Fallout season 1, episode 5 recap "The Past"

Lucy and Maximus reunite but their journey to find Wilzig's head doesn't go as planned. While they travel together, Norm and Chet uncover more mysteries regarding Vault 31 in Fallout season 1 episode 5.

Trust

The episode opens with Thaddeus and Maximus, still disguising himself as the knight Titus, celebrating. They completed the mission, which means they can now go home.

Believing he can trust Thaddeus, Max decides to reveal himself. Thaddeus' reaction, however, is visible shock and anger.

Maybe Max should have waited before he branded Thaddeus with the emblem of Knight Titus... Realizing that he couldn't trust Thaddeus, Max attempts to kill him however Thaddeus gets the better of him.

Using a key he's able to disable the suit, causing Max to be trapped inside. Thaddeus takes the head and 4 (yes, the dog goes where his master's head goes) and they leave.

The next morning, Max is still trapped within the suit, exhausted and dehydrated. As a swarm of cockroaches emerge, attempting to break through the suit, Max is saved by Lucy.

But she is far from ready to trust again after everything she has gone through. Max notices Lucy is suffering from radiation poisoning and offers to help her, however, the medicine she needs is inside his suit.

Thankfully Lucy makes the right decision to help Max out of the suit. She faints but Max provides her with the medicine to recover.

Lucy and Maximus

After Lucy awakens, they agree to travel together to find Wilzig's head. Lucy is the only one who can track it and The Brotherhood of Steel has the manpower she needs to rescue her dad.

Max may be biting off more than he can chew, but the immediate bond he makes with Lucy is undeniable. Leaving the suit behind and relying on only Lucy's weapons, the duo continues on their journey where we quickly learn how Max and Lucy view the post-apocalyptic world differently.

Their different views come to a head when they stop, noticing another man and woman ahead of them. The strangers can't trust our heroes, and our heroes can't trust the strangers.

Lucy comes up with the idea of having all four of them raise their hands as they pass, ensuring no weapons are used. But as the four cross each other, the strangers attempt to kill Lucy and Max.

Max kills them but gets wounded. He reveals to Lucy the strangers were fiends AKA: cannibals.

Lucy gets frustrated, understandably so, completely baffled that nearly everyone in the Wasteland is untrustworthy and horrible. Her frustrations mount when she learns that the world tried to start again after the apocalypse, without informing her vault and assumably, all other vaults.

Her vault, Vault 32, had been told that they were going to be the ones to restart civilization. Although the world had tried without the vaults, it failed.

As Max's wound gets worse, they find a hospital. Lucy has no worries about entering, whereas Max is more cautious.

He eventually follows her inside where he finds a door leading to medical supplies. Not surprisingly, because this is the apocalypse after all, when he attempts to open the next door, the door handle is missing.

He's locked in between two doors before dropped through an opening in the floor. Lucy is the first to awaken and take in her surroundings.

Max awakens soon after, where Lucy reveals they are safe in another vault. But are they?

What happened in Vault 31?

Speaking of vaults, Norm and Chet agree not to tell anyone what they found in Vault 33, but now a new issue has arisen; the vote for new Overseer of Vault 32. While it's quite clear Betty will win, having already been an Overseer once before, a worse revelation is made.

While Norm visits Chet, who is on baby duty, while Steph showers, he reveals that they know nothing of Vault 31, yet it was apparent the survivors of Vault 32 knew and tried to get inside when they were killed. Norm is worried as his dad was from Vault 31, as was Steph.

When she emerges from the shower, Norm asks her about Vault 31. Steph dodges the question by providing a rather rehearsed answer about the mashed potatoes tasting different.

Adding to the mystery of Vault 31, Norm discovers that every Overseer of Vault 32 and Vault 33 has come from Vault 31. As expected, Betty wins the election and immediately holds a meeting with the entire vault the next morning.

Somehow,overnight, the entirety of Vault 33 is cleaned, repainted, and refurbished. Every dead body, blood stain, and evidence as to what happened is gone.

Betty announces plans to bring Vault 33 back to life, to split the survivors of Vault 32, with some going to live in Vault 33. Norm is far from convinced that he can trust Betty but asks what happened to his mother's Pip-Boy.

Betty tells him that she ensured that it was buried with her.

Fallout season 1 episode 5 review

The mysteries continue to grow and I can only hope the answers will not cost Norm or Chet their lives. It appears as though Vault 31 is somehow invovled in Vault 32's downfall and I can only imagine why.

It seems Vault 31 may be the one in control of all three vaults and that didn't bode well for Vault 33. Did they rebel and lose?

Did Vault 31 kill everyone in Vault 33? Betty seems all too aware of what's going on which may mean Norm and Lucy's dad Hank isn't as kind and trustworthy as he appeared in episode 1.

How does Lucy's mom fit into this? Speaking of vaults, I'm not sure the vault Lucy and Max ended up in will be like Vault 32.

I think Lucy may be in for more rude awakenings, including the fact that Max has not been entirely honest with her. He didn't even tell her his real name, like c'mon.

When the two most likely catch up with Thaddeus, what then? There is no way The Brotherhood of Steel is going to help Lucy unless they have some involvement with Moldaver.

Things are going to get messy...

What did you think of Fallout season 1, episode 5? Let us know in the comments below!

Watch Fallout season 1 on Amazon Prime Video.