Deron Generally
Deron GenerallyHALO
Paramount Plus
Season 1 Episode 4
Homecoming
Guided by his visions, John takes Halsey and Cortana back to where it all began, looking for answers from his past. With Soren along for protection, Kwan goes in search of an army. Meanwhile, John’s behavior inspires another Spartan to begin a journey of self-discovery.
Master Chief and Halsey are headed to the planet he believes he grew up on. At the same time, he is thinking about his past in the Spartan program and how Halsey became an intricate part of how and why he stayed in the program in the first place. It’s an interesting scene with Cortana playing the weakest element of it. The scene looks good and showcases the great special effects the series has in its favor.
Soren and Kwan return to Madrigal. A scene that doesn’t do much with the Kwan character, but does reveal something interesting about Soren. At the same time, another Spartan decides to do something unexpected. That scene is more interesting in its implications and it is executed well. Once they reach the planet, the series proceeds to do the one thing that I knew would piss me off as a Halo fan, Master Chief taking off his helmet again.
Kwan has gone from being interesting to annoying in the first fifteen minutes of the episode as she makes stupid mistake after stupid mistake. John’s expedition brings up more questions then answers while another Spartan makes some personal changes. Kwan screws up and almost gets people killed in a ridiculous scene that felt tacked on to give her something to do.
John decides to lean into his memories, and we get the weird Iron Man point of view as his memories bring him to the point of this episode. At the same time, Keyes finally starts listening to the Spartans and begins to learn more about the Covenant. It’s a better scene than much of the rest of the episode and should have been developed more.
Master Chief’s story is interesting and layered in this episode. His fellow Spartan’s have an interesting and intriguing evolution in this episode as well. Kwan’s story is the weakest of the group and only continues based on stupid choices and decisions. The episode looks fantastic and still has enough interesting moments within it to keep me interested in the series.
HALO S01XE04
