# Fallout Episode 5: The Past **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, amazon-prime\ **Created:** [April 11, 2024, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140 "2024-04-11T08:10:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **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 16, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140/21 "2024-04-16T01:20:17Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Though wasn’t he stuck for hours? Overnight. It seemed to me that he fell asleep in the suit and woke up to the radroaches picking at it. ---
**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 16, 2024, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140/22 "2024-04-16T01:46:45Z")
Just finished this one. Is Vault 31 even real? I wonder what Vault 4’s gimmick/experiment will be. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140/23 "2024-04-16T12:37:01Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > For those of us completely and totally unfamilar with California (outside of seeing bits of it in movies and TV) this was probably nowhere near as jarring as for folks who know what the locations actually look like/are located in real life. I admit that I looked up Santa Monica pier and LAX on Google Maps to try and figure out where Filly might be and I came up empty (also to see how long it would take to walk between them). ---
**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 16, 2024, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140/24 "2024-04-16T13:03:04Z")
How long to walk between them in the present day vs. in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where the terrain is unlikely to be as level/uncluttered, there are various types of wildlife/monster to either fight off or avoid, and there is the need for seeking water, food, and shelter may be slightly different. ---
**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 16, 2024, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140/25 "2024-04-16T13:12:05Z")
Consistent with the games is that the Wasteland still looks awful 200+years after the bombs went off. I don’t mean the skyscrapers, but just the stuff laying around. Why did Maximus say the bombs went off when he was a kid? I mean, we did see him survive in a fridge. Were there bombs 200 years ago and recently? ---
**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 16, 2024, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140/26 "2024-04-16T13:23:47Z")
I love that [fridge joke](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BombproofAppliance). Wonder how many other people got it? ---
**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 16, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140/27 "2024-04-16T15:18:23Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Why did Maximus say the bombs went off when he was a kid? I mean, we did see him survive in a fridge. Were there bombs 200 years ago and recently? …Yes. The “Great War” which was 200 years ago (as seen in the birthday party seen in the first episode)…and then someone bombed Shady Sands, the capitol of the NCR, 20 years ago.So for Maximus the bombs fell when he was a kid. ---
**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 16, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140/28 "2024-04-16T15:19:38Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I love that [fridge joke](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BombproofAppliance). Wonder how many other people got it? Also potentially a reference to the child ghoul in FO4. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140/29 "2024-04-16T19:45:51Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Overnight. It seemed to me that he fell asleep in the suit and woke up to the radroaches picking at it. That brought to mind a certain question, which turns out to have been answered in Fallout 2: > [Wright child](https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Wright_child): How do you go pee-pee in that thing? > > The [Chosen One](https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Chosen_One): Heh-heh. Actually, I just urinate in the armor, and it recycles everything. Isn’t that interesting? Do you know what ‘recycling’ means, little one? More advanced waste management is left as an exercise for the reader. ---
**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 16, 2024, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140/30 "2024-04-16T21:10:28Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > That brought to mind a certain question, which turns out to have been answered in Fallout 2: I had assumed the first “clean this” from Titus was going to show Maximus having to dump out the contents from the codpiece but apparently its just a degrading “spit-shine” thing done to Squires. ---
**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 17, 2024, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140/31 "2024-04-17T13:00:16Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I wonder what Vault 4’s gimmick/experiment will be. My guess (I have not watched past ep5 but will blur in case I’m guessing right): Vault 4 is too interbred, similar to Vault 33’s problem, but they have no sister vaults from which to obtain genetically diverse breeders. So they have to resort to collecting surface dwellers to breed with. I’m getting serious ‘[A Boy and his Dog](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072730/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_A%2520boy%2520an%2520dhis%2520dog)’ vibes. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone involved in either the games or the show was influenced by that movie. > [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > > [@Mahaloth](#): > > > > Why did Maximus say the bombs went off when he was a kid? I mean, we did see him survive in a fridge. Were there bombs 200 years ago and recently? > > …Yes. The “Great War” which was 200 years ago (as seen in the birthday party seen in the first episode)…and then someone bombed Shady Sands, the capitol of the NCR, 20 years ago.So for Maximus the bombs fell when he was a kid. That confused me at first too. I thought for a minute, did they lie to Lucy about being in the vault for over 200 years for some reason, it was only 20 years? That would explain why structures, articulated skeletons, scavenged cans of Cram, etc., are in as good shape as they are, but would be a pretty big straying from game canon. But no, it’s just another, much more recent round of bombing. War never changes… > [@Broomstick](#): > > I love that [fridge joke](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BombproofAppliance). Wonder how many other people got it? I’m actually disappointed it was a fridge and not one of the mini standup fallout shelters that were all over the place like phone booths in the city areas (at least in FO4). ---
**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 17, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140/32 "2024-04-17T15:05:43Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I’m actually disappointed it was a fridge and not one of the mini standup fallout shelters that were all over the place like phone booths in the city areas (at least in FO4). Pulowski’s Personal Shelters… which Im pretty sure are established as never actually working. ---
**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 17, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140/33 "2024-04-17T15:41:45Z")
You did often find a skeleton in there when you’d open them up 💀 ☢ ---
**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 17, 2024, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140/34 "2024-04-17T17:49:14Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I’m getting serious ‘[A Boy and his Dog](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072730/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_A%2520boy%2520an%2520dhis%2520dog)’ vibes. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone involved in either the games or the show was influenced by that movie. This isn’t really a spoiler, just background information about Coop, but I’m not sure which episode it’s first mentioned, so I’ll tag it anyway: One of Coop’s big hit movies was “A Man and his Dog.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past/1000140.md?page=1)