Spoilers for this week’s episode of Fallout to follow.
Ring a ding ding! Another week, another episode of Fallout. Last week’s episode was notable because it showed our heroes Lucy (Ella Purnell) and Cooper (Walton Goggins) finally arrive at the iconic strip from Fallout: New Vegas. Though the pair had hoped to find Lucy’s father, Hank (Kyle Maclachlan), they were instead greeted by a horrific sight: a Deathclaw, one of Fallout’s most iconic enemies. Elsewhere, Norm (Moisés Arias) and the Vault-Tec junior executives from Vault 31 are exploring the Los Angeles wasteland in hopes of finding Vault-Tec’s headquarters. With plenty of tense situations and big set-ups hanging in the air, let’s dive into this week’s adventure in the Mojave wasteland.
The episode opens with Lucy and Cooper encountering the Deathclaw on the strip. Horrified at the sight of the creature, they quickly realize there is not one but three Deathclaws, making them fully surrounded. Knowing the danger they’re in, Cooper suggests running and staying out of sight. While hidden, Lucy asks Cooper which weapon he suggests they use to take them on. Knowing none of them will work, he takes a sack of grenades and throws it out as a distraction by shooting it. With the Deathclaws occupied, Cooper and Lucy escape to the backside of The Strip into the neighborhood of Freeside.
While in Freeside, which happens to be one of the most thriving communities in the Mojave Wasteland, Cooper finally reveals to Lucy why he wants to hunt down Hank. Cooper’s wife Barbara (Frances Turner) and daughter Janey were put into cryosleep by Vault-Tec in one of the vaults reserved for upper management. He tells her he found two of these vaults in Oregon and California, but they were empty inside. If he finds Hanks, he can find the Vault in the Mojave that is hopefully housing his family inside. With Lucy still addicted to Buffout, he suggests she go to the general store for some Addictol while he retires to a bar where he reflects on who he has become since he’s seen his family.
Jumping to before the bomb fell, we see a flashback with Cooper, Barbara, and Hank at the airport. Hank plans to escort them to Vegas but is also tasked by Vault-Tec to deliver an important briefcase that’s handcuffed to his wrist. Stepping away from them for a moment, Cooper calls Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury) on a payphone. Moldaver provides Cooper with poison to assassinate Robert House (Rafi Silver), though Cooper swears to her he’ll get her the Cold Fusion without having to kill a man.
The trio arrive in Vegas during its prime and pull up to the Lucky 38 hotel, where crowds are protesting RobCo industries and the hotel’s owner Robert House. The tension reaches a peak when security throws a woman down the front steps of the hotel and Cooper rushes over to help her. She’s a local congresswoman and she recognizes Cooper and thanks him for his act of kindness.
Inside the bustling Casino the trio are split up. Trying to keep an eye on where Hank is headed, where his wife went, and where to find Mr. House, Cooper gets lost in the crowd of confusion. His task seems impossible until he’s approached by Mr. House who tells him “Mr. House would like to see you” and leads him to his private quarters. Inside, Cooper is greeted by Tex the securitron and The Mysterious Stranger (Justin Theroux), who Cooper recognizes from the bathroom of the VFW. The Mysterious Stranger reveals himself to be the true Robert House, and confessed that the one the public knows has been a ruse for over a decade. After revealing this, he informs Cooper that he knows of the assassination plot against him.
Jumping forward to the present, we see the snake oil salesman (Jon Daly) from season one on the road to New Vegas. After a brief but violent encounter with a radroach he arrives in the city only to be swiftly ambushed by Hank and taken back to the Vault-Tec vault. It’s here inside the vault that we do indeed get confirmation that Barbara and Janey’s cryo tubes are in the Mojave. Hank hooks up a mind control device to the snake oil salesman and offers him a fresh start, which he accepts. Hank turns on the device and is pleased when the salesman’s head does not explode.
Back in Los Angeles, Norm and the executives from Vault-31 find the Vault-Tec headquarters. As they head inside they encounter Ma June (Dale Dickey) from Filly, who has apparently been using the former headquarters as a radroach farm. When Norm inquires as to who is, she reveals to him that she encountered Lucy and tells him of the events that took place back in Filly. She tells him that he’s better off taking supplies from her and heading home because Lucy is most likely dead.
Back in Freeside, Lucy heads to the local general store to buy some Addictol but is dismayed to learn that it’s out of her budget. Seeing an open backdoor, Lucy decides to sneak inside and steal the Addictol along with a Power Fist that she comes across. While participating in her stealth check, she spots a chopped up body in a nearby trash can and is confronted by the “store owner” in ill-fitting clothes. Lucy then realizes that the man in front of her murdered the real owner. Before he has time to fire his gun at her, Lucy shoots the man in self-defense, ultimately killing him. Lucy stands mortified at murder she just committed as a Freeside resident stumbles upon the bloodbath.
Back in Pre-War Vegas, Mr. House reveals he’s been following Cooper for some time. He tells him that he had access to West-Tek technologies, granting him the ability to see through the visors of the T-45 power armor that Cooper wore in Alaska. He tells Cooper that the Deathclaw is the key to future control of the country. House then tells Cooper that he plans to use the Cold Fusion relic to stay alive after death–to run Vegas and protect it from the bombs that Vault-Tec plan to drop. Despite working the odds to be in his favor, House remains unsure how Cooper fits into all his plans for the end of the world. During House’s mad ramblings, Cooper makes a quick exit without the Cold Fusion.
At the Vault-Tec headquarters, the executives of Vault 31 scramble to get it back into working order. Norm learns from one of the executives that Barbara Howard was their director of operations and heads to her office to find information on what the plan was for Vaults 32 and 33. Inside her office he finds a terminal and searches “Future Enterprise Ventures” with no returning results. Out of ideas, he decides to search “FEV” and is greeted with a screen that says: “Forced Evolutionary Virus.” Bud Askin’s assistant was spying on Norm the entire time and attacks him when he uncovers the true meaning of “FEV.” In their scuffle, Norm is choked unconscious.
After Lucy walks the streets of Freeside–vomiting from the Addictol as she does–she meets back up with Cooper in a hotel room where they’re greeted by an uninvited guest: the snake oil salesman. Delivering a message from Hank, he informs them that he has Barbara and Janey in his vault and will kill them if they don’t stop attempting to track him. He then strikes a deal with Cooper: if he turns Lucy over to him, he’ll spare his family. Cooper then reveals his true motivation for taking Lucy on this journey: to use her as a bargaining chip to get information on his family. He accepts the deal and shoots Lucy with a tranquilizer. Before she can fully pass out, she arms herself with the Power Fist and launches Cooper out the window impaling him on a pole below.
Sometime later, Hank arrives to pick her up.
This week’s Fallout weaved an intricate web. What once felt like parallel stories have instead become closely tied together. The reveals this week were also bombshells, be it the identity of the real Mr. House or the true meaning of “FEV.” Maximus (Aaron Moten) and the Brotherhood of Steel weren’t even in this episode so it’ll be interesting to see how they tie into the overarching narrative as we head closer to the finale of this season in the Mojave Wasteland.
