Nature versus nurture. It’s the centuries‑old argument and the theme of this week’s episode of Amazon’s Fallout, “The Other Player.” It’s one of this series’ best topics — and one of the most interesting parts of the Fallout games in general, assuming you actually immerse yourself in a playthrough. Min‑maxing has its place, but so does living in the choice. This episode is packed with suspenseful survival, familial and communal fallout, and a pleasant little easter egg that deserves more focus. Let’s get into it.
The mystery of who really runs Vault‑Tec goes deeper than any of our characters are ready to uncover. How would a shadowy global cabal sustain itself after a self‑inflicted nuclear apocalypse? Fallout is no stranger to that trope, and this show clearly plans to answer it. The showrunners continue to do a great job of showing how it all unfolded, and not just through flavor text on hacked computer terminals. It was also nice to see Barb Howard (Frances Turner) staring down the same dilemma our main cast keeps facing: picking the least evil of the evil choices. Speaking of which, Maximus and Thaddeus ask themselves that same question.
Staying who you are in the face of adversity sits at the core of this show, whether you started with a “good” life and gradually slid into moral pragmatism, or you were always a chaotic‑evil maniac hiding under genius and good manners. The Wasteland itself — and the people in it — are the engines of that change. Lucy is struggling with it, and there’s a hope she can still stay true. Cooper, the Ghoul, has been fighting that battle for 200 years, and now that he’s had a very painful recuperation and a change of followers, it’s hard not to laugh at how his next partnership is likely to turn out.
As the show has gone on, the side quest of Vault 33’s denizens after the MacLean family left has been the weaker plotline. The people worth caring about have all gone off to their own points of interest, and the remnants back home just aren’t as compelling. So far, they mostly serve as an example of what humanity does when impending doom looms: throw a party. Still, catastrophe has a way of making things interesting, and odds are it will here too.
The cast consistently keeps this series compelling, even if some shoulders carry more weight than others. The de‑aging work in the flashbacks still holds up. With characters from season 1 coming back, including some supposedly dead ones, I really hope we get more of Matt Berry’s Mr. Handy — or better yet, more Matt Berry himself. He’s always a hoot.
Now the only request is simple: more Super Mutants. Especially super mutants that say the thing. But as they say, war… war never changes.
Keep it coming, Amazon. Fast‑traveling to episode 7.
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English (US) · 