All Is Not Okey-Dokey: Fallout Season 2 Midseason Review

Fallout season 2 is taking Prime Video by storm, and it’s as refreshing as a bottle of ice-cold Nuka-Cola. Season 2 maintains all of what makes season 1 so fun, but with even more mysteries to unfold and sketchy wasteland characters to outrun.

Episode 4, “The Demon in the Snow,” finally introduces the infamous Deathclaws, with plenty of action and mayhem to boot. By the end of the episode, you might be craving a cigarette like Lucy. However, as the Ghoul says, one vice at a time.

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Bring on the Deathclaws

“The Demon in the Snow” opens with an exciting flashback to the Before Times, featuring Cooper Howard as he fights on the Alaskan Front during the Great War. If you recall, in season 1 episode 6, “The Trap,” Cooper chats with Bud Askins about the T-45 power armor. Cooper mentions that it malfunctioned for him while on the battlefield.

Now, in season 2, we finally get much-needed context regarding that conversation. I’m always tickled to get flashback content, not only for the retrofuturistic vibes of the past but to see the Ghoul before he was the Ghoul. In this sequence, Cooper squares off against the enemy, who takes his suit out of commission. However, both sides encounter a reptilian apex predator that’s 10 times more terrifying than any bullet or power armor suit. Enter the Deathclaw, a well-known, formidable creature from the Fallout games.

Coop might not have known this at the time, but the government engineered Deathclaws to replace humans in combat. They eventually escape into the wild, although this one does its job by killing the opposition before breathing menacingly in a frightened Coop’s face. Walton Goggins really sells this moment. He does terrified so well.

We circle back to the Deathclaws in the present, bookending the episode with another appearance in New Vegas. Gotta love the cinematic symmetry. Now, as the Ghoul, we see a more restrained reaction to the Deathclaw he and Lucy encounter. However, there’s still an undercurrent of fear. And Lucy’s “can-do” attitude (undoubtedly fueled by drugs) takes a backseat when she bears witness to the not-so-cuddly, genetically engineered, giant lizard.

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Character Evolution (and Devolution)

Lucy’s overall growth from season 1 to season 2 of Fallout is significant, but “The Demon in the Snow” really puts that development center stage. Upon waking up after her near-death experience with Caesar’s Legion, Lucy meets Rodriguez and Biff, the remaining members of the New California Republic (Fun Fact: Biff is played by Jon Gries, with whom Goggins starred in The White Lotus season 3). They help her heal in the aftermath of that trauma-inducing event.

Now, in season 1, Lucy might have considered joining the NCR. She would’ve loved their mission statement. However, as she tells the Ghoul when they leave, all she sees are “more matching jackets.” She’s tasted the freedom the wasteland provides. She’s also super excited about top-of-the-line weaponry. She loves a fudgin’ good gun.

Her conversation with the Ghoul while en route to New Vegas is hilarious as the latter points out that she might be craving the drugs that saved her life. When they arrive, Lucy proceeds to take out a bevy of Ghoul Elvis impersonators known as the Kings. This might be the most Fallout-y scene of the season thus far. It boasts the show’s signature over-the-top gore and penchant for gleefully weird violence. It’s a delightful scene.

While Lucy exhibits growth (or at the very least, more confidence) in this episode, some things never change. She’s determined to bring her father to justice for his crimes against humanity. Ella Purnell deftly navigates the complexities of Lucy’s feelings for her dad. I would love to see the latter half of the season explore this more.

Meanwhile, poor Maximus can’t catch a break. After killing Xander, he decides that more death will certainly prevent the inevitable war between the Brotherhood and the Commonwealth. Dane goes along with his plan to kill Quintus.

As Maximus trains his weapon on Quintus, he says something quite intriguing: “I don’t choose to do the things I have to do. They just keep happening.” Aaron Moten gives a beautiful, nuanced performance here. Maximus claims he’s simply reacting to everything around him, and there’s some truth in that. But it also seems like he’s in denial regarding his actions, particularly his choice to murder Xander (even though he wanted to kill those poor Ghoul kids). He doesn’t know how to reconcile with his choices.

Norm must also sit with his choices as he pretends he’s the new Bud Askins to the newly awakened Vault-Tec employees from Vault 31. Ronnie seems like he might know Norm is lying, and only time will tell how that unfurls. Steph’s descent into villainy is jarring, but now that we know she’s from the Before Times, it makes sense. Lucy certainly wouldn’t recognize her friend now, though.

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Masterful Blend of Low-Stakes Comedy and High-Stakes Tension

Fallout has always struck that perfect balance between humor and drama, but “The Demon in the Snow” delivers a masterful blend of the two. There’s a nice buildup in tension, particularly in the Vault 32/Vault 33 scenes. Annabel O’Hagan offers understated work as Steph, never stepping into larger-than-life, mustache-twirling antagonist territory. She’s natural and grounded, which makes her all the more terrifying. The scene with Steph and Woody had me on the edge of my seat. Steph, if you’re reading this – leave Dylan from Severance alone, please.

The creatives also effectively utilize tension in the aforementioned brief scene between Norm and Ronnie. The Brotherhood sequences, featuring Maximus/Quintus and Thaddeus with the Elders, are the definition of white-knuckled. Every aspect of this world, from the vaults to the wasteland, dances on a knife’s edge. You never know which way the wind will blow. It makes the series immersive and engaging.

Beyond the high-stakes storylines, this outing has quite a few laugh-out-loud moments. Lucy is the primary source of levity, and Purnell continues to be a force of comedic nature. She gets a thumbs up from me. Johnny Pemberton as Thaddeus is also hilarious. Any time he’s stumbling around in the power armor, pretending to be Xander, he’s guaranteed to get a few chuckles, even in scenes that shift from comedic to dramatic. The dark humor, even in the face of war, is pure, unadulterated Fallout.

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Where Do We Go From Here?

Episode 4 is jam-packed with narrative developments to propel the overarching story. Chet discovers Steph’s Canadian ID from the Before Times, and that’ll undoubtedly add fuel to the tension-filled fire between them. Norm learns about “Future Enterprise Ventures,” the plan for Vaults 32 and 33, and Phase 2 of said plan. Steph goes off-book after Bud’s death and forges ahead with the “experiment,” but not before leveraging Vault 33’s water shortage by asking Betty to retrieve a mysterious keepsake box for her.

Maximus starts a war between the Brotherhood and Commonwealth, escaping with the fusion core and Thaddeus by his side. And the episode ends with a Deathclaw – Lucy and the Ghoul, whose bond is as intriguing as it is inexplicably heartwarming, versus a scary giant lizard. Who goes out on top? Well, it won’t be the fudgin’ lizard, that’s for sure.

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Fallout season 2 ramps up the stakes as it expands the scope of its storytelling, all while delivering the same unique amalgam of dark humor and bold action. All might not be okey-dokey in the wasteland, but this series is more than okey-dokey for this viewer. Bring on the rest of season 2.

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