. So when he's having sex, she's along for the ride like an onlyfans sub. Unless she decides to flip the switch and take over of course.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I can't help but feel that many of the issues would have been moot for some fans (including myself) if they had taken a hybrid JJtrek/Reach route where they had new characters to do with however they pleased and could fork into a new timeline so weren't beholden to the games. I'm not advocating messing with the same events but the Covenant War was a galactic conflict and there are likely tons of important events they could have filled in the gaps with during the decades long conflict.
The problem is that they wanted their freedom AND to piggyback directly off of the two decades worth of existing effort without having to stand on their own two feet in any way. I doubt as many people would have cared if Stewey-337 was a nudist spartan with a semi-incestuous relationship with an ONI scientist mentor and streamed his romantic escapades with a female Elite turncoat to a UNSC data analyst watching his every moves.
Gert wrote: Noble Team dies and Reach falls because Master Chief has sex with a Covenant spy who is a prisoner of war, while Cortana watches and sends the recording to Dr. Halsey.
To be fair, she had decided to switch to Master Chief’s side at that point. She just later changed her mind when the other humans found out about that ship full of people she killed and were mad about it and tased her.
Man, this sounds fething hilarious, and I thought current Trek was bad. Reading up on it, it feels like this was someone's bad Mass Effect fanfiction that died and then got reused.
Considering the creatives on the show didn't play the Halo games, they may have made the same mistake thinking Master Chief was that video game scifi soldier who shags people in cutscenes repeatedly.
