glorioleThe second season ends with the strangest episode the series has ever had. Unlike the rest of the series, which slowly played out every single one of its revelations and carefully rationed them to a crumb or two at a time, the second season finale threw nearly every major reveal from the first Halo game at viewers’ feet in a span of less than an hour. As a result, it was probably the most interesting episode the series has ever had, especially for long-time fans of the game series.
[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers for Halo season 2.]
The episode begins with the audience following a character we don’t really know. She’s a scientist and is obviously behaving strangely, but things only get really strange when the bizarre music – unlike anything we’ve heard in the series so far – starts and we see the scientist slowly losing her mind and spontaneously into space Stare twitched wildly before stabbing a colleague. It’s strange and unsettling, but it’s also the cleverest fan service the series has delivered yet, as the startling realization slowly dawns that the Flood will soon be making their first appearance on this show.
For most of this series’ first two seasons, “The Flood” seemed like a bridge too far away for the tone it took. The most destructive aliens in Halo canon, the Flood are a parasitic race that seeks to devour and assimilate every living thing in the galaxy, infecting them and then taking them over as newly zombified hosts. Her appearance in the original Halo represents one of the best and most unexpected twists in video game history, and honestly, the series has managed to emulate that admirably, even under very different circumstances.
The flood of gloriole TV shows are a little more reminiscent of traditional zombies than the game version. But to the credit of showrunner David Wiener, the series doesn’t skimp on its creepy creepiness. The larger zombified human forms grow additional limbs and sprint toward potential new hosts while flailing wildly with their alien limbs. Soren and Kwan must fight their way through the hordes of the undead in a surprisingly fun firefight. But even better is the fact that this scene ends with another interesting revelation from the finale: the visions Kwan has been seeing throughout the season are actually of someone trying to turn her into a willing assistant to the Flood.
The original Halo canon has no real equivalent to this, especially on the human side, but it’s a fantastic and fascinating addition if the series has the courage to pull it off. The Flood’s entire purpose is to exterminate all organic life, which would essentially turn its human followers into a death cult dedicated to ending the universe and adding all life to the Flood’s collective hive mind – which is both a terrifying and cool thing to do Idea is The Show to Explore. The Halo TV series has always seemed shy (and almost embarrassed) about the game series’ strangest lore, and it doesn’t get much stranger than the Flood. So if the series dedicates itself to exploring a religion that worships an ancient race of exterminators, it would be a fascinating step in the right direction and a perfect counterpoint to the Forerunners and their Halos, once used as the ultimate weapon against the Flood.
It should be significant that this is also the first episode of gloriole TV show where Master Chief sets his foot in the title ring, and now that’s worth mentioning. It’s hard to care particularly about his plot there when his reason for being there is so closely tied to the complicated plans of Makee and the UN Security Council this season. But it’s undeniably nice to see the Halo ring’s familiar Forerunner architecture represented so well in the episode.
And just like the strong parts of the rest of the finale, the most interesting part of Chief’s time in the ring has to do with Flood. The season ends with the revelation that Master Chief and Makee both spent time being interrogated by 343 Guilty Spark, the overseer of this particular Halo ring, long considered the most hated character in Halo history – especially because he’s not particularly trustworthy and takes you through the story in one of the worst levels of the first game. He’s also the first real representative of the Forerunners that players get in the games, and it’s fun to have him play a similar role in the show.
After 17 often strenuous episodes gloriole At the end of season two, it finally feels like Halo. That doesn’t excuse the fact that the road here was paved with boring subplots, frustrating characters, and poor writing. Remembering how it felt to watch all that has piled up, it’s certainly hard to be optimistic about what this series might look like if it returns for a third season, even as good as it is now runs like it never has before. But hey, at least for fans of the games the show finally looks and feels a little more recognizable.