Episode One of the Fallout TV series continues . . .
ONE
With no introduction, this storyline starts mid-episode with a man in a possible boot camp situation as he’s beaten up by other recruits.
Roll title card: MAXIMUS.
His friend and fellow recruit, Dane, runs over and helps him up.
Establish the location. A Brotherhood of Steel (BoS) flag is raised. We see an isolated camp with barracks. Johnny Cash plays, over.
Maximus attends class in an airplane hangar; the Cleric teacher presents the tenets of the BoS. Squires will help their Knights identify pre-war tech and secure it from the Wasteland. Maximus appears to be daydreaming. Cleric Felix puts him on the spot with a test to identify a relic. He fails, and Felix clocks his nose with a thick ruler. If you don’t know what to preserve, you’re useless.
TWO
The hangar windows darken as something large flies outside. The recruits (Aspirants) all run to look. It’s a BoS airship (YAY!) with its accompanying vertibird helicopters. (YAY!) In the backwash and rising dust, a troop of Knights in power armor strides toward them. (YAY! It’s the shot that every Fallout fan wants to see. Love or hate the Brotherhood, side with or against them, their display is awe-inspiring.) Maximus knows that the power armor is version T-60. Dane admires the suits.
THREE
In the radio tent someone dictates a weird, bingo-like code that ends up as a sketch of a man’s face.
FOUR
Maximus on latrine duty. Three tires stacked on a cart with a toilet lid on top need to be emptied. (Again, weird. Not from the game and oddly over-emphasized.) Dane takes him away to show him the power armor suits stored in their stations. (YAY!) Maximus reaches out to touch a shiny breast plate, flashing back to his childhood. The world is on fire, but Young Maximus smiles at a Knight in full power armor carrying an assault rifle. In real time, an Officer interrupts. Dane tries to apologize for being in the station, but that’s not why the Officer is there. Dane is summoned. Maximus is left behind.
Later, recruits throw bricks at a steel mesh backboard, like a bizarre basketball game. Maximus, resting on his bunk, hears cheering and comes into the yard. It’s Dane and a few others in different gear. They’ve been chosen to be “anointed”. To become Squires and go into The Wild. Dane is excited; Maximus is — devastated? demoralized? angry? Whatever he feels, he’s alone and left behind again.
That night, Maximus is on latrine duty. He mentally cracks, attacking the toilet lid and ripping it away, screaming. (Yikes, buddy, close your mouth! You’re flailing at the poop repository.)
SWITCH
Later, when everyone’s in bed, Maximus is awakened by Dane’s screams. Dane’s foot has been shredded by a razor blade in a boot. Officer looks at Maximus.
FIVE
Cut to Maximus in a black hood, led by the Officer.
Shift back to the completion of Lucy’s story before returning to Maximus.
The hood is removed from Maximus’ head.
The Elder Cleric interrogates him.
A flashback of Young Maximus emerging from a milk refrigerator in the Wasteland accompanies grown Maximus saying he joined the Brotherhood in order to hurt those who hurt him.
The Cleric tells him that the other Aspirants claim he’s the one who damaged Dane. Maximus denies it while a Knight in power armor strides heavily to stand behind him. Emotional, Maximus admits that, although he didn’t do it, he wanted it to happen. “Is that wrong?”
After a beautiful pause, Cleric says, “Yes.” Violence is a tool to bring order, and we never use it against our Brothers. Other than than that, it’s a weakness. “Are you weak?”
Still on the verge of tears, Maximus answers, “I don’t want to be.” The Knight comes closer. The Cleric looks disappointed. Stammering, Maximus thanks the Brotherhood for giving him a home. He wants to help, even if it means losing his own life. Coming close, the Cleric says, “You will be Knight Titus’ new Squire.” After he leaves, Maximus allows himself to feel all the emotions he’s been holding down.
Dane, foot bandaged, sits in the sick bay tent when Maximus comes to visit. Appearing light-hearted, Dane says, “I hear you got my spot.” The leadership asked Dane if Maximus was the one, and Dane replied, “He wouldn’t hurt a fly.” (The subtext here is strong. We’re not sure if Maximus planted the razor, although he probably didn’t. We’re not sure what Dane thinks about Maximus. We’re not sure if we trust or like Maximus.)
At an altar in the airplane hangar with everyone in attendance, Maximus kneels for his promotion ritual. The Brotherhood, the mission, your lord Knight Titus: these are the order of a Squire’s priorities. The Cleric watches him from a corner. Titus heats up his gauntlet in an open flame and uses it to brand the back of Maximus’ neck with a “T”. (To my knowledge, none of this is in the game. The hierarchical leadership structure, yes, but none of this ritual. Knights are revered in the Brotherhood, but team cruelty isn’t depicted. Also, you’ve just branded a black man with Aaron Moten in the role. I believe that every level of squirminess we feel in this scene is intentional by the showrunners.)
After the ceremony, everyone is lined up in the yard for orders. Elder Cleric says, “A denizen of the Enclave has escaped with a powerful artifact.” (Shout out to Fallout 3 with the Enclave.) Behind each Knight stands his Squire, including Maximus.
SIX
He’s handed a paper showing this escaped target. It’s the weird bingo printout from earlier: a man in round glasses, and a dog companion.
SEVEN
When the Aspirant (Thaddeus) who distributed the paper lingers, Maximus dismisses him. His brief smile suggests he enjoys the power of outranking the jerk who picked on him earlier.
EIGHT
The Knights are on the move. Maximus, like every other Squire, hefts a gargantuan backpack that looks like a caddy’s bag, and runs after. Each team heads for its own vertibird. In a classic Fallout moment, the Knight jumps lightly into the copter, using the suit mechanics. Maximus hefts the bag onboard, and then struggles to get himself in as the vertibird starts to lift. Like a real-life Osprey, the vertibird rotors tilt from hover to fly position. (It’s a gorgeous scene.)
NINE
Maximus watches the base drop away.
CRITICAL NOTES FOR MAXIMUS
First, the good. The Three/Six Mirror is just delicious. Perfect example of an image that might not mean much at the Three becoming clearer and distinct at the Six. Intriguing. And it has Dogmeat, a Fallout necessity!
Also, the Two/Eight surprised me. Maximus has a fraught episode, but his Two Trouble is not danger; it’s hope. What a wonderful reversal! The airship is beauty, promise, and power. Every member of the Brotherhood wants in the air. At the Eight, he achieves this.
Now, the bad. The Five/Six/Seven order is confusing. Maximus’ interview with the Elder Cleric is very intense and consequential. It feels like Maximus’ answer to the Cleric’s probing questions should be the Seven. His fate hangs in the balance. Something of what he says convinces the Cleric to promote rather than execute him. The acting is hot and juicy. And then after that is the ritual, which is deeply uncomfortable. In any other structure, that would be our Eight. Maximus reaches his objective; he rises in the Brotherhood’s ranks. Here, though, it’s just Five stuff. The actual Eight is stunning, so this is acceptable. Except what will the showrunners do for a Seven? It ends up being something so miniscule, you’ll miss it if you blink.
You’ll notice that, compared to my Vault review, this part of the episode has few Yay!s. I’m okay with that up to a point. The Brotherhood is very fertile storytelling ground. Go for it. Make stuff up. Also, like Lucy’s vault, this encampment is only Maximus’ tutorial level. However, we spend too much time with the tire latrines. It only teaches us how frustrated Maximus is; it’s not teaching us about the BoS. Maximus tells us his life before the Brotherhood was full of hurt, but we’re not shown any of that. What we are shown is a bit of a jumble. I mean, frankly, can anyone tell me the process for Aspirants and how they are to rise in the ranks? Besides studying diagrams of old tech, how do they prepare for Squirehood? If honesty is a key trait, as suggested by Maximus’ interview, how are they tested day to day? If this Brotherhood camp is only the equivalent of a Skyrim jail, a MacGuffin to start the plot rolling, I’ll be very disappointed.
Maximus’ first episode has a structure, which surprises me. My initial watch didn’t feel connected or clear, so I expected holes in the Enneagram. I may not agree with the showrunners’ choices, but I must give credit to a proper plot. And I must also give credit to Maximus’ intentions. He wants the BoS leadership to promote him. He has sub-intentions to hurt others as he was hurt. It’s all there. Perhaps my disappointment is a fan’s feeling. The Brotherhood didn’t hit the right notes for me? Nah. It’s the latrine duty. Every moment with poop-loving flies is a moment you didn’t use all the other rich details from the Fallout universe. What were you thinking?