Halo Review: Solace (Season 1 Episode 6)
Halo Season 1 Episode 5, “Solace,” is, to a certain extent, the series showing us what it is capable of.
On the previous episode, Reckoning, we stated that positive steps for the series are good but it’s all for naught if it can only do so within an action framework. “Solace” is almost a response to that, focusing more on quiet, character-based moments.
This is the episode that feels most like the show coming into its own. It has really struggled, especially at the start, to know what to do with the parts of the show that aren’t, and can’t be, a live-action cinematic.
Now, it seems like Halo has figured itself out to its most fully formed extent.Most of that is due to the fact of it knowing what to do with Halsey and how best to implement here as a figure.
It is no longer shying away from what she has done in regards to the creation of the Spartan program. The show is done, at least for the time being, with positioning her as anything other than a distinctly morally gray anti-hero.
Truthfully, there isn’t really one thing that this episode does that makes it rise to the top over what has come before it. Instead, it’s something that is working in concert together. “Solace” is a bit like a cake.
You wouldn’t say it is the flour or the eggs or the milk that makes it so enjoyable. Rather, it’s all a piece with each other.
There are certainly things that can be pointed to, like a more realized characterization for Master Chief or the interactions that he shares with Makee.
The latter makes for some really fascinating scenes between the two of them, a kind of cat and mouse emerging that feels special to this show.
She’s not trustworthy, a fact that both the audience and Master Chief is aware of, but there’s an undeniable intrigue to her.
She’s not necessarily holding anything back but there’s still this mystique about her.
One thing that doesn’t hurt is that Kwan and Soren’s storylines are excised from episode, a true mercy. Her scenes have easily been the weakest section of the show and her presence is not missed.
Prior to this episode, it was hard to say if Halo is capable of becoming a functional piece of science fiction. If it could be something more than just an adaptation of a video games. “Solace” erases most of that doubt.
What did you think of this episode of Halo? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Halo airs Thursday on Paramount+.
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Drew Koenig
Drew has an ongoing, borderline unhealthy obsession with pop culture, but with television in particular. When he's not aggressively trying to get out of a perpetual state of catching up, he can be found passionately defending the ending of Lost. More of his online work can be found at The Lost Cause and he also co-hosts The Lost Cause Pod.