John takes Kwan to the only safe place he can think of as he struggles with what to do next. Back at the USNC, Dr Halsey continues to further her own agenda. The other members of Silver Team are determined to recover the Master Chief.

I said in my review of the opening episode that this show didn’t feel like it was doing much different, but that it was at least doing it well. I also drew some not unmerited comparisons to Firefly. Having watched this second instalment, I stand by most of that, though I’m a little less compelled by the execution, this time out.

Perhaps it’s that this episode feels a little busy without really getting very far. We open on a flashback to John’s earlier life and a friendship which is tested by his loyalty to the Spartan Program followed by a leap forward to the present day where that connection becomes relevant. The problem is, the nature of that connection slightly detracts from one of the core ideas of the show itself – that John ‘going rogue’ is some massive deal for the Spartans and the USNC. It also – again – leaves us in the realm of genre cliché, where a face from the past who may or may not be trustworthy is the only person to whom our hero can turn in his hour of need.

Back at the USNC, debate rages about what to do when one of your Super Soldiers has gone AWOL in the middle of an existential war against an alien force. Dr Halsey has her own very specific plans, and we get to see her particularly manipulative side here as she manages to deftly navigate various obstacles to get her own way. We also see further evidence that the USNC is corrupt in much the same way as Firefly/Serenity’s Alliance – less ‘evil for the sake of it’ and more ‘willing to do awful things in service of what it sees as a greater good’. Hence in the wake of the devastation on Madrigal, they are content to leave one of Kwan’s father’s rivals to fill the power vacuum, and happy to turn a blind eye to his brutal methods as long as the Deuterium keeps flowing.

As for the other members of Silver Team (who we also get to see helmetless here, aping the no doubt polarising events of episode 1 for some fans), they are still certain that Master Chief must have a plan, and determined to fulfil their orders from Halsey to recover him intact. Well, two of them are – one member seems somewhat less convinced  we’ll see how that plays out.

As for John, his reunion with an old face serves to give him the opportunity of finding out more about the mysterious artefact. And what he finds out is troubling to say the least. This is where the show actually gets to the meat of some interesting ideas – John has been impacted by his exposure to the artefact. That impact allowed him to disobey what he perceived to be an immoral order. But he also has decades of training and conditioning working away in that brain of his, plus an inbuilt loyalty to his people. It’s clear that these conflicting urges are going to be tested in the episodes to come, and that’s what I am looking forward to. As for Kwan, here she does rather get allowed to fade into the background a bit. Again, with such a busy episode as this it’s perhaps inevitable that this would happen somewhere, so I hope we get more from her going forward.

And on the Covenant’s home, decisions are made which will undoubtedly shape the nature of the conflict to come. The hidden dagger may well do more damage than the mailed fist, after all.

Aside from the busy aspect, it couldn’t help but feel that this episode looked a little ’cheaper’ than the opener. It was hard to shake the feeling that the FX were a little less polished, and the budget a little smaller. Again, hopefully this is just a function of what this particular episode needed to do, but I shall keep an eye on that aspect as well going forward.

Verdict: A bit too much being thrown at the wall and a slightly cheaper feel to the FX take some of the shine off this second episode. It’s not bad, but I’m not convinced it can be great. 7/10

Greg D. Smith