# Fallout Episode 8: The Beginning **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, amazon-prime\ **Created:** [April 11, 2024, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143 "2024-04-11T08:13:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/1 "2024-04-11T08:13:14Z")
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… [Episode 1: The End](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-1-the-end) [Episode 2: The Target](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-2-the-target) [Episode 3: The Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-3-the-head/) [Episode 4: The Ghouls](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-4-the-ghouls) [Episode 5: The Past](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-5-the-past) [Episode 6: The Trap](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-6-the-trap) [Episode 7: The Radio](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-7-the-radio) [Episode 8: The Beginning](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2024, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/2 "2024-04-14T18:16:42Z")
Well. The games are intentionally vague about who fired the first shot. I don’t think this is confirming that the corpos actually did it so much as _proposed_ doing it, presumably this means they nuked ~~China~~ nameless “commies” (so please watch our show China) as well or else they’d just come in to clean up. The ending fight had an annoying amount of plot armor for the main characters, but otherwise the slo mo combat was pretty appropriately hectic. So I don’t have to rewind: the last we see of Norm in Vault 31 is him contemplating what to do next, right? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/3 "2024-04-14T18:34:02Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Well. The games are intentionally vague about who fired the first shot. I don’t think this is confirming that the corpos actually did it so much as _proposed_ doing it, presumably this means they nuked ~~China~~ nameless “commies” (so please watch our show China) as well or else they’d just come in to clean up. However, the “first shot of the war” being fired against LA by Vault-Tec would reconcile the inconsistency with when the war started for the rest of the US. Also, I find that the end-credits animation are chock-full of both fanservice and spoilers, if you watch them closely enough. So at the end of Episode, 8, when Hank MacClean looks over New Vegas, it’s hard to tell what condition it’s in. But the credits animation shows deserted and trashed streets in the Strip, the gate separating the Strip from Freeside is gone (and looks like not by controlled dismatlement), and lots of wrecked Securitron robots. It doesn’t bode well for any of the endings of New Vegas besides the Caesar’s Legions ending., although the current status could also be a relatively recent result from the events of the decade and a half between FO:NV and the show. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2024, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/4 "2024-04-14T18:36:51Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > So I don’t have to rewind: the last we see of Norm in Vault 31 is him contemplating what to do next, right? I believe so. Not sure why Norm doesn’t threaten the brain Roomba to open the door though. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2024, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/5 "2024-04-14T18:45:07Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Not sure why Norm doesn’t threaten the brain Roomba At the point it became evident that Norm was never going to be allowed to leave Vault 31, Bud was backed into a cubby in the wall with armored doors ready to close. So if Norm had actually made a hostile move, Bud would have burrowed and Norm would still be stuck. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > brain Roomba Needs a better neologism. Roombabrain, by analogy to [Robobrain](https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Robobrain). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2024, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/6 "2024-04-14T20:32:50Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > It doesn’t bode well for any of the endings of New Vegas besides the Caesar’s Legions ending., although the current status could also be a relatively recent result from the events of the decade and a half between FO:NV and the show. The issue is New Vegas occurs in 2281-2282, and Shady Sands is claimed to be destroyed in 2277 according to the show/Vault 4 school. So either they’re explicitly writing it out partially, it’s a mistake, or some other hijinks are going on. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Not sure why Norm doesn’t threaten the brain Roomba to open the door though. I don’t think he can threaten the brain directly, but only about 1/3 of the people were unfrozen, so he can certainly threaten to mess with them. Also the secretary at the end ends up being Leslie Uggams. I don’t know if working for VaultTek pays well, but it certainly has fringe benefits. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2024, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/7 "2024-04-14T22:23:29Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > The issue is New Vegas occurs in 2281-2282, and Shady Sands is claimed to be destroyed in 2277 Maximus was 6 years old when he survived the destruction of Shady Sands, which would make him about 25 at the time of the show. That’s somewhat consistent with the apparent age of the population of squires, but historically quite old for a military organization. (Fallout canon used “squire” for child trainees, so obviously something has changed in how the BoS recruits, ranks, and trains troops, but I still would have expected squires to routinely be no older than teenaged.) ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/8 "2024-04-15T02:40:10Z")
I am not sure how I feel about them changing World War III from another war to the evil act of corporate America. It kind of absolves the nations of the world. That said, it was funny that the vaults the council suggested were all from the games. It was not clear to me how Moldaver lived so long. One is a ghoul, the rest were in the cryo pods but how did she survive? I liked this show more than I expected to. It’s probably at least a year off but I look forward to season two. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/9 "2024-04-15T02:47:40Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > It was not clear to me how Moldaver lived so long. One is a ghoul, the rest were in the cryo pods but how did she survive? I _think_ Moldaver was in a cryo-pod. I do not think she is a ghoul. So, she had to do a cryo-pod. That said, she was not very young (30s maybe) to start with before the war and if she if 50s now I am not sure how she managed all she did in 20(ish) years. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/10 "2024-04-15T02:49:22Z")
She sure seemed not to be able to fend off a Brotherhood raid and go down relatively easily for an immortal legendarily dangerous badass worshipped by her own eschatological cult and with all of L.A. wired for electricity and cold fusion (but apparently not air defense) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/11 "2024-04-15T02:52:13Z")
The lighting up of LA seemed really unlikely to me too. Nuclear war then 200+ years of age (on the grid not to mention light bulbs). Yeah…was a bit too far for me. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/12 "2024-04-15T03:36:11Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Nuclear war then 200+ years of age (on the grid not to mention light bulbs). > > Yeah…was a bit too far for me. That kind of thing is a fairly common criticism for fans of Fallout 1 and 2 versus the Bethesda games. In the original Fallout, you didn’t find pre-war food that was edible or 1950s suburban houses that were still standing unattended centuries after the war. Older structures that were still around in the first two games tended to be metal, brick, or concrete. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/13 "2024-04-15T03:45:14Z")
Also to mention that the Griffith Observatory would be in no way connected to the city sufficiently to power everything even if they had the endless power magic pellet. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/14 "2024-04-15T05:31:42Z")
Squire Thaddeus is 42 and I did not expect that so good for him. He plays a good naif. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/15 "2024-04-15T05:33:15Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > It was not clear to me how Moldaver lived so long. One is a ghoul, the rest were in the cryo pods but how did she survive? There are multiple Vault Tek owned vaults but also Robco and West Tek and potentially House and the others. It’s not all 31. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/16 "2024-04-15T07:23:29Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > The issue is New Vegas occurs in 2281-2282, and Shady Sands is claimed to be destroyed in 2277 according to the show/Vault 4 school. So either they’re explicitly writing it out partially, it’s a mistake, or some other hijinks are going on. One’s a video game, the other’s a TV show. I never expected there to be full continuity between games and show, no matter what the marketing flacks said. To me, anything as good as the continuity between Marvel Comics and the MCU would be good enough, and the show surpassed that. I’m happy. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/17 "2024-04-15T15:20:33Z")
The more I think about it I don’t like them making WWIII a corporate plot. The dwindling of resources and the fight over them was a big part of the back story. They shoehorned the thesis of the franchise “War never changes” into the episode so you have that, “They said the thing!” Moment but really having it be a corporate plot is a pretty big change. Yeah War has always been a racket that makes someone money but this feels different and almost softens the story because you can take solace in the fact that the way it happened was because of a room full of greedy assholes and not because humanity couldn’t get their shit together. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/18 "2024-04-15T15:37:35Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > because of a room full of greedy assholes and not because humanity couldn’t get their shit together It’s not black and white, though. The constant conflict over resources – how humanity couldn’t get their shit together – was the reason the tension was at a tipping point that could be exploited by one well-positioned corporation. No, if we’re going to damn Vault-Tec, it should be for suppressing the one technology that could have ended the war – Moldaver’s cold fusion (the research for which had to be completed by Wilzig). That was their real contribution to the end of the world. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/19 "2024-04-15T18:01:07Z")
I think the only thing bothering me now is how nobody at vault 31 or 33 was aware of what happened to vault 32. Also, Hank should probably have recognized Moldaver from before the bombs, but that is more easily explained. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143/20 "2024-04-15T18:32:14Z")
Hell - I still don’t recognize her from before/after. There seemed to be a number of actors ‘re-used’ for before and after. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fallout-episode-8-the-beginning/1000143.md?page=2)