Fallout Season 2, Episode 2 Review

This reappraisal contains spoilers for Fallout Season 2, Episode 2, “The Golden Rule,” which is disposable to watercourse present connected Prime Video.

Last week I wondered if, by holding backmost the instrumentality of Maximus and the Brotherhood of Steel beyond the premiere, we’d person to walk a chunk of this week’s occurrence further recapping events and re-introducing ideas. Thankfully nary specified issues measurement down Fallout Season 2’s 2nd chapter, “The Golden Rule,” which wastes nary clip not lone expanding the scope of the Brotherhood, but besides sowing the seeds of convulsive rebellion among its members.

Uneasy friction betwixt factions is the defining origin of Fallout: New Vegas, the video crippled this play draws astir heavy from, and it’s a large thought to replicate that successful the movements of the Brotherhood, which turns retired to beryllium an uneasy confederation of aggregate chapters alternatively than a unified force. Now conspiring with groups from the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Coronado, it’ll beryllium fascinating to spot however Quintus (Michael Cristofer) attempts to prehend power of the Brotherhood from the Boston-based Commonwealth section – particularly with the last-minute accomplishment of its liaison, Kumail Nanjiani’s Paladin Harkness.

The Elder Cleric’s archetypal steps connected that travel supply rather a spectacle. The circling vertibirds, spinning upwind turbines, wide-angle godforsaken shots, and Ramin Djawadi’s exceptional Brotherhood of Steel signature taxable each harvester to lend the uncover of Quintus’ caller subject basal a small Dune-flavoured grandeur. Of course, Fallout can’t present each that with a wholly consecutive face, truthful the basal is Area 51 and there’s an alien hidden successful the freezer – some among the episode’s funniest reveals. These sequences besides ne'er hide to emphasise that the Brotherhood’s incredibly imposing, efficiently violent, power-armoured knights are hilariously stupid. This occurrence is possibly the champion illustration truthful acold of their child-like tendencies, with the warriors perpetually beating each different up oregon fiddling with unrecorded plasma grenades.

With civilian warfare brewing, it seems similar the Brotherhood itself volition person 1 of the season’s astir important storylines, alternatively than simply being the inheritance fluff for Aaron Moten’s Maximus again. That’s not to accidental he’s been reduced to simply portion of an ensemble, though. Now an obedient Brotherhood canine who’s wholly numb to violence, he’s been crushed and reshaped by Quintus successful the weeks that span each season’s events, truthful overmuch truthful that the sneering Cleric yet admires him. Maximus has ever been weak, unsure of what to bash and easy manipulated, but it’s present clearer than ever that helium has nary power of who helium is oregon his ain destiny. Yes, he’s yet the knight helium lied his mode into becoming, capable to termination a antheral doubly his size, but nary of it is his doing.

Maximus’ pathetic beingness is made each the much tragic by the episode’s acold opening, which takes america backmost to his puerility successful the ill-fated Shady Sands. Writer Chris Brady-Denton successfully captures the emotion of Maximus’ household saying their hurried goodbyes, knowing afloat good that they’re astir to beryllium nuked disconnected the look of America. As the lad is bundled into the room refrigerator (a maneuver presumably taken from the Indiana Jones schoolhouse of survival), his begetter reassures him that “you volition beryllium a bully man.” How disappointed he’d be, then, to spot what a spineless carnal Maximus has become. The 2 clip periods opposition perfectly, and found the way down which Maximus indispensable surely locomotion this season. It’s clip to marque dada proud.

Talking of arrogant dads, Shady Sands’ demise was, of course, the enactment of Hank MacLean. The flashback truly does cement him arsenic a genuinely evil portion of work, arsenic this is the archetypal clip we get to spot what the municipality had flourished into. Once small much than a fewer harvest fields and buildings during the timelines of Fallouts 1 and 2, it became an unthinkable bastion of advancement with entree to cleanable water… and Hank took it each distant successful a flash. We ever knew that helium was motivated to bash truthful due to the fact that his woman and girl ran distant from his vault to unrecorded there, but Season 1 near the half-answered question of however the bombing was linked to Vault-Tec’s wider firm plans. That question lone gets much analyzable present we’ve seen that the detonation was achieved done the usage of the mind-control chips that Mr. House was investigating successful past week’s flashback. Hank, House, and Vault-Tec are each linked, but I don’t deliberation the narration betwixt the 3 is arsenic elemental arsenic the Season 1 finale’s committee gathering made it look – this volition beryllium a large enigma to beryllium unpicked implicit the adjacent fewer episodes.

Of course, thing with Kyle MacLachlan successful it can’t beryllium 100% sinister, and his mouse-testing trial-and-error montage is 1 of the episode’s comedic highlights. There’s truthful galore amusive details – the cheerful tune, the tiny rodent Vault-Tec office, the changeless yo-yoing, and the cleanable timing of each bursting mouse. And portion it’s fun, it’s each successful assistance of showing however flawed the control-chip tech is. A akin instrumentality is executed successful the Shady Sands flashback, with the mind-controlled travelling trader repeating “Patrolling the Mojave astir makes you privation for a atomic winter” connected a never-ending loop. That’s a motion to the New Vegas video game, wherever fund restrictions meant dozens of characters crossed the wasteland would parrot the aforesaid enactment advertisement nauseum. But here, the meme becomes a smart, comic mode to picture the tech’s deficiencies.

Also providing a fewer chuckles is Norm, who has recovered himself successful complaint of a gaggle of clueless mediate managers aft thawing the full colonisation of Vault 31 past week. In a astute designation of however small screentime this storyline has, things determination astatine a accelerated pace, and the full radical are retired connected the aboveground earlier the credits roll. Norm’s communicative was a dilatory pain past year, and portion it yet paid off, it did necessitate patience arsenic it built from frivolous distraction into 1 of the show’s cardinal reveals. I’m pleased the momentum continues here, alternatively than being reset, and does truthful portion inactive dropping a clump of “idiot vaultie” jokes on the way. It fulfills the show’s much dedicated drama needs without feeling inconsequential – thing I anticipation the storylines of vaults 32 and 33, which are absent this week, volition follow erstwhile we rejoin them successful aboriginal episodes.

As Norm sees the water and entity for the archetypal clip successful his full existence, his sister continues her agelong locomotion to find dada astir 300 miles inland. Slightly frustratingly, Lucy and The Ghoul are erstwhile again stuck successful recap mode this week, arsenic they spell connected a broadside quest that intimately echoes the events of past season’s travel to the Super Duper Mart, wherever Lucy could person abandoned The Ghoul aft helium betrayed her, but alternatively gave him the life-restoring drugs helium needed. It’s mostly the aforesaid communicative present – Lucy is poised to permission him for dormant aft yet different bout of needless violence, but she promises to instrumentality for him, proving that she’s “nothing like” him successful the process. The parallel betwixt these 2 scenes is made each the much wide by having the duo’s archetypal tiff successful the “previously connected Fallout” recap, and truthful erstwhile again it feels similar this narration is treading water… oregon possibly it’s specified an incompatible pairing that maturation is impossible. Only with the full play successful the rear-view volition we cognize if this consciousness of arrested improvement worked oregon not.

That’s not to accidental Lucy and The Ghoul don’t person immoderate fun, though. Far from it. We person an enjoyably chaotic run-in with radscorpions, a quintessential Fallout monster brought to beingness with immoderate top-notch ocular effects. Also brought implicit from the games is the classical “choose betwixt these 2 radical successful need” dilemma, successful which Lucy indispensable determine which dying idiosyncratic is astir deserving of her last stimpack. Of course, to person Lucy prime the tunic-wearing woman, seemingly the evident prime betwixt a susceptible mortal and a 200-year-old mutant, lone for that prime to pb her close into the den of Caesar’s Legion, New Vegas’ cruellest faction, is simply a fantastic translation of the video games’ unforeseen consequences. Next week’s episode, wherever we’ll larn much of Lucy’s infamous captors, is definite to beryllium a treat.