Fallout recap: The apocalypse gets very dark (and very good)
One of the show's best installments dives deep into the grim side of humanity
TV Reviews Fallout
[Editor’s note: This is a recap of Fallout episode five. The recap of episode six publishes April 17.]
War never changes.
It’s the first line of almost every Fallout video game, a weary reminder—voiced, more often than not, by the great Ron Perlman—that while the circumstances of annihilation might change, the impulses driving humanity toward it probably won’t. It’s an idea Fallout the TV show has mostly only danced around so far, illustrating self-destructive impulses on the part of the various deranged weirdos that populate the Wastes without exploring them in detail. But now “The Past” has arrived, and a reckoning is in order.
Writing about “The Ghouls,” I noted that Fallout wasn’t all that interested in being a “mystery show,” one of those devious, convoluted puzzle boxes of the type that series producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy are so well known for. Well, here comes episode five to blow that particular supposition out of the irradiated water, as Fallout goes heavy on a series of central mysteries in this hour, most especially: What the hell is actually going on with Vault 33?
Before that, though, we get one of the most existentially horrifying meet-cutes in recent memory, as Lucy comes across the remains of a truly ill-advised bro-down between Maximus and Thaddeus. (In a fairly laugh-light hour, Aaron Moten and Johnny Pemberton get the biggest giggles, flirting their way into a little ritual branding between buds.) Once Maximus reveals the truth about his identity, though, the jig is up, and Thaddeus leaves his “knight” paralyzed in his armor, waiting to be devoured by bugs. It’s genuine nightmare shit, which makes Lucy look all the more radiant as she rescues Maximus, negotiating some help in exchange for some anti-radiation drugs to help her cope with the water she drank in the previous installment.
“Trust” is the theme of the hour, as our two leads (Walton Goggins sits this one out) get to spend some time acting like actual human beings, building on the brief rapport they had back in “The Target.” There’s poison at the root of it, of course—Maximus, having just gotten burnt on honesty, is sticking to the “Knight Titus” lie—but there’s a genuine relief to watching two people basically be normal with each other on this show for a minute. Moten and Ella Purnell play well together, laughing and joking in a way that feels less flirtatious than simple relief at meeting someone they don’t have to keep their guard up around. All of which breaks down the moment they see two other human beings, and Fallout reminds us how quickly, and fatally, tense this series can get.
There are more “important” scenes in “The Past,” moments that will matter more for the show’s over-arching plot. But the slow confrontation that takes place between Maximus and Lucy and two random strangers on some random California railway bridge is the bit of the episode that will stick in my memory the hardest. The knee-jerk way the strangers (and Maximus!) lie about being armed. The way Lucy all but begs all involved to not be psychotic, just this once. The slow shuffle as both parties try, for half a minute, to co-exist. It’s a masterfully tense sequence, and when the other couple, all hungry eyes and scabrous skin, catch sight of Lucy’s potentially valuable Pip-Boy and pull iron, it’s a far grimmer lesson in the law of the Wasteland than anything our young Vault Dweller was taught at the hands of the Ghoul.
No wonder she misses the Vault, and is so excited when she and Maximus get captured and dropped back into one by episode’s end. After all, she hasn’t been getting the crash course in the nasty ways Vault-Tec built its little paradises that her brother Norm has been receiving across this hour. Understandably freaked out by all the bodies he and Chet found in the remains of Vault 32, Norm goes digging in the vault computers, realizing that every single elected Overseer for Vaults 32 and 33 over the last 200 years has been someone who transferred in from their “friends” over in Vault 31 (a pattern that repeats itself in this episode, as Leslie Uggams’ Betty handily snags the election out from under her hapless opponents). With a little background knowledge of what Vault-Tec operating procedure tends to be like in the Fallout games, there’s really no limit to how dark this particular plot thread could get. But at the very least, it’s starting to seem like the affable dopiness exhibited by the residents of Vault 33 might not be entirely due to their literally sheltered natures, as opposed to some kind of horrific conspiracy.
I still haven’t gotten the darkest reveal “The Past” has to offer, though. That builds off of a casual timeline-disrupting remark from Maximus, that the bombs fell “when he was a kid”—ultimately revealing that the wreckage of a city he and Lucy are currently walking through isn’t the remains of some pre-War city that got nuked to rubble by Chinese bombs. It’s Shady Sands, a town established 70 years after the bombs dropped, and which hosted a thriving population of more than 30,000 people—before someone came along and nuked the damn thing again. It’s a doubly devastating reveal for Lucy, who realizes that while war was busy never changing, she and her friends and family have had their heads buried in the sand, waiting for a “Reclamation Day” that had already come and gone. Sleeping through one apocalypse can be chalked up to misfortune, after all, but two? That’s just poor form.
“The Past” is a heavy hour of television, but in all honesty, Fallout was probably due for one. The show still slips in some goofiness around the sides, whether it’s in the wobble of Vault 33's ridiculous Jell-O cakes, or Pemberton’s insistent glee on getting a big burning “T” placed on his neck. But the show isn’t shying away from the darker aspects of this franchise as it moves into its back half, and it’s produced one of its most memorable, irresistible installments to date.
Stray observations
- Timeline fun for nerds! In Fallout canon (and as shown back in “The End”) the bombs fell (the first time) back in 2077. The original Fallout game kicks off less than 100 years later, in 2161, with the sequel following 80 years later in 2241, followed by Fallout 3 in 2277, Fallout: New Vegas in 2281, and Fallout 4 in 2287. (Fallout 76, despite being the latest game in the series, is actually the earliest chronologically, set around a Vault that opened way too early back in 2102.) Fallout the TV show is set in 2296, the furthest down the timeline we’ve yet seen. It’s not clear if the show and games are canonical with each other, although more on that in a second.
- Fallout Game Corner: Okay, this one is a doozy. Shady Sands is a town visited in the original Fallout, eventually revealed to have been founded by survivors from Vault 15. (The player goes hunting through it for a replacement water chip, with no luck.) A century or so later, the Sands becomes the capital of the New California Republic—the closest thing to a fully functional society we see in the Fallout games. There are 15 years between Fallout: New Vegas—the last game that showed the NCR as mostly alive and well—and the show, so it’s hypothetically possible that they could have gotten nuked again in the intervening time. It’s depressing as hell to contemplate, though.
- R.I.P. to Titus and Thaddeus, “The T-Boys!”
- Of course Lucy is a power armor nerd.
- Current theory: Vault 32 residents—notably Leer Leary’s very funny, mustachioed Davey—are being raised to be ideal sitcom characters.
- Lucy recounts a memory of her mom playing out under the “artificial” sun that is either very sweet, or very foreshadowing, depending on how these next three episodes play out.
- “So, Earth is round, Earth is flat, where are you guys at on that these days?”
- “You guys use pre-war technology to find and collect pre-war technology to make sure no one has pre-war technology?”
- It comes amidst a very dark scene, but the reminder that Lucy is sporting an extremely discolored, previously-owned finger is a nice touch.
- Shout-out to the designer that catches Lucy and Maximus with a fake door painted on a wall, presumably one Wile E. Coyote.
60 Comments
I’m not saying painting a fake door labeled “medical supplies” behind a trap door would work on players in the games but likeIt would definitely catch ME
Particularly in a 2D game.
So much of the look and settings of the show seems to be lifted directly from the games – particularly 4 and New Vegas – that I keep reflexively thinking back to whether any key part specifically appears in one of the games as well. New Vegas in particular features a hillside cabana village partially buried in sand that’s almost identical to the locale where “The Government” try to arrest The Ghoul.One thing that’s very different about the show and the games is the proliferation of trees and grass. The 2D games are mostly set in desert, and the 3D games are fairly committed to that aesthetic, even though 200 years after the bombs, and ESPECIALLY on the East Coast, there would definitely be living trees again (there are plenty of mods that fix this). The show, probably by necessity, has forested areas, which is a lot more realistic IMO (New Vegas DID have forest and scrubland in Mount Zion).Another thing I’ve been enjoying is that, like the article says, the show doesn’t hold your hand and explain every bit of the lore you see. For instance, ghouls are radiotrophic, which is why The Ghoul not only can, but NEEDS to eat tainted meat and drink contaminated water – we’re just left to INFER that it’s okay for him to do so. The BoS are all bastards and psychopaths because these aren’t the charitable Capital Wasteland BoS or the pragmatic Chicago chapter (who may not be canon) but the original West Coast branch who have been fighting the NCR as well as schisming along ideological lines for years now with no real hope in sight. It’s good use of a world that’s already built, but not widely understood.
The Governmint reminded me of the Republic of Dave in Fallout 3.
Dave was clearly a dangerous loon, but the whole family was so charmingly weird I didn’t want to hurt anybody, so I just left. Some quests don’t need my help.
Was Chicago from the spin off game? I know there’s two games not considered canon–the vault management game and the Brotherhood of Steel game—not sure of the names as I never played them.
Yeah, you’re in Chicago in Tactics. It’s non-canon, but stuff from it keeps showing up in other games (it established the BOS having zeppelins, and was the first Fallout to have weaponized squirt guns). There’s actually very little stuff in Tactics that DOESN’T fit with canon, so I suspect it has more to do with the game being made outside the Interplay franchise runners’ control.Technically there are two more BOS games that were console exclusive. I don’t think those are canon either, but they DO feature soundtracks by Slipknot, so that’s something!Sorry, that’s a joke. There’s also songs by Celldweller! Who is also inappropriate to the setting but I love Klayton so… I’ll allow it?
Maximum Maximus baby!
I do appreciate that there is a sub-section of the internet that deems this show to be too clean both literally and, with Ella Purnell’s “lawful good” portrayal of Lucy, figuratively but one of the things I’ve found interesting about this show is it’s a little like watching 3 playthroughs at once of the same questline.The Ghoul being polar opposite to Lucy, leaning chaotic evil, with Maximus sitting somewhere around Neutral on balance.Alot has been made of Jonathan Nolan’s adaptation feeling interestingly game-like in it’s unfolding but this set of three quasi-leads (with Lucy very much de-facto lead) make for a great set.
That’s a good point. The Ghoul style is what a lot of people do, which is just kill and steal what you want, but the games usually allow you to play other ways, like the nice person who tries to talk their way through conflict (Lucy), or the Power Armor guy who stumbles his way into conflicts and only survives because he’s heavily protected (Maximus).
I legitimately am a player who aims for lawful good (certainly on first play through, if I do something that crushes karma I’ll reload) so I find the criticism the show, and by proxy, Lucy has had thrown it’s way by players who “break bad” in the wastelands has been strange to me.Especially with The Ghoul character showing the other option available to getting by.I did elsewhere see a very good point that Walton Goggins is such a fine character actor, and beloved to boot, that it makes “hating” him very difficult to do but then I wonder if those critics realise how lost the show would be if it had a one-note, anti-hero just wailing around the story killing and stealing with abandon with no complexity.
I refuse to believe there is anyone that hates The Ghoul, as Goggins is far too delightful and clearly having the time of his life on this show. If they do exist then I hope to never meet them.
Apologies, I obviously wasn’t clear.There’s a subsection of the internet that is criticising this adaptation for the fact it isn’t mean or nasty enough because they believe the bad karma route is the canon way to play Fallout.I find this criticism strange because with The Ghoul, there is right there on screen a character who has absolutely no problem killing, torturing, stealing his way to his objective but I’m musing that a combination of his portrayal and the added back story (which Goggins is killing, pun absolutely intended) may be why people are struggling to see that he’s pure “bad karma” playthrough.
Huh—I didn’t know those people existed but am way less surprised to hear it. I never tried a bad karma route as I know myself well enough to know I just can’t do it. Tried a Dark Urge playthrough of BG3 and while the I did the urge stuff itself (some of it is unavoidable, while other parts are wickedly funny) overall I still kept the good sidekicks pleased enough with me that they never abandoned me. I’m sure you’re right it’s the back story that’s seemingly humanizing something that barely resembles anything human at this point. I am curious to see if there’s a season 2 if he has any sort of redemption arc. I kind of like the way he’s driven by pure rage and….other things (since this recap only covers through episode 5).
I’m not too dissimilar, so where a first play through for me is always as lawful-as-can-be, future playthroughs never go full-bad because I don’t personally find that entertaining. Instead dabbling in the occasional snark and petty misdemeanour to be a dick rather than evil.No judgements on those who do go full-bad-karma, but they are clearly sociopaths and my way is the right way.
I could never help myself in games and always end up playing good even when I tell myself I won’t (made for a very weird Dark Urge playthrough on BG3). Fallout (especially 2) makes it incredibly hard to do that in all of their games if I recall correctly. Been a while since I’ve played any of them, but this show is definitely making me want to revisit New Vegas, and I might even give 76 a shot since it’s free right now (for PC and Xbox) if you’re a prime subscriber. Kudos to tie-ins!
I wonder if Maximus and Thaddeus are dim enough to qualify for the “idiot savant” perk (for non-players, while having a high intelligence is generally a good thing for your character to have, having a particularly low score can let you succeed in some situations because your character’s own idiocy works in their favor).
Maximus certainly has a “failing upwards” trajectory for sure!
You’re in luck! The sister site has the official ‘stats’ for each character posted: https://kotaku.com/fallout-show-amazon-prime-character-special-stats-lucy-1851411135
I’m not sure I buy The Ghoul being less intelligent than Lucy and of equal intelligence than Maximus as those stats show, though. Coop may have become an amoral asshole over the centuries in the wasteland, but he’s no fool.
I was thinking about same thing. It’s kinda shame, I think more intelligent version of Maximus would have made a better viewing. Also I think the actor overdoes it at places. Small grievance, but in general the acting is pretty much top notch here.
One of the things mention is that Lucy is an archetypal new player , Maximus is supposed to be a min/maxing il’ignore the side quests) player , and the Ghoul is the veteran “finished the game a few times over” player who’s just wandering around being completely overgeared and overpowered* …how accurate that ends up I don’t know .( similar to the ‘man in black’ on westworld)
The weird thing is when he is playing pre-war Cooper Howard, Goggins even *looks* like Ed Harris here. I know they look vaguely similar to start with, but I wonder if they are intentionally making him look like Harris with makeup or something.
One of the funniest comments I’ve read about the Maximus arc is that Titus is intended to be the player. As in, he’s whining and threatening his NPC, has them do the hard work, dumps inventory on them as mules, and otherwise behaves like a genuine dick to everyone around him.Don’t know the games well enough to know if this is true, but it cracked me up.
Well, you *can* treat your companion as a pack mule (“Hold these 12 laser pistols until we get back to a workbench where I can scrap them”). It’s harder to be actively mean to them, but you can, through role playing choices, make them mad enough at you that they will leave you.
Lucy seems more chaotic good to me. I don’t see how a lawful good would defy her superiors to break out and pursue her own agenda outside of the safety she’s always known. That and her willingness and capacity to adapt, she retains her ethics while being capable enough to outwit those around her, causing everyone to severely underestimate her.
Consider me very much told and in agreement with your re-classification.
I’m thinking more NG. She follows the rules when they make sense and make life better for everyone, but ignores them when they get to restrictive. Plus, even LG people can snap when someone they love is in trouble.
I’m enjoying Lucy’s gradual adoption of Fallout armour too. She came out of last episode (or possibly earlier, and I just didn’t notice) with not just a replacement finger, but Leather elbow and knee pads.
I loved that she walked back out of the Supermart with new armor and weapons on. Just like in the game.
One of my very first outfits in the game! Brought back some fun memories of heads exploding in slow motion…
So, what’s her name is a ghoul, right? I mean the founder revolutionist lady. She hasn’t aged at all.
Yeah, I was waiting for an explanation on that…
Nope, but the Ghoul and her definitely have a lot in common….. the thought first occurred to me after ep 4, after putting 2 and 2 together when considering the casting of cooper’s little girl, and the 50 yr timeline Maximus mentioned…..that means that the rebel leader is obviously………
I never played the games. Would this show be hard to follow?
No, not at all – at least, not according to my wife, who doesn’t do video games. Having a basic knowledge of science fiction tropes helps, though.
Yeah, my wife is completely unfamiliar with the games (I tried to get her to give Fallout 4 a go, but she didn’t even finish the vault section before she gave up on it), and she loved it. That’s where the smartest thing Jonah Nolan and Bethesda decided to do comes in to play: it’s not an adaptation of any particular game, it’s just an entirely new story that’s just set in the same universe.
My wife would third that. Never played any video games beyond idle iPad stuff, and she liked the show. It might have helped that the primary protagonist is a smart and capable woman who isn’t a Mary Sue.
Great decision on their part—no way they could have done any of the games justice with all the branching storylines, but it’s very cool how it’s structured like the games. Leave the vault on one mission, and get side-tracked all to hell before you get to the end.
Yup. This way they can make uptheir own plot and characters without being tied down to preexisting plot and characters, that fans would otherwise try to gate keep, or get upset over their preconceived notions.
Never played the games. Loved the show.
Not the tiniest bit. I’ve played them all and I’m genuinely impressed with what a good, fun story it is (while being super dark). There’s a TON of game related easter eggs (just a couple: the little vault boy dolls she sees everywhere are collectibles in the game, the Grognak the Barbarian comics up your stats when you find one, etc) but do not interfere at all with the story.
I could be wrong, but hasn’t Todd Howard already confirmed that yes, the show is canonical to the franchise?Also: I loved the entire season, but Maximus just makes some baffling decisions. Like, I get he’s scared of repercussions, but wouldn’t saying to Thaddeus something like, “Titus was killed by a Yao Guai, and I took up his armor to protect it for the Brotherhood, avenge the fallen knight, and try to complete the mission” be better than “We need to get our stories straight”?
Howard has, but that doesn’t necessarily mean much. Lucas said that the Whills are microscopic single-celled life-forms who were essentially God and maintain a symbiotic relationship with the midi-chlorians through which the Whills fed off the Force and controlled the universe, offering destinies to sentients such as Anakin Skywalker so they would do the will of the Whills.Is that Star Wars canon?Only the games are definitive canon. Everything else is canon until it isn’t anymore.
He’s not super-smart–the official stats list his intelligence at 4. Which is low if you’ve never played the games.
Maximum and Thaddeus.
Seriously? Proof-read for fuck’s sake. Have some pride in what you do.
I agree they need better proof reading on this site, but come on. That’s a pretty benign mistake.
Let’s just relax, huh?
Goddamn internets…always so judgy.
It’s not clear if the show and games are canonical with each other…What? Howard, others at Bethesda, Nolan and Joy, etc. have all said the show is canon multiple times now. The showrunners worked with Bethesda to make sure anything they did wouldn’t contradict Bethesda’s plan for FO5.It’s the Shady Sands reveal (and another in the finale) that have some of the game fans all in a tizzy online. They feel like it invalidates the earlier games and, specifically New Vegas, a fan favorite (and my favorite too.) A big part of this is seemingly misinterpreting a timeline scrawled on a blackboard that lists the events around fall of Shady Sands with dates. Everything has a date, including the “Fall of Shady Sands” as 2277, then an undated drawing of a nuclear mushroom. For some reason lots of people interpreted the nuke drawing as also being in 2277, even though that drawing isn’t dated. The 2077 nuke date would conflict with NV, as it takes place in 2281, where the NRC is still the major (though struggling) power in the west, and the destruction of Shady Sands prior to that would’ve been a major plot point, as it’s the NRC capital. Thing is, given the presumptive ages of Maximus and Lucy being in their early to mid twenties the nuke would’ve happened somewhere in the mid to late 2280s, after the events of New Vegas. So that doesn’t contradict anything from New Vegas. I’ve seen quite few rabid fans acknowledge this, but still hate it because it means not long after the events of New Vegas the NRC somehow got decimated and the NRC seems to be the fan favorite faction.
The NRC seems to be the fan favorite faction.It’s the only faction that makes sense to support. I mean, Caesar is basically a fascist, and Mr. House (or usurping his role) just helps Vegas prosper, not help society.
Yeah, it’s impossible to support the Legion, no matter how much the game tries to humanize Caesar if you go down that path, but the decisions regarding House or the NRC aren’t that clear cut. Prior to the show, New Vegas was the largest, and by far, the most successful post war settlement (now there were apparently 30K people in Shady Sands!?! according to the show). It was the largest functioning city in the wasteland, protected by amazing tech and could get independence from all the rival factions.
I sided with Mr. House in my ending, so to be fair, the NCR was already one foot out the door!
I have played them all and New Vegas is my favorite (though 2 still holds a special place in my heart for showing me a non-Orc filled RPG could still be amazing), but people are stupid and freak out over stupid shit all the time. The creators of this show very clearly care about the canon. It’s honestly a testament to them that they worked in so many easter eggs without ‘breaking’ the show. Not a single one feels forced. Also (hopefully this isn’t too spoilery) how perfect is Chris Parnell on this? Just the fact that he’s in it is such a great fit for this show I actually chuckled as soon as I realized it was him.
More jello cakes… While I stated in the last episode that I don’t care about anyone in the vault or the plot going on there, I admit my antennae perked up at the reveal that all of 33’s elected overseers have mysteriously come from 31. Including Lucy’s dad. Hmm… If I’m intrigued by this, I won’t admit it.Got a kick out of Thaddeus lugging that giant bag off. He’ll be over encumbered for sure 😉 Episode was fine. Not exactly a standout of the season, but it does nice work bringing Lucy and Maximus together. And Max himself appears more competent than we’ve seen him before, which helps. There’s still my issue of a sense of discovery that I feel is missing (Lucy already automatically knows about power armor, the history of the bombs simply told) but that might just be the price of a short season and moving things along.
“There’s still my issue of a sense of discovery that I feel is missing (Lucy already automatically knows about power armor, the history of the bombs simply told) but that might just be the price of a short season and moving things along.”
The Power Armor is pre-war tech and Lucy states in her intro that she’s a history teacher by vocation.
Indeed, she’s read up. But isn’t it one thing to talk about something you’ve spent time studying, and another to see and touch it in person for the first time? I would have preferred a little more sense of awe.
I can’t believe that I missed that it was a painted fake door that drops them into Vault 4. That’s hilarious. This show just has a great sense of dark humor. I really hope it gets another season.
Maximus trapped in his armour and left to die was the stuff of nightmares. Not doing my blood pressure any good at all.I’m loving the three leads, hopefully all three meet up soon. Also the pairing of Norm and Chet is just gold.
I wish they made him wait longer.