Fallout had, to put it lightly, a lot happening in this week’s episode, titled “The Other Player.” Almost every single plot and subplot received some attention as this episode went pretty much the opposite of last week’s Cooper-centric plotting. Between the past and the present, Fallout decided to throw a lot on screen here.
It made for a somewhat disjointed bit of TV, but one that was so packed full of interesting lore drops and narrative setup that fans will be digging into it all week, and probably beyond.
The biggest reveals all center around the pre-war Barb and Cooper scenes, which bounce around somewhat confusingly in time between the days before Cooper snoops on Barb’s meeting at Vault-Tec from last season, and Cooper’s confession that he heard her plan for Vault-Tec to kickstart the apocalypse themselves. An idea that we find it out was not Barb’s or Vault-Tec’s, but that of the Enclave after Wilzig threatened Barb in the elevator on her way to said meeting.
That Wilzig was alive pre-War raises enough questions, but pales in comparison to the Enclave being confirmed as the unknown player that Robert House was worried about. I figured Wilzig and the Enclave base in season 1 to be a one-off, as the Enclave was rather thoroughly obliterated throughout Fallout 2 and 3, with seemingly only isolated cells remaining of the group throughout the Wasteland.
This could still be the case, but feels unlikely now that our very first super mutant has arrived on the Fallout show to name drop the Enclave and attempt to recruit the Ghoul to an army preparing to resist them. Season 2 has steadily built towards the Enclave, and has seemingly now confirmed they will be important to wherever this show goes.
This super mutant was awesome and highly anticipated. Super Mutants are one of the most iconic parts of the Fallout franchise and this was a fantastic introduction to them. You have to shout out to Ron Perlman’s unmistakable voice and jawline as said unnamed super mutant since he is also quite iconic to the franchise.
I wonder just how far along this non-human resistance is. Fallout: New Vegas has a super mutant community up in Jacobstown, but the show’s first super mutant doesn’t seem related to them, with his big gore bags hanging near his hideout. I’m holding out hope that Jacobstown is okay but with the show’s track record so far, they’re probably not okay.
At least he rescued the Ghoul from feralification while impaled on the pole Lucy knocked him onto. Seeing him finally acknowledge himself as Cooper Howard as a way to stave off going feral was definitely one of his best scenes, and a little insight into how going feral works. We’ve known this already but this is the most high profile example of it.
And now he has a big glowing piece of radiation shoved into his abdomen. The most popular theory to come of this scene was that Cooper will become a Glowing One, which would be absolutely tragic in any instance where he reunites with his family, but make him a valuable weapon if/when it comes to war with the Enclave.
I’m sure many, like myself, are left wondering if Robert House eventually discovered their existence, though I’d imagine he did. Considering the Enclave eventually gets cold fusion, I also wonder how and if House in some way played a role in Wilzig fleeing them with the relic now in Maximus’s hands.
There has also been speculation about who exactly Hank MacLean was working for, as he seemed not necessarily loyal to Vault-Tec. He requests to sit in on Barb’s meeting with House’s double, and seems intrigued by the mind control device, and is also the one who takes cold fusion to Vegas. Whether he’s a double agent for House, the Enclave, or no one at all, his own ambitions clearly extend beyond Vault-Tec’s ambitions. Using those mind control chips would fall in line with something both House and the Enclave would do.
I also wonder what Barb’s eventual role in everything will be. Her decision to help Cooper retrieve cold fusion was a surprise to me, as I figured his confession would be the thing that broke their marriage. We may instead be looking at a scenario where further threats, or worse, lead to their divorce and the ruin of Cooper’s reputation.
You really can’t blame her for deciding to help after sitting in meetings that treat the end of the world as nothing more than an advertising opportunity. Fallout revealed last week that Barb approved the various experiments for the Vaults, and this episode showed her in such meetings that revealed, among other things, that the failure of the Vault water chips was known ahead of time, and decisions were made ahead of time about which Vaults would get the faulty chips.
(Fallout 1 fans are looking at that game quite differently now.)
While she was obviously not a good person before the threats Wilzig made, as evident by these meetings, this episode blows up many assumptions about her, as she did ultimately help Cooper. Barb is an awful person, but Cooper seems to have gotten through to her, and there is more to the story we see in Fallout’s first episode.
Thanks to Dogmeat, Maximus and Thaddeus have reunited with the Ghoul, and will now presumably find their way to Lucy, who spent the episode learning what her father has been up to.
It’s hard to watch Lucy be emotionally played like a fiddle to the tune her father wishes. He was in control every second of this episode, no matter what Lucy did, and knew that push come to shove his daughter would not leave the people he brainwashed behind in order to bring him to justice. I can only imagine what other nasty surprises Hank has in store moving forward.
That being said, I think the fact that Hank has already recruited so many people to his corporate sweatshop making more mind control chips sort of proves a point I made last week about residents of the Mojave eagerly leaving their old lives behind. I think it also shows why Hank is finding success now where he found so much failure with his earlier experiments. We can reasonably assume from the snake oil salesman that everyone working for Hank agreed to his experiments, and that’s why the device is working on them and not on the others that Hank forcibly pulled form cryostasis.
Now, I don’t believe for a second that their current lives are of their own choosing. The sudden switch in the Legion and NCR soldiers when Lucy pressed the button erased any questions about free will existing once the device is in place. Still, I can believe that if given the full, unobstructed choice, many of these people would choose to remain where they are.
How does Lucy solve this issue? Great question.
For now, she seems stuck trying to answer that question, which means playing along with her father’s charade until an opportunity presents itself. I assume that the Ghoul and Maximus will go to the Lucky 38 before they do anything else.
Lucy is not the only one stuck in a cascading Vault disaster. Vault 33 is an inevitable disaster at this point thanks to the inbred snack group and Betty’s failing authority. I regret just how relatable and painful it is to watch a population of idiots destroy their futures and lives because they can’t comprehend the basic concept of long-term benefits over immediate gratification. Some fans don’t like these scenes, and think they don’t relate to the larger plots of the show, but we have a pretty strong idea that FEV experimentation is involved with these vaults, which does tie back to whatever is happening between the Enclave and Vault-Tec.
We also still have the open question of Steph, who set up a wedding to Chet without his knowledge. Steph seems to be in the same boat as Hank, or is at least aware of something Hank hid from the rest, and Betty will probably only be able to save Vault 33 if she does what Steph asked of her. Give it time, everyone, you can bet that Vault 33 will play a key role in this show’s story.
Only 2 episodes remain this season, so I doubt we will have to wait very long.
Images Courtesy of Amazon Studios
Have strong thoughts about this piece you need to share? Or maybe there’s something else on your mind you’re wanting to talk about with fellow Fandomentals? Head on over to our Community server to join in the conversation!
