Halo: Season 2 - Discussion Thread

[FPAlpha]

Good if standard start to a new season, i.e. setting up new characters and the storyline of the season.

Game purists will hate this show now even more as it highlights and explores the humanity in the Spartans. John walking around all confused, seeking virtual therapy with a simulation of Cortana, Silver Team struggling with their new status etc. is not something the games explored at all because that was not their focus. However i still stand by the idea behind the show and that you simply can't replicate the games 1:1. What they do with their adaptation can be debated if it's good but you can't use the games as a benchmark to judge the quality of the show.

So far i like it - they toned down the appearance of that refugee girl ( my biggest gripe) and they're slowly building towards the fall of Reach with the small hints ( The Covenant training their soldiers for the Invasion, Ackerson running simulations on the Covenant plans through Cortana and her predicting the Fall of Reach, even if it's not mentioned by name) which still leaves the main focus of the show up in the air - Halo itself. I wonder how they will bridge the events to this once Reach falls, that could be interesting to see.

 

[Tuskin38]

I wonder if we'll ever see ODSTs in the series.

 

[David cgc]

I'm glad to see the show seems to be "staying the course" to an extent. I was worried with the negative reception and behind-the-scenes shakeups, they'd have a hard swerve to something more conventional. I think the psychodrama is the most interesting thing about the show, and the Weird Outer Space Shit is the most interesting thing about Halo in general, so I'm glad to see Kwan still around, and hopeful that they'll circle back to her connection with the Forerunners (I have a feeling that her stories about the Monster weren't a philosophical statement on this crapsack universe, or a political point about the UNSC but, subconsciously, an awareness of a very literal and very horrible thing that tastes suffering as sweetness). I'm similarly glad to see that, somehow, Makee returned.™ I hoped they were setting up an interesting triptych with John, Makee, and Kwan all being connected to the Forerunners and all representing different factions that are totally opposed to each other.

Ackerson has an odd accent for a Cleveland boy, and he seems to have exchanged his swaggering arrogance for something more slimy and insidious. It's deeply weird that Parangosky on the other hand, seems to be a good guy. Honestly, show-Ackerson seems a lot more like prime-Parangosky (aside from being a young man instead of an old woman). Good for Keyes getting that promotion, hope he enjoys it. Odd that we haven't seen Miranda yet, hope she turns up.

 

[Noname Given]

I only ever played the first Halo game, and while some of it was interesting it only came across as another shooter and I'm not really interested in those types of PC games myself.

I also will never understand the hate for them deciding to make Master Chief an actual human character. The only reason he never takes his helmet off in the game is because he is supposed to be you ( IE the in-game Avatar you project yourself onto when you're playing the game, so taking the helmet off would detract or destroy that aspect of the immersion.)

The one thing I will fault them for is it's taking them too long to get to the Halo. At least at the end of the first season the audience was given the impression that they would get there at the start of the second season in some way; but yeah I don't think we're going to see the Halo Beyond a glimpse or two in this season either; and I really have to wonder if they're going to give this show a season 3.

I also thought they might drop the Kwan character entirely when they mentioned that Madrigal was glassed by the Covenant; but unfortunately not.

I also wonder what the reason was behind changing the look of the avatar for Cortana?

And while I do find some of the characters compelling; I agree that with so few episodes it would be nice if they ramped up the action portion a little more. The opening contact sequence in the first episode was nice; but since then it's been mostly dialogue and set up with hardly any real action.

Just enough to see where they take it because again there aren't that many episodes in general, so it's not going to take a lot of time to watch it.

You'd think with so few episodes available they cut down on the character threads and tighten up the story a bit.

 

[FPAlpha]

I only ever played the first Halo game, and while some of it was interesting it only came across as another shooter and I'm not really interested in those types of PC games myself.

I also will never understand the hate for them deciding to make Master Chief an actual human character. The only reason he never takes his helmet off in the game is because he is supposed to be you ( IE the in-game Avatar you project yourself onto when you're playing the game, so taking the helmet off would detract or destroy that aspect of the immersion.)

The one thing I will fault them for is it's taking them too long to get to the Halo. At least at the end of the first season the audience was given the impression that they would get there at the start of the second season in some way; but yeah I don't think we're going to see the Halo Beyond a glimpse or two in this season either; and I really have to wonder if they're going to give this show a season 3.

I also thought they might drop the Kwan character entirely when they mentioned that Madrigal was glassed by the Covenant; but unfortunately not.

I also wonder what the reason was behind changing the look of the avatar for Cortana?

And while I do find some of the characters compelling; I agree that with so few episodes it would be nice if they ramped up the action portion a little more. The opening contact sequence in the first episode was nice; but since then it's been mostly dialogue and set up with hardly any real action.

Just enough to see where they take it because again there aren't that many episodes in general, so it's not going to take a lot of time to watch it.

You'd think with so few episodes available they cut down on the character threads and tighten up the story a bit.

Well, it's still 8 episodes as opposed to the 9 from first season. If we (safely) assume that the big event will be the Fall of Reach the second half of the season might be all out action if not in all of the episode ( might even only be the final episode) which may mean that the Fall will directly set up the Halo introduction and we don't know who will make it to that. It could be that they even kill off the entirety of Silver Team to be closer to the games but for the show it would be the wrong path as they invested so much to develop the team only to cut them out anf focus entirely on Master Chief.

I figure next episode might have some action sequences when they look for Cobalt Team and possibly meet infilitrating Covenant, the new showrunner definitely made some changes and it seems more action is one of them according to articles i read but he still needs to setup the season and future events and that's what the first two episodes are about so far.

 

[valkyrie013]

Ugh.. why can't be like Dredd.. don't take off the damn helmet.

This show sucks..

 

[FPAlpha]

Ugh.. why can't be like Dredd.. don't take off the damn helmet.

This show sucks..

Honest question - can you explain why him showing his face makes the show suck? Anything actually specific? Storyline, acting, special effects?

 

[valkyrie013]

Honest question - can you explain why him showing his face makes the show suck? Anything actually specific? Storyline, acting, special effects?

Simple, he doesn't do it in the game, even if he does they don't show his face, just like Dredd. He's the game's Everyman.

That and I have watched the show, it didn't make the show better by him removing his helmet.. That and I don't like showrunners that take a property, and just do there own thing with it, irreguardless of what came before, be it game or book. They think they know better, which usually is Not the case.

Do like Mando, have a stunt person in the suit, and the actor provide the voice.

If the actor wants to be seen.. And? This is a role, the role doesn't remove his helmet, if he doesn't like it. dont take the role.

 

[fireproof78]

I use to think similarly, but this show isn't the game. It isn't them "doing their own thing," but adapting it based on themes present in both stories.

A blank slate character is great on a video game but doesn't last long in a show or movie.

 

[1987SpaceGuy]

the helmet being off being a bigger issue than the mostly lame side stories/characters and overall pacing.

still wanting THIS show being a direct video game adaption after they specifically launched THIS show as it being the "Silver Screen" timeline.

 

[FPAlpha]

Simple, he doesn't do it in the game, even if he does they don't show his face, just like Dredd. He's the game's Everyman.

That and I have watched the show, it didn't make the show better by him removing his helmet.. That and I don't like showrunners that take a property, and just do there own thing with it, irreguardless of what came before, be it game or book. They think they know better, which usually is Not the case.

Do like Mando, have a stunt person in the suit, and the actor provide the voice.

If the actor wants to be seen.. And? This is a role, the role doesn't remove his helmet, if he doesn't like it. dont take the role.

I understand your point and it seems one of the main problems people have with the show but can we also agree that the game and the show are two different mediums and thus work by different rules?

In the game you control the action with Master Chief as your Avatar, therefore you are able to project yourself into him because he remains faceless ( well, in some of the cutscenes we see him from the back take the helmet off and revealing a light skintone, sucks for all the people with dark skintones i guess).

A TV show is passive in nature, you watch the action unfold and see the actors play their roles, see their emotions on their faces and for this we need to see their faces, simple as that.

Did you ever wonder what Master Chief or any Spartan did outside of missions? They don't live in their armor, they surely walk around base in normal fatigues, attend briefings or are being debriefed, interact with people etc. This is what we see in the show, though quite a bit expanded and changed from the games which is ok because it's an adaptation.

 

[Tuskin38]

Plus in the novels he took his armour off all the time when off mission. We don't see it in the games because we're only controlling him during missions.

Though in the comics they only showed his face as a kid IIRC.

He's the game's Everyman.

He really wasn't. While he didn't talk a lot in the games before Halo 3, he did have his own character and personality in the side materials.

 

[fireproof78]

Did you ever wonder what Master Chief or any Spartan did outside of missions? They don't live in their armor, they surely walk around base in normal fatigues, attend briefings or are being debriefed, interact will people etc. This is what we see in the show, though quite a bit expanded and changed from the games which is ok because it's an adaptation.

Anyone reading the novels would learn more.

 

[FreezeC77]

Plus in the novels he took his armour off all the time when off mission. We don't see it in the games because we're only controlling him during missions.

Though in the comics they only showed his face as a kid IIRC.


He really wasn't. While he didn't talk a lot in the games before Halo 3, he did have his own character and personality in the side materials.

Yea... You're definitely right in who he is and he's definitely not an 'everyman'. The Spartans are the elite of the military forces and the only ones able to actually go up against the Convenant, the problem being there's NOT ENOUGH OF THEM and humanity is losing planet after planet.

Calling a Spartan an 'everyman' would be like saying a Navy Seal is an 'everyman' (and honestly even more laughable because Spartans are biologically superior and improved compared to normal/regular people something navy seals in our world aren't)

 

[Skywalker]

Master Chief has had his helmet off in the games. People see his face. He doesn't wear the thing 24/7.

 

[valkyrie013]

Never read the books, like most people, just played the games, even then they weren't shakspeare
I know there going to fill in the blanks and write there own story, and honestly was looking forward to it, but after 4 episodes I stopped. Might pick it up after S2 finishes and binge it, but just wasn't interesting to me. Your mileage may vary.

 

[fireproof78]

If I was looking for the Halo series to replicate the games then I would. But, as stated by others, and several reviewers, this is not meant as a straight adaptation of the video game. It is a different story, taking on a more character driven drama rather than slaughtering millions of aliens.

As the first edition of X-Box: the magazine put it: "It's ok for kids to kill aliens, Nazis and boy bands because they're bad."

The show is not taking that approach.

 

[FPAlpha]

If I was looking for the Halo series to replicate the games then I would. But, as stated by others, and several reviewers, this is not meant as a straight adaptation of the video game. It is a different story, taking on a more character driven drama rather than slaughtering millions of aliens.

As the first edition of X-Box: the magazine put it: "It's ok for kids to kill aliens, Nazis and boy bands because they're bad."

The show is not taking that approach.

Yeah and apparently some people can't deal with that because they expected a 1:1 copy of the games or constant battle porn. I will never understand this approach because it would be boring as hell to me to see Master Chief mowing down waves of Covenant - i did that in the games and it was fun. I expect more from a show.

 

[Set Harth]

Have they done the Flood?

 

[1987SpaceGuy]

Have they done the Flood?

I am not familiar with the games/lore, but I don't think that term, character or battle or whatever has come up yet in the TV show.