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Halo Season 2: Episode 6 / Onyx
58 Plays1 year ago
John seeks revenge on a secret ONI planet; Perez trains to become a new kind of soldier; Kai finds herself torn between her Spartan code and her loyalty to Master Chief; Makee turns to Cortana for help in her search for the Halo.
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Transcript
Introduction to Halo Season 2, Episode 6 'Onyx'
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey, welcome back, listeners.
00:00:02
Speaker
We are here to talk about Halo Season 2, streaming on Paramount+.
00:00:09
Speaker
We are at Episode 6, titled Onyx, and we're going to dive right into
Disappointment with Episode Re-watch
00:00:15
Speaker
this.
00:00:15
Speaker
Rob, I watched the episode again today.
00:00:21
Speaker
I actually have...
00:00:23
Speaker
watched it twice.
00:00:24
Speaker
Now the first time was kind of in bits and pieces.
00:00:27
Speaker
So I really sat, watch this episode.
00:00:32
Speaker
Um, and yeah, it's still, it's more of the same for me.
00:00:39
Speaker
There's a lot that I really didn't understand.
00:00:42
Speaker
I actually thought there was a lot of bad shots in this episode.
00:00:46
Speaker
Um, like a lot of bad filming in this episode.
00:00:50
Speaker
Normally we really, um,
00:00:54
Speaker
praise some of the fights and the gunplay, so to speak, in this show.
Critique of Cortana and Master Chief's Dynamic
00:01:00
Speaker
I thought this was one of the episodes, especially that ending where the camera work was just not what it usually is.
00:01:11
Speaker
I also kind of had a major issue with Cortana, her conversations with Master Chief.
00:01:19
Speaker
And boy, I tell you,
00:01:23
Speaker
this really did not, I guess the only thing that this did to give me any hope is maybe just maybe we are actually getting to the point where if they do a season three, we're away from all of this bullshit before, because this is before the first actual game.
00:01:46
Speaker
But yeah,
00:01:49
Speaker
To me, it was more of just a shit sandwich with this episode and one that I personally really did not like.
Mixed Feelings on Episode Elements
00:02:00
Speaker
I kind of felt going into this that I was going to like this episode more than you do, uh, more than you did.
00:02:05
Speaker
And I, yep.
00:02:07
Speaker
Safe to say I, I do.
00:02:09
Speaker
Um, and I understand where you're coming from and specifically based on some of your criticisms, um, and, and accurate and, and certainly valid criticisms of this series and this season so far leading up to it.
00:02:23
Speaker
There were certain things about this that worked for me.
00:02:26
Speaker
I think perhaps I've,
00:02:29
Speaker
done more to divorce myself from my expectations being unsatisfied overall of what I wanted.
00:02:36
Speaker
And I'm just kind of more taking this for what it is because really there's really like John hasn't been in his armor much this season at all, like a little bit in the first two episodes, but he's not been doing master chief stuff for a while.
00:02:54
Speaker
Nope.
00:02:54
Speaker
And that's going to be one of the things I want to talk about with you, but continue.
00:02:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:58
Speaker
So, so like, that's what we want.
00:03:02
Speaker
And we already know that that's not what we're going to get, but there was some things in this episode that, um, I was really hooked by and, uh, you know, I'm, I'll be, I'll be curious to get into that.
00:03:15
Speaker
Um, but I, I will absolutely understand what you disliked about this episode.
Master Chief's Limited Role in the Series
00:03:22
Speaker
All right, so let's, you know, I feel like we've talked about it ad nauseum, but since they continue to just put it in our face, let's talk about Master Chief.
00:03:31
Speaker
Let's talk about John.
00:03:34
Speaker
This is the third episode in a row now where we have only John, no Master Chief, correct?
00:03:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:43
Speaker
No armor, no nothing.
00:03:47
Speaker
And part of my problem is...
00:03:51
Speaker
the, we know master chief.
00:03:52
Speaker
Okay.
00:03:53
Speaker
You and I, we know master chief.
00:03:55
Speaker
We we've played through the games.
00:03:57
Speaker
I've loved his story.
00:03:58
Speaker
I've mentioned this many times.
00:04:00
Speaker
I worked at GameStop during the height of halo.
Halo 2's Legacy vs. TV Series' Hype
00:04:04
Speaker
I worked there when halo two was being released and it was a goddamn shit show.
00:04:10
Speaker
It was marketing.
00:04:12
Speaker
It was pre-orders.
00:04:13
Speaker
It was, believe it or not, folks, midnight releases when those were a thing.
00:04:19
Speaker
Um,
00:04:20
Speaker
And everything was Halo 2.
00:04:25
Speaker
This, you know, you talk about Grand Theft Auto 5, and I understand how much that game is sold, but like,
00:04:33
Speaker
Rob, unless you were around during that time, you really can't.
00:04:38
Speaker
And you saw it firsthand.
00:04:40
Speaker
You can't properly explain what it was like to be around when Halo 2 was releasing.
00:04:46
Speaker
It was.
00:04:46
Speaker
And I attended a midnight release.
00:04:48
Speaker
It was a whirlwind.
00:04:51
Speaker
It was incredible.
00:04:53
Speaker
Just and again, to be in the store and see that and having people ask what.
00:05:00
Speaker
When the game comes out, what are you guys doing with that?
00:05:02
Speaker
With that cutout of Master Chief?
00:05:04
Speaker
What are you doing with this?
00:05:05
Speaker
Can I buy that?
00:05:06
Speaker
Like, what are you doing with this?
00:05:08
Speaker
People wanting it.
00:05:09
Speaker
I mean, do you remember when video games?
00:05:12
Speaker
I mean, this had a soundtrack release, for God's sakes.
00:05:15
Speaker
There was a Halo 2 CD that was released.
00:05:20
Speaker
Like, yeah.
00:05:22
Speaker
I attended that midnight release.
00:05:25
Speaker
Oddly enough, I remember that.
00:05:26
Speaker
And I still to this day think the game I logged the most hours into on my Xbox 360 was Halo 2, which came out on the original Xbox.
00:05:36
Speaker
And I still managed to put more time into that on 360 than probably anything else.
00:05:41
Speaker
And it's very likely...
00:05:43
Speaker
that I put more time into Halo 2 than any other game I've ever played.
00:05:48
Speaker
It's entirely likely with the amount of time I spent in the online multiplayer.
00:05:52
Speaker
It's hard to describe to people because the online gaming world is so massive and there are so many options.
00:06:00
Speaker
But when true console online gaming, I know PC online gaming had been
Questioning Master Chief's Heroic Portrayal
00:06:05
Speaker
around for a while, but when broadband console multiplayer gaming really caught fire,
00:06:12
Speaker
It was predominantly Halo 2.
00:06:13
Speaker
That's what everybody was playing.
00:06:15
Speaker
And now there's a lot more options and things like that.
00:06:16
Speaker
You've got your Fortnites and things like that out there that everybody gets into.
00:06:20
Speaker
And that's maybe the biggest one right now.
00:06:22
Speaker
And Call of Duty certainly makes major waves every year when that comes out.
00:06:26
Speaker
FIFA and Madden, the EA Sports titles certainly have a huge, massive international draw.
00:06:32
Speaker
But Halo 2 was what everybody was playing.
00:06:35
Speaker
I mean...
00:06:38
Speaker
It's hard to describe it to somebody who wasn't there.
00:06:40
Speaker
And let's not forget, everybody played it without the bane of microtransactions.
00:06:46
Speaker
Oh, God.
00:06:47
Speaker
You remember what games were like before microtransactions?
00:06:49
Speaker
I...
00:06:51
Speaker
Well, just being a game that you could play out of it.
00:06:56
Speaker
It's amazing.
00:06:57
Speaker
Well, that's a that's just something for a different time.
00:07:01
Speaker
But so the point of all of that conversation right there was to to, you know, to listeners is, yeah, we know Master Chief.
00:07:13
Speaker
But part of my biggest problem with this episode, because you could start to see it.
00:07:20
Speaker
who the hell is master chief in this series?
00:07:23
Speaker
Because, oh, finish, finish his fight.
00:07:27
Speaker
Don't let it be in vain.
00:07:29
Speaker
I'm sorry.
00:07:30
Speaker
Unless I'm forgetting major things from season one.
00:07:33
Speaker
I know there's some little things, but like, who the hell is master chief in this universe?
00:07:38
Speaker
Because all we've seen is a guy with,
00:07:42
Speaker
great abs and a strong jawline.
00:07:45
Speaker
I mean, for the way that they are trying to rally people around and Eckerson's plan of we're going to rally around chief, he hasn't done enough in this damn universe for us, the audience, to believe that shit.
00:08:00
Speaker
And I'm just, I'm tired of it.
00:08:05
Speaker
Those propaganda posters do really stand in stark contrast to the fact that we, the viewer, have not really seen him do enough to be regarded as this, this, you know, mythical war hero.
00:08:20
Speaker
No, it's, it's all talk.
00:08:21
Speaker
It reminds me, it reminds me a lot with us getting closer and closer to this day.
Strategic Decisions and Character Logic
00:08:30
Speaker
Attack of the Clones and Star Wars.
00:08:32
Speaker
And all we heard about, and even in Revenge of the Sith a little bit, all we heard about was Anakin and Obi-Wan's adventures.
00:08:40
Speaker
We didn't get to see anything as fans.
00:08:42
Speaker
We had books and things like that, but everything that they did that we were supposed to believe their relationship and, oh, it was so tragic for those two to fall out.
00:08:53
Speaker
Now, certainly they've done a lot of things to help with that.
00:08:58
Speaker
But yeah, like, us, the viewer, we don't see him as this, this just, oh my god, he saved us, he's done this, he's done that.
00:09:11
Speaker
Like, what has he done in-universe, in this show, for a casual viewer to go, why the hell does everybody care about him?
00:09:20
Speaker
For Christ's sakes, there's probably...
00:09:23
Speaker
There's got to be people who've never even seen that guy in his freaking armor.
00:09:27
Speaker
So who the hell is that?
00:09:30
Speaker
And what's strange is they still have yet in universe.
00:09:34
Speaker
And I and I this is still maybe my biggest problem with this season so far.
00:09:39
Speaker
They still have yet to really explain why Akerson just decided to.
00:09:44
Speaker
absolutely just give up on reach and just let the entire planet be slaughtered without any form of resistance at all, without, without trying to do anything.
00:09:55
Speaker
It almost feels like they're trying to do a little bit of like a false flag kind of thing where they're trying to rally the troops around, you know, out of, out of master chief being martyred and all of these, you know, millions of people on reach being destroyed.
00:10:10
Speaker
It's like you, you martyred all of these people to try to gin up the war effort, but
00:10:14
Speaker
When you were already in a fight for the survival of your species, it doesn't get more high stakes than that.
00:10:20
Speaker
You're not trying to generate a sympathy for a war effort against an against an unpopular opponent.
00:10:27
Speaker
Like it's it's an opponent who's trying to wipe you
Kai's Loyalty and Character Development
00:10:30
Speaker
out.
00:10:30
Speaker
It's not somebody that's like, well, it's kind of complicated.
00:10:33
Speaker
Like, you know, like like like look at what's going on in the Middle East right now.
00:10:36
Speaker
There's a lot of sides being taken and things like that.
00:10:39
Speaker
Some people don't know how to feel and you know, what happens if this, what happens if that we're not talking about something like that, where, where it's a little complicated.
00:10:46
Speaker
We're talking about an alien species trying to eradicate humanity.
00:10:50
Speaker
You don't need to martyr an entire planet and your best offensive weapon against them in order to gin up support for the war effort.
00:11:00
Speaker
And that is so far the only thing that they have tried to
00:11:06
Speaker
to present as a reason why they're just like, Oh, all these people on reach me.
00:11:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:13
Speaker
It was technology, weapons, people, resources, resources.
00:11:19
Speaker
Um, and again, I had, I had said earlier, I was actually a fan of Eckerson.
00:11:27
Speaker
And now I'm just like, after this episode, I'm like, all right.
00:11:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:32
Speaker
You're, you're back to being an idiot as well.
00:11:36
Speaker
And, um,
00:11:37
Speaker
The simple fact, the other thing is, and again, this is what happens when it's like, okay, you have to maybe go through and you have to get to where you need to be.
00:11:47
Speaker
But to the viewer, again, for me, the viewer, and this is something I'm going to, this is another thing that I'm going to talk about on another review that you're going to hear from us with Ghostbusters 2.
00:12:01
Speaker
In terms of time frame,
00:12:05
Speaker
So Kai's already, Kai already turns on Eckerson.
00:12:10
Speaker
Like you weren't smart enough to stop for two seconds and then you sit there and you're sorry.
00:12:18
Speaker
You're probably going to hear this a lot listeners.
00:12:20
Speaker
So I apologize, but you're going to hear this bullshit from her when she confronts Eckerson.
00:12:26
Speaker
I always believed master chief.
00:12:28
Speaker
Really?
00:12:29
Speaker
Then why the frig are you with him?
00:12:31
Speaker
Why did you go and do this?
00:12:33
Speaker
Why did you just beat the shit out of John for five minutes?
00:12:37
Speaker
Like,
00:12:38
Speaker
Because it
Intrigue in Kai and John's Relationship
00:12:39
Speaker
wasn't to put up a front to fool Eckerson.
00:12:42
Speaker
Like, I'm sorry, it wasn't.
00:12:44
Speaker
Like, where's the timetable for her to turn?
00:12:47
Speaker
Because for us, the viewer, you turned on John, you spent, what, six hours away from him, and then all of a sudden went, oh, no, I've always believed in John.
00:12:59
Speaker
Like, I've always been with you.
00:13:01
Speaker
Really?
00:13:01
Speaker
Because if you were to stop for two seconds and actually frickin' talk to John,
00:13:07
Speaker
everything would have been fine.
00:13:09
Speaker
You would have realized that none of the shit actually lines up, but no, you're telling me, and maybe I'm missing something, Rob, because they were so easy.
00:13:17
Speaker
Like, maybe that's the point.
00:13:19
Speaker
Spartans are easily manipulated.
00:13:20
Speaker
They're supposed to take orders.
00:13:22
Speaker
They know one thing, but it's like, you've gone against that.
00:13:25
Speaker
This entire show, you've seen, you've shown the Spartans break free from there.
00:13:30
Speaker
You take orders, you do what I tell you.
00:13:32
Speaker
And that's the end of it.
00:13:34
Speaker
Like,
00:13:35
Speaker
To me, it's just, it was so dumb that she, in this episode, is like, no, I believe in Jon.
00:13:43
Speaker
Well, you just screwed yourself because guess what?
00:13:47
Speaker
You might have been able to help stop something about Reach.
00:13:50
Speaker
You might have been able to help your fellow Spartan not get killed.
00:13:54
Speaker
And it's...
00:13:55
Speaker
As you can tell, I'm so aggravated with this episode.
00:13:59
Speaker
I can see that.
00:14:00
Speaker
You're fired up tonight.
00:14:00
Speaker
I like it.
00:14:02
Speaker
So when they are trying to convince Kai that John was a turncoat,
00:14:07
Speaker
To me, I was very interested in that line because I could already see Kai and her confliction between being a soldier and and being a loyal friend.
00:14:19
Speaker
I saw that there was elements of of specifically her character journey that I was into.
00:14:25
Speaker
And I actually really think that she's.
00:14:28
Speaker
among the best characters on this show.
00:14:30
Speaker
She's, she's among the characters whose stories I am the most interested in, which considering that the halo games are literally about one character and one character only with like very, you know, a halo reaches about other guys too.
00:14:43
Speaker
Um,
00:14:44
Speaker
but predominantly Halo is master chief.
00:14:48
Speaker
And the fact that the show that's about that game series, Kai is by far a more interesting character to me.
00:14:54
Speaker
I think tells you, you kind of, you kind of effed up a little bit when you were making this, but there was elements of that, that through the lens of how she was going to respond that I found interesting.
00:15:06
Speaker
And when she has to confront John, um,
00:15:10
Speaker
I found that to be very complex and I was really into that scene personally.
00:15:15
Speaker
I felt like to some extent, I almost felt like John needed her to kick the crap out of him.
00:15:23
Speaker
There was something there.
00:15:24
Speaker
I think there's a longer game there that's being played that he needed that to happen for what's going to come next.
00:15:31
Speaker
I think I could be way off on,
00:15:34
Speaker
But I think especially like as banged up as he still is, because he still is not all the way recovered from his injuries and he's barely getting around and yet is somehow still like trying to be super spy, which like, why did he think his thumbprint was going to work on that reader?
00:15:49
Speaker
Like, I'm pretty sure he's persona non grata everywhere in, uh, in the UNSC.
00:15:53
Speaker
Why did he think that was going to work?
00:15:56
Speaker
Um,
00:15:57
Speaker
But the dynamic between the two of them is among the stories I'm most interested in so far through season one and two, I would say.
00:16:08
Speaker
Okay.
00:16:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:09
Speaker
I mean, you're going to give the show more credit than I am in that regard because I don't trust them that that was really anything.
00:16:17
Speaker
But, you know, you have that.
00:16:24
Speaker
And what...
00:16:26
Speaker
One of my other major problems is this episode dedicates time to Quan, to Helzi.
00:16:35
Speaker
And my God, are we serious?
00:16:39
Speaker
The spiritual
Cortana's Intentions and Character Development
00:16:40
Speaker
being guiding Quan?
00:16:43
Speaker
Oh, it's awful.
00:16:44
Speaker
Just...
00:16:47
Speaker
I'm tired of it.
00:16:48
Speaker
I'm tired of it.
00:16:49
Speaker
And Halsey, in this episode, and I've been giving her credit, kind of went back to that character that I don't like.
00:16:57
Speaker
And...
00:17:01
Speaker
I just love that she didn't even bother to pretend like she cared about anything.
00:17:04
Speaker
Quan had to say like, that was, that was kind of cool.
00:17:08
Speaker
I loved that.
00:17:09
Speaker
Like, she's like, listen, you are so insignificant to me and I am just not the kind of person that's going to care about this.
00:17:15
Speaker
And not only am I not the kind of person that's going to care about this, I'm, I care so little about you and your feelings that I'm not even going to bother to pretend that I care about you and your feelings.
00:17:24
Speaker
And that to me,
00:17:25
Speaker
was kind of awesome because you know what?
00:17:28
Speaker
I sympathize with Dr. Halsey because I too do not care about Quan Ha or her feelings.
00:17:33
Speaker
She was literally the audience.
00:17:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:36
Speaker
She's me.
00:17:37
Speaker
I'm Halsey.
00:17:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:39
Speaker
I just, I was like, Oh my God.
00:17:41
Speaker
Like, sure.
00:17:43
Speaker
Whatever.
00:17:46
Speaker
Um, you know, we also have the, so they still haven't found this.
00:17:51
Speaker
They still haven't found the sun.
00:17:53
Speaker
Like,
00:17:54
Speaker
Everything side plots, all of the side plots, the optional quests, I'll call them, just were so boring.
00:18:04
Speaker
And so it just, it took me out of the episode because I was almost, you almost captured my interest.
00:18:15
Speaker
But then I also thought the acting from,
00:18:21
Speaker
McKee was very weak in this episode.
00:18:25
Speaker
Um, her sniveling, crying, Oh my God, you know what they'll do to me attitude.
00:18:33
Speaker
Um, I didn't like any of that at all.
00:18:37
Speaker
Um, again, I, I feel like this show kind of has its cake and eats it too, because again, Rob, you and I know what the Arbiter is.
00:18:47
Speaker
We, we know what that title, um,
00:18:51
Speaker
you know, what it means to us.
00:18:53
Speaker
Like, we don't know what it means to this show.
00:18:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:56
Speaker
I mean, I feel like when I say they want their cake and eat it too, it's like, you know, there's a line in there like, oh, you're already, you're, you're already disgraced.
00:19:04
Speaker
You already carry enough disgrace with your name.
00:19:06
Speaker
So he's obviously failed a previous mission,
Criticism of Mystical Elements
00:19:10
Speaker
but to us, the viewer who knows Halo and are taking it based on the game, his mission was failing to kill the demon, which is master chief.
00:19:22
Speaker
So what is losing the ring?
00:19:24
Speaker
Right.
00:19:25
Speaker
What is his failure?
00:19:28
Speaker
Like, why is he the arbiter in this?
00:19:31
Speaker
Unless we're going to be introduced to a different arbiter, which I don't think we are.
00:19:39
Speaker
But even that and, you know, I was like, oh, OK, I I'm not interested in that.
00:19:45
Speaker
I was also kind of confused with Cortana.
00:19:49
Speaker
whether, and maybe I missed something because I'm, I was so fixated on how much things were aggravating me that maybe I missed some lines of dialogue, but it is Cortana just helping for a means to an end to get back to John.
00:20:06
Speaker
She kind of seemed to genuinely care about what's her name again.
00:20:15
Speaker
I said it right.
00:20:15
Speaker
Right.
00:20:16
Speaker
McKee.
00:20:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:17
Speaker
Like she genuinely kind of seemed to care.
00:20:22
Speaker
Also not for nothing.
00:20:27
Speaker
Again, maybe I'm missing something here.
00:20:28
Speaker
Maybe I've got blinders on.
00:20:31
Speaker
So master chief and Cortana are so buddy, buddy.
00:20:35
Speaker
They're so cool.
00:20:36
Speaker
Oh, I remember.
00:20:37
Speaker
I'm didn't John not want Cortana.
00:20:41
Speaker
Like, yeah.
00:20:42
Speaker
What what am I forgetting?
00:20:44
Speaker
Like, I felt like there was some kind of gap there that they shouldn't have been that close.
00:20:49
Speaker
You know, it was like two years ago now when season one came out and they've kept the two of them apart for so long that trying to remember what it was like when they were together seems like a very faded.
00:21:03
Speaker
It seems like trying to remember something that happened when I was in middle school.
00:21:06
Speaker
Really?
00:21:07
Speaker
I thought I remembered him saying, like, get out of my head.
00:21:10
Speaker
He didn't want her.
00:21:12
Speaker
at one point there was that.
00:21:14
Speaker
And then eventually he does sort of just give himself over to her to, I think that was in the season finale.
00:21:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:21
Speaker
And then they never really fully explained what happened.
00:21:23
Speaker
You know, there was some kind of surgical procedure to remove her.
00:21:27
Speaker
They don't really define that.
00:21:29
Speaker
And I feel like there's a lot missed there by, by having us just kind of guess what happened when, when really like the two of them working together was, was a high point of the game series.
00:21:40
Speaker
It's, it's what makes,
00:21:42
Speaker
the events of the fourth and fifth game and, and even the most recent one, infinite, like there's, there's a lot about the relationship between Cortana and John that drives the story of those games, particularly the fifth one.
00:21:59
Speaker
You know, that's, that's really the whole, the whole plot.
00:22:01
Speaker
And,
00:22:02
Speaker
they have yet to really do anything to make that seem important.
00:22:07
Speaker
You know, the situation between Cortana and McKee is interesting because it's like, what is actually Cortana's benefit here?
00:22:15
Speaker
It almost feels as though perhaps because John has some kind of good feeling towards McKee that maybe Cortana wants to...
00:22:28
Speaker
Do something that John wants like it's
Preference for Action over Dialogue
00:22:30
Speaker
not really clear to me why that's happening.
00:22:33
Speaker
And I and I do have to say so the all the mystical stuff in this falls flat on its face, just completely flat does it's a total nonstarter does not go anywhere does not add value is not interesting is not compelling.
00:22:48
Speaker
And then you add this whole like dyad in the force bit between McKee and John, and it's just really bad.
00:22:58
Speaker
It's, it's, it's unnecessary.
00:23:00
Speaker
It's unwelcomed to this series.
00:23:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:03
Speaker
I can't imagine anybody is really into that idea that is like, yeah, let's explore that further.
00:23:10
Speaker
It's really a major detractor of this series.
00:23:15
Speaker
And it's something that at times makes it hard to get into.
00:23:20
Speaker
Just when I think there's a couple of things that are really getting me into it.
00:23:22
Speaker
Like I said, I really enjoy...
00:23:25
Speaker
that situation with Kai and her having to choose between her sworn allegiances and duties and, you know, trying to question like, you know, she already had questions about John.
00:23:34
Speaker
She already was questioning some of, some of his mental capabilities.
00:23:38
Speaker
She's already seen him kind of be a little bit out of it.
00:23:41
Speaker
So it's possible she could be questioning some of that.
00:23:44
Speaker
I was interested in that.
00:23:46
Speaker
And then you go through all this mystical stuff and the, you know, the dyad thing.
00:23:50
Speaker
And it's like, come on.
00:24:01
Speaker
So the thing that I really didn't like right there is them, that ending where you said, Hey, they have a diet in the force.
00:24:13
Speaker
You know, the, the, the two of them walking towards the artifact at the same time, this is where I say you chose to go with that and where the arbiter sits there and he's like, first of all,
00:24:29
Speaker
What a terrible, terrible establishing shot, for God's sake.
00:24:34
Speaker
Where the arbiter says...
00:24:37
Speaker
and I can't remember the exact line, but like those of you who believe will follow, follow me, the rest will die.
00:24:43
Speaker
And then it's like, where the hell did everybody else come from on the ship?
00:24:47
Speaker
Because the camera angles are terrible.
00:24:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:51
Speaker
But you can clearly see fighting in the background, but I'm like, as far as I knew from those establishing shots, it was the fricking arbiter versus
Visual Effects Critique
00:25:00
Speaker
what the four other people with the, what, what do you call the one character in the robe?
00:25:07
Speaker
Well, you know, he's really just a priest because he's not, he's not one of the hierarchs.
00:25:13
Speaker
So I would just say he's a Sangheili priest, which is kind of interesting because I don't remember any references to that in the actual game.
00:25:21
Speaker
You know, the elites were just a,
00:25:23
Speaker
you know, more of like a lieutenant kind of commander class within the, within the covenant cult.
00:25:31
Speaker
I don't really remember them having a lot of religious figures.
00:25:34
Speaker
So I thought that was interesting.
00:25:35
Speaker
I didn't mind that addition because it kind of makes sense.
00:25:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:40
Speaker
I mean, I didn't mind that, but it was just, to me, it was like, okay, where did all these people come that are now fighting with the arbiter?
00:25:48
Speaker
And again, you chose to, instead of showing that scene,
00:25:52
Speaker
you chose to show the two of them walking towards the artifact.
00:25:57
Speaker
Like it just give us the action.
00:26:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:01
Speaker
It seemed odd, but I don't know if maybe that would look good because I will say most of the time this show looks really good.
00:26:08
Speaker
Even the stuff that's, you know, whether it's practical, you know, some of the practical effects CGI.
00:26:16
Speaker
I did not think that shot of the arbiter without his armor on looked that great.
00:26:21
Speaker
I think that was maybe one of the least impressive shots of any of the covenant I've seen.
00:26:26
Speaker
Yeah, it seemed very, very jarring.
00:26:30
Speaker
So maybe they couldn't necessarily film that action very well, but it just seemed like a really odd choice that that's what we focused on.
00:26:39
Speaker
Yeah, don't show us the action.
00:26:40
Speaker
Show us the other thing, because that's what we want from this show.
00:26:44
Speaker
Yeah, I again, it's just it's weird.
00:26:48
Speaker
Oh, man, just really, really weird, weird, weird choices with this episode.
00:26:56
Speaker
And, you know, they kept this episode off with.
00:27:01
Speaker
To me, a really weird choice, but.
00:27:06
Speaker
That's that's kind of where I stand there is just this episode again, it follows suit for me where.
00:27:15
Speaker
these these choices are odd i i just i mean what we've got two we've got two episodes left i did not watch the preview it does kind of seem like in episode seven we might get chief back in his armor um but i don't know um
00:27:38
Speaker
I like I'm more convinced now than ever that season two ends with chief landing on the ring and that's all we get.
00:27:47
Speaker
And we have to wait for season three.
00:27:51
Speaker
I kind of feel like that makes sense.
00:27:54
Speaker
I think we could get some decent action.
00:27:57
Speaker
And then, you know, episode eight, it's called Halo.
00:28:02
Speaker
It could be the journey to get there.
00:28:05
Speaker
All of these different people that we've met so far converging on that one spot.
Speculation on Season 2's Conclusion and Season 3
00:28:11
Speaker
I don't want to see an episode of them driving around the ring world in a warthog with...
00:28:18
Speaker
Quan Ha driving and chief gunning.
00:28:21
Speaker
Like, I don't want that.
00:28:22
Speaker
Like, Oh God, that's what we're getting.
00:28:24
Speaker
I can feel it.
00:28:25
Speaker
Oh, you mentioned it.
00:28:28
Speaker
You know, I'm, I'm hoping I didn't manifest something into reality, but like, I don't, I don't want that.
00:28:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:34
Speaker
I, I don't want it either, but I just, I feel that's what we're going to get.
00:28:41
Speaker
And I don't know.
00:28:44
Speaker
I just, and the funny thing is,
00:28:49
Speaker
You know, I am seeing because I'm looking and I'm reading and, you know, all across the board and good for these people.
00:29:00
Speaker
Honestly, I'm seeing people really enjoying this season because I'm looking at certain reviews for episodes and people and what they're saying.
00:29:11
Speaker
And it's just like,
00:29:14
Speaker
Yeah, I'm getting people are actually enjoying this and I'm like, you know, good for you.
00:29:21
Speaker
I'm never one of those people that are like, oh, I can't believe anybody would get enjoyment out of something.
00:29:27
Speaker
But it's just it's not me.
00:29:30
Speaker
I really did not enjoy this episode at all.
00:29:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:36
Speaker
And rightfully so, I will be, you know, I'll be 100% honest.
Nostalgia for Past TV Events
00:29:40
Speaker
It is not the worst episode that this show has ever produced.
00:29:44
Speaker
But just every time something like this happens, it gets harder and harder for me to try and separate some of the good of these episodes.
00:29:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:58
Speaker
And that's where I'm at.
00:29:59
Speaker
But objectively, this is even close to being anything terrible compared to some of the other episodes between season one and two.
00:30:11
Speaker
We have seen way worse, but I also don't think I've ever been as adamant as I have about some other episodes.
00:30:21
Speaker
Maybe in season one, that episode that really just focused on Quan, I was like, what the hell are we doing?
00:30:26
Speaker
This thing sucks.
00:30:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:27
Speaker
Um, but yeah, there's just something about this that I just, I just don't, I don't like it and I can't objectively find anything good, like really good with it.
00:30:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:42
Speaker
I, um, I don't think I actually watched this comes out on Thursdays and I think I finally got around to seeing this Sunday.
00:30:51
Speaker
We're recording this Monday.
00:30:55
Speaker
And I was like, okay, you know, I'll get to it when I get to it.
00:30:58
Speaker
I was busy.
00:30:59
Speaker
So I was like, yeah, I could do it now or I could do it later.
00:31:02
Speaker
Thinking back to like when, when terrestrial TV and satellite TV was really good before the streaming takeover of how we consume content.
00:31:16
Speaker
Sunday night at 10 o'clock was when everything good was on.
00:31:20
Speaker
Like when the walking dead was really good, it was Sunday night at 10 o'clock when game of Thrones was on, it was Sunday night at 10 o'clock.
00:31:26
Speaker
Like those kinds of things you just knew like at nine 59 at the latest, you were in your living room on your couch.
00:31:35
Speaker
Even if you had DVR, you still had to watch it live because you couldn't go to work the next day or school or whatever you do.
00:31:44
Speaker
and not have seen the most recent episode of the thing everybody was buzzing about.
Comparing Cultural Impacts: Game of Thrones vs. Halo
00:31:50
Speaker
Yeah, I mean,
00:31:52
Speaker
You know, you talk about that.
00:31:53
Speaker
Rob, even for stuff that we've watched in the past when it was like, oh, man, like I'm watching it first thing, like the Mandalorian, when that dropped, it was no, I'm watching it the day it drops immediately.
00:32:05
Speaker
Like I immediately need to watch it.
00:32:08
Speaker
But, you know, you talk about right.
00:32:10
Speaker
The Last of Us.
00:32:11
Speaker
It was no, I got to watch it.
00:32:13
Speaker
I put my kids to bed early when that show was on.
00:32:15
Speaker
Right.
00:32:16
Speaker
The sun's out.
00:32:17
Speaker
Shut up.
00:32:19
Speaker
that time get your rest um right exactly um you know it just you think about too now rob you know when when we work together in the same building um think back to game of thrones and the last season that that came out for game of thrones
00:32:42
Speaker
Not talking about whether or not it was a disappointment or anything like that.
00:32:49
Speaker
There was a goddamn.
00:32:53
Speaker
Like squares, pull pool that was done at work.
00:32:59
Speaker
Who's going to die?
00:33:01
Speaker
Who's going to get the iron throw?
00:33:02
Speaker
Like that's like a fantasy league.
00:33:05
Speaker
Yes.
00:33:06
Speaker
That's how popular the show was.
00:33:07
Speaker
And I know other places that had stuff similar to what was going on in that store.
00:33:14
Speaker
It was, oh my God, can you believe it?
00:33:17
Speaker
It's the final season.
00:33:18
Speaker
What's going to happen?
00:33:20
Speaker
And again, not talking about whether people liked it, hated it, you know, in between it was, you
00:33:26
Speaker
the hype of you're going to create almost a Super Bowl square for a television show, for God's sakes.
00:33:38
Speaker
And again, like you said, you couldn't you couldn't go into work or any place else without having watched it because you knew people were and not being dicks, but like people just couldn't not talk about it.
00:33:56
Speaker
You couldn't avoid people all day because you know you're going to run into somebody and hear about it.
00:34:03
Speaker
Or you're going to walk past and someone's going to be talking about it.
00:34:09
Speaker
Like, you know, and again, it's a totally different world that we live in from just what, I mean, Game of Thrones ended when?
00:34:21
Speaker
I feel like it was 2018, 2019.
00:34:22
Speaker
Okay.
00:34:24
Speaker
I mean, four years is a short period of time.
00:34:28
Speaker
Like, you know, it's a much different world is that then we live in, but you just don't have that.
00:34:38
Speaker
You just don't have that anymore.
00:34:43
Speaker
Yeah, it wasn't all that long ago.
00:34:45
Speaker
And yet I feel the closest we've come is The Last of Us.
00:34:50
Speaker
That was a show that I think everybody was absolutely it was everywhere.
00:34:55
Speaker
You couldn't escape it.
00:34:56
Speaker
The Mandalorian when it was really good.
00:34:58
Speaker
was everywhere.
00:34:59
Speaker
You, I mean, you know, baby Yoda was the most popular and probably still is the most popular figure in pop culture right now.
00:35:07
Speaker
And it's probably Taylor Swift to be honest, but after Taylor,
Exploring Alternative Storylines
00:35:10
Speaker
you know, um, it's, it's baby Yoda still, I think it's not the master chief.
00:35:16
Speaker
No.
00:35:17
Speaker
Um, and it should be, it really should be like this, this show had so much, um,
00:35:30
Speaker
Potential to be something truly.
00:35:35
Speaker
groundbreaking again.
00:35:38
Speaker
And I'm not saying in terms of, Oh my God, like what, you know, what amazing set pieces, what like, no, just in terms of a story that you could sit there and go, wow.
00:35:51
Speaker
And again, fine.
00:35:52
Speaker
You're not adapting the first games.
00:35:54
Speaker
Maybe that's where season three is leading.
00:35:56
Speaker
And then it's like season three is literally almost sort of a carbon copy of the game, so to speak in a certain way.
00:36:03
Speaker
Um,
00:36:05
Speaker
you could have adopted other properties from halo that would have made it more interesting.
00:36:13
Speaker
You could have done different stories and made this interesting.
00:36:18
Speaker
I mean, again, look at the video game.
00:36:21
Speaker
Halo reach might even be as popular, if not more popular than some of the other main entries.
00:36:28
Speaker
It's probably more popular than halo guardians.
00:36:31
Speaker
I would assume like, yeah, you know, and,
00:36:36
Speaker
Adopt that story.
00:36:38
Speaker
Have Matt, you know, again, you there's so much and it's, it's always, I will say this look hindsight armchair, you know, it's the same thing as armchair coaching, whatever the case may be, you know, I am not writing this show.
00:36:55
Speaker
I am not doing this.
00:36:56
Speaker
So it's easy watching it and saying, well, there's other things you could have done.
00:37:00
Speaker
I understand that.
00:37:01
Speaker
And I understand that there's a lot of people that,
00:37:04
Speaker
who have worked very hard to produce this.
00:37:08
Speaker
I am in no way, shape or form saying they haven't.
00:37:13
Speaker
I just feel like there, again, in my stupid, humble opinion, there was something to do.
00:37:21
Speaker
There was something that could have been truly groundbreaking about this show.
00:37:27
Speaker
And really put this on the map of, oh my God, no matter who you are, you have to see this.
00:37:36
Speaker
And I don't feel like even the people who really like this show, I don't feel like there's...
00:37:43
Speaker
I don't feel like there's that hook there for someone to really take anything from these episodes or season one and say, oh, my God, you have to watch it.
00:37:55
Speaker
I don't feel like any part of this show has that big of a hook.
00:38:01
Speaker
If you're not a fan of Halo to say this is why you watch it.
00:38:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:06
Speaker
What, what is this doing to bring in people who are not the,
Emotional Storytelling in Halo Reach
00:38:10
Speaker
you know, fans of the game?
00:38:11
Speaker
You know, what, what is the, what is the way, you know, we mentioned it a couple of times, but the last of us was something that people watch that had no connect.
00:38:19
Speaker
We're like, Oh, that was a game.
00:38:20
Speaker
You know, like they were surprised to learn.
00:38:22
Speaker
Um, if somebody hadn't told them like, Oh my goodness, you know, that was incredible.
00:38:26
Speaker
You know, you mentioned the, the game fall of reach, um, or just reach it's, it's, there's also the novel, the fall of reach that, um, kind of covers this too.
00:38:35
Speaker
But.
00:38:36
Speaker
it plays out like a Shakespearean tragedy because if you think about the opening shot, it's a Spartan helmet cracked.
00:38:44
Speaker
It's the start of the game with kind of like a really interesting score.
00:38:48
Speaker
And then you finally see that same shot when you get to the end of the game.
00:38:51
Speaker
And by the time you get to the end of the game, you've forgotten that it even happened.
00:38:55
Speaker
But you already know going into it, there is a better than 90% chance that all of the characters you're meeting are not going to make it to the end.
00:39:06
Speaker
And at some points, maybe you convince yourself, oh, I'm sure they'll get evac'd at one point or another.
00:39:11
Speaker
But as members of the team begin to die, once one goes, then another, then another.
00:39:20
Speaker
And by the time that continues, you kind of get the general idea like,
00:39:26
Speaker
yeah, this is not a mission they're going to survive.
00:39:30
Speaker
All of them or any of them, really.
00:39:33
Speaker
And it really plays out like a Shakespearean tragedy in that way that you know that these characters are going to die.
00:39:40
Speaker
It's kind of like Rogue One a little bit in that way.
00:39:43
Speaker
Like they're not coming back from this mission.
00:39:46
Speaker
Like it's just it's not it's not intended to happen that way.
00:39:51
Speaker
And there's something almost beautiful about that.
00:39:54
Speaker
And the fact that it's so important for them to achieve this.
00:39:59
Speaker
And yet in this show, reach gets glassed.
00:40:04
Speaker
Did you feel anything about it?
00:40:05
Speaker
Did that resonate with you in any way?
00:40:08
Speaker
Like they really, I mean, they showed some of the characters be, you know, here and there.
00:40:13
Speaker
They, they had some really cool stuff when the covenant were on the ground.
00:40:18
Speaker
But then the bulk of the actual destruction takes place while Master Chief is like passed out.
00:40:24
Speaker
And then as he wakes up days later, did you really feel anything, though, about those millions of people?
00:40:30
Speaker
Like, no.
00:40:32
Speaker
Did it really tug on your heartstrings in any meaningful way?
00:40:34
Speaker
Like, oh, we got to get those coveys, you know, like, no.
00:40:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:39
Speaker
Well, I mean, look at The Last of Us and look at episode three.
00:40:46
Speaker
Look no further than that.
00:40:48
Speaker
For two characters that were not prominent in the game.
00:40:56
Speaker
I've even forgotten they were in the game until the episode released.
00:41:00
Speaker
I'd completely forgotten about it.
00:41:01
Speaker
Entire episode dedicated.
00:41:04
Speaker
You took...
00:41:07
Speaker
an hour, the episode was an hour, to dedicate to those two people.
00:41:12
Speaker
And man, the emotion that that drew out of so many people.
00:41:16
Speaker
Go back and look at the freaking reviews for that episode.
00:41:23
Speaker
And look at what they were able to do.
00:41:28
Speaker
Now think about how Reach ends for the game.
00:41:31
Speaker
I remember having genuine emotion when the game ended.
00:41:37
Speaker
Yeah, you could have done something so memorable there.
00:41:42
Speaker
So memorable.
00:41:44
Speaker
But again, that's not the choice they made.
00:41:48
Speaker
Yeah, it's not.
00:41:49
Speaker
So,
Acknowledging Visual Highlights Despite Disappointment
00:41:51
Speaker
Rob, did you have anything else that you had to say about this episode or any specific plot points?
00:41:58
Speaker
You know, the last thing I've got, you mentioned some of the camera stuff that didn't work, but the one thing that I think really did, it's right at the opening.
00:42:07
Speaker
There's some first-person perspective stuff that I sort of enjoyed and some inside-the-helmet stuff of the Spartan 3s when they're in that VR simulator.
00:42:16
Speaker
But specifically, there's a reflection on a helmet visor of a Spartan that's exploding from a needler shot.
00:42:23
Speaker
That was actually the way that was set up and you see it happen through the reflection of the helmet.
00:42:28
Speaker
I kind of thought that was cool.
00:42:29
Speaker
And I wanted to mention it because it stood out to me.
00:42:33
Speaker
Yeah, no.
00:42:35
Speaker
Yeah, I will.
00:42:36
Speaker
I'll give you that.
00:42:37
Speaker
That was cool.
00:42:39
Speaker
That was pretty cool.
00:42:41
Speaker
But if you don't have anything else, I'm ready to I'm ready to rate this.
00:42:47
Speaker
Yeah, let's get some popcorn.
00:42:49
Speaker
All right.
00:42:49
Speaker
So popcorn time.
00:42:52
Speaker
I'm just going to go and boy, it feels weird because, again, I said there are way, way worse episodes than this.
00:43:04
Speaker
But.
00:43:06
Speaker
for enjoyment wise, this episode brought me none that this episode brought me absolutely no enjoyment.
00:43:16
Speaker
Um, whether it was the training exercises, whether it was just any of the plot, I just, I had nothing.
00:43:26
Speaker
I had no emotion towards this.
00:43:28
Speaker
I had no feelings.
00:43:30
Speaker
Um,
00:43:32
Speaker
Again, visually, it usually looks very good.
00:43:37
Speaker
But this is it.
00:43:39
Speaker
This is strictly enjoyment.
00:43:41
Speaker
This is a one bucket episode for me.
00:43:43
Speaker
Wow.
00:43:44
Speaker
Yeah, I just.
00:43:48
Speaker
It exemplified everything that I have wrong with this show.
00:43:52
Speaker
And this episode was really it was like the Cliff Notes version for me of everything that I do not like about this show rolled into one episode.
00:44:03
Speaker
So we're going to be a little different.
00:44:05
Speaker
This is three and three quarters for me.
00:44:08
Speaker
Good, good.
00:44:09
Speaker
I'm glad.
00:44:10
Speaker
Yeah, I was into Halsey just being a bad bitch.
00:44:15
Speaker
I was into Kai and her confliction.
00:44:18
Speaker
I was into all of that.
00:44:20
Speaker
There's even some cool moments when Master Chief is sort of like, they've got him like with the ropes, you know, kind of like tied down.
00:44:27
Speaker
There was some interesting creativity that was used with that fight that I sort of dug a little bit.
00:44:33
Speaker
We hadn't seen that before.
00:44:36
Speaker
There is all the nonsense that you mentioned, but I think for me, some of the other things that I was into just kind of landed a little bit better.
00:44:43
Speaker
And I forgave some of the stuff that I wasn't into as much.
00:44:48
Speaker
But it's like even just me saying that, like to say that I had to forgive parts of this episode to get to the parts that I do like is kind of an indictment on the effectiveness of the episode as a whole.
Concluding Thoughts and Ratings
00:45:01
Speaker
Yeah, no, I you know, I am again for anybody that is.
00:45:08
Speaker
Yeah, for anybody that is enjoying this, you know, honestly, I am so glad I am so glad because I
00:45:17
Speaker
I wish I was getting the enjoyment out of this, but we have two more episodes to go.
00:45:23
Speaker
We will see what happens.
00:45:27
Speaker
Um, you know, uh, we'll, we'll go from there and we'll, we'll finish this up and we'll see if the last two episodes give us, well, give me, um, a turnaround.
00:45:43
Speaker
Um,
00:45:45
Speaker
So, you know, listeners, thank you so much for joining us for this.
00:45:52
Speaker
I look forward to completing this series.
00:45:57
Speaker
One part because kind of sick of it.
00:46:00
Speaker
Two parts because maybe they'll do something to turn it around.
00:46:04
Speaker
But we will see you very soon.
00:46:07
Speaker
with another review, check out all of our social media and the show notes to find out how you can interact with the show.
00:46:14
Speaker
And we will see you very soon.