Halo review: “Allegiance” is a solid episode that twists the heartstrings

It’s time for another review of Halo! After last week’s episode was devoted entirely to the show’s B plotline with Kwan and Soren, this time around we’re back with the Master Chief, Cortana, Halsey, Makee, and the rest. Halo has had its ups and downs, but “Allegiance” is without a doubt one of the best episodes of the series yet.

As always, SPOILERS for this week’s episode of Halo ahead.

Halo doubles down on its themes, but better

The latest episode of Halo is all about parallels, and how things can go to absolute hell even with the best of intentions. Most of the first half is dedicated to set up. The biggest development is that the Master Chief (Pablo Schrieber) and Makee (Charlie Murphy) get to know each other a little more intimately. The last time we saw these two, they’d just seen the Halo together for the first time after Master Chief once again touched the alien artifact on Reach. It was revealed that he and Makee have a special connection to this tech which predates both humanity and the Covenant.

Well, they took that connection to a new level this week. I was a little surprised when John (Master Chief) and Makee got it on, but the show really ran with it. We got a really tense scene where Makee debates killing him with her finger laser while he’s sleeping, before ripping it (and her fingernail implant) out in the gnarliest scene of the episode. The point the show’s trying to drive home is that after connecting with John, Makee is now trying to distance herself from the indoctrination of the Covenant. She wants to give humanity a chance, because the Master Chief isn’t so bad.

It doesn’t go very well. Everyone except Chief is generally distrustful of Makee, but they decide to give her a chance when the colony planet of Criterion is destroyed by the Covenant. John asserts that Makee could help them locate the Covenant, which has the second artifact needed to find the Halo and potentially stop the war. He wins the doubters over by pointing out that if he could overcome his own indoctrination, then Makee could as well.

Whether that argument is good or not, the UNSC brass decide to go along with it, partially because of their own guilt that they had a hand in John’s abduction as a child, a fact of which he’s still unaware. Those parallels I mentioned are so strong in this episode. Chief was abducted by humans as a child and Makee was saved by Covenant. Both factions have fanatics in their rank who believe the Halo holds the key to making them gods. It’s a recipe for disaster.

Halsey screws the pooch, and everyone else on Reach

“John has a girlfriend. How ordinary,” Halsey (Natascha McElhone) proclaims, after creepily spying on John and Makee having sex. The doctor who created the Spartans has always been one of the most interesting characters on the show. It’s ironic that she looks down on John for his relationship with Makee in literally the same scene where she once again reveals just how little she cares about any of her own personal connections. Halo has often explored whether it’s worth giving up one’s humanity in order to save the human race. Sometimes it’s felt a little on the nose, but “Allegiance” handles that topic with a bit more subtlety, to great effect.

One of the best moments is Halsey trying to convince Makee that humans are selfish and will destroy themselves (but Halsey is the exception, of course). Meanwhile she’s literally exhibiting the exact behavior she’s condemning in others. Halsey has never felt more loathsome than she does in this episode: invading Makee’s privacy, ordering the Spartans to turn on Master Chief and Kai, and just generally ruining everything. There is a huge feeling that if it wasn’t for Halsey’s refusal to allow others to step up and control events, things probably would have went smoothly this episode. Instead, they combust in spectacular fashion.

The final 15 or so minutes revolve around that order to betray John I just mentioned, the Zed Protocol. Riz (Natasha Culzac) and Vannak (Bentley Kalu) still have their behavior inhibitor chips, so they have no problem turning on John and the UNSC. Kai (Kate Kennedy), however, protests before getting beaten up and chained to a bench to keep her out of the fight.

It doesn’t stick. Kai gives serious Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica vibes as she breaks the concrete bench with her super strength so she can go help the Master Chief. Kai has had a really solid arc this season after removing her own chip and beginning to think more for herself. She has some great scenes this episode, including one where she lifts a Warthog jeep and other heavy stuff in order to win bets with the rank-and-file marines.

The other big turn is Cortana (Jen Taylor) finally making her decision to support Master Chief over Halsey. This has been one of the season’s slower burns, and the payoff as Cortana helps Chief avoid getting captured by the Spartans is great.

Unfortunately, it’s not enough to stop things from ending badly. After Miranda (Olive Gray) discovers that Makee was the one responsible for killing the crew of a UNSC ship a few episodes back, the newly rehabilitated Covenent spy is tased by one of the guards and threatened by the UNSC officers. She has flashbacks to her last interaction with soldiers as a child, when she was similarly tased for stupid reasons before being rescued by the Covenant. Makee reacts about how you’d expect, clutching the artifact and sending a shockwave blasting through the base. The episode ends with her saying goodbye to the Chief in that astral plane where we saw the Halo, before he passes out.

Throughout this season of Halo, I’ve kept asking myself whether it’s actually a good show or not. It’s had rough spots, especially near the beginning. But with “Allegiance,” I think that debate can finally be laid to rest. The writing was solid, the music was excellent, and it served up a few really tantalizing plot developments that were painful to watch and difficult to look away from. If you’re in the camp that’s still mad about the Master Chief taking off his helmet, you may well have a conniption over what he did this week, but hey, he’s human, and examining what exactly that means is one of the hallmarks of good science fiction. All in all, this was easily one of the series’ strongest episodes to date.

Episode Grade: B

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