Fallout Season 2, Episode 6, “The Other Player” Recap & Review
Episode 6 of Fallout season two truly begins to bring all of the earlier season threads together. This episode begins by returning to the pre-apocalypse timeline, where Barbra Howard calmly (but still anxiously) helps plan the end of the world during her workdays. She shifts quickly from Vault-Tec marketing meetings to water systems and freeway infrastructure meetings, all that seem pretty unimportant when you have the end of the world on your mind. The tension rises when she meets with ,who is now confirmed as the man pretending to be, Robert House.
It is here where “the automated man,” the device Hank has been fussing over all season, finally makes sense. House plans to trade it to Vault-Tec in exchange for cold fusion, a deeply messed-up deal that swaps mind control for unlimited energy. Then after this meeting we see Barbra, getting a rare quiet moment during lunch, staring at a family photo with visible fear and regret. She knows exactly what she’s helping unleash.
Back to the present, Coop is still stuck on a pole after Lucy threw him out a window for betraying her... The show takes its time with his pain. He calls to his dog, asking for his yellow vials, which I assume is some type of RadAway, to control his ghoul side. He eventually passes out, and the story shifts back into his memories of Barbra.
Their confrontation is tense. Cooper asks if Barb was always a monster or if she became one over time. As she exclaims "Excuse me?" He replies, “war never changes,” which we know is exactly what she said in her Vault-Tec meeting. Cooper tells her he saw her apocalyptic meeting and knows her part in it. We see the tension not only with right and wrong, but also marital complexities that can be tense on the most regular terms... never mind when telling your wife know about the genocide she is planning. Later, still stuck and losing touch with reality while stuck on a pole, Coop focuses on memories of his daughter Janey. Knowing she is still alive and he is so close to getting her back, is pretty much the only thing keeping him going. He keeps trying to free himself and eventually he does get free, but this can definitely be symbolic of showing just how close he is to losing his humanity.
Catching up now with Lucy waking up in her father’s fake Vault-Tec suite... The wallpaper of a farm, blue skies, and fluffy clouds look like a Vault 33 memory, now exposed as nothing more than set dressing. There is a neatly laid-out yellow dress waiting for her, and it definitely feels like a silent demand to go back to being the “good” daughter. Lucy, who has gone through way too much on her journey, has moved too far away from the doe-eyed girl she left the vault as. Her decision to not put on the dress confirms this.
Hank’s note by the phone, “Dial 0 when you’re up – Dad,” clearly shows he still thinks he controls Lucy. She proves him wrong by not calling, and instead ventures into the Vault-Tec building to explore. As she does, she meets Legion members in the hallway. She gets ready to fight, but surprisingly they greet her cheerfully... The control chips in their necks explain this particular behavior.
It soon becomes clear that Hank has created a full corporate fantasy world, with smiling workers, assembly lines, and nonstop production of control devices. He has been BUSY. When Lucy finally finds him in a detailed 1940s-style home simulation room, his calm presence in the kitchen makes the whole place feel like an emotional trap.
Hank starts their conversation by bringing up All Quiet on the Western Front, using it to argue that conflict is inevitable and that the surface world proves him right. Lucy admits the book disturbed her. Hank says the surface disturbed him too, and that the only solution sometimes is to hurt others first. Lucy's reaction to this is to pull a knife on him and announce she’s taking him back to the vault to answer for Shady Sands... effectively trying to civil arrest her own father.
Hank, disturbingly, seems very okay with this. He gives her handcuffs, talks about responsibility, calls her “sugarplum,” and offers to show her what he has built first. During the tour, he references one of the happy workers, “She used to cook people for the Legion, and now she makes trail mix and boy is it tasty.” For him, turning cannibals into office workers is the mark of progress.
When two Legion members without chips start fighting, Lucy has to act. She stabs one with a pencil while the other attacks the other Legion member with a stapler. She then is "forced" to activate their control chips, and they calm down immediately. Hank quietly says “Kumbaya,” which works as both a joke and a warning, challenging Lucy to reject the order he has made.
Checking back in with our Brotherhood bandits, Maximus and Thaddeus are still shaken by the Brotherhood disaster of earlier episodes. Max treats the cold fusion device as something sacred, while Thaddeus... just wants to sell it. Max is shocked and insists it should only go to someone who deserves it. The argument gets personal when Max uses Lucy as an example of a good person. Thaddeus replies that it’s easy to be good if you grew up with comfort and safety. He says by selling the cold fusion, he would finally act good too. Max reflects that he was lucky to grow up in Shady Sands for the time that he did, and Thaddeus jokes, “If you’re the lucky one, then we’re screwed.” The cold fusion device now reflects their values instead of just being a tool.
Back in Vault 33, the “Inbreeding Support Group,” or what I am calling the cousin-loving snack club, has turned into a big cultural event. We go into a daydream with Reg as the party scene changes into a retro spectacle, with a tighter aspect ratio, grainy visuals, and “Uranium Fever” playing as the vault becomes a strange variety show. It’s both ridiculous and shows Reg trying to find his place in the Vault.
That fantasy ends when Betty enters with guards in riot gear. The camera, now out of the day dream, returns to a clean, wide shot. When Reg challenges her, Betty says, “You don’t get extra rations just because of who your parents were.” He replies, “Last time I checked this is still America, so yes we do,” making the scene a clear comment on entitlement and nepotism. There is definitely a power play being made here, and its not the only Vault currently struggling. Meanwhile, Vault 32 phases its own challenges: Woody is missing, and posters announce Chet and Steph’s wedding, which is news to Chet. Did Steph do something to Woody? Will Chet be forced to marry Steph? I am excited to find out.
The flashbacks continue to show the breakdown of Cooper and Barbra’s marriage. Cooper drugs Hank to take the briefcase chained to his wrist. Barbra catches him, angry and determined. This moment is very tense and poses some questions to later on be faced.
By the end of the episode we follow Coopers dog as he leads Max and Thaddeus to Cooper, clearly warn out after his ordeals. Cooper mutters a tired curse. Thaddeus, overwhelmed, then says hello like he’s not sure what else to do. We are starting to see every storyline bracing for impact of the rest of the season.
With only two episodes left, it’s clear that the consequences of every bad choice, secret deal, and excuse are about to arrive all at once.
