# Fallout Episode 1: The End **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, amazon-prime\ **Created:** [April 11, 2024, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136 "2024-04-11T08:02:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/21 "2024-04-12T00:08:54Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > That said, the bit during the raid where the projectors catch fire and the burning film of the farmland echoes exploding nukes was _amazing_. I liked the little snippets we saw of the TV news, with the weatherman complaining that he can’t do the forecast when he doesn’t know if there’s even gonna be a tomorrow. It reminded me of one of my favorite music videos of the last decade (which undoubtedly took some inspiration from Fallout to begin with); [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/UkHSmDxX1t4/maxresdefault.jpg "A Perfect Circle - So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkHSmDxX1t4) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/22 "2024-04-12T01:28:12Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > . It’s also a bit weird that the Vaults are isolated enough that mild incest is considered acceptable, but also so close that you can walk from one to the other in the time it takes a newlywed couple to bang. I believe they mentioned that the vaults only exchange breeders once every three years. You could see the wedding dress was signed by each of the Vault 33 women who’d used it - it’s definitely been going on long enough to become a cultural tradition that nobody bothers to question, and it explains why it didn’t bother anyone that they didn’t recognize their visitors. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/23 "2024-04-12T01:51:29Z")
Yeah, I got all that. That would make sense if the vaults were some distance apart, and the journey was a bit perilous. But they’re literally next door to each other - why would they only interact with each other once every three years? Getting from one to the other is a five minute walk down a brightly lit corridor. I’m sure the answer is “Vault-Tech experiment,” but it’s still bad world-building. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/24 "2024-04-12T02:15:33Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’m sure the answer is “Vault-Tech experiment,” but it’s still bad world-building. I have a feeling that a lot of this episode would have been utter gibberish to someone unfamiliar with the games. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/25 "2024-04-12T04:12:44Z")
Upon checking the Fallout wiki, which people are just now starting to update with the show’s information, it has come to my attention that the Ghoul’s name is “Cooper Howard”. I believe they used that name in the pre-war scene but I wasn’t quite able to catch it with my human ears. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/26 "2024-04-12T05:21:17Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I have a feeling that a lot of this episode would have been utter gibberish to someone unfamiliar with the games. I’m not familiar with the games and I’m following it all just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/27 "2024-04-12T05:22:50Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > it has come to my attention that the Ghoul’s name is “Cooper Howard”. I believe they used that name in the pre-war scene but I wasn’t quite able to catch it with my human ears. He was the cowboy at the birthday party. I wonder if his daughter will make an appearance 200 years later. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/28 "2024-04-12T05:27:39Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > He was the cowboy at the birthday party. Yeah, that’s what I thought. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I wonder if his daughter will make an appearance 200 years later. The trait that causes humans to become ghouls when exposed to massive radiation instead of just, you know, _dying_, is supposed to be genetic, so it’s entirely possible, but my WAG is that she’d have gone feral after 200 years in a child’s body. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/29 "2024-04-12T10:00:31Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > If Raiders had opened the door and gone down to Vault 32, you’d think everyone would get the “Door Open” alarm unless each vault has its own whole elevator/door setup which seems a bit excessive. I think vault 32 died before the raiders opened the vault. In fact, it might have been the vault dwellers who opened it. When they two vaults first met, they referenced a blight in V32, and we saw that all their crops had died in the field. I suspect there was a lot of starvation in V32, and possibly cannibalism. That’s why we saw only one old, rotting corpse, and not a lot of freshly killed corpses. The last survivors might have tried to go to the surface, and that’s when the raiders saw their opportunity to get into the other vaults. > [@Miller](#): > > \*Well, two - it also bugged me in the intro that nobody in the house with glass walls noticed the nuclear flash when the first bomb hit. I thought the camera flashes were good foreshadowing of what we knew was to come. Had there been only one flash, it’s obviously the bomb, but with multiple flashes, it was - is this it? Was that it? Kept the viewers on our toes, even though we knew it was inevitable. > [@Miller](#): > > It’s not really the lack of realism in that scene that bugs me, its actually that I think it would have been cooler if everyone noticed the flash immediately. Everyone’s head whipping around in unison, starring at the city, not quite comprehending that the world just ended, But the intent was to emphasize how clueless these people are. They’re sleepwalking into an atomic war, and don’t see it coming despite the TV literally trying to warn them twice. “Look away, nothing to see here, let’s all just enjoy our Perfect Rich People Birthday Party, and forget that anything serious is going on in the world around us!” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/30 "2024-04-12T11:38:04Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I have a feeling that a lot of this episode would have been utter gibberish to someone unfamiliar with the games. My wife is clueless about Fallout for the most part and followed it just fine. Last night, I explained the conept of “vault experiments” and that Vault 33 must have been in one. My question had been how another vault could just visit like that since they are pretty far apart. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/31 "2024-04-12T13:01:38Z")
So I signed up for a 30 day free trial of Prime just to see this. Watched the first two last night. Not disappointed! > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > [@Smapti](#): > > > > I have a feeling that a lot of this episode would have been utter gibberish to someone unfamiliar with the games. > > I’m not familiar with the games and I’m following it all just fine. I was wondering how easily someone with no knowledge of the games would pick up on the alternate reality of the world. There was no exposition explaining how it’s a 50s-style retro-future vision of how the world might have looked if we had embraced atomic power as our primary energy source. It definitely builds in a lot of fan service for those who have played the games. The soundtrack alone filled me with nostalgia for the many hours I played Fallout 4. Maybe I’ll fire up F4 again and do a replay. This time I think I’d join the Brotherhood of Steel. The first walk-through I was a generic good guy who worked with the freedom fighters and helped build and defend settlements. Fun, but all the setllement stuff got a bit tedious after awhile. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/32 "2024-04-12T13:59:01Z")
The massacre was a little heavy but the episode was SO good. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/33 "2024-04-12T15:39:34Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > My question had been how another vault could just visit like that since they are pretty far apart. Usually, it’s true that vaults aren’t sited cheek-by-jowl. But it’s clear that 31/32/33 are an exception, almost certainly as part of their unstated “real purpose” (e.g., specific vault experiment design). The three independent but interconnected vaults are an extremely unusual design, but New Vegas had a single vault which was divided into two independent sectors which were mutually inaccessible except to the two independent overseers of the two sectors. So there’s some precedent of distinct vault populations within easy reach of each other. > **[Vault 19](https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Vault_19)** > > Vault 19 is one of the Vault-Tec Vaults in the Mojave Wasteland. By 2281, the Vault has been abandoned by its original inhabitants, and is currently occupied by Powder Gangers founder Samuel Cooke and his escaped convict followers. The inhabitants of... ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/34 "2024-04-12T15:54:09Z")
Thank you for doing the separate threads. I don’t like binging and enjoy reading others’ thoughts on a show, so I can’t really join series threads until they’re a couple of weeks old and too big to be useful. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/35 "2024-04-12T16:28:32Z")
Same… I was able to watch episode 1 but won’t get a chance for later episode until maybe Sunday at the earliest. Re: The Brotherhood religiousity. IIRC FO 1 and 2 had them be a lot more religious and warrior monk like. 3 changed them to be more heroic. NV they seemed less religious but they are also in lockdown. 4 they were less heroic and more militant. An interesting lore drop was the reference to them taking orders from the Commonwealth. I think we may be seeing the Brotherwhood ending of FO4 being canon now? Was that the Prydwen airship returning to the West Coast? Or just another airship? The ASCII code for sending an image for the wanted Enclave operative was cool. I’ll also echo what people are saying about how approachable the show is–my wife knows nothing about Fallout and followed it fine. The only confusion for her was her assuming the Enclave were the Vault dwellers. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/36 "2024-04-12T16:48:51Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Was that the Prydwen airship returning to the West Coast? Or just another airship? The media material calls it by another name, _Caswennan_. The current fanon is that it’s a second _Prydwen_-type built on the East Coast and sent west to reinforce (and take charge of) the Western Brotherhood. The language of this episode, indicating that this mission comes from the Commonwealth, confirms fanon that Fallout 4’s Commonwealth branch of the BoS is now in charge of the overall organization, likely because the lineal descendant (Arthur Maxson) of the founding family of the order is in charge there. The BoS seems to automatically treat a Maxson (of sufficiently high reputation) as the natural High Elder of the whole order. Hereditary rule, very medieval. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/37 "2024-04-12T21:34:30Z")
I thought the Vault aesthetic was recreated very well, though it didn’t make sense to me that they’d use the ‘Vault Boy’ mascot image on their shooting range targets. I hope they periodically feature other vaults in this series, as these are often my favourite parts of the games; they’d be crazy not to I suppose. Maximus has an interesting characterful face, so that’s good. It seemed to make it fairly obvious that he had sabotaged his friend’s boot, and even Dane themself seemed to tacitly acknowledge this? I hope they don’t have too much actorly self-loathing about that in the later episodes, though as it would seem a tad predictable. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/38 "2024-04-13T03:37:34Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Aspirant Dane was referred to as “their” by the elder cleric. Are they supposed to be non-binary? I have a feeling that’s gonna make some alt-right snowflakes upset. Both the actor and the character are non-binary/genderqueer. In the context of a post-apocalyptic wasteland with radiation and mutants that actually doesn’t seem out of place. And the snowflakes were already getting upset even before anyone knew what this series was going to have for plot, characters, etc. Screw them. If they don’t like the series they can watch something else. > [@Smapti](#): > > They’re definitely playing loose with canon - the Great War starts in mid-afternoon on the west coast, but in Fallout 4 it starts in mid-morning in Boston. I’ve read that the creators of the show have stated they don’t plan on being fully beholden to game canon, so I’m just gonna assume the games are a vague backstory to what we’re seeing rather than word of God. In a sense… it sort of doesn’t matter when the Great War starts. Unless there is some plot/story reason to have it start in the morning on the East Coast…? You’d think after a couple centuries the tale would have gotten muddled. Sure, there are a few entities around with direct memories but that’s a small minority compared to the entire population. > [@Smapti](#): > > The idea that chickens are so abhorrent to feral ghouls that they can be used to tell whether or not a ghoul has gone feral is a great piece of lore. For the sake of those of us who have NOT played the games could you explain that? I had the sense there was something to do with ghouls and chickens but they never explained it. > [@Smapti](#): > > I liked the inclusion of the Junk Jet. Most of the weapons I’ve seen so far are right from the games and I appreciate the attention to detail. I puzzled by that at first, but I assume it’s a sort of device that shoots random junk as a weapon? And finally - it’s interesting to read some of the theories here regarding vaults 31-32-33. Having seen the entire series now I know the answer, but I won’t spoil it. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/39 "2024-04-13T03:42:42Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I puzzled by that at first, but I assume it’s a sort of device that shoots random junk as a weapon? It’s a novelty weapon in one of the games. You collect a bunch of junk for materials throughout the game. The Junk Jet allows you to use that stuff as ammo for the laughs in pelting your enemies with old teddy bears, desk lamps and soda bottles. It’s not normally an effective weapon but just something amusing to do and presumably included in the show as an Easter egg for game fans. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136/40 "2024-04-13T03:48:40Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > For the sake of those of us who have NOT played the games could you explain that? I had the sense there was something to do with ghouls and chickens but they never explained it. Some ghouls, for reasons that have never been conclusively established, eventually succumb to an animal-like state where they basically behave like the zombies in I Am Legend, congregating in dark places like abandoned buildings and subway tunnels, and instinctively attacking all living creatures besides other ghouls. These ghouls are called ferals, and there’s nothing specifically about them disliking chickens in the games - I guess the idea is that a feral would see a chicken, think “Hey, dinner time!” and immediately try to catch and eat it throwing caution to the wind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end/1000136.md?page=3)