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.

Well, the streak is over, folks! After three excellent episodes, episode eight of Halo: The Series, titled “Allegiance”, is a massive downgrade in storytelling and direction.

In the episode’s main plot, John and Makee reconvene to discuss the vision the two shared, while Halsey tries to save her life’s work, and herself before it’s too late.

Great concept, right? At surface level, yes. However, once I got to watch the episode itself, it was a completely different situation. Yes, the A-plot and B-plots are very much centered around these two concepts, but it feels like an afterthought at points. Halo: The Series simply has too many threads to pull on. Not only does it have to keep up with John and Makee, but also with Admiral Parangosky, Captain Keyes, Dr. Keyes, the other Spartans, Dr. Halsey, Adun, and countless others.

Speaking of the characters, this leads to leaps of character progress. Characters that were at least two episodes behind the overall narrative are suddenly positioned exactly where they need to be for the season finale next week. This leads to moments where characters are simply commenting on what’s happening onscreen, leaving the only interesting bits to Halsey and the other Spartans, Riz, Vannak, and Kai. These characters get the best moments of the episode, where the characters edge ever closer to what fans of the franchise will remember from the games.

If I had to pinpoint the largest problem with the episode, it would be its foundation with some truly awful writing by showrunner Steven Kane and Kyle Killen. In addition to the sudden character progression, there are terrible lines like “Look at him! Frolicking in the park!”, the references to Makee as a “squidhead”, and decisions with the characters of John, Makee, and Cortana feel massively out of place here. I don’t use this phrase often, but it feels like a betrayal of the goodwill the series has built up with these characters thus far.

As the season finale knocks on the door, Halo: The Series delivers one of, if not the worst episode in the series by far. The episode completely takes all the goodwill from previous weeks and throws it in the garbage. Not only that, but this episode made me question the concept of the series. It may sound like an exaggeration, but I’ve been rooting for this series ever since its announcement in 2013, and to get this…no thanks.

★

Episodes one through eight of Halo: The Series are now available to stream on Paramount+.

Until next time!