The postcard relates to one of the interviewees in this week's audio log. It seems like just a bit of flavor, even less substantial than the journal entries from last week.

The glassed planet picture caught my eye because there are pieces of industrial buildings sticking out of the ruined surface-- it looks like 343i is going with a, let's say less full definition of glassing than what a lot of people had in mind. This might be there to back up Reach's data pads, specifically the one that talked about the infeasiblility of glassing a whole planet to... whatever depth they had in mind, and that people should be encouraged to think of it in those terms even though it wasn't happening like that, because it's a better motivator. I say that because it goes against what some people had in mind but also because the picture was never actually approved for release (in universe), and there's no reason given for not approving it, it just didn't meet standards.
(Also the surface looks like a fresh lava flow, which it probably shouldn't since lava has a different composition from crustal material, at least on Earth-- that's why you'd call it glassing, all the silicon dioxide and other silicon compounds in the crust would make more of a glassy material when melted, on average. I don't think the discrepancy is intentional, and I could buy it just being the result of a different chemical makeup of the crust of whatever planet that was.)

The audio log sees Ben talking to someone that dug up records on the Chief's parents showing they were alive after they supposedly died, and so was he, and there was a doctor visit when he supposedly got sick. After that he talks to his ONI contact again who reiterates, forcefully, that glassed planets have bad records, and then asks him if he's recording and if he wants to keep this assignment. He talks to another approved source, the one that sent the postcard, who tells him John was a real man among men, mature beyond his years, a born leader, someone who sacrificed for others, that whole spiel. There's a talk with a former ODST who he found through the conspiracy guy from before, who relays the story from TFoR about him beating some ODSTs into mush at a young age, apparently having been in the gym at the time. He then talks again with one of the previous interviewees, John's friend Ellie, who pokes another hole in his story by saying there was effectively no boxing on Elysium, let alone in schools, so the "boxing coach" had to have been lying. The last guest voice is another returning interviewee, the one with the story about insurrectionists keeping people penned up in the dark. He defends his story, and Ben takes jabs at it, until the guy lets slip that he just wanted piece of mind for his family-- something that shouldn't be related-- and when asked about it both parties realize they've stepped into something bad, and Ben realizes he was talking on a public network.

I liked this episode, it had all of the things that made me interested in the first place and kept me interested. Keegan-Michael Key continues to show his range. All throughout Ben is feeling like what he was told is unraveling, and the way he sounds more and more concerned, in this and the last episode, that's a good subtle-ish element.
Side question: did anyone else think the boxing coach was him doing a different voice?
The ODST sounded... traumatized about what happened, and he mentioned genetic augmentations, which Ben reacted to by saying they had them as adults. The way that was done hit me like... like it was supposed to, I guess, his description and his tone and his saying that he'd be dismissed in favor of a cheerleading article, so he should just go have a drink, that hit home.
The bit about no boxing on Elysium stretches believability more the more I think about it, because it seems like a basic fact, and one he could've run across anywhere, how could the intelligence agency of the human race in this advanced era overlook something so basic? Maybe it points to this uncovering being intentional on some level, but if it's not, I think 343i wrote that part pretty sloppily.
Another side question: did anyone else think the retired guy that talked about the Chief when he was young sounded an awful lot like Steve Downes?
The ending was... good. It was tense and it left me wanting to know what happens next, but it had the payoff of a definite tip-off that some concerted lying and coercion were going on.

What did you guys think?