You may remember that I greatly enjoyed Season One of Amazon’s Fallout, based on Bethesda’s game series. Not only have I previously gamed Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, and Fallout 4, I’m currently having a lot of fun in Fallout 76’s MMORPG that takes place in a post-apocalyptic Appalachia.
However, I’ve been disappointed with and worried about some of the episodes I’ve seen so far in Season Two. They seem a little scattered. You’ll see what I mean even here in Episode One. Since notating the structure that exists, I’ve become convinced that a better structure is possible.
First, here’s the episode as broadcast. After, see my Critical Notes for how I would re-edit it.
Needless to say, spoilers abound.
ONE
Title card: The Man Who Knew
Pre-apocalypse Los Angeles. Protestors take bats to Mr. Handy robots outside of RobCo. headquarters.
TWO
Construction workers confront a Stranger (played by Justin Theroux) who offers them millions of dollars if they’ll let him attach a remote control device to the back of their necks. Forcing the device onto Bill, the Stranger directs him to kill his companions. He does. The Stranger, worried at Bill’s menacing look, cranks the dial for the device. Bill won’t comply, though, and the Stranger tops out the dial. Bill’s head explodes.
(At the time of this writing, I have watched the released episodes. I can say that this mind-control device is central to the season’s plot. And Theroux, whom imdb names as Robert House — the owner of the ubiquitous RobCo corporation — may or may not be the real Mr. House. Another actor portrays House in the news reels.)
THREE
Roll credits.
FOUR
The Khans, a Wasteland gang, have Ghoul Cooper strung up over an empty motel pool. In his monologue, Cooper sends a go-sign to Lucy, who’s hiding with a sniper rifle in the nearby giant dinosaur statue. She hesitates. The Khans drop the diving board under Cooper’s feet.
From the dinosaur mouth Lucy starts negotiating with the Khans. Meanwhile, Cooper wriggles and chokes. (It’s played as humorous.) When the Khans refuse her terms — just let us go with the reward money we claimed — she shoots Cooper’s noose free. He kills everyone while “Big Iron” plays, over. (YAY!)
Lucy and Cooper walk through the desert, Dogmeat running alongside. In the distance is New Vegas. It looks the same as old photos, Lucy says. Cooper explains that the bombs coming for Las Vegas were shot down by Robert House. Lucy wonders why her father would decide to come here.
Cut to Cooper in pre-apocalypse times. It’s a repeat of the moment from last season’s finale when Cooper overhears his wife suggest to the corporate board that they drop the bombs themselves. (Here Robert House is played by Rafi Silver, the face in the news reels.)
Cooper rushes home to hug his daughter and tell her to pack.
He, Janey, and their dog drive through the neighborhood, headed to Bakersfield. However, an emergency test blaring over loudspeakers causes the neighbors to panic and block the road. A vertibird flies overhead. In the background is a billboard for Vault-Tec with Cooper’s smiling thumbs-up.
Cut to a peaceful Vault 33. Overseer Betty still tries to solve the water filter problem. She advises Reg, who pesters her, to start a club.
In Vault 32, new Overseer Steph (with the eyepatch) deals with Davey, who is upset he must turn left instead of right when walking the halls of an identical, mirror version of his former vault. In the reception area Chet holds the baby that isn’t his and waits to see the woman who isn’t his wife.
People in both vaults mention Norm. No one knows he’s stuck in Vault 31 with the Brain-on-a-Roomba. The cryo storage is a mess; Norm’s gone through everyone’s reserved snacks and is now out of food. The robobrain, who can’t reach Norm because of a staircase but has locked out all computer functions, wants him to put himself into Hank’s cryo pod. Norm, seemingly defeated, approaches the empty Hank slot.
SWITCH
Fade to black.
FIVE
Lucy and Ghoul Coop, still traversing the desert, find a random food stand. (Very canon. YAY!) The shopkeep points them in Hank’s direction. As they continue on, they pass through a Starlight drive-in. (YAY!) The broken-down marquee lists a Cooper Howard film.
Flashback to Cooper and Janey in a diner. In a booth he talks to the Woman Who Becomes Moldaver. She tells Cooper that Robert House is building a privately owned missile system in Las Vegas. She wants Cooper to use his fame to get close to House and “stop” him. “Play nice with your wife and get on that trip to Vegas.” The suggestion he kill House sickens Cooper.
When Barb returns home, Cooper cooks dinner. Both of them put on fake happy faces for each other.
Back at the Starlight drive-in, Lucy finds a vault entrance hidden behind the movie screen. Ghoul Cooper has been through many vaults over the years as he searches for his family. Hank’s trail leads into this vault and back out again. They step into the elevator.
Cut to Vault 33. It’s Reg’s Shame Group meeting. Jokes about inbreeding ensue.
SIX
Transition to Norm lying on the floor of the cryo storage room. The robobrain offers to inject him with a suicide drug. With his booted foot, Norm kicks the needle away and hits the button to unfreeze everyone in storage. The pods begin to steam. Fade to black.
SEVEN
Lucy and Cooper explore Vault 24. The dead bodies are dressed as Communists. When Cooper pulls back a collar, we see a remote control device attached to the corpse’s neck. Another room shows bodies shackled in chairs, forced to watch propaganda films (a la Clockwork Orange). The computer drive has been removed by Hank.
Someone’s here. The food truck owner’s son, taken by Hank, is strapped to a chair. He tells Lucy to “go home”, as if he’s Hank’s private messenger. His head explodes. In the fleshy wreckage, Cooper finds the mind control device. Lucy refuses to “go home”, though. Hank must be stopped. Fade to black.
EIGHT
With heavy, power armor footsteps, Hank enters Vault-Tec’s corporate building. He holds the disc drive and smiles. Entering an office room full of desks, he fires up a computer and makes a cup of coffee. Freshly showered, he enters a closet full of men’s suits. He’s very happy to be in a corporate environment. Dressed, he straps on his Pip Boy. The power armor stands off to one side. In the Comms room he turns on the radio and broadcasts, “I’m here, sir.”
NINE
In an experiment room full of bodies with exploded heads, Hank discovers that the devices have become miniaturized. He will continue the work started so long ago.
Roll credits.
CRITICAL NOTES
On this rewatch, much more became clear. Is that because a second viewing reveals details, or is it because I have more episodes and more knowledge to draw from? I don’t think I could’ve told you right away that the mind control device would be pivotal. It all seemed random on the first watch. I certainly wouldn’t have expected plot structure to revolve around it. It’s obvious in this episode that the Two and Eight stress the device’s importance. Sadly, it passed me by on the first viewing because I was more focused on the characters. Was it a mistake for the showrunners to jump so quickly to the season’s message without settling in? I’m going to say yes. I want to see Lucy and Cooper again. How is their team-building going? Does Dogmeat get a charming moment? In retrospect, our heroes should’ve been this first episode’s One. Therefore, let me suggest a different order.
Take Current Episode’s Four, Ghoul Cooper and Lucy with the Khans, and make it the One. The dynamics between them — Lucy still a do-gooder, Cooper still cynical — and the humor of this conflict in their characters, is exactly what I want as a season opener.
Current Episode’s Two, the threat of RobCo and its remote brain control device, is critical. However, I wouldn’t use flashback Robert House to introduce it. Show us Hank. His desire to complete research on the control device is central to this episode. The structure of this episode as presented doesn’t make this clear. His travel across the Wasteland is the backbone; Lucy only follows in his wake, exposing his actions as she discovers them. For a re-edited Two, show us Hank at Vault 24. Don’t reveal everything, just enough to pique our interest and hint at an Eight to come.
Current Episode’s Three is too skimpy. The Current Episode’s Six knows enough to use Norm; he should be at the Three, too. For that matter, the Switch should feature the two vaults who haven’t yet realized Norm is missing. Keep it light, though. I really don’t want to spend extra time with Reg. The vaults are funny in small doses.
We have one Cooper Howard flashback in Current Episode’s Four and another in its Five. This is a good choice. It’s always nice to compare the jaded Ghoul to the innocent Cooper of the past.
Current Episode’s Seven has the right idea. Lucy’s decides to pursue her father and try to stop him. Revealing the extent of Hank’s cruelty and depravity — using the food stand owner’s son as a guinea pig and messenger — is a strong moment that cascades into a powerful Seven.
Because the exploding son is so dramatic, it could be misconstrued as Current Episode’s Eight. The introduction of the remote control device is the Two, though, so the Eight must present new information about it. I really like Hank’s insane joy and satisfaction to be back at work for Vault-Tec. The Eight needs visual punch, however, and I think this is where the Robert House flashback should slot. We’ve seen with the son what the device can do. Now show us the backstory. House and his lapdog Hank have intended all along to brainwash the population through force and violence. Bring the whole picture together here where it can have the most impact. Give us a chance at the start of the episode to work our way back into the Fallout universe via Lucy and Cooper before leading us into Season Two’s plot.