This episode was slow to say the least. And although there was some development towards some of the characters there wasn’t a whole lot going on. Let’s talk about Master Chief’s walk down memory lane on Eridanus. Wasn’t a fan of it. Again, maybe it’s because I’m such a hardcore fan of the franchise so seeing one of my favorite characters walk around aimlessly retrying to relive his childhood isn’t my cup of tea. And plus, how in the hell had he remembered so precisely something he hadn’t seemingly thought of in decades. This character is just being drug through the mud with this approach to humanizing him. The reason why MC is such a good character, and a capable leader is because he doesn’t dwell on the past, he does what he needs to because it needs to be done. It doesn’t mean that he doesn’t feel emotions, he just doesn’t let them get in the way of completing his mission or saving people. And I think the writers are having a problem with letting John’s emotions compromise the show. Yes, it also cast doubt on John’s relationship with Halsey, which can be an interesting thread to explore if done right.

Kwan and Soren have traveled to Madrigal (which in itself was a pretty bad idea) and we get what you’d expect from the situation. Vinsher has decimated all of Kwan’s father’s supporters and basically has the entire planet in an iron grip. There’s a bunch of talking and we get a little action with an assassin and a brief chase sequence. Of course, the writers took the time out to make this about strong women. There’s a female assassin that appears and of course, easily kills the male guards. Absolute bullshit. There was also a missed opportunity for Soren. He gets two action scenes in this episode, and since he’s a Spartan, you’d think he’d tear somebody a new asshole. Instead, he just reacts to situations like a regular human.

Then there’s Kai’s story. After seeing John remove his emotional suppressant device from his back Kai does the same. An interesting build up from the last episode was the perception that Kai noticed John’s change and decided to keep an eye on him while talking to the others about it. But it seems like she hasn’t consulted with them about anything. I hate the show’s interpretation of Miranda (not the actress herself although I would love to take her out for drinks) but I did like seeing the other Spartans interacting with each other. We seldom see them really do anything so it was good seeing them do something.

Also, in the games Halsey is portrayed as being a bitch but a well-meaning one. Everything she’s done despite the ethical aspects of it have been for the advancement of humanity. Now, you can argue the creation of the SPARTANs during the pre-Covenant War but sense then it’s been about humanity. But this show just makes Halsey out to be this incredibly manipulative supervillain. And while there is some truth to it, it does make Miranda seemed like a scorned child, with her continued failed attempts at having her mother’s approval. But to be fair, Halsey and Miranda have a similar relationship in the actual lore.

In the end, I’m on the fence about the episode. On one hand I liked seeing more of Kai and the other Spartans. They (along with the Covenant) are incredibly underutilized. Kwan’s story was okay and there are some revelations that are interesting (well, some more than others). Didn’t care for MC’s story, didn’t care for Halsey, and I didn’t care much for Miranda. However, the one saving grace is Cortana. I really enjoy seeing her and hearing her. Still, it was pretty boring with not much going on. Homecoming gets 2 out of 5.