IR TV Review: FALLOUT - EPISODE 2 (“The Golden Rule”) [Prime-S2]
"Fallout" as it continues in the 2nd season is about the power of decisions. While the first episode this season focused simply on reestablishing the path of Lucy and The Ghoul towards Vegas to find her father, the second episode focuses more on the simple idea of conscience in certain ways. The tendency of people in this apocalyptic world is perhaps to look the other way in certain instances. Episode 2 entitled "The Golden Rule" reinforces this aspect because it speaks to Lucy trying to see the good in people and their path even if that is not realistic. But it turns on her in a way even though she really thinks she made the right decision. Maximus, who we didn't see in Episode 1, is showing what his path with his new responsibilities after last season's finale have led him to. He wants to do well but the idea of altruism and the virtue of the Brotherhood are two different things.
Maximus' path is more dynamic in this season than last because again, it is based on choice. He is brought back into a life as the hero he wanted to be but now is not quite sure he wanted (though he still needs to live up to it). The most eccentric of most of the series (even counting The Ghoul) is of course Hank MacLean (played with a dark spaciness by Kyle MacLachlan) because he take off on a certain path on his lonesome thought (and because of some social media context I've seen) it seems it is pushing towards a bigger progression (perhaps with his daughter in tow) but that is not clear. The routineness of his actions obviously in one scene driving back and forth to a lab feels a little bit like Agent Cooper's "cousin with a secret." Mostly because of a certain technology, it all comes down to control and perfectly that control despite roadblocks. The least interesting of the path involves another vault and their belief in what is utopia led by their own Judas in a way though the final shot is interesting. Fallout Season 2 will be interesting in its choice because it is all about what is not said at times. As The Ghoul's former identity Cooper shows, the facade of what is really happening sometimes can be more important than the actual truth. B
By Tim Wassberg
