IR TV Review: FALLOUT - EPISODE 7 (“The Handoff”) [Prime-S2]
The aspect of understanding one's adversary (or at least the ideal they represent) comes to head in Episode 7 of Season 2 of "Fallout" entitled "The Handoff". What the episode does is switch up the playing field which is when, at times, this series works best. Lucy (Ella Purnell) has reasons to react the way she does and Cooper/The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) doesn't hold it against her. Goggins continues to deepen the play here because he is the main one that has a sense of duality and that is what is finally paying off. Lucy, after her drug addiction, is just getting older and realizing the way of the world isn't what she thought it was. Maximus (Aaron Motin) finally throttles back into the story he needs to be in but unfortunately he is little more than a plot point. While the vault stories add layers, the issue with them, even as we learn the backstory of a key overseer, is that there are not stakes attached per se as much as the reasoning for them. There are some interesting plays in casting but what we have seen mostly plays like cameos which definitely engage the viewer but almost don't add anything to the story.
Macaulay Culkin was a fun addition a couple episodes ago but there is no add on to it. Ron Perlman was a great uncredited addition (because of his involvement in the original game) in the previous episode and he makes a key addition but his mythology (unless added later) doesn't add anything either. When Justin Theroux was brought in with a dual switcheroo in a key part that parallels Cooper, that made a lot more sense. As this one progresses, it is just more tit for tat. Lucy, after seeing what her father (Kyle MacLachlan) has done at the end of the last episode, begins to see a certain logic to his work. However whether that is enough to have her see what is going on is to be seen. The question overall that still nags is who is really truly responsible for The Wasteland and what happened. Michael Emerson a couple episodes back is always a good idea for a misdirect but the aspect of the MacGuffin which Maximus is carrying does add a reason. Again another cameo (Jonathan Nolan does love his 80s films) gives another clue to what might have happened. However the motivations of the top new players are still filled with questions as the series heads into its 2nd season finale. However there does seem to be much more story to be told. A-
By Tim Wassberg
