Start looking at the man in the mirror.
So not too long ago the pitchfork wielding mobs of the Internet banded together in order to cast down the live action Halo TV series and ensure it burnt down in the fiery pits of Beelzebub where it des- oh wait, there's a season 2 which was greenlit before the show began... So the show creators have one more shot to prove their worth before Paramount Plus just moves on with it's dozen other actually successful and well-received shows, pretty much setting the studio and Pablo Schreiber's performance in a 'Last Stand' position where every single slip up could very well be his last in the iconic green armour. And how are the studio handling this pressure? Not every well if the recent interview that was conducted with Pablo and the series' executive producer is anything to go by. In fact, fitting the title of this blog, if what they say is indicative of what they believe; I'd very much have to say that these guys literally have no idea what it is that made Halo such a great property to begin with, let alone how to make that translate onto another platform. And now, lo and behold, I have the perfect tool for quantifying the problem for you today.
Let me start by saying that though it was kind of GAMINGbible to frame the backlash The Halo Series received as 'mostly mixed'; they're not doing the creators any favours by lying to their face. The show was battered by critics both professional and audience goers, with the overall reviews on sites generally aggregating to the middle only because of some truly sad individuals who have felt the need to balance the table by giving it a 5 out of 5 in revenge. (You know the review is probably not all on the level when the contents of it discusses how other people feel about the product rather than how they do.) Lets not beat around the bush; it was hated, disgraced, divorced by the fans and thrown into the trash. A lot of people aren't even going to bother show up for a Season 2 unless they're told how everything has changed and Master Chief is back as the man we love; but I'm not sure we're even heading in that direction after what we've heard.
Oh, and I'm not going to come up here and tell you that the people in charge are clueless. (even if that might be the exact opinion I've shared in the past) because I've decided they're not: they're just misguided. The executive producer on this show with her incredible name, Kiki Wolfkill, (Seriously; that is easily the coolest name I've ever seen.) has been with the series in her position ever since the franchise jump from the hands of Bungie to 343 in Halo 4. And yes, out of all the Halo games that I've played I did in fact say that Halo 4 was the worst in terms of story, enemy makeup and level design; but at least she's been with these games long enough to identify what makes a bad Halo portrayal and... act on that? Hopefully. I don't know. I see her standing behind every decision here and it makes me cringe, but I can't really hate on someone called Wolfkill, because that sounds like the kind of person who holds very violent grudges; so I'm just going to say that she and I have a: Difference of opinion on this matter.
Much as I have surmised in the past, Kiki and Pablo both confirmed over this interview that the goal of removing Master Chief's helmet was to sever the intrinsic relationship between the player and the character that has been there since John's inception. He was created as an Avatar for the player, obviously, and when that relationship was moved to the show that had to come with a sacrifice of the closeness. But I disagree that this was the way to do it. It's funny actually; the way that Kiki explains it, she makes it sound as though Chief was an entirely lifeless and emotionless chunk of rock to be manipulated by the player during the events of each game, which is why the show felt so jarring when it approached an angle of the Master Chief 'discovering his humanity'; but that is either a wilful lie, or a selective truth; because Master Chief, lo and behold, actually did have a personality.
From the very first moments aboard the Pillar of Autumn, Master Chief was establishing himself as an obedient, occasionally wise cracking, vaguely cocky, symbol of duty who pushes himself to extraordinary lengths to try and 'complete the mission'. Later he would come to care about the AI who wormed itself into his hand and heart, to the point where it came into direct contrast with his intrinsically dutiful nature and led to a personality schism. Perhaps the only part of Halo 4's writing which wasn't a total dog's dinner was the way in which Master Chief had to act against a direct order for the first time in the franchise and it felt like a natural collision between personal and professional duty. The game doesn't linger on the moment, because that's not the sort of franchise this is, but instead allows the significance of that choice ring in the narrative, organically.
I think a great modern example that Kiki might examine to see this sort of dynamic adapted and portrayed perfectly is the reimaging of Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Cloud was largely mute in the original game save for some very rare dialogue choices with even rarer actual consequences, whereas the Remake gave him both a voice and an independent personality beyond just being the player's avatar. And that played out into a personality much the same as Master Chief's only with a heightened degree of being emotionally stunted when it comes to expressing to others. As if harkening back to those times when Cloud spoke once in a blue moon, FF7R Cloud expresses how he feels through action, such as committing to helping Avalanche in order live up to his promise to help his childhood friend Tifa who told him that she feels trapped. Or that moment where he, rather adorably, tells a meadow of inanimate plants to 'learn how to speak' to Aerith upon noting how they're the only outlet she has to speak openly to. It's a very physical window into the way that Cloud feels about the people in his life which non-verbally communicates that intent to the viewer, all the way keeping totally true to the mute nature of the character's origin.
The problem with the Halo show, and Master Chief's depiction within it, is that as a character he feels totally divorced from the person in the video game. He doesn't act like Chief, to even a base fundamental level. He has no sense of duty, more an obligation forced upon him by an evil tyrannical fascist government which he actively tries to free himself from, he's never playful with Cortana in a manner that underlies their deep bond to one another, and he doesn't maintain that detachment from other humans and Spartan's which makes him more of a symbol to be admired from afar by his peers than a drinking buddy to split your woes with. The show itself seems to barely cover the Covenant war with Humanity, and even throws in a human Covenant member in the mix, (probably to save on the animation budget) and Master Chief sleeps with her. Which is just... such a misstep in character writing I have trouble quantifying my total feelings in word form; it more deserves a primal scream of pain, if I'm being honest.
In summation, this isn't a Halo show. It's a generic sci-fi fantasy plot with an impressive looking coat of Halo scene slathered ontop of it. The action scenes look good, heck I think the finale scene is genuinely fantastic, but they wanted to go deeper than just a string of action cutscenes and in doing so failed their character's at every single turn. And that is why this season 2, which was greenlit before the first season was done, isn't going to get any better. These creatives stubbornly refuse to accept the mistakes they made, or the valid criticism that actual fans who recognise the franchise which is being tarnished, have offered them. In their eyes it's all "Nah, those guys just don't understand our genius", which is why the quality has been circling the drain for so long and just begging to fall totally into it. I would end on a plea to Save Our Halo; but the truth is there's nothing left to save. I just hope that the next video game show learns well from the mistakes of this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment