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Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for the Fallout Season 2 premiere.
It’s been eighteen months, but Fallout is finally back with its second season. Season 1 ended with unexpected alliances, massive reveals of how the world was destroyed, and the promise of “New Vegas” in the future. In the premiere of Season 2, “The Innovator,” Fallout makes a lot of smart choices. It catches up with the surprising alliance between Lucy (Ella Purnell) and The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), as they make their way to New Vegas, while establishing two dangerous players in the form of Robert House, the wealthiest man in America before the bombs started to fall, and Lucy’s father, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan), who is clearly working his way towards even more sinister means.
‘Fallout’ Season 2 Introduces Justin Theroux’s Mysterious Character
After the episode opens with the words “The Man Who Knew,” we go back to before the bombs started falling. In this technologically advanced version of the past, we see many workers on strike against RobCo, destroying robots with baseball bats. At a local bar, a group of people watches Robert House (Rafi Silver), the founder of RobCo Industries, on television, where he talks about the American government using RobCo to handle international disputes. Bill, a construction worker at the bar, argues that they didn’t vote for him, but a man in a nearby booth says that yes, they did, that they vote with their dollars, and Robert House has more votes than the men in Washington. The unnamed man (Justin Theroux) dresses just like Robert House, and when Bill asks if the strange man is his biggest fan, he concedes.
Naturally, Bill and a few of his cronies end up behind the bar, getting ready to kick the ass of Robert House’s biggest fan. The man asks to be hit in the face, saying he thinks he might enjoy it, but even though he’s rarely wrong, he doesn’t like the feeling of getting punched. Afterward, he makes Bill an offer: $31 million if he’ll allow a small device to be inserted into the back of his neck, calling it “market research.” As Bill threatens House’s fan, the man jams the device onto Bill’s neck. Almost immediately, Bill calms down, controlled by a device the House lookalike carries. He hands Bill a baseball bat, telling him to get rid of his friends. Bill immediately starts beating his friends with a bat as Theroux’s character states that “they pay for all of this.” The odd man cranks up the device, which eventually leads Bill’s head to explode. The man retrieves the device from among the blood and skull matter and says, “The world may end, but progress marches on.”
The Ghoul and Lucy’s Alliance Is Already Shaky in the ‘Fallout’ Season 2 Premiere
Back in the present, The Ghoul is in a tight spot, ready to be hanged by a gang camped out at an abandoned motel. Thankfully, Lucy is waiting for The Ghoul’s signal, watching the events with a sniper rifle and Dogmeat by her side, but she misses The Ghoul’s first signal — and the second, and the third, as though she’s considering that killing The Ghoul could be the best thing for her. Instead of shooting The Ghoul free, even after the gang has left him to hang, Lucy, being Lucy, tries to reason with the men to let them go without any violence. As one would expect, this doesn’t go well in the wasteland, and Lucy ends up shooting The Ghoul free. As she takes non-lethal shots at the gang with her rifle, The Ghoul eventually gets loose of his restraints and kills everyone. So much for nonviolent solutions.
As the pair continues in their pursuit of Lucy’s dad, they make their way to the outskirts of Las Vegas. The Ghoul points out that Vegas shot away most of the bombs, and when Lucy asks why they didn’t do that for the rest of America, The Ghoul states that there was no “they”; it was all Robert House. Trying to look on the bright side, Lucy suggests The Ghoul’s family would have been safe in Vegas, but he replies that no one is safe near House. Outwardly, Lucy questions why her dad would even go to Las Vegas, but The Ghoul simply looks at her and keeps walking.
What You Need To Know About ‘Fallout: New Vegas’ Ahead of the Series’ Second Season
To understand Season 2, you need to understand New Vegas.
The premiere jumps back to the events of last season, where The Ghoul’s former self, Cooper Howard, spied on his wife, Barb (Frances Turner), telling Robert House about Vault-Tec’s plan to drop the bombs on America themselves. After this scene, Cooper returns home to their daughter, Janey (Teagan Meredith), and tells her to pack her things. In the car, Cooper tells his daughter they’re going to Bakersfield, ignoring her question about whether Barb will be joining them. As they drive through a neighborhood that looks quite a bit like the one from Fallout 4, Cooper sees a Vault-Tec salesman before bomb sirens start going off. The neighbors start to freak out as Cooper sees an airship flying overhead, as well as a Vault-Tec billboard with his own face on it.
Later on, in another flashback, Cooper brings his daughter to a diner where he’s meeting with Lee Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury), recounting everything he heard his wife saying. Cooper asks what she wants him to do about what he heard, and she mentions that, as a celebrity, he can get into rooms that she isn’t able to. Moldaver then mentions Robert House, saying he’s building a privately owned missile system in Las Vegas to follow through on Vault-Tec’s plans. When the bomb falls, it’ll be Robert pressing the button. Moldaver reveals that Barb is going to sell cold fusion to House, and then he’ll have everything he needs, so Cooper needs to get on Barb’s good side, go to Vegas with her, and stop him. As he leaves, Moldaver says, “When the world goes down in flames, at least you’ll know your hands are clean.” Back at home, while preparing dinner, Cooper hears on the radio that House was recently quoted as saying that it’s not a question of whether the world will end, but who will push the button. As Barb returns from work, she and Cooper both look as though they know they have to put on an act for the other.
Hank MacLean Isn’t Going to Stop Hurting People in ‘Fallout’ Season 2
Back in the present, Lucy and The Ghoul find the body of a man who has clearly been stomped in half by the power armor Hank stole. They find a woman at a nearby stand selling flea soup, who reveals that Hank has taken her son before pointing them in the right direction. As they continue walking, The Ghoul asks Lucy what she’s going to do when she catches up with her dad, and she says she’s going to bring him to justice, that she’s trying to lead by example in a world that’s forgotten that how people conduct themselves matters. Lucy knows The Ghoul has given up hope, but she knows it’s still in there. As she walks away, The Ghoul sees an old drive-in theater sign advertising a Cooper Howard movie, and it’s as though he remembers an old forgotten part of himself. Dogmeat runs ahead, where Lucy finds the entrance to Vault 24.
The Ghoul mentions he’s been into a lot of Vaults, and that he’s been to so many to find out what happened to his wife and daughter. Lucy unlocks the Vault, while The Ghoul admits he’s curious why Lucy’s father would even come to this Vault at all. As they make their way through 24, they find corpses with the trackers from the opening scene embedded in the back of their necks. They find more corpses in a lab, forced to watch a movie on repeat. Lucy realizes that these people were Americans who had been brainwashed into being communists. She also discovers that her father has taken a drive from the lab’s computer before they’re surprised by the soup vendor’s son, who was clearly Hank’s guinea pig. The man says he’s here to “fix everything” and yells for Lucy to go home, before his head explodes. Lucy says she never saw her father use these trackers, but they’d better keep going, since he’s not going to quit hurting people.
Norm Chooses Chaos in Vault 31 in ‘Fallout’ Season 2’s Premiere
Back in Vault 33, Reg (Rodrigo Luzzi) mopes that everyone is moving up in the world but him. He’s told by Overseer Betty Pearson (Leslie Uggams) that his friend Norm (Moises Arias) has been sent to a leadership exchange program in Vault 31. To get him to leave her alone, Betty suggests Norm start a group for people to talk about their feelings after everything that’s happened to their Vault — which he agrees to after he’s told he can get snacks. Later, Reg assembles his “Products of In-Breeding Support Group” with only three other members — two of whom are a brother and sister hoping the Vault will reverse its law against inbreeding, and another woman who Reg listens to drone on about her “complicated” family tree.
In Vault 32, Stephanie (Annabel O’Hagan) is now the Overseer and is exhausted of hearing the people’s questions as she tries to look through the Vault’s computer. Meanwhile, in the lobby, Chet (Dave Register) is waiting with Stephanie’s baby, having to remind people that he’s not married to Stephanie, nor is the baby his child. Chet goes into Stephanie’s office, asking about his job assignment, but much to his chagrin, she says that his being her babysitter is going well, so he should stick to that. Also, since the neighbors are calling the kid “Chet Jr.,” Stephanie decides that’s a good enough name for the baby she’s been calling “it.” Before he leaves, Stephanie asks if Chet is good with computers, to which he says no; that was always Norm’s thing.
But Norm is actually trapped in Vault 31 by its overseer, a brain in a jar that was once Bud Askins (Michael Esper). Norm is wasting away, but the Bud brain tells Norm that all he has to do is get into Hank’s cryochamber and wait until the surface is ready to colonize for Reclamation Day. Bud says that day will come when there’s no one left on the surface to disagree with them. But Norm turns this option down, as Bud demeans him and turns the lights off to make it even harder for him to see, saying no one is coming to save him. Later in Vault 31, Bud tells Norm he has two rational choices: get in his dad’s pod or die. But Norm comes up with an irrational choice: interrupt hundreds of years of perfect planning by thawing out all of Bud’s buds that are cryogenically frozen in the vault.
Hank Reports for Duty in ‘Fallout’ Season 2 Episode 1
In the end, Hank, still in his stolen power armor, arrives at Vault-Tec’s massive, abandoned offices. On brand for a Kyle MacLachlan character, he brews some coffee, dons a suit, and gets to work. Hank goes to a radio, leaving a message that he’s “reporting for duty, sir.” He tells the person on the other end that no one at Vault-Tec knows he’s there, and that he hopes the other person is still alive. Hank says he’s in Vegas, the other person’s old stomping grounds — leading us to believe he’s talking to Robert House. Hank mentions that Vault 24 has made progress on the brain-computer interface, even finding a way to miniaturize the device. He also declares that he’s going to complete the work the other man started, and when this is all over, this unknown recipient (presumably House) will be begging Hank to help him.
“The Innovator” does a great job of getting viewers pumped for Vegas, while also presenting both Theroux and MacLachlan as terrifying new threats to brace for. The implications of what RobCo and Vault-Tec are capable of have only become more haunting, and this is an excellent reminder of what these characters have already been through as well as what they still have to contend with. War never changes, but who’s in control of it certainly seems to be in question.
Fallout Season 2 Episode 1 is now available to watch on Prime Video, with new episodes premiering every Wednesday.
- Release Date
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April 10, 2024
- Showrunner
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Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan
- Writers
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Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan
- Franchise(s)
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Fallout
Pros & Cons
- “The Innovator” is a great refresher, setting up the major dynamics of Season 2.
- Kyle MacLachlan and Justin Theroux are sinister and villainous in this first episode.
- Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins make for a great team-up.
- The moments within Vaults 31, 32, and 33 aren’t as strong as the rest of the episode.
