'HALO' Episode 1: "Contact" Recap and Review
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
Halo’s journey begins in the year 2533 on planet Madrigal, one of the outer colonies under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Space Command (UNSC). The residents have spent years protecting themselves and fighting for their independence from the UNSC and their army of superkiller soldiers, the Spartans. Madrigal is an important planet to the UNSC because of its high concentration of heavy hydrogen, which can be used to power ships and make drugs.
Outside of the city’s main walls, a group of friends come across an alien ship. One of the friends, Kwan (Yerin Ha), notices that the ship does not belong to UNSC. Suddenly, they are under fire from massive beast-like creatures dressed in sophisticated armor. Kwan and her friends try to race to the safety of the city, but only Kwan makes it back alive to warn the residents. They are manning their stations and ready to fight, but the creatures easily break down the wall and start firing on the civilians. In the midst of the chaos, a group of Spartans drops in to aid the civilians.
After the fighting is over, the Spartans take note of the casualties. They find that all of the civilians have died except Kwan, and she survives because she was able to find a place to hide. The team of Spartans, led by Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber), leaves Kwan in search of the creature’s (now known to be Covenants) ship. When they find the ship, they discover a cave that the Covenants were excavating in search of a triangular relic. When Master Chief touches the artifact, he is overcome with a hazy flashback to woods, a white dog, and a child running. His visions are interrupted by a Covenant creature who was hiding in the cave. The team of Spartans attempts to chase the Covenant, but it escapes the planet. Master Chief isn’t able to leave Kwan and brings her aboard his ship and they return to base.
Planet Reach is a high-tech metropolis that is home to the Fleetcom-UNSC headquarters. There, Dr. Catherine Halsey (Natascha McElhone) is reviewing the footage from Master Chief on planet Madrigal. She’s particularly interested in the way the relic responded to Master Chief’s touch and she shares this with Admiral Parangosky (Shabana Azmi). Halsey hopes this artifact will help them figure out where the Covenant come from and what their purpose is. Before the Admiral leaves the lab, one of Halsey’s other projects catches her eye. The Admiral reminds Halsey that she should not be working on that anymore. It’s unclear what the project is, but we see it’s a humanoid in a pod with wires attached all over.
In an unknown location is High Charity, the Covenant command. They are discussing the relic from Madrigal. Makee (Charlie Murphy) is a humanoid being living amongst the Covenants and is able to make the relic light up in the same way that Master Chief did. She is adamant that she be allowed to speak to the Covenant soldier who saw Master Chief interact with the relic. Why a seemingly regular human being is living with the Covenants in a position of power is unknown.
Kwan wakes up on Master Chief’s ship, disoriented and distrusting of him. A representative from the UNSC, Miranda Keyes (Olive Gray), appears as a hologram to talk with Kwan about making a video to broadcast to the other outer colonies to tell the story of the attack by the Covenant and the Spartans’ bravery in helping her people. Kwan, who was raised fighting for independence from the UNSC, refuses. She says the only way she will make the video is if Madrigal is granted full freedom from UNSC. During this conversation, Master Chief is in an adjacent room staring at the artifact, clearly affected by what he saw. Dr. Halsey’s medical readings of Master Chief show that he is biologically changing in a way she’s never seen before.
Miranda’s father, Captain Jacob Keyes (Danny Sapani), comforts her after her conversation with Kwan went so poorly. He informs her that an Article 72 has been issued for Kwan, meaning that Master Chief has been ordered to execute Kwan. Miranda is upset and refuses to believe this is necessary. Kwan is only a teenage girl and Captain Jacob says that it’s necessary because they’re fighting a war. Miranda shoots back that he’s starting to sound a lot like her mother, who we learn to be Dr. Halsey.
Back on Master Chief’s ship, he’s getting to know Kwan a little. She tells him that they’ve met before and Master Chief killed her mother years ago. He was given orders to execute a group of insurrectionists that Kwan’s mother was hosting. When asked why he did it when they posed no threat to him, Master Chief says it’s because he was simply following orders. It's at this moment that it becomes clear how much the relic has affected him. When he receives the order to execute Kwan, Master Chief instead decides to cut all the cameras on his ship.
Dr. Halsey has determined that Master Chief’s interaction with the relic is bringing back his memories of his family. The Admiral, now understanding that Master Chief cannot be controlled by Halsey, orders all the oxygen levels on Master Chief's ship to be depleted to make Kwan and Master Chief pass out. Master Chief is able to override that command and the Admiral retaliates by sending a squadron of soldiers to shoot down their ship. Kwan believes that Master Chief was the one to change the oxygen levels and holds him at gunpoint, demanding to be freed. In an effort to show that he is no longer interested in simply following orders, Master Chief removes his helmet and tells her she can take a shot. Kwan asks why he wants to help her now and he answers, “I don't know.” It’s a humanity that Quan didn’t know Spartans could exhibit and she begins to trust him.
The pair are shot down by the UNSC and are completely surrounded on the planet's surface. As a last ditch effort, Master Chief touches the artifact again and it glows blue. He’s overcome with more flashbacks, even seeing a little boy drawing a picture of the relic. The artifact glows a bright blue and blows out the power in the UNSC command centers, but Master Chief’s ship power is restored and they’re able to escape.
The first episode of Halo can be overwhelming at times for those who are coming into the show without prior knowledge from the video games. Despite the large amount of information provided in episode one, there’s enough humanity and interesting ideas at play to make the journey worthwhile. Allowing the audience to see Master Chief change and rebel against his programmed killer instincts was a smart decision. It gives depth and intrigue to a character who spends most of the episode wearing a helmet. The forced relationship between Master Chief and Kwan, along with their tangled history, is sure to provide an interesting dynamic as the season progresses. With something as large as interplanetary war, it’s difficult to truly understand the scope of what’s at stake. By choosing to focus on the relationships between Kwan and Master Chief, as well as the complicated family dynamic of Miranda, Captain Keyes, and Dr. Halsey, Halo has created an access point for fans new and old alike.