When the Halo television show was finally released after many years of very patient waiting from fans, it quickly became apparent that this production was not what many people were quite expecting, or hoping for. To be clear, this is not necessarily a bad thing—plenty of great films and television shows out there have strengths deeply rooted in their subversion of what the audience expects. However, there’s a way to do it right and a way to do it wrong. Not only did the Halo show fail to serve as passable entertainment for a large portion of the masses, but many hardcore fans of the Halo Universe also felt a deep sense of betrayal over how their beloved franchise had been adapted across mediums.
Simply put, the team behind this series must now figure out how to navigate the rocky path forward in order to ensure they keep getting more seasons. With production on a second season already well underway, it may be time to stop focusing on the past and look toward the future to figure out how Halo can become the adaptation it was always meant to be. Here are five ways the show can improve in its second season, and potentially win back many of the viewers it lost.
Respect The Chief
Fans of the Halo video games are likely to give a lot of different answers to why they love the franchise so much—whether it’s the story, characters, world, gameplay, etc. Despite all this, it cannot be debated that the series’ protagonist, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, and his iconic green MJOLNIR armor are the face of the franchise and what keep players invested in this expansive universe.
This specific aspect of what makes the games so iconic is ironically one of the show’s biggest downfalls. Whereas in the games the Master Chief is stoic, determined, and persistent in achieving his goals (oh, and not to mention he never removes his helmet), the Master Chief of the Halo TV series spends way too much time taking his helmet off and putting himself in vulnerable positions with other characters. Sure, this is Master Chief, but it’s somewhat similar to if the writers took a completely different person, stuck him in the Master Chief’s instantly recognizable armor, and called it a day.
To put it lightly, these drastic changes in personality and decision-making for Master Chief left quite a poor taste in the mouths of many. If the show wants to prove it’s made by people who care about this IP, the writers would do best to dial it back a bit with these deviations and focus on bringing this character back to the roots of what made him so special, to begin with (and yes, that starts with having him keep his helmet on).
Halo Is Not A Soap Opera
One of the real standout things about the Halo franchise is its array of memorable characters. On top of the games, the books and comics bring this cast to life with narratives that explore who they are on a deeper level. What is also true, however, is the fact that regardless of this scale, the best Halo stories understand when to keep it simple and know what works in these types of stories. While there is no shortage of character drama to be adapted to the big screen, there is a sweet spot between examining these key players in the story for narrative impact and simply adding drama for the sake of getting buzz about the show going.
It is here where the writers of the television show seem to severely misunderstand what the audience wants out of a show like this one. Exploring the psyche of the Master Chief and giving his co-stars more depth is certainly good—and it would be disingenuous to claim that this show does not expand on certain characters in interesting ways. However, going as far as giving characters like Master Chief a love story plot line with a Covenant Spy, it becomes clear that the people writing the show do not have a grip on when to call it a day with the character drama.
Moving forward, it would be the wise decision to, like before, dial it back a bit. The concepts and themes that back the characters in this world are ripe for exploration to begin with, leaving any script adapting them with loads of potential. Instead of inserting pointless Soap Opera-esque dynamics in order to appeal to a wider audience, explore the elements of these characters that make them so interesting, to begin with.
Visit Halo
The Halo franchise is not named after the in-universe super weapons of the same name for no reason. The first season of this show took too long to get the ball rolling on the involvement of the actual Halo Rings in the plot, to the point where the audience doesn’t even get to see the Chief set foot on a Halo installation a single time. While it’s commendable that the first season wanted to make sure it set up the pieces before moving on to the main event, it was undoubtedly a very poor choice to take what the viewers are all waiting to see and deprive them of it for ten whole episodes.
Even in giving the first season the benefit of the doubt, assuming that all the time it took to set up this world will be worth it in the end, the second season has a lot of catching up to do in giving the Chief time on a Halo Ring itself. It would certainly at least be nice to see the show take a sizable amount of episodes next season to simply follow the protagonist on his adventure exploring the ring, unlocking its secrets, and hopefully finding some new enemies to fight as well.
Halo season 1 is streaming now on Paramount Plus.