I'll be frank: I HATED the first season of this show. However, after getting roped back in by the trailers and positive reactions I'd seen about the first two episodes, I decided to give season 2 a shot and see if the show was any better this time around. And I've got to say, I thought this first episode was pretty good in general even though I think there are definitely some things holding it back.
Everything before the opening credits was awesome. The character interactions and dialogue were much better this time around, the action was great, and the glassing scene was well done and made the Covenant feel like an actual threat for once.
I also really like what we've seen of Ackerson so far and feel like the whole "UNSC intrigue" element of the show is being handled much better here than it was in Season 1. Seeing Chief with his helmet off also doesn't bother me nearly as much as it did in the previous season (he seriously treated that thing more like a bicycle helmet than an actual piece of armor). The show has obviously committed to showing its own version of Master Chief (feel about that as you will), but at least this time they've made an effort to make those scenes feel more natural.
My biggest complaint so far is that every scene on The Rubble just felt incredibly bizarre and pointless, and they kind of sucked all the energy out of the show for me whenever they appeared. While it's probably too early to say for sure, I wish they'd scrapped most of that subplot in favor of giving more screen time to the Covenant perspective. So far the show has made them out to be essentially just generic alien bad guys, and the audience hasn't really been given much insight on what their objectives and motivations are.
The scene at the end with Chief venting to the fake AI Cortana was also really weird and off-putting. Also, what is it with all the mystical / magical / shaman mumbo jumbo in this show? It's like they're trying to make the Halo universe feel more like Star Wars or something.
Overall though, I liked this. Definitely better than the first season but still not as great as it should be. But I'm interested to see where it goes!
Everything before the opening credits was awesome. The character interactions and dialogue were much better this time around, the action was great, and the glassing scene was well done and made the Covenant feel like an actual threat for once.
I also really like what we've seen of Ackerson so far and feel like the whole "UNSC intrigue" element of the show is being handled much better here than it was in Season 1. Seeing Chief with his helmet off also doesn't bother me nearly as much as it did in the previous season (he seriously treated that thing more like a bicycle helmet than an actual piece of armor). The show has obviously committed to showing its own version of Master Chief (feel about that as you will), but at least this time they've made an effort to make those scenes feel more natural.
My biggest complaint so far is that every scene on The Rubble just felt incredibly bizarre and pointless, and they kind of sucked all the energy out of the show for me whenever they appeared. While it's probably too early to say for sure, I wish they'd scrapped most of that subplot in favor of giving more screen time to the Covenant perspective. So far the show has made them out to be essentially just generic alien bad guys, and the audience hasn't really been given much insight on what their objectives and motivations are.
The scene at the end with Chief venting to the fake AI Cortana was also really weird and off-putting. Also, what is it with all the mystical / magical / shaman mumbo jumbo in this show? It's like they're trying to make the Halo universe feel more like Star Wars or something.
Overall though, I liked this. Definitely better than the first season but still not as great as it should be. But I'm interested to see where it goes!