Spoiler policy: Anything in this episode and any previous episodes are open spoilers. Please do not discuss what happens in later episodes in this thread. Rather, go to the thread for that episode and discuss it there. Assume that everyone who is reading this thread has only seen up until the episode in the title. General discussion about the whole series after you’ve watched all the episode can go in the episode 8 thread.
I like that the director in the pre-war scene wears an ascot. Very fashionable.
“Maybe” is the first song you hear in the very first Fallout game, so I absolutely loved hearing it in this episode.
I was expecting Dogmeat to be a little more upset about finding his master dead and headless. I guess quickly shifting loyalties are a fact of life in the wasteland even for dogs.
5 caps for a repair job? I wish it was that cheap in the games where weapon/armor durability was a thing. You’d be lucky if you could find someone who could repair your gear to 30% and they’d charge a couple hundred for the job. Maximus selling a tooth to make some spare cash was pretty clever, but he probably shouldn’t have left his armor unattended for that long - your settlers in FO4 will jump into one without your permission if they so much as spot a radscorpion near the edge of camp.
I’m gonna assume that Maximus took the Nerd Rage! perk when he last levelled up and that’s how he was able to get back up and pummel that bandit with a wrench.
I was expecting Dane to show up when the Brotherhood sent a new squire. Maximus definitely had a moment there where he was considering smashing Thaddeus’ skull before putting him on codpiece duty instead. I wonder if power armor is equipped to handle bodily functions? They never go into that in the games seeing as having to poop isn’t a very thrilling game mechanic, but if he’s gonna have to hold it in until his new squire falls asleep it’s not gonna be easy.
The lake monster is the first major deviation from game canon I’ve noticed. They called the creature a gulper, but gulpers don’t look anything like that - this is some sort of giant carnivorous axolotl instead. (Axolotls are not native to southern California, in case you were wondering.) Gulpers are supposed to look like this;
“This might not be an apple tree! Also, I think it’s dead.”
“Keep looking!”
“Do you think that’s him? Hard to tell.”
“Show me the illustration.”
(holds picture up next to headless corpse)
“Oh, that’s definitely him!”
Maximus is loving this way too much and Thaddeus is a world-class brown-noser.
Dogmeat recklessly attacking a monster much bigger than herself is classic Dogmeat.
“The wasteland’s got its own golden rule - thou shalt get sidetracked by bullshit every goddamn time.” Anyone who’s ever spent hours in a Fallout game going after endless side quests while you’re supposed to be looking for your dad/son/chip can feel this line in their soul.
Clearly every single inhabitant of Vault 33 except for the MacLeans took the Good Natured trait at character creation. The Vault meeting where they’re trying to debate the ethics of imprisoning a bunch of cannibal murderers is downright hilarious, and also tragically similar to every single municipal council meeting I’ve ever seen.
“I can teach the raiders Shakespeare. And when they’re ready, Marlowe.”
“I don’t wanna be insensitive, but I think Shakespeare might be too advanced for these people.”
“I’d be happy to teach them introductory calculus!”
“The water chip is broken” is literally the impetus for the main quest of the first Fallout. I like that they’re taking inspiration from the Black Isle era, because I don’t think the Bethesda games have quite the same feel for the setting as those do.
Probably shoulda waited until the abomination surfaced before wasting all your ammo, Maximus. I’m surprised VATS even let you take a shot with odds that low.
The use of “In the Mood” while the axolotl was trying to swallow Thaddeus was hilarious. I wish they’d used the Andrews Sisters version, though, because it would have been that much more of a mood clash to have these ladies singing about pitching woo to a fella.
THE AXOLOTL HAS HUMAN FINGERS IN ITS MOUTH. Gross.
“Dogmeat found something.” If you know, you know.
I’m gonna guess that Vault-Tec refused to let Cooper and his family into one of the three vaults because they thought he was a Communist on account of his being in an interracial marriage.
IIRC, vaults are supposed to have extra water chips on hand, but Vault 13’s were shipped to a different vault by mistake. Then again, Vault 13’s water chip failed 80 years after the war, and that was 130 years ago by the time this show is set, so it’s possible they already used up all their spares. The vaults were mostly designed to be opened 20-25 years after the war, so aside for a few which were meant to stay sealed forever, they’re well past their use-by date.
Telling us the water chip is broken and they only got like 100 days left of water does not seem like a throwaway line though, I guess we’ll see in future episodes but it would be kinda lame if that was just dropped.
And yet… World of Warcraft gained some infamy for its “poop quests”. Also some settlements have outhouses as part of the decor (although I am not aware of any the player character can use - and I’ve been playing that game for over 20 years now so pretty sure I would have found one by now if a workable one existed.)
There’s a part of me that thinks the reason the squire has to clean to clean the codpiece/crotch armor is because the armor doesn’t really deal with bodily functions so things get… messy. Such lack of attention to bodily needs would be consistent with the setting.
On the other hand… “gulper” fits the mutant axolotl just fine. Also, while axolotl’s might not be native to California who knows what happened to exotic house pets when the Great War happened? Invasive species for the win!
True for just about any gamer - it’s not an uncommon trope.
Not going to spoiler it but
you find out later that both these theories, while plausible at this point in the series, are wrong.
Hint: remember in the first episode right at the beginning when someone asks why Cooper Howard is doing kids’ birthday parties and someone else says “alimony”…?
For all the flaws of the Fallout universe they apparently did not have the level of racial discrimination and animosity in the US population that our own world did. Not saying it was non-existent, just that it was considerably less than in reality.
That’s the essential plot of the first Fallout game (or so I’m told). So I’m calling it an Easter Egg. At least for now. Might hear more about it in Season 2.
It bears mentioning that while it looked like the 1950s it was 2077 when the bombs fell, so things might be a tad more liberal than you would expect from the aesthetic.
We’ve already seen plenty of evidence they must be more liberal at least about race - there were Black attendees at the birthday party, the director is Brown, and so was the female VaultTec exec at the ad photoshoot.
Yeah, mixed race relationships are pretty clearly a non-issue in this future. Coop’s wife shows up on the set of his new movie to make out with him by the craft service table, and brings their kid with her. Their relationship is clearly not considered a career-ending taboo.
His wife appears to have worked for Vault-Tec - she arranged for Coop’s spokesman gig for VT. Between his refusal to give his signature “thumbs up” during the birthday party (which we learn was part of his VT promotions), and the “alimony” comment, I’m guessing that he started having second thoughts about what Valut-Tec was doing, and got blackballed for not supporting the war, and divorced for not supporting his wife’s career.
My other guess at this point is that Norm is going to turn into Vault Hitler. Don’t tell me if I’m right or not. I should have the season finished by Wednesday night and I’ll know by then.
Oh, I’m not complaining about the axolotl (aside from its gross mouth fingers). Southern CA is rife with invasive species. If the showrunners have really done their homework they’ll give us some giant carnivorous feral parrots.
Or I could have proposed the REAL answer as a “theory”… or done a half-dozen other things… But I didn’t. Not a word on what the answer is because that would be a spoiler.
[Moderating]
I’m not a Cafe Society mod, but as open spoilers are kind of time-sensitive, I’ve gone ahead and added spoiler tags to the relevant part of Broomstick’s post.
An actual CS mod may elaborate on or reverse this when they see it.
[/Moderating]
