Fallout Season 2 Episode 5 “The Wrangler” continues to beg the question: has Lucy really changed since since she left the vaults? Because she’s seen death, destruction, monsters, and the people whose lives have been changed by her father’s actions. But she still remains the same person to the point where it feels disappointing when the drugs are the only things to have her cut loose.
On the Cooper/The Ghoul front, his past self deserved that crash out. And the future self really made a decision that was equals parts the easiest decision of his life and hard because he’s still Cooper deep inside. Thankfully Norm rounds out this episode by teasing us with what Vault-Tec is really up to. Genetic testing. That’s not going to go wrong, right? RIGHT?!
MORE: Need a refresher of last week’s episode? Read our review of Fallout Season 2 Episode 5 “The Demon in the Snow.”
I Would’ve Done the Same Thing
In what world did Lucy think that The Ghoul was going to choose her over his family? She’s been on this whole hunt across the wasteland because of family. Also, she’s literally left The Ghoul to rot after the scorpion sting in Season 2 Episode 2 of Fallout because she had to get someone else back to their family/group. There is no way The Ghoul would chose her over their safety. And it shows how she keeps miscalculating everything and everyone around her.
Me asking why Lucy thought The Ghoul would choose her over his family isn’t me siding with The Ghoul. This is me worrying over Lucy’s character development if someone so family oriented wouldn’t understand why someone else family oriented, even if he’s a jerk, would choose their family? And you can tell that The Ghoul is kind of bothered by his decision thanks to his face. But I would’ve done the same thing The Ghoul did. Because this is the Wasteland. They can’t just go in with no regard to safety or having a plan like Lucy did with the Deathclaws and would’ve done with The Ghoul’s family if she knew earlier that her dad had them.
Nevertheless, I do applaud Lucy for fighting back against The Ghoul. She might not understand why he betrayed her for his family, but she’s not going to let anyone stop her from her mission. And it goes to show you that even though she’s got a lot of work to do, Fallout is showing tiny cracks as to how she has changed after leaving the vault. Now I just need the show to up it a little bit. I shouldn’t have to be connecting so many dots on Fallout to figure out what’s going through the mind of their lead. Or one of their leads.
Cooper’s Crashout
Cooper Howard had the most deserved crash out in Fallout “The Wrangler.” Why? Because he’s come to the same point that Maximus came to in “The Demon in the Snow” when he said, “I don’t choose to do the things I have to do. They just keep happening.” Coop has found himself in an impossible situation where the woman he loves is one of the people orchestrating a nuclear apocalypse and he’s being told he’s the only one to stop the death of so many people.
That’s pressure. But it’s also heartbreak.
What makes Coop different from everyone around him is that he’s going to make the hard choices. He’s going to do what needs to be done. And it’s going to absolutely break him, his marriage, and the life he has right now. But what other choice does he have? All of these events on Fallout speak to the calibre of a character they have built when it comes to Cooper Howard/The Ghoul; where I can feel anger at his future self, but also such aching heartache for what came before the nuclear apocalypse.
And then there’s Barbara. I love that he is disgusted by her choices and he still loves her. That’s the kind of love that isn’t surface level. That’s the kind of love that tears you apart, makes you question life, and leads to a lot of bad decisions. But on TV? Well, that’s the best kind of TV. It shows that he’s layered, his love is layered, but by God, is Barb layered. Which…leads me to my only complaint so far on Fallout. If Barb is making this world changing choice, shouldn’t we know more about her motivations by now? I want to see those layers and not just know they’re there.
Norm & the Genetic Experiment
Norm just discovered a bombshell that had our minds racing. Phase two is about genetic testing/modification. And we’ve seen the main vaults of Fallout be three vaults connected with one supplier vault to decrease mutations and whatnot. On top of that you have the other vault with the overseer with one eye, a clear since of genetic experimentation. And then you have the Deathclaws who were also engineered and Mr. House cluing in about how the player of the board might the person who created them.
Vault 33 is about creating the perfect human. And not just any human. But a human who obeys objectives set forth by Vault-Tech above their own safety, morals, or personal feelings. There’s a glitch in the overall plan because of Lucy learning the truth about what Hank did. But he’s trying to fix that with his handy little mind control machine before the next phase of whatever plan Vault-Tech has goes into play. That’s what Norm discovered on Barb’s computer. Or what I think he did based on what we saw. And knowing Vault-Tech, they’ll use that genetic testing/engineering to wipe out all the humans above ground.
Then there’s the question of Claudia.
Apparently started her job a week before the apocalypse. And I think Fallout was trying to fake us out into thinking that she might be Coop and Barb’s daughter when she held that photo on Barb’s desk. Kudos to the show for that little clue there. But I’m not buying it. She still chose to go in the cryotubes and be part of keeping the “stock” of Vault 33 as fresh as possible. Or… Claudia knows more than all of us and she’s about to enact the plan to end all plans.
Either way, we love the introduction of someone new that Norm can brave this dangerous world together with. But I don’t know if I trust her after she threw her work colleagues under the bus so fast.
Fallout premieres new episodes every Wednesday at 12am PT/3am ET on Prime Video.
