This review contains spoilers for Fallout Season 2, Episode 4, “The Demon in the Snow,” which is available to stream now on Prime Video.
Deathclaws are one of Fallout’s most famous monsters, but many mistakenly believe they’re a type of mutant created by the immense radiation of the apocalypse. The truth is that they were actually developed by the US government years before the bombs dropped, envisioned as brutal replacements for regular soldiers. However, as the Fallout wiki explains, “to date there has been no official sources confirming that the government carried out their original goal of deploying the deathclaws into military combat prior to 2077.”
Well, that description now needs updating, because Fallout Season 2’s fourth episode reveals that the US very much did deploy deathclaws onto the battlefield. In the fantastic Alaskan Front-set (quite literally) cold opener, we see Cooper Howard witness the ferocity of this warped project first-hand. Shot as a horror sequence rather than an action scene, the butchering of a People’s Liberation Army squad is an effective introduction to the creature fans have been waiting a season-and-a-half to see. And while there’s surely more to come in later episodes, this brief introduction already suggests the effects team have nailed this iconic beast. The computer-rendered model conveys its impressive heft, but – as is so frequently the case – it’s the close-up shots of its animatronic head, with slowly blinking eyes and snarling jaws, that create the most chilling effect.
It’s not just the appearance of the deathclaw that makes this opener so effective, though. There’s the joy of seeing the old T-45 armour brought to life through yet another excellent piece of practical design, its malfunctioning systems harking back to Cooper’s complaints to Bud in Season 1 and Vault-Tec’s general “profit over people” ethos. And then there’s Goggins, who conveys not just the fear of coming face-to-face with a genuine monster, but the terror of realising how the entire PLA force was defeated. It’s unclear if Cooper understands that the deathclaws have been deployed by his own masters, but he certainly knows his men in their faulty power suits didn’t win the day. This all works as terrifying foreshadowing for the episode’s cliffhanger, in which Lucy and The Ghoul – equipped with just a few guns and the clothes on their backs – come face to face with a deathclaw on the New Vegas strip. They face utterly impossible odds.
Thankfully, the duo is able to have plenty of fun this week before being confronted by walking death. After her horrible ordeal at the hands of the Legion, Lucy has been nursed back to health by the NCR. But while two days on a constant drip of Buffout steroids may perk you up, it’s a highly addictive drug – something almost every Fallout player has had to deal with in their hours of play. What results is a fun narrative riff on the games’ addiction mechanic, with Lucy now loosened up to the idea of blowing a few holes in people. The Venn diagram of her and The Ghoul slightly overlaps, even if it’s not a result of her own choices.
Of course, Lucy’s targets are not human. “I’m good for heads, they’re just ghouls, right?” But these aren’t any old ghouls. Once again, we have another nod to New Vegas’ factions, this time the Kings – a tribe of Elvis impersonators. But, as with the NCR and the Legion, it’s been over a decade since we last saw them, and the wasteland is nothing if not terribly unkind to its people. The Kings have all become feral ghouls, a nice method to both convey the progression of time and turn them into gory fodder for Season 2’s most spectacular action scene so far. It’s filled with great little flourishes, from the slick, rhythmic editing to the way bodies spin and buckle as wounds burst open. The slow-motion shot that concludes the fight is a fantastic nod to the games’ V.A.T.S. mechanic – no wonder it was used as one of the key images in the season’s teaser trailer.
Following last week’s “don’t thank me yet” comment from The Ghoul, there’s no sign yet that his saving of Lucy was fuelled by ulterior motives. If anything, he seems genuinely happy to be in her company. I’m pleased the writing team are content to leave things a little uneasy here rather than immediately launching into any kind of betrayal, as that nervous tension helps with steady escalation and plot pacing.
The start of the Brotherhood’s civil war feels big and momentous, akin to how Game of Thrones’ gradually heating tinder box plotlines would suddenly catch alight.
The same can’t be said of the stories unfolding in vaults 32 and 33. After being reintroduced in the premiere, we’ve had to wait until the season’s halfway point to return underground, which contributes to the sense that these events are less important than anything happening on the surface. This chapter does attempt to counter that, though, by brewing a mystery in the tunnels. Reg’s absurd in-breeding club is draining 33’s resources, and Betty is forced to ask Steph for 32’s help. Their conversation is entirely contextless breadcrumbs – What is the experiment? What is in the keepsake box? Who is Steph really? – but despite the lack of significant developments, all this does lend purpose to a storyline that previously felt inconsequential. I suspect we’ll have to wait another couple of episodes to push forward with this mystery, but hopefully satisfying answers come with our next visit to these steel corridors.
Thankfully, the events surrounding the Brotherhood of Steel is more than able to make up for that lack of satisfaction. Maximus attempts to assassinate Quintus, the chapter elders turn on each other, and full civil war is all systems go. There are stabbings, shootouts, and flaming airships falling out of the sky – it all feels big and momentous, akin to how Game of Thrones’ gradually heating tinder box plotlines would suddenly catch alight.
The prelude to this civil war has certainly been the heavier, more serious side of Fallout’s second season, but I think this week’s eruption proves that it was worth establishing a distinct tone for Maximus’ story. There’s a real sense of excitement and grand significance here that’s absent elsewhere, something emphasised by Ramin Djawadi’s excellent score. That’s not to say there’s no laughs to be had, of course: the drama is balanced by Thaddeus’ hapless attempts to impersonate Paladin Harkness, with the massive power armour suit used to create great moments of physical comedy – I particularly love the image of a massive knight holding a tiny lunch tray.
While these events spell large-scale disaster for the Brotherhood, this episode’s writer – genre TV veteran Jane Espenson – takes great care in ensuring that it all folds into Maximus’ character arc. As he holds Quintus at gunpoint, he admits that “I don’t choose to do the things I have to do, they just keep happening.” It’s a great vocalisation of Maximus’ complete lack of agency in his own life.
But while Maximus may feel like things are entirely out of his control, he is finally making the right choices. After abandoning his assassination attempt, Maximus confesses his failure to Dane (Xelia Mendes-Jones), who tells him, “You don’t have to apologise for not killing.” It’s an interesting moment for a show that has so far spent a lot of time wrestling with the fact that some deaths are necessary, and a good reminder that there’s still space for uncompromised morals in the blasted remains of America. And now that Maximus has the Cold Fusion device, it’s all on him and his sense of morality to make choices that will not just impact him, but the entire wasteland.
