Fresh Take Halo Ep 5 - Reckoning Spoiler Free

 Available on Paramount+

Thoughts

This episode is the shortest episode thus far and I think that does work to its advantage as this episode feels very to the point. It begins with another flashback but this time involves not only Halsey but the Captain as well. This is probably going to be one of the most appropriately titled episodes of all time. To see Chiefs growing frustration at people lying to his face and him knowing it was great to see. Chief finding out that Kai removed her pellet and him being irked by it and Cortana calling him out on it was good to see also. I really hope the other Spartans in the Silver team get their pellets removed as well at some point. The weakest portion of the episode still is the Kwan plot. I was kind of hoping that the whole mystics situation would happen this week but it didn't and like previous weeks' episodes I just want them to get to the point with her story already as it makes the episodes feel uneven. There is a big blowout battle this week and while I did like the action and the fact we finally got to see the grunts, jackals, and even a brute it did feel like the CG wasn't as good. Also, I think if they are going to have the Spartans take their helmets off so much they need to use CG to fix the look like what Marvel did in Falcon and the Winter Soldier with Falcon's costume in the final episode. They used CG to make the costume form fit to his face. In this series, I think they should do the same thing because every time they take their helmets off the armor just looks bad. 

For Parents

This episode is heavy on the violence at the end as there is another Covenant Sweep. The episode is shorter than in previous weeks. There is a little gore and one beatdown but it wasn't too graphic.

Overall 

I enjoyed this episode and its pace. The action sequence at the end, despite the bad CG, I thought did a good job of capturing the chaos of an ambush/sweep. I like the fact that both Chief and Kai have their emotions back and how that is causing an issue because they don't know how to deal with it. Cortana is still my favorite character so far and Halsey is still my least favorite. Leave a comment and let me know what you thought of the episode. Also, don't forget to catch the Fresh Take podcast on Sunday at 10 am to hear me and Fangirl Review's spoiler-filled thoughts on the episode.

Image via IMDB