Halo Season 1 (Mini-Review)

Aliens known as the Covenant are attacking humanity in the twenty-sixth century. The greatest force humanity has on their side are the Spartans who are genetically enhanced humans. After they drive away Covenant forces from the planet Madrigal, the hint of a new weapon intrigues Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey. She decides to allow John 117 (aka Master Chief) more freedom since he is the only one able to activate the artifact. Halo Season 1 was released on Paramount+ in 2022.

I'm not too familiar with the Halo series. As I love science fiction, the series isn't a mystery to me. I have done a little bit of research (aka spent a few hours at least watching videos on Halo). But my lack of knowledge of the series before the show made it easy not to compare it to the games. So while I enjoyed it I'm sure that those more familiar with the franchise will have different opinions.

Master Chief's outfit is iconic. Even those not familiar with the series will be able to recognize it. The show does a great job with bringing the Spartan suits to life. They make the people appear more than deadly. Within the first episode you're able to easily understand why the Spartans are so feared. The problem is that Master Chief's iconic outfit is hardly ever worn. Instead, John appears without his iconic suit through the majority of the show. It got so bad that me and revrezner openly mocked the character whenever he briefly wore his suit. Near the end of Season 1 he wouldn't have needed to be rescued if only he was wearing his suit!

Madrigal seems like it will play a much larger part in the future of the show. Kwan Ha, an insurrectionist on the planet, has a subplot that is never fully resolved. Kwan is a person that hates the UNSC (organization that the Spartans answer to) and believes the organization should leave the planet alone. It's easy to see why as the UNSC puts a dictator in charge because they believe he will be kinder to them. And, yep, things like that happen in real life. But anyways...Kwan finds out the reason her father was so adamant to keep Madrigal independent and her goal of freeing Madrigal becomes even fiercer.

Throughout the course of the season, John slowly becomes more human. There is a chip in every Spartan that basically removes human emotions from them and makes it easier for Halsey to control them. This is probably one of the most interesting parts of the show. From episode to episode both the viewers and John slowly try to piece together the truth. And the ultimate truth is more than worth the wait. Another Spartan removes their chip during the course of the show. Unlike John, none of their memories come back to them. But it is interesting to see what choices they make once they're able to think clearly.

One of the weakest points of the show are some of the graphics. The Covenant looks very fake most of the time. It was hard to suspend my disbelief. Yet once you get used to the graphics, they're not too distracting. The Covenant forces look completely different from the UNSC and not just because they're aliens.

I would highly recommend Halo Season 1 to science fiction fans. I would also recommend Halo Season 1 to fans of the Halo franchise.