‘Fallout’ Episode 4 Review

Episode four of ‘Fallout’ on Amazon Prime Video brings the show to its halfway point and is
something of a turning point for the main characters.

This is a packed episode that delivers everything that the series has become known for, while
going deeper into the stories of its leading cast. We get to see more of what ghouls really are,
undead zombies that can only survive by taking a particular kind of drug. If they don’t, they turn
savage and lose all memory of who they once were.

The organ harvester scene is another example of how unpleasant survival is on the surface, as
people are literally sold for their organs, as Lucy is when the Ghoul exchanges her for some
doses of the stimulant he needs. As always, it’s handled with the usual mix of gore and dark
humor, helped in no small part by Matt Berry lending his unmistakable voice to “Snip Snip”, the
medical robot.

It’s interesting to see Lucy’s development around these events. She’s already being changed by
her experiences in the cruel surface world, savagely attacking the Ghoul and biting off his finger,
something she would never even have considered doing just a few days earlier. It’s no surprise,
as such a difficult place to survive would have an effect on anyone, but the training she received
in the Vault isn’t up to much in the real world. The ending suggests that she might be able to
resist it for some time though, as she refuses to kill the Ghoul, even though he wouldn’t be so
generous to her, even giving him the drugs he needs to survive. The question is whether she’ll
be able to stay true to what her father taught her as she continues to be tested.

Back at Vault 33, a lot of stuff is going down, and it’s nice to see Norm having more to do after
his cowardly behavior in episode one. One of the imprisoned Raiders tells him that they didn’t
attack Vault 32, it was derelict when they found it and all the residents were already dead. This
prompts him to investigate with Chet, where they discover it’s actually true. It looks as if they
killed each other in some kind of madness, but it’s not clear yet exactly what happened, or what
Norm and Lucy’s mother, Rose MacLean had to do with it. Computer records say she opened
the door to the vault from outside, though they’ve been told by Hank that she died years ago.

All in all, this was the best episode yet, with a packed plot and a conclusion that hints things will
change from here on, as Lucy’s character develops, the Ghoul looks to be remembering
something of who he really is, and Norm has big problems to deal with, all of which should make
for an exciting second half of the series.