As with so many episodes, Fallout season 2 episode 2 starts off in the past. This isn’t the distant past when the bombs initially dropped, though. Instead, it’s a look back at the events of Shady Sands.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS from Fallout season 2 episode 2.
The Fallout season 1 finale revealed that Hank MacLean had everything to do with the bombing of Shady Sands. You likely thought that a bomb was dropped from the sky, but that’s not what Hank did. There was a slightly darker element to it, bringing back the brain-computer interface.
As we get a look at a town of happy people celebrating that they have water that isn’t filled with radiation, there’s a bittersweetness when you realize that it’s the day Maximus was orphaned. A man walks into the town talking about wishing “for a nuclear winter,” and it’s soon clear that there is a nuclear bomb in his cart.
While Maximus’ father tries to disarm it, there’s a failsafe. And so, Maximus’ father gets back to the house and makes sure his son gets into the milk fridge that we know protected him from the past.
As if watching the bomb silently go off wasn’t enough, we cut to Hank in Vault 31 with his children, living life as if he hadn’t just destroyed a town.
Maximus is living half a life on Fallout season 2 episode 2
We finally get to see where Maximus is, now as a Knight with the Brotherhood. Remember at the end of the Fallout season 1 finale, many believed that he killed Moldaver, and that led to him being immediately promoted to Knight.
He’s now living just half a life with the Brotherhood, clearly not that happen with the way things are going, but also unable to do anything else. He believes that Lucy left him behind, not realizing that she didn’t arguably have a choice.
The Brotherhood is using the cold fusion tech to help create more core energy. This is going to be their bargaining chip. It’s all being carried out in Area 51, and it’s clear that the Brotherhood has no idea what used to happen there, as they don’t care at all about aliens, vintage cars, or everything else they find that we would find nostalgic.
At times, Maximus smiles at finding a family with the Brotherhood, but it’s still only half a life. He is mentoring a young squire, though, sharing how it’s important to better yourself — and he does it by “not smelling really bad.” He also takes the time to clean his armor, which Dane jokes about. The two aren’t quite the friends they used to be, and I think it highlights even more just how much Maximus doesn’t quite fit in with the Brotherhood anymore.
One thing that Maximus does do is support the way the Brotherhood is trying to prevent history from repeating itself, even if the Brotherhood is calling a meeting without the Commonwealth. This is declaring civil war, which we know comes from the Fallout season 2 trailer.
This is a great look at how all the different Brotherhood factions are like tribes. It’s similar to the Vikings or to other post-apocalyptic shows like See. Some of them no longer follow religion, and others follow a different type of belief system. They do all have one thing in common: they want cores. Just how long will that last once the Commonwealth turns up?
We’ll get to find out soon. As Maximus is drawn into a fight with someone much bigger than him, a helicopter shows up. The Commonwealth is here, and they’re ready for war.
The Ghoul and Lucy take a detour
Lucy continues to try to do the right thing on Fallout season 2 episode 2. As she and The Ghoul walk past what used to be an affordable hospital, there is the sound of a woman screaming. Now I have to question how loud those screams were, considering how far into the hospital they have to work, but it takes them into danger.
It also highlights a new group of people, as The Ghoul immediately takes a dislike to the way the woman who is injured is dressed. However, Lucy isn’t going to discriminate, and as she starts to help, the Ghoul finds the woman’s partner, who has also been injured. He decides to kill the guy and eat him, and that’s when things take a turn.
The meat from the guy tastes funny, and The Ghoul realizes that the guy had been infected with something. That’s when the scorpions come out to play, and a fight breaks out as The Ghoul and Lucy try to protect themselves and the woman.
In the fight, The Ghoul is stabbed in the leg. Lucy only has one medical pack, and she chooses to save the woman, believing that The Ghoul will be able to heal on his own. The Ghoul can catch up!
Well, maybe Lucy should have listened to The Ghoul. As she gets the woman back to her people, she finds herself surrounded by Roman-looking men. This can’t be good!
Norm wakes everyone up in Vault 31
As all this is going on, Norm decides to take matters into his own hands. He’d decided to wake everyone up from cryo during the Fallout season 2 premiere, and that’s exactly what he does. Many of them are excited, believing that Bud has woken them up to get ready for their new task. They’re also a little confused that they’ve all been woken up together, but then a woman named Claudia says it must be “Reclamation Day.”
Norm has taken care of Bud by turning him upside down in a bucket, and now the group need to find a way to get out of the vault. Naturally, they all start to panic, and it makes you question everything about what Bud was trying to do. However, it does explain why Steph is so different from Hank and Betty.
It takes time, but Norm does figure out how to get everyone to stop panicking and actually work on a solution to get water and then get out of the Vault. I do have to say that Norm is looking surprisingly great for someone who just an episode ago was struggling with a lack of food and water. I guess this is him putting on a face to get the people to follow him.
Well, it all works. Norm — who is now their “boss” — leads the way through the ventilation system to get out of Vault 31. It’s time for everyone to see what the world looks like. For those who woke from cryo, it’s a wasteland, but for Norm, it’s beautiful.
Hank continues with his experiments
During the Fallout season 2 premiere, Hank left a message to say that he was going to continue with the work on the brain-computer interface. That’s exactly what he does on Fallout season 2 episode 2, and it all starts with mice.
However, just like so many others before the mice, their heads explode. Hank starts to get frustrated, but he keeps trying. That is until he comes across the cryogenic chambers within New Vegas. Could this be where Dr. House is? We don’t get to find out just yet, as he just wakes up one man, places the brain-interface computer on his neck, and decides to teston a human subject. You can guess how that went!
Fallout season 2 airs Wednesdays at 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT on Prime Video.