'HALO' Episode 5: "Reckoning" Recap and Review
WARNING: Contains Minor Spoilers
Once again, HALO begins with a flashback. Reckoning shares the initial meeting between young John (Casper Knopf), aka Master Chief, and Doctor Halsey (Natascha McElhone). Halsey and her husband at the time, UNSC Captain Jacob Keyes (Danny Sapani), are on Eridanus II masquerading as new residents of the planet. They are being given a tour of the childcare facility when they see an altercation between a bully and John on a highwire. The bully slips and John saves him from falling, displaying an extreme amount of strength for a young child. Halsey and Captain Keyes watch as John lifts the bully to safety and thus begins her plan to make John into a Spartan.
In the present, Halsey has built a massive temporary camp on Eridanus II. Miranda Keyes (Olive Gray) has been called to the planet to help Halsey analyze a newfound artifact. The Madrigal talisman that Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber) found in episode one is miniscule compared to this underground obelisk. According to Cortana (Jen Taylor), it has far more power than the Madrigal artifact.
Halsey orders the obelisk to be excavated and brought to UNSC headquarters. Miranda is more cautious about the removal process because the obelisk is coated in a thick, see-through material that she doesn’t believe is naturally occurring. She warns Halsey of potential consequences if it’s disrupted.
Master Chief speaks privately to Captain Keyes about his visions from the artifact and his belief that Halsey may have taken him from his family. Captain Keyes pretends to be surprised and promises to thoroughly investigate Master Chief’s claims. It’s a baldfaced lie, as Captain Keyes had been part of Halsey’s initial venture to Master Chief’s home planet.
The excavation team uses a laser to pierce the obelisk, which causes a piercing sound before the glass-like material shatters. Master Chief is able to get a close look at the object. The intensity of the sound also makes its way to Makee (Charlie Murphy) and the Covenant aliens who are also desperate to track down the artifacts.
Master Chief is increasingly frustrated with his lack of information about his past. Now that the new object is exposed, he touches it to gain more insight into how he became a Spartan. The object glows brightly at Master Chief’s touch and he sees himself as a young boy being taken in the middle of the night by Halsey. Enraged, he tries to attack her as he comes out of his flashback, but Halsey triggers Cortana to shut down his brain.
As Master Chief comes to, Cortana detects incoming ships. Makee and the Covenant were able to track the location of the new artifact. The UNSC camp is now under attack, and Master Chief is tasked with driving the artifact to an escape ship. He gets distracted when he sees fellow Spartan Kai (Kate Kennedy) in need of help. She, too, has removed her Spartan suppression pellet and is able to see the real world. Unfortunately, this means she witnesses the horrors of war and is paralyzed by the death occurring around her.
Master Chief rescues Kai and puts the artifact in jeopardy as a hulking Covenant alien drops to the ground from above. One hit from the alien soldier sends Master Chief flying. His usually impressive armor is no match for its strength. The alien takes the artifact and teleports back to the ship. Before the craft departs, the Covenant drops Makee to the planet's surface. She plays the role of an innocent kidnapped human and gives Master Chief no reason to believe she has ulterior motives.
Kwan (Yerin Ha) and Soren (Bokeem Woodbine) are still stranded on Madrigal. Their only means of escape from the planet is to stow aboard a transport ship, but the loading dock is 100 miles away and they have no way to get there. Soren handcuffs Kwan to their broken motorcycle because he’s worried she might try to run away. While he is trying to find another transport, Kwan bashes a rock against her handcuffs and frees herself.
When Soren returns, Kwan is nowhere to be seen. As he investigates the area around the bike, Kwan launches from her hiding place and tasers him. She takes Soren’s gun and points it at him.
HALO works best when all of its characters are in the same place. That’s when interesting personal dynamics are allowed to exist and come to the forefront. It’s exciting to see Master Chief’s reverence for Halsey begin to fade as he gets answers about why he was chosen to be a Spartan. It’s also becoming clear that the conspiracy and lies go far deeper than merely Halsey. With the return of Captain Keyes, the audience sees that Halsey was not alone in her deception.
The weak point of the episode is Kwan and Soren on Madrigal. Their scenes serve no real purpose and only make up about five minutes of screen time. It’s unclear why these scenes were included in this episode. The development that occurred between Kwan and Soren wasn’t important when so much is happening on Eridanus II. There is an interesting story in Kwan trying to reclaim her home planet, but these scenes barely progress her story.
Reckoning is, for the most part, exciting. The final fight scene is epic and this episode sets a lot of things in motion. Most interesting is Makee’s meeting with Master Chief. The audience already knows that Makee is no kidnapped victim of the Covenant and it will be interesting to watch as Master Chief uncovers her secrets.