Fallout Season 2 Episode 2 opens with a flashback to a time we haven’t seen before.
It’s time to head back to Shady Sands, but not to when Maximus was found in the milk fridge. There have been many questions about how he ended up in there as the bomb dropped on Shady Sands, and now we know.
The bomb didn’t drop, either! Hank becomes a darker character, as we learn he used the brain-computer interface to pull the bomb — which had a safety lock if disarmed — into Shady Sands.
Maximus’ parents had time to get him to a milk fridge, but it’s devastating that this happened, and it’s hard not to feel even more for Maximus, as he had to deal with his own fears while his parents did everything they could to keep him alive.
A Much Darker Maximus
After looking at the past, we’re taken back to the present day. The Fallout Season 2 premiere didn’t give us anything of Maximus’s story, and that’s where Episode 2 makes up for it.
We spend a lot of time seeing him seem like a shadow of himself.
He does the job of a Knight like he’s supposed to, and he certainly takes care of his armor and himself, but there is a dullness to his eyes.
It’s soon clear that he believes Lucy left him behind, and I have to question why he didn’t even ask how much time passed between him getting knocked out and waking up to find Lucy gone.
But he suffers from abandonment issues, and that’s not surprising with the way he was placed in a milk fridge as his parents desperately wanted to protect him from the nuclear blast that was coming.
All Maximus has ever wanted to do is find a family, and he almost had that on Fallout Season 2.
Lucy wanted him to come back to Vault 33 with her, and now, she’s left him, and he doesn’t understand why.
So, he feels abandoned by her, and he’s left finding the family with the Brotherhood once again. Only, that’s not there.
He doesn’t fit in anymore.
He isn’t a Knight and doesn’t fit in with their childish antics, and he is losing the connection he once had with Dane.
Although I have to question Dane’s looks when Maximus is drawn into the fight and forced to kill a man.
Surely, Dane knows that it was kill or be killed, and Maximus didn’t have a choice. Is Dane jealous?
It doesn’t make sense, and it’s the only part of this Brotherhood storyline that doesn’t make sense.
I love the way Maximus is trying to fit in but isn’t quite there, and I love the look at the different factions of the Brotherhood.
In fact, I didn’t care about the Brotherhood storyline during Fallout Season 1, but now I want to learn more about the different factions and how they all came about.
All these tribes are distinct, reflecting how their leadership has evolved, which has led to different beliefs and desires.
It’s no wonder they can’t quite get on the same page to prevent history from repeating itself. They can’t even agree to enter a civil war against the Commonwealth.
There’s a clear threat that this Commonwealth is a powerful bunch of people, but we only get a glimpse as Kumail Nanjiani’s Paladin Xander Harkness turns up on a chopper.
The Commonwealth knows what is going on, making it clear that civil war is being discussed, and turning up like this is an attempt to bluff a show of force. If people think you have power, they will run away, right?
Lucy Needs to Listen to The Ghoul
Now, there are times that The Ghoul has a very apocalyptic view of the world, and I get that and appreciate it.
He’s survived 200 years in this mess, and all he’s ever wanted is to find his family. After 200 years of this, all I’d like to do is look out for myself.
Yet, here he is, taking Lucy on the journey to New Vegas to get to Hank, and all he wants is for her to listen to him now and then.
Lucy can’t help but run toward the screams of a woman, and I love that about her.
There’s still an element of hope in there, but she needs to start listening to The Ghoul.
By running toward the screams, she landed the two of them in trouble with the scorpions, and she literally found herself with the option of only helping a stranger or The Ghoul.
Now, Lucy has found herself surrounded by a group of Roman-looking men, and she doesn’t have The Ghoul to save her.
Can she use her wits to get out of trouble? I get a feeling she’ll talk herself into more trouble, and The Ghoul will need to save her — again!
And while sometimes, she needs to listen to The Ghoul, I don’t want her to change. She’s a hopeful beam of light in this chaotic and soulless world, and even The Ghoul needs that in his life on Fallout Season 2.
Norm Finally Mans Up
Throughout Fallout Season 1, I’d scream “man up” to Norm. It was frustrating to see him just let life pass him by.
As he learned more about Vaults 31, 32, and 33, his story picked up, but I had to wonder whether he had the skills to get out of Vault 31 alive.
Sure, the trailer for Fallout Season 2 told us he would, but I couldn’t see how until the end of the Fallout Season 2 premiere.
Of course, waking a group of Bud’s Buds from cryo didn’t quite work out the way he planned at first, but color me not surprised that they were a bunch of useless, whiny brats.
Did we really think that a guy like Bud could make impressive managers? Those who became impressive, like Betty and Hank, already had the skills needed.
Yet, Norm steps up, and he figures out a way to get their attention. I had to chuckle at the idea of using Band-Aids as merit stickers, as if they wouldn’t know what a Band-Aid was!
But they fell for it. Or more like, it got them thinking of a way out.
Of course, seeing their reactions to the outside world compared with Norm’s shows the differences in their upbringings.
The wasteland is a disaster to those who will remember what California used to be like, but to Norm, it’s real sun, sand, (sort of) fresh air, and just a sense of being free.
The closing moments of Fallout Season 2 Episode 2 for this arc didn’t quite do it justice, but I’m excited to see Norm’s reaction to the way the rest of the world is, especially compared to the way Lucy just got on with things and searched for her dad.
Hank Continues to Be a Threat
Then we have Hank’s arc, in which he proves he is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure the brain-computer interface works.
At first, things start small, and he works on mice. As more and more mice’s heads explode, he naturally gets frustrated.
However, there’s a calmness within his frustration.
You would think a man like Hank would lash out, but he is eerily calm, and I think it’s a brilliant connection back to the flashback to Shady Sands when we see him just getting on with his day in the vault as the bomb goes off.
This is a man who is calculated, and he can achieve greatness under pressure. If anyone can complete House’s experiment, it’s him, and he’ll have people working under him with ease.
However, first, he needs to get that interface working, and he decides to wake someone up from cryo.
So, there are cryo pods all over the place. Is this where House is, without Hank realizing, or maybe where The Ghoul’s family is?
While there is a lot of focus on how dangerous Hank is as he continues his experiments, many questions remain about the cryo pods and just how many there are.
Where’s the one for management that The Ghoul’s wife mentioned on Fallout Season 1? We’ll need the third season to find that bit out.
For now, we’re just focused on the dangers of people like Hank. Nobody is safe when it comes to proving to (presumably) House that he is worthy of a promotion.
Fallout Season 2 airs on Wednesdays at 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT on Prime Video.
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