Fallout S2 Ep 7 Review
To paraphrase Ricky Ricardo, “Bethesda, you’ve got some ‘splaining to do,” because that new episode of Fallout was nuts! I normally try to avoid spoilers until I can watch a new episode at dinner with some Jones Soda, but I managed to spoil myself this week. And what I read was crazy, even by Fallout standards. We’ve got a look into the backstory of Steph, see how the Enclave was able to get its hands on the Cold Fusion Diode before the Great War, and Lucy, Maximus, and the Ghoul make choices that could change the Wasteland. And that’s not even getting into the reveal of what Hank Maclean is using to control his army of mind-controlled slaves.
Cooper Really did Ensure the Bombs Dropped by Accident
So far this season, every episode has included a flashback to the time before the Great War as we see the choices that Cooper Howard made before the bombs dropped. Thanks to Barb extracting the Cold Fusion diode from Hank’s neck, Cooper had something that could have ended the Resource Wars, and thus prevented the Great War. Yet we know that it’s already in the possession of the Enclave 200 years later, meaning they got their hands on it regardless. This episode explains how. Much like how Max wants to give the diode to Lucy since he thinks she’s a good person and will know what to do with it, Cooper wanted to give it to one of the few people in Washington not in bed with big business, Congresswoman Diane Welch. It’s then that they make a mistake: they give it to the President.
Hindsight is 20/20, but it doesn’t make ease the sting of knowing that the last President is a leader of the Enclave who will abandon his people to survive the nuclear holocaust. It’s a powerful reminder that those in power don’t always have the best interests of the people at heart. Believe it or not, that’s not the craziest part of the flashback. The craziest part is about Steph Harper.
Steph is…Well, She Crashed out Years Ago
As Chet discovered in an earlier episode, not only is Lucy’s best friend someone who’s been alive before the Great War, but she’s Canadian. By the time the bombs dropped, America had annexed Canada to be part of its empire, and either treated the Canadians like dirt or killed them outright. It was this dehumanization and watching her mom die that hardened her into the ruthless woman we see today. Someone who is willing to do unto Americans unworthy of her hatred what was done to her.
More than any of the other Vault-Tec junior execs, Steph is a reminder of the consequences of America’s despotism in its final years. Despite the country already paying for its crimes and those who committed them long dead, she can’t let go of her hatred. She sees everyone descended from America as an enemy to kill, and as we already guessed, she murdered Woody. And when Chet outs her at their nonconsensual wedding, Vault 32 is ready to revolt. Combined with how Vault 33 is almost out of water, I’m not even sure if there will be a Vault for Lucy and Norm to return to.
Speaking of Norm, he’s now prisoner of Bud’s Buds, the majority of whom want to kill him for lying to them. You can tell just how brainwashed they are when one of them claims the employee handbook says impersonating an exec is a capital crime. Then again, I wouldn’t put it past Vault-Tec. At least that Claudia woman is sane enough to help him call for help.
Yeah, Hank’s Arguments are Complete Nonsense
Help, though, will not come, as Lucy is grappling with the fact that while she still loves her dad, Hank Maclean is a monster. For a moment, he almost convinces her that the black box can bring peace to the Wasteland. That it can turn its worst inhabitants into productive members of society. But then, she sees the NCR Ranger she had met before as one of his flunkies. And despite being a good person, Hank is indiscriminate with his plans. To him, the NCR is just as bad as the Legion due to its taxes and expansionist tendencies.
With all disrespect, no one should believe that pile of brahmin manure. Yes, the NCR has its problems: water and brahmin barons, going through its manifest destiny phase, and chronic red tape. But for all their faults, they try to be the good guys. It’s like I said in my overview of the faction: Vault-Tec couldn’t stand the NCR because they’re proof that the world could move on without them. Thus, Lucy makes the decision to shut everything down for good, only to find something so crazy that even I wasn’t expecting it. But why spoil it for you?
Deathclaw vs. Power Armor!
As expected, the meeting of Max, Thaddeus, Dogmeat, and the Ghoul all leads to them teaming up for a common cause: rescuing Lucy. That means they’ve got to clear out the Deathclaw nest, and they’ll need some heavy firepower. As someone who’s played the games, I loved seeing all the cool weapons the Ghoul got them, especially the Gauss rifle. The NCR power armor, though, takes the cake. The headpiece is cool enough, but the arm blades were an even better touch. However, I think the best part was the quartet’s walk through Freeside while everyone cheered. Granted, they thought Max was with the NCR, but you could tell by the look on his face that he enjoyed finally being seen as the hero he wanted to be.
Now he’s got to kill the rest. And since the barrier keeping them in has been destroyed, if he fails, Freeside and New Vegas are goners. Though that might not be much of a problem, anyway, since the episode ends with Mr. House now back in the game, courtesy of the Cold Fusion diode.
One of the biggest questions surrounding this new season is what it would tell us about the canonical ending to Fallout: New Vegas. At this point, however, I’m not sure if it even matters. We may never really know what the Courier does, and honestly, that might be for the best. It lets players decide for themselves what they want the story of New Vegas to be. And as much as Mr. House is an arrogant, self-serving jerk, he’s capable of getting things in his town under control. On the off-chance he’s an enemy though, I think the Ghoul used that NCR power armor to get the locals to back that faction if Max kills the Deathclaws. He’s rigging the game in their favor, and that might be the only way to win.
There was a lot going on in this episode, but we’re almost at the end of the season. After that, we’ll have to wait who knows how long before the next season. Not to mention how there’s this mystery announcement scheduled to come out on the date of the season finale. This next week is going to be crazy!
