Halo: The Series Episode 7 “Inheritance” Review - A Promising Companion Episode Featuring Incredible Performances from Yerin Ha & Bokeem Woodbine
If you haven’t read my coverage of Halo: The Series thus far, click here to read my critique of the series, plus all previous coverage.
After two great episodes back-to-back, I hoped this episode would continue to streamline the B-plots, or at the very least, find a way to balance between the A-plot and the B-plots. This week’s episode, titled “Inheritance,” kind of does this and kind of doesn’t.
In the main plot, we follow Kwan Ha, as she discovers the purpose that the Ha family serves in Madrigal, while Soren finishes some unfinished business. When the episode started, I was ready to discount their stories as filler for whatever comes next for the main plot. However, as the episode continued, I found myself engrossed.
For starters, Kwan Ha's storyline leads to the episode further exploring the Insurrectionist plotline that the franchise previously hinted at (mainly Halo: Reach, but they appeared in Halo: Legends, Halo 4, Halo: Nightfall, and Halo 5: Guardians). While those stories did a serviceable job highlighting their disdain for the Spartan program & the UNSC in general, Halo: The Series is interweaving it into the larger narrative through Kwan Ha.
Not only that, but Kwan Ha's story provides viewers with the action they want to see in a Halo television show. I'll talk about it later when I talk about the stunts, but Kwan gets some heavy action scenes this time around. I haven't talked about it much for fear of spoiling something the public wasn't aware of yet, but up to now, I wasn't a fan of how Kwan would react in action scenes by hiding away from the action. So, I am a huge fan of Kwan taking a more active role in her own story in this episode.
As for Soren, I'm also starting to sympathize & understand his character more. While there are no earth-shattering revelations as to his backstory, I appreciated how the episode leans into his pirating lifestyle. It's what makes Soren different from John - he has no hesitation in making ugly choices if it means his lifestyle is secured.
There is no better example of the ugly choices he's required to make in this week's episode. He's got some unfinished business, and it's full of morally grey choices. I'm obviously dancing around spoilers here, so I'll simply say that some of the scenes Soren is in are haunting. He exudes this natural coldness that not even Halsey can exhibit.
Speaking of, the performances in this episode by Yerin Ha and Bokeem Woodbine are probably the best of the entire series. Yes, Pablo Schreiber is a great Master Chief and Natascha McElhone is a great Dr. Halsey, no doubt about that. However, their performances require a lack of emotion (at least so far), whereas Kwan Ha and Soren's characterizations require much more of a delicate touch. Both characters have been through a lot, and that has to come through in their performances.
Yerin Ha's performance requires so much of her this week. She's given a great deal of catharsis to release throughout the episode. At points, I felt guilty watching her performance. Kwan is in a great deal of pain and has no outlet for her grief. As someone who's had a parent ripped from them too soon, I know what that's like. It's different for everyone, but Kwan and I's stages of grief were all too similar. There's the period of denial where you can't accept that they're gone, anger at the world or the circumstances of their death, wishing for their death to be reversed, shutting off your emotions, and then finally accepting that they're gone. Ha's portrayal of this process is immaculate. Some may not like her character, but I appreciated her performance. Suffice it to say, I cried a few times watching this episode.
Bokeem Woodbine's performance is far more subtle. He has a calm & collected persona in front of everyone but in private, he can be a monster (if provoked). There are scenes in this episode where he has conversations where he's talking to another character (trying to stay spoiler-free!) and there's this undercurrent of a threat throughout their conservations. The show is treating Soren as a bad guy with a heart of gold, and I love it.
Steven Kane's writing also got a huge upgrade this episode. It feels like his teleplay is much more homed in on the character work required for the episode's narrative. Not only that but he’s cut a lot of the painful jokes from previous episodes for a more serious tone. It's much appreciated. Some of this can be attributed to writing the teleplay himself, and if so, I hope that trend continues.
Another trend I hope to see continue is the impressive stuntwork coordination by Brett Chan. Chan creates a unique fight style that is tailored to Kwan and Soren's physicality. While Spartans can run sixty miles per hour, and survive massive explosions, Kwan and Soren don't have that luxury. They're not super-soldiers, they're people. If a bullet hits them, they're done for.
This vulnerability leads to some exciting sequences, all of which feel inspired by Western films. That might come off as a strange comparison, but that's the closest comparison I can find. They must outthink the enemy, sneaking around trying to find a weapon until they can make their play. It's a fascinating game of cat and mouse that feels as if you took the mechanics of Halo and had to sneak around your enemies. Like Halo 3: ODST but taken to the nth degree.
A small thing I didn't love about this episode was the direction by Jessica Lowrey. Lowrey is the fifth director in the series, but her touch is nowhere to be found. I don't say this as too much of a detriment, but I prefer to get a feel for the director's touch and tone so that when I watch their other work, I can see the connective tissue. Here, besides honing on Kwan's fears and insecurities, it feels like Paramount hired a ghost director. It's not the biggest deal, but unfortunate to see.
If you loved last week’s episode: here’s the bottom line. If you care about Kwan Ha’s and Soren’s journey, you’ll enjoy this episode. It's a great companion piece to the UNSC-centric narrative of last week. If you don’t care about Kwan Ha’s and Soren’s journey, you’ll hate this episode. Simple as that.
★★★★
Episodes one through seven of Halo: The Series are now available to stream on Paramount+.
Until next time!
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