Ronit J

Fallout Season 2 Synopsis:

After the events of Season 1, Lucy accompanies The Ghoul to New Vegas in search of her father, Hank McLean, who has his own plans to continue the sinister work of Vault-Tec. Maximus deals with the fractured politics of the Brotherhood of Steel. Norm awakens the sleeping residents of Vault 31. In the past, Cooper Howard continues to spy on his wife as he discovers the conspiracy around Robert House, Cold Fusion, and more.

Fallout Season 2 Review:

I really loved Fallout Season 1. While I’ve never played a Fallout game (unless you count the mobile game Fallout Shelter), I have consumed enough memes and pop culture to know bits and pieces of what Fallout is. Regardless, the show did a fantastic job of raising my intrigue around this world while telling a fascinating, captivating story. I did have a problem with the semi-cliffhanger ending of season 1, but not enough to make me want to abandon this show.

When I saw the trailer for Season 2, I genuinely couldn’t wait to watch the new episodes. I know that Fallout: New Vegas is considered one of the best in the series, and I wanted to find out why. However, as the episodes rolled out, I couldn’t help but notice a significant difference in my engagement with the second season as compared to the first.

Everything that made Season 1 amazing is present in Season 2. The dark humour. The absurd world. Even the fascinating factions of the Brotherhood of Steel and the Vault-dwellers continue to develop as the show progresses. While a lot of Season 1 was within Vault 33, the majority of Season 2 is outside it. That’s what I particularly loved. We get to see all these new characters, from Caesar’s Legion to the Super Mutant, to even the Deathclaws. The world has grown a lot weirder, making it feel compulsively explorable. However, the show isn’t without its share of problems.

An Sizeable Expansion From Season 1

Of all the many things that Season 2 does well, it’s the conspiracy behind Cold Fusion and Robert House (Justin Theroux) that intrigued me the most. While Cooper Howard’s past in Season 1 was interesting, it was outright my favourite part of Season 2. His espionage, his encounter with House, and the dilemma that Barb (his wife, played by Frances Turner) faces as a member of Vault-Tec. The other part of this conspiracy plays out with Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan) as he makes it into the old Vault-Tec building to continue unfinished business.

The darker parts of this world that we heard of in Season 2 materialise with the brutal wastelands. The heartbreaking realities of the Shady Sands backstory, which—if you hadn’t already—makes you hate Hank all the more. And the absurd mutants and Deathclaws that—both in the present as well as the past—are as haunting as they are mirror the twisted reality of unchecked human greed. Like Season 1, Season 2 also made me want to play the games very badly. I want to explore this post-apocalyptic wasteland and discover its tragic history in a different medium.

The humour, the lore, the world-building, a lot of Season 2 continued to build off the good from Season 1. However, when compared to Season 1, you realise that Season 2 attempts a much more ambitious story with multiple epic storylines running simultaneously without juggling those storylines in a balanced way.

So Much, Yet Too Little

Some storylines clearly took precedence in Season 2, and you can easily differentiate. Maximus (Aaron Moten) had my favourite storyline in the beginning with the complex Brotherhood of Steel politics. Sadly for me, it fizzled out a little too quickly and ended up becoming pretty blah the rest of the season. Even when Maximus & Thaddeus (Johnny Pemberton) join forces with the Ghoul, I wasn’t really all that impressed, or even invested, for that matter.

And speaking of the Ghoul, even his plot with Lucy as they encounter Caesar’s Legion, Deathclaws, and even Hank didn’t really feel as thrilling as it should have. In fact, the whole Caesar’s Legion sequence felt pretty mundane and boring to me. The same way that the Brotherhood of Steel politics and Lucy’s drug addiction felt. All this made me wonder if this should have been a longer season with more episodes instead of the standard OTT 8. Honestly, writers and filmmakers would love to flesh out all these details, but with so little time on their hands, there’s only so much they can do.

Norm’s (Moisés Arias) and Steph’s (Annabel O’Hagan) plots just outright bored me. So much so that I don’t even feel like expounding on why. They felt like loglines that were undeveloped and later cut to save time. I stand by my love for Cooper Howard’s espionage and the reveals with Robert House. However, that wasn’t enough to make this Season as good as its predecessor.

Fallout Season 2 Ending Explained

Lacerta (Macaulay Culkin) kills his opponent and proclaims himself as the new Caesar of the Legion, which then prepares to march to and capture New Vegas. The Vault-Tec employees almost kill Norm, but a careless opening of an elevator unleashes a swarm of Radroaches on them. Only Norm survives, who also saves Claudia (Rachel Marsh), and the two escape into the wasteland. The Ghoul frees the digital consciousness of House in exchange for his wife and daughter’s location in the Vault; he’s forced to carry House around with a Pip-Boy.

Lucy awakens the head of Diane Welch (Martha Kelly), who promptly demands that she be killed. Despite her hesitation, Lucy obliges. Eventually, Hank catches up to her. He reveals how House was always robotic and wanted to build a world of robots, while Hank wanted them to have personality. He tries to subjugate Lucy to ‘get his little girl back’, but The Ghoul intervenes. However, he doesn’t kill Hank, leaving that up to Lucy. Lucy implants a chip on Hank and takes him outside. He reveals that the outside world is not the real world, but an experiment. The Vault is the real people, part of a larger conspiracy with the Enclave in charge. His team is already performing RnD in the wasteland, and a war is imminent. Before Lucy can demand more, Hank activates his chip, losing his memories and becoming docile.

The Ghoul locates his family’s cryo-chambers, but they’re empty. He sees a postcard for Colorado with Barb’s message, suggesting they’re alive. In the past, Cooper Howard and Barb meet Hank and Steph, who are now engaged after Howard introduced them. Before they can leave the airport, Howard gets a call from House. House reveals that the president of the USA is the actual villain who’s going to drop the bomb. Howard takes the fall to make sure Barb & Janey can be safe in the vault. The Ghoul sets out for Colorado with Dogmeat to search for his family.

Steph unlocks Hank’s box, contacts the Enclave as Hank’s wife, and initiates Phase 2. Lucy & Maximus unite, and they watch the wasteland, wondering what horrific war is about to unfold. In a mid-credits scene, Danes delivers blueprints for a new armour called Liberty Prime to Elder Cleric Quintus.

Is Fallout Season 2 Worth Watching?

Depends. While not as engaging as Season 1, Season 2 did entertain as promised. I’ve read a lot of criticisms from fans of New Vegas, as well as fans of the video game franchise. I can’t vouch for them all, but I will say that the multiple storylines that feel watered down, along with the pacing issues, did make me question whether I want to continue with this series or not.

I guess I’ll decide based on what I see in the Season 3 trailers. If Season 3 feels better focused, I might continue my watch. However, if I see the same kind of bloated storylines and overpromising with questionable delivery, I might abandon the series.

Will there be a Fallout Season 3?

Yes. The show was already renewed for Season 3 last year, so it’s only a matter of time before we get a teaser/trailer.

In Conclusion:

Fallout Season 2 continues to be as funny, exciting, and intriguing as Season 1, but the expansion of storylines and world-building ends up watering down the impact of what could have been an epic second season.

Also check out:

• Crayon Shin-chan Spin-Off | Review | All 4 Volumes Ranked
• Island of the Dying Goddess

What did you think of Fallout Season 2? Let me know in the comments below! Any other manga, anime, series, book, or movie you’d like me to review? Let me know your recommendations, and I’ll be sure to check them out.

Sign up for my newsletter and get a free ebook of Abandoned by the Gods!

Until next time!