TL;DR – Alas, we have started to fall back on some of the previous problems that plagued the series.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this episode.

Halo Review –

If there is one thing this new season of Halo has done, it has been to refocus what was a pretty meandering Season One. There were some series highs in both Visegrad and Reach that had me profoundly happy that the show had found its feet. However, since then, alarm bells have been ringing, and I am afraid that this week will be no different.  

So to set the scene, we open with Talia Perez (Cristina Rodlo) as a new recruit to the next wave of Spartans as she jumps out of a transport with her team to take down a Covenant Cruiser. Everyone dies, but thankfully, this is just a simulation led by Kai (Kate Kennedy), who we discovered last week threw her lot in with Colonel James Ackerson (Joseph Morgan) and Admiral Margaret Parangosky (Shabana Azmi). But while they hide away on Onyx, a ship flies through their detection network, a ship with Dr Catherine Elizabeth Halsey (Natascha McElhone) and a giant of a man full of scars (Pablo Schreiber). Now from here, we will be looking at the episode, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

After splitting everyone up in Reach, I was surprised that we all got back together so quickly, with only a single diversion last week to Aleria. Well, I was surprised and a little concerned because it meant that we were racing through the story to get us to this point so quickly. The big problem is that once we come together, we split up again, with everyone going off into their pairs, creating one of the critical problems with this episode: its bloated narrative. While I think the episode ended in an interesting place, the walk to get there was a slog at times.

Overall, the only exciting moments in the episode were the reuniting of John and Cortana (Jen Taylor/Christina Bennington) and how that parallels what is happening on the Covenant ship. From a lore perspective, I was not sure why they sent Cortana to be on the Covenant ship. However, I do have to admit it has done what I didn’t expect and made that side of the story interesting. I still don’t care all that much about Makee (Charlie Murphy), but those moments when it was not clear who was manipulating who was at least engaging. As was the positioning going on between the Arbiter (Viktor Åkerblom) and the Priest (Jamie Beamish). It was also fun to be reminded of just how powerful Cortana can be.

However, nearly everything else was a drag. I didn’t care about Kai and Ackerson having their philosophical barbs with each other, even if it was a bit fun to see John get a solid beatdown. The marine/spartan training simulations lost their impact after the first rodeo and limped to the inevitable conclusion. They could not have made the hunt for Kessler less interesting, and at least Halsey’s romp through the tunnels led to a team-up with Kwan (Yerin Ha), the only other character who is maintaining my interest at the moment.    

In the end, do we recommend Halo: Onyx? There are still interesting moments in the show, and it is still fun when they let the Spartans off their leashes. However, the narrative is starting to clog up again, and that has me worried for the future.  

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you seen Halo yet ?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Halo
Directed by – Otto Bathurst
Written by – Sarah McCarron
Created by – Kyle Killen and Steven Kane
Based on – Halo by Bungie & 343 Industries
Production/Distribution Companies – Showtime, 343 Industries, Amblin Television & Paramount+
Starring – Pablo Schreiber, Natascha McElhone, Joseph Morgan, Shabana Azmi, Christina Bennington, Natasha Culzac, Olive Gray, Yerin Ha, Bentley Kalu, Kate Kennedy, Charlie Murphy, Fiona O’Shaughnessy, Cristina Rodlo, Danny Sapani, Jen Taylor, Viktor Åkerblom, Tylan Bailey & Bokeem Woodbine with Jamie Beamish & Olwen Fouéré and Dani Klupsch, Attila Heltai, Narcisse Mame, Enikő Fülöp & Anna Koval