Fallout season 1, episode 2 recap "The Target"

As Lucy explores the post-apocalyptic world, she encounters a scientist, his dog, a knight of the Brotherhood, and a Ghoul. In Fallout season 1 episode 2, our three main characters meet in the dangerous town Filly, all seeking the same man, Wilzig and his dog CX404 or 4 for short.

What can go wrong? Well, frankly, nearly everything.

Let's begin!

A whole new world

The second episode opens with a scientist named Wilzig, who appears to work with a team experimenting on dogs. What for?

We really don't know. What we do know is that he has a heart of gold and saves dog CX404, or 4, from extermination, without permission from the rest of the lab.

Over the years he raises 4, hiding him from others until he is fully grown and lovingly obedient. One day, 4 watches Wilzig inject an unknown glowing blue pill-shaped object into his neck.

After another scientist catches Wilzig with the dog, 4 attacks and saves his master. Forced to flee, Wilzig and 4 narrowly escape the lab and just so happen to run into Lucy.

Lucy, who has been struggling to find her father, encounters Wilzig and 4 one night, after the dog saves her from a gigantic cockroach. Wilzig instructs Lucy to return home, as the outside world is far too different and dangerous than the vault.

Lucy refuses to return home without her father. After a rather awkward but thankfully harmless encounter with another survivor, she makes her way to Filly, an extremely dangerous town filled with equally dangerous people, including the Ghoul.

Battle at Filly

Meanwhile, Maximus begins his work as a squire for Knight Titus. Although Max is ready for duty, attempting small talk and the like, Titus rather treat his squire like dirt.

Almost immediately Titus bails on the mission due to boredom. This proves to be his undoing.

Titus and Max find the entrance to a cave with evidence of a monster that has killed people and creatures alike. Titus orders Max to find the creature, only for it to find Titus first.

Although he attempts to fight back in his powerful suit, the giant rat/bear combination wounds him. Max kills the beast with one shot without hesitation.

As Titus begins to die, Max hesitates to give him the lifesaving stimpak. Titus berates Max relentlessly and complains about his duties as a knight.

Considering becoming a knight has been Max's dream since he was a kid, he refuses to give Titus the stimpak, allowing him to die so that he can become the new Knight Titus. Although this is a cold move on Max's part, it is for the best because he actually cares about the job.

After messing around in the suit and mistakenly helping the wrong person, he continues his mission which leads him to Filly. At Filly, Lucy enters Ma June’s Sundries, where she finds items from her vault world and immediately assumes Ma June knows of Moldaver.

It seems everyone knows of Moldaver. Ma June warns Lucy to leave.

Although Lucy remains steadfast and hopeful, Ma June spews some vault dweller hate, reminding her how those who hid from the apocalypse have yet to arrive to fix it. This hits Lucy pretty hard as the children she was supposed to have with her husband, were going to be the first ones to fix the new world.

We all remember how that plays out in the season 1 opener. Upon leaving Lucy reunites with Wilzig and 4, just as the Ghoul makes his entrance.

He makes it known immediately he is there for Wilzig and shoots one of his feet off. As Filly raiders and residents try to kill the Ghoul in the hopes of a reward in the form of caps, the Ghoul manages to kill every last one.

After wounding Ma June and 4 (don't worry, I promise the dog is not dead), Lucy steps in and shoots him. The shot does nothing but thankfully Max arrives to save the day.

His display of heroism and justice attracts Lucy, appearing as though she has fallen instantly in love with him. The feeling may be mutual.

The new plan

While Max and the Ghoul battle, Lucy and Ma June bring Wilzig inside, where he painfully gets a robotic foot. With both Wilzig and Ma June wounded, Lucy is tasked with bringing the scientist to
Moldaver.

This is Lucy's only chance to save her father. After Ma June gives Lucy the coordinates to Moldaver, they flee not knowing the Ghoul is hot on their trail.

After he messes with Max's suit, sending him off and away from Filly, the Ghoul finds and heals 4 with a stimpak. Together they leave Filly in search of Wilzig and Lucy.

What the Ghoul is not aware of is that Wilzig took a cyanide pill. As he and Lucy rest, he instructs her to cut off his head and bring it to Moldaver.

Lucy is unsure at first but ultimately decides to cut off his head off-screen, as the episode comes to a close.

Fallout season 1 episode 2 review

Two things I wanted to note after watching episode 2 are the humor and music. On the downside, I'm not fond of the humor.

The jokes aren't terrible, the timing isn't either, but the delivery just doesn't work for me. On the upside, I love the music, especially the music selection for Maximus.

Although I am far from a country music fan, I love Johnny Cash! I will add I consider his music more folk than country, regardless I still love his songs.

Now that I have a better idea of the world of Fallout, as well as the style of this television show, I find myself deeply invested and constantly theorizing about what is going on and what happened in the past. One of the bigger mysteries remains to be Lucy's mother, who was briefly mentioned in the first episode, but the extent of her whereabouts is brief.

Did she die? Did she leave?

Considering Moldaver knew of Lucy's mother and Wilzig had extensive knowledge of Lucy herself and the vaults, I think it's safe to say Lucy's mother is pretty important. But only time will tell.

What did you think of Fallout season 1, episode 2? Let us know in the comments below!

Watch Fallout season 1 on Amazon Prime Video.