'Halo' Episode 3 Review: Action takes a backseat as Cortana makes much-awaited appearance
Contains spoilers for 'Halo' Episode 3 'Emergence'
After an action-packed double-episode premiere, 'Halo' scales down the bada bing bada boom by a few notches and focuses on the artifact and its impact on John/Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber). The episode takes right where it left off where he leaves Kwan Ha (Yerin Ha) with ex-Spartan program comrade Soren (Bokeem Woodbine) and surrenders to the UNSC. It is decided that rather than being grounded for his actions, John will have to be implanted with Cortana, the AI that serves as a failsafe should John disobey orders again.
This gives birth to Cortana, an AI modeled after Dr Halsey (Natascha McElhone) and voiced by Jen Taylor. At the other end of the galaxy, Covenants' mysterious Blessed One's past is revealed. She is, in fact, a human abducted by the Covenant during her childhood. She now decides to find the artifact and kill John and starts her quest by killing off all the personnel aboard a UNSC ship after infiltrating it.
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'Emergence' keeps the shock factor running when it sees John's human side explored more. If removing his helmet was the first sign that the Paramount+ show was doing things differently, the third episode sees him remove the emotional inhibitor pellet from his body with Cortana's help. Over the course of the episode, it is revealed that John has been linked to the artifacts since he was a kid and also deduces that there are two rings instead of one. In the meantime, Kwan Ha and Soren decide to head to Madrigal.
There's hardly any action in the episode, but the show cements the fact that there's more to the story than just seeing Master Chief blow s**t up. He's evolving, and he's being manipulated by Halsey, even as the UNSC's powers that be, a scheme to bring down the brilliant scientist. In all of this, Schreiber's John is just a pawn despite being looked at as a decorated justice-delivering killing machine. Cortana is sure to be well-received by the audience and there's some mild humor that she manages to induce with John and the other Spartans.
Despite the uncertain future of 'Halo', the show continues to impress. There's potential no doubt, and there is definitely a solid story in the offing. Only time will tell if the Paramount+ series can sustain the tone and consistency. We suggest giving 'Halo' at least a chance till it reaches the midway stage.
'Halo' drops a new episode every Thursday on Paramount+.