The opening sequence of “Visegrad,” the third episode of Halo season 2, features a defining characteristic of prestige television: It’s really dark. I’m squinting like a grunt, peering into the sun just before its head gets abruptly popped off.
As John/Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber) and the rest of his crew march off to pick up the cliffhanger from episode two. Even if I find this most recent episode’s near-total darkness to be annoying at times, “Visegrad” deftly pulls back a bit, tying the series’ narratives together rather than allowing them to linger individually.
Even though the story choices are still somewhat dubious, this latest installment in the Halo series offers a lot of interesting things to explore. Now let’s get started.
Recap
Though the last episode saw the Covenant attacking the relay on Reach, “Visegrad” provides us a lovely little payoff: by the time Chief and the Silver team arrive, the Covenant had vanished from sight. Halo season two has been expertly laying the groundwork for John’s renegade turn. Rather, following another masterfully performed.
Horror-infused sequence, we find out that the Visegrad relay is empty except for the soldiers who have been dispatched to capture Silver team for this clandestine operation. I apologize. Of course, Ackerson (Joseph Morgan) is the mastermind behind all of this shenanigans, but he’s not the prick the Silver team believes him to be.
we watch him carefully tending to an elderly guy suffering from dementia, who turns out to be his father. Though Daddy Ackerson, who constructed the enormous bridge that crosses a portion of Reach and is seen from the window of a house that is most likely owned by an elderly couple, is unable to recall the deaths of his wife and daughter.
He is aware that he would like to pass away before “they take him alive”—whatever that may imply. Ackerson intends to carry out his father’s intentions after learning of Reach’s fate via Cortana, and Morgan portrays this sequence masterfully, alternating with grace between anguish, fury, and grim resolve.
But right away after, Ackerson’s dickish qualities are brought to our attention once more: Admiral Keyes (Danny Sapani) is taking a hard line on John and Silver team for stealing a Pelican, pointing a gun at a higher ranking officer, and acting outside of the chain of command.
John is ordered to have a mandatory psychiatric evaluation and all four Spartans are told to hang up their suits. However, not before it is revealed that someone altered the intelligence to make it seem as though Cobalt was never sent to the Visegrad relay, supporting the theory that his mental state is deteriorating.
John speaks sharply with Kai (Kate Kennedy), who expresses open doubts about his judgment and points to his assertions that he thought Makee (the person she “killed”) was a good reason to be concerned. I groan with annoyance at the diversion and again at the hideous wig they’ve forced onto Laera (Fiona O’Shaughnessy) when “Visegrad” shifts to the B-plot involving the Rubble and Soren family.
Funny that despite her panicking over her husband’s death, she found time to change to a CEO bob before heading out to find him. Thankfully, within the boundaries of this episode, Laera, Kessler (Tylan Bailey), and Kwan Ha (Yerin Ha) are neatly positioned on a course of convergence with the main storyline, and for that, I’m grateful.