Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Fallout Episode 7.

The Big Picture

Fallout
‘s seventh episode reveals new relationships, underground changes, and flashbacks, building suspense for the final act.
The Ghoul searches for Moldaver, while Lucy faces death by banishment in Vault 4, and Maximus sacrifices for her.
Norm’s loyalty is tested in Vault 33 as citizens move to Vault 32, and Thaddeus discovers a potential secret about himself.

In the penultimate episode of Fallout, we truly start to see where all the pieces are falling for these characters at the end of this first season. On the surface, we’re seeing new relationships begin, while underground, big changes are coming for the people of Vault 33 (and now, Vault 32). Meanwhile, via flashbacks to before the bombs fell, some of the most compelling details of this show happen centuries before the events of the actual story, as we learn what happened in the build-up to this destroyed world. With the seventh episode of Fallout, it all feels like it’s ending too soon, but at least we’re heading in a fascinating direction for the final act.

Fallout In a future, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles brought about by nuclear decimation, citizens must live in underground bunkers to protect themselves from radiation, mutants and bandits.Release Date April 11, 2024 Main Genre Sci-Fi Seasons 1 Creator(s) Graham Wagner , Geneva Robertson-Dworet Streaming Service(s) Prime Video

The Hunt for Moldaver Continues in ‘Fallout’ Episode 7
The episode begins with two men metal detecting and digging in the Wasteland, wearing what appears to be old Ranger armor. We learn that these two men are a father and son, and upon returning home, they call out for someone named Sandra. However, sitting at their kitchen table is The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), who is sitting and eating a meal of unknown origin. When the young girl, Sandra, appears, the father seems relieved, and The Ghoul points out that he was assuming The Ghoul was eating his daughter.

But The Ghoul has come to this father to talk about his third, older son Rufus, who we learn has gone off with a madwoman in the hills two years ago, and they haven’t heard from him since. The Ghoul puts together the evidence that makes the other son Tommy, as The Ghoul reveals Rufus got Tommy mixed up with this madwoman too. Rufus sent Tommy a stack of caps to pay a courier for the safe transport of a defector (Michael Emerson’s Dr. Wilzig) to Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury). The Ghoul mentions that he killed Rufus, and now he has come here to find Moldaver’s location. Tommy says that she’s at the observatory, but The Ghoul questions if Tommy will come for retribution against him at some point. Tommy reaches for a weapon, but The Ghoul is too fast, shooting and killing him.

As the father grieves over his second dead son, The Ghoul heads towards Moldaver while ingesting medicine to make sure he doesn’t turn. We then flash back to Cooper Howard (Goggins) before the bombs fell, as we see the meeting at Hollywood Forever Cemetery from the last episode. There, Moldaver talks about California and how they all came there because of the American Dream. Moldaver mentions that the atom bomb was supposed to be the end of the war, that the future’s coming up fast, and that most of them have more in common with the people we’re fighting in war than with the people in power. This is too much for Cooper, who gets up to leave, saying “this is about all the horseshit I can take,” and that he has his principles. Moldaver asks how much Vault-Tec paid him to take his principles off his hands. The two have a back-and-forth, and Moldaver says she knows a side of Cooper’s wife Barb (Frances Turner) that perhaps he doesn’t even know about.

After the meeting, the two meet up, where Moldaver says that every research company she has worked for was acquired by Betty’s division of Vault-Tec. Moldaver was developing Cold Fusion, which was difficult to monetize, but that didn’t stop them from buying up her companies. Moldaver states that America has been in a resource war for over a decade, and that Vault-Tec has bought the means to end that war—the same war that Cooper once fought in. Moldaver asks Cooper for help, giving him a listening device for him to spy on his wife. As Cooper hands the device back to Moldaver, she says to keep it, ending their conversation by saying, “I’m not a communist. That’s just a dirty word they use to call people who aren’t insane.”

It’s Death by Banishment in ‘Fallout’ Episode 7
Image via Prime Video

Back with Maximus (Aaron Moten) and Lucy (Ella Purnell) in Vault 4, Lucy has been captured snooping in Level 12, where she believed she saw the people of the vault experimenting on innocent women. But Birdie (Cherien Dabid) and overseer Benjamin (Chris Parnell) show her a Holotape that says otherwise. We’re shown a doctor named Hawthorne, who mentions that despite their results in this Vault, a society governed by scientists really is the ideal social structure. As sirens blare and something tries to get into the lab, Hawthorne says that they shouldn’t be used as a case study for what happens when scientists are given unregulated control, and that hybridizing humans with radioactive-resistant species still has potential. At this moment, a monster that seems to be a gulper bursts into the room, dragging Hawthorne away from the camera.

Birdie says that the doctors in Vault 4 are trying to ease the pain of the poor souls that Lucy’s people lured into this place, and that Benjamin’s ancestors were used as lab rats by the original residents of Vault 4, until they rebelled. Lucy ensures them that Vault 33 wasn’t like this, but she’s asked what the experiment for Vault 33 was. Lucy, confused, says there wasn’t one. But since Lucy infected Vault 4 with violence, she must now pay the price. As she’s taken away with a bag on her head, she passes by the room of Maximus. He decides to put down his life of luxury to go save Lucy from whatever Vault 4 has planned for her.

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We then catch back up to Thaddeus (Johnny Pemberton), the current owner of Wilzig’s head, alongside the dog. Thaddeus hobbles his way to a Red Rocket Gas Station, where he decides to check out the damage done by Maximus stepping on his foot in the Brotherhood of Steel armor. It turns out, the damage is bad, a bloody mess with toes falling off, which barely even resembles a foot anymore. Thaddeus traps the dog in a Nuka-Cola freezer so she won’t follow him anymore, as he goes off to try and radio the Brotherhood and accept his deserved glory.

In Vault 4, the inhabitants have tied Lucy to a podium in what is another strange Vault ceremony. Benjamin carries a huge sword, and they condemn Lucy due to her threatening the peace of the Vault. She is sentenced to death… by banishment to the surface. Benjamin then uses the massive sword to saw through her restraints, then sends her on her way with two weeks of supplies to take with her. Not a bad punishment at all, given what Lucy has already been through. But Lucy sees how much Vault living has done for Maximus, and she asks if it’s okay for him to stay. At this moment, however, Maximus is stealing the Vault’s fusion core to use for his Brotherhood of Steel suit, and then interrupts this ceremony, demanding they let Lucy go. He starts throwing things and people, but Lucy points out that it’s fine, and that they can leave, thankfully, before Maximus does too much damage.

It’s Moving In and Moving Out of Vault 33 in ‘Fallout’ Episode 7

As they leave, Lucy laments that they stole the fusion core, as that will only give Vault 4 a few days of power. Even though Maximus says that they can use his fusion core-powered suit to save Lucy’s dad (Kyle MacLachlan), Lucy says that it would break her father’s heart if she destroyed an entire community just to save him. Maximus leaves his hard-earned suit behind, and they send the fusion core back to Vault 4. After this, Lucy points out that Maximus is the best person she’s ever met, and asks him to come live with her in Vault 33. With a guilty conscience, Maximus admits that he lied to her, saying that his name isn’t Titus, it’s Maximus. He reveals that Titus was the owner of the suit, but that he let Titus die, took the suit, and then lied to Lucy. But Lucy shrugs this off, saying the Wasteland sucks, and that she’s also done things in the past two weeks she regrets. Maximus agrees to move in with her as they head off to find the head once more.

Thaddeus is now trying to get to a radio station, so he can relay his message to the Brotherhood, but he’s still hobbling along. Thaddeus passes the strange chicken fucker from Filly (Jon Daly), who decides to help Thaddeus. It turns out, the man is a snake oil salesman, with a complete pharmacy of oddities. When the man isn’t looking, Thaddeus tries to kill him to take his “medicines,” but his gun is empty. The salesman turns around and demands a fee for his services, and while Thaddeus doesn’t have any caps, he does offer the original fusion core reactor from Maximus’ suit. The salesman gives Thaddeus a concoction that immediately starts putting his foot back together. When Thaddeus asks how to find the radio station, the salesman mentions it is near Shady Acres. Thaddeus says that area is nuclear as hell, but ominously, the salesman says that Thaddeus doesn’t have to worry about that anymore…

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We then check back in with Vault 33, as Norm (Moisés Arias) is stuck in his routine of bringing meals to the raider prisoners. However, one day, he brings his tray of food and all the prisoners are dead from rat poisoning. The new overseer Betty (Leslie Uggams) pulls Norm aside and points out that when he called for violence at a previous meeting, his words have meaning—as they can now see the repercussions of that. Betty soon sends out the new Vault assignments, as some of Vault 33 will be moving over to Vault 32. In particular, Norm’s closest confidants, Chet (Dave Register), Steph (Annabel O’Hagan), and her new baby will be moving to Vault 32, while Norm stays in 33. When Norm finds out that Chet sees this move as a new start, Norm calls him a coward. But Chet accepts this, saying they all are; that’s why they live in a Vault.

Back at the Red Rocket, The Ghoul finds the dog trapped in the freezer and saves her, saying they’re going to go find her daddy (aka Wilzig’s rotting head). We cut back to Cooper at home, where curiosity has gotten the best of him, as he syncs Moldaver’s transmitter to Barb’s Pip-Boy. But he soon regrets his decision and throws the transmitter in the trash. But later that night, Cooper catches his Vault-Tec commercial on TV and goes back to the trash, where he digs it back out. As we return to The Ghoul, he apologizes to the dog, saying, “You ain’t him,” referring to his dog Roosevelt he had before the war.

The now-healed Thaddeus has made his way to the KPSS radio station, run by DJ Carl (Fred Armisen), who is having fiddle week on his radio show, seemingly for no one but himself. Thaddeus waits for the Brotherhood and talks to the DJ when he sees Maximus and Lucy approaching. Thaddeus unloads his gun in their direction but completely misses. However, Thaddeus does activate a booby trap that shoots an arrow right through his neck. Yet somehow, he’s still alive. The hole starts to heal immediately, and Maximus gives Thaddeus the bad news: he might be a ghoul. As the Brotherhood shows up, Thaddeus and Maximus start to panic, and when Lucy asks why, since they’re the good guys, Thaddeus says it’s more complicated than that.

Since the Brotherhood wants the head, Maximus grabs another head from a person who died from a nearby booby trap and smashes its face, hoping the Brotherhood will accept this decoy. He tells Lucy to take the real head and run. Lucy and Maximus kiss, while the decapitated heads they hold also touch. As Lucy leaves Maximus behind while the Brotherhood’s ships close in, she tells him to find her so they can go to Vault 33.

But things aren’t so great in Vault 33 either, as several of the inhabitants are preparing for their move to Vault 32. Betty points out that every Vault needs an overseer and says that the interim overseer will be Steph—continuing the trend of every overseer originally being from Vault 31. As the people start to move into Vault 32, Norm takes this opportunity to go to the overseer’s office. He hacks into the system (in the same way that terminals are hacked in the games), and sends a message to the overseer 31. In the message, Norm pretends to be Betty, saying she needs to return to 31. The 31 overseer asks if she’s compromised, to which Norm replies that the mission isn’t going as expected. The overseer says that she should come to 31 immediately. Ned then heads to the Vault 31 door, where he’s let in. As he calls for anyone, he sees something that seems to shock him, before we cut to black.

This seventh episode ends things at the height of excitement for each of these characters, while there are still plenty of questions that need to be answered. Since Fallout comes from Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, we know not to expect all the answers, but this episode sets things up for what is sure to be a thrilling conclusion. Even more secondary characters like Moldaver and Thaddeus get little jolts in their arcs that make for intriguing potential futures, and who doesn’t love a post-apocalyptic love story, am I right? The first season of Fallout has been pretty solid up until this point. Let’s just see if the finale can stick the landing.

Fallout Fallout’s penultimate episode is putting the pieces in compelling places for the finale, leaving our characters in their most interesting positions so far, as we wait for the ending to likely cause mayhem in their stories.ProsLucy and Maximus are basically starring in their own post-apocalyptic love story.Characters like Thaddeus and Moldaver become even more intriguing after this episode.Vault 4’s story goes in an unexpected and hilarious direction. ConsWhile the show’s been great so far, it feels like we shouldn’t be heading into the finale so soon.

Fallout’s first season is available now on Prime Video.

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