First of all, sorry for the terrible pun in the title. Second of all, I’m not sorry.
It’s the penultimate episode of season 1, and I STILL HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS.
Let’s discuss Fallout.
Following the ending of the last episode, Lucy learns that the horrific experiments she thought she was uncovering is actually not what she believed – after being found out, the leaders of Vault 4 inform her that the experiments actually happened a long time ago, and what they’re doing now is a sort of generational damage control, keeping the surviving “lab rats” under observation.
But it’s implied that every Vault has an experiment going on, and when she’s asked what 33’s experiment is, Lucy says there isn’t one. The leaders of 4 clearly disbelieve, and so do I. Lucy, you’re doing so well but you still have so far to go, you dear sweet privileged fool.
Meanwhile, Maximus is making far better progress with the task of letting go of the bullshit lessons he’s been taught – after his hilarious attempt to rescue Lucy from a fate not worse than death gets both of them kicked out, he finally tells her the truth about Titus – and Lucy accepts this not only with good grace but with good humour. She points out that the wasteland sucks, and Maximus agrees. Reader, I cheered. (I also shipped it, but that’s a slippery slope of digression and I want to stay on track today.)
We also catch up with Thaddeus, who runs into our old friend Dr Chickenfucker (thanks to BFF for that moniker, thankfully it isn’t his real name) who offers him a “miracle cure” for his smashed foot (hence my terrible title pun). And … to be fair, I guess it is. If you don’t look too closely at the small print. But that small print catches up to him when Maximus and Lucy finally do, and we realise that Thaddeus is becoming a ghoul.
I’m starting to feel like a tennis ball of emotion when it comes to these two lads, but today it was mainly sympathetic pride I felt. Upon realising what’s happening to Thaddeus, Maximus chooses to help him out by distracting the approaching Brotherhood so his friend can escape, for whatever good that eventually do. He also comes up with a last-minute ploy to let Lucy escape with Wilzig’s head so her quest can continue, and the two have their first (goodbye) kiss.
Again, I ship it.
But all of that is sort of beside the real point of this episode for me, because we get even more backstory on Cooper. He went to a secret meeting and met “Moldaver”, who gives him a listening device so he can figure out for himself what’s really going on when his wife is at work. I knew by now that this would be the crux of whatever matter wrecked his life, and my sympathy is only growing. This is (not) helped by the sight of Cooper comforting himself by petting his dog, and The Ghoul clearly mourning Roosevelt.
HE MISSES HIS DOG. MY HEARTSTRINGS. I CANNOT.
My curiosity is also growing, but most of that is reserved here for Norm’s ongoing quest to find out what the heck is really going on in his Vault, following the transfer of 33s into Vault 32 and the appointment of Stephanie as Overseer (remember, she’s from 31 originally). It leads him to hack into Betty’s computer and fake his way into getting access to Vault 31. The episode ends with him going in there and finding … something??
WHAT DID HE SEE
WHAT IS IT
Also, Norm. You do not appear to have come up with an exit strategy. Norm this is a problem NORM DID YOU EVEN THINK THIS THROUGH.
This show is so damn good at drip-feeding the information, and also at pulling off an episode cliffhanger. I’d hate it if I didn’t love it so much. Honestly, I might have been putting off watching the final episode because I know I’m going to have to wait for more, and if I don’t get questions answered after all this it’s going to be torture. Like, wandering aimlessly around, pulling my hair and wailing, torture.
But I can’t put it off anymore. That’s it for this post. No thoughts, head empty except for insane amounts of curiosity. I NEED TO KNOW THINGS.
Onward.
