There’s been a lot of negative criticism since the first episode and honestly, it’s for good reason. The first episode did manage to introduce a bit of intrigue (though the idea to unmask Master Chief was a stupid one) and even though the second episode gave us a bit of backstory for Master Chief, insight into the governing bodies of the UNSC, and more about the human in the Covenant ranks, it ultimately felt lackluster and preachy. So, as I walk into the third episode, I noticed something. The way the UNSC is presented is that of an oppressive governing overlord. Something similar to the governing body of George Orwell’s 1984, the Capital in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, or Norsefire political party in Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta comic.

The episode starts off with a memory of Makee of when she was a child, stuck on a trash ball planet called Oban (a waste salvage colony) where the people there are forced to salvage trash (or at the very least separate plastic and metal). A young Makee watches her friend be beaten to death by one of the overseers. I didn’t like seeing this futuristic society with all this advanced technology utilizing human labor. It’s brutal and if you say these people are poor and live in the waste, I get it. But to say they’re forced to dig through the trash when there are more effective means of this is just pushing an unnecessary narrative. We’re supposed to feel sorry for Makee and understand why she’s loyal to the Covenant, but it just comes off as a lazy idea. Kwan’s story would’ve made for a better indoctrination had it been UNSC forces who killed her colony and the Covenant had rescued her. She leads a pretty awesome attack on a USNC ship. It’s horrific, it’s brutal, and it’s one of the best scenes in the episode. It’s one of the liberties that they’ve taken that actually worked for me.

Oddly enough, there’s something unique about Makee that compels the Covenant to keep her alive and even respect her. Some mysticism concerning Forerunner technology. Something that apparently Master Chief possesses. Why are they so unique? I’m hoping the writing sorts this out in later episodes. In the games MC becomes unique over the course of the story and being exposed to so much. Here, it just has “the One” written all over it.

And I’m sorry, I don’t buy Olive Gray as Miranda Keyes in the slightest. Every time she’s on the screen I want to fast forward. She’s whiny, she’s annoying, overly emotional, she’s not interesting; her personality doesn’t fit her job title. And this isn’t a shot at Gray. She’s a beautiful woman and I’m sure she’s a great actress. And it’s not just the casting that’s bad, but it’s her character and the writing. I would’ve accepted her more if her father was dead and she were in his spot with a bit of his grit and Halsey’s smarts. And another thing that I find curious.

In the games, Miranda choses to follow her father’s path rather than her mother’s, yet in the series we see that it’s the reverse. I wonder if this was deliberate or not. And finally, I notice that she’s a pretty useless character. Halsey’s the head of the scientific division (I guess), so she’s not needed there. Keyes is a high-ranking officer, so she’s not needed there. Parangosky is the Director of ONI, so she’s not needed there. What the hell is her character here for if she doesn’t stand out or contribute something unique. She’s only there for forced drama, and to be used to make Keyes feel bad because he’s a man, and to be a pawn in the game played between Halsey and Parangosky.

Now, let’s talk about one of the more interesting aspects of the show. The creation of Cortana. There’s a sort of cold, calculating feel to it that reminds us of that scientific advancement often comes at a monstrous cost. However, I can say that it’s interesting the process they use. But we get to see Cortana for the first time, and I actually like her. The look of the character, how she sounds, her overall design. Yeah, she isn’t like she in the games but it’s a change I don’t mind. Having said that, it wasn’t until she was created that I noticed they didn’t have any AI. I don’t like how dismissive MC (why I just don’t say John as the show seems to want to push the man within the suit more) is towards Cortana. In the games, he was mistrustful but more receptive to her help. Here he’s overly emotional and rude.

There’s the focus of John’s emotions being kept in check and I’m wondering why. In the game and books, the years of training led to developed discipline and the years of fighting led to a harder resolve. So, the MC keeping his emotions in check was something he’d developed. But why does the series need to say that because he’s human he can’t control his emotions. Why does a Spartan need to have this emotional regulator when a hardened soldier doesn’t need one? He walks among the common folk seeing the world from a more emotional perspective. This is something that I didn’t like. And I can see how this will correlate to Makee, having to possibly go through the same thing but from the Covenant’s point of view.

Kwan plans on going back to her home planet Madrigal to help free it from a rival of her father named Vinsher, who’s adopted an authoritarian rule of the settlements there. I like this. Kwan is one of the few good characters of the show and it’s understandable that she wishes to uphold her father’s legacy and the independence of her people. Soren comes off as more of an opportunistic asshole in this episode. Teachable moments are reduced to threats, and later on, even takes the opportunity to exploit her.

In the end, Emergence does manage to bring some flavor after the tasteless second episode. Undoubtedly, Cortana’s creation and appearance alleviates the episode and the action scene with Makee was great. Still, there’s the uninspiring drama within our UNSC characters, and the constant focus of John rather than his iconic alter ego. Emergence gets 3 out of 5.