Halo Season 1, currently available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription, disappointed many longtime fans of the successful video game franchise. The series caught flak for many reasons, and star Pablo Schreiber proved he fully understands the complaints by dropping some real truth bombs about Season 1's failings, which in turn has made me optimistic about Season 2 being a much more gamer-pleasing experience.
Pablo Schreiber leads the talented cast of Halo and took some time ahead of Season 2's premiere on February 8th to chat with SFX Magazine. The actor made surprisingly candid remarks about his true feelings about Season 1 and even threw some shade at the parties responsible while instilling hope that Season 2 will be better.
Pablo Schreiber Didn't Agree With Halo's Most Controversial Decision
Halo removing Master Chief's helmet was a bold choice, especially as he'd never shown his face in the games. The even more daring choice, however, was crafting a storyline in which the Spartan soldier had nude scenes and even had sex with the Covenant's secret agent, Makee. Fans hated the decisions, and Pablo Schreiber made it clear he actively fought against the sex scene, per Games Radar:
The decision to make the connection between Makee and John a romantic connection was a huge mistake. I felt it was a huge mistake at the time and I argued against it and fought against it. But I am who I am. I don’t write the scripts. I only give my opinion. It wasn’t listened to.
Fans complained that the romance stepped on the toes of the complicated relationship Master Chief shared with his internal AI Cortana, who is the closest thing he ever had to a love interest in the video games. It seems Pablo Schreiber is siding with the hardcore fans on that, though he is still staying strong on defending Chief removing his helmet.
It's a far cry from Schreiber's words back during Season 1, in which he defended Halo Season 1's choices from haters. It's possible that, like his character John-117, he was being the good soldier as a star trashing a new series online isn't great for business. Now that the series has to do some work to try and bring in those who tuned out, however, Paramount+ is more than likely giving Schreiber the green light to air his grievances and win over doubters to gain them back for Season 2.
The Star Thinks Season 2 Will Be Better Than Season 1, And I Believe Him
Amidst the trashing of Halo Season 1, Pablo Schreiber continues to sing praises of the new direction for Season 2. The actor told CinemaBlend back in 2022 he was thrilled David Wiener took over as showrunner for the upcoming season, and now we have some more insight as to why. Here's what the star had to say about Wiener's strengths as a showrunner, all while seemingly shading former showrunner Steven Kane (via Forbes):
The tonal shift just feels so much more appropriate for the franchise. It's darker, it's more dangerous, all of the stunt and action sequences put you into the battle and inside the fighting. To me, it's a much more effective way to deal with the show. I think [David Wiener, Halo's new showrunner] is just a more gifted writer, to be quite frank. I think his dialogue is better. He puts words in the mouth that feel more appropriate for the character.
It seems there's no love lost between Pablo Schreiber and the old showrunner, and the upcoming video game adaptation is supposedly on the right path to being something fans will love. Of course, the viewers will be the true judge of that and we will just have to wait and see if they should choose to tune in for the Season 2 premiere.
Regardless of past statements, Pablo Schreiber is convincing Halo fans to tune back in for Season 2 and promising change. If the Paramount+ series was planning on being more or less the same in the upcoming season, he wouldn't be this fired up in interviews. As such, I'm inclined to believe him that the upcoming season will feature changes and hopefully positive ones that put the show back on track.
Halo returns to Paramount+ with new episodes on Thursday, February 8th. As a sci-fi fan with some time to kill between upcoming Star Trek shows returning to the platform, I'll definitely give the series another shot. If done right, Halo could be one of the best sci-fi series out there.
