Fallout 2x08 Full Reaction!
Added 2026-02-04 22:29:07 +0000 UTC
Comments
As I said, I sort of figured we might be going back to the Legion, or at least Macaulay simply because we didn’t see him die. Looking forward to him having a bigger role. Need to look into where to put that show on. The Caesar’s Palace is one that you laugh at, as you say, respond, “disappointed in myself for not seeing that coming”, combined with the thing like with Hank and the coffee, noting how they couldn’t resist. Good sci-fi nod with Diane. I hear ya on this is getting a little too big for eight episodes per season. It would be nice if that issue is corrected in the next season onward. That is humorous about The Pitt. Shared amusement of House being totally impotent however much he might speechify. He really wanted to impress upon the Ghoul about meddling in the primal forces of nature, and the Ghoul would not have it. Rather love how we both think of Alonzo in Hank getting shot in the ass. Had to google the Alias and the Twin Peaks. The parallels of how this is like dealing with a relative with dementia, again, didn’t quite think of that. Hoping that you and Jess will get through that ok. There is the loss of the dad part, which could dig into some wounds there, so I might be with you some on that. Love the payoff to Chekhov’s roaches, love you caught the Bill the Butcher of it all, by the way. Good that Claudia is ok. Big worry about the terrible writing for the romance, see how that goes. We’re both lost on the particulars on the shit from the games, presumably, but otherwise this was fun. And by the way, talking about the best actor run. Your comment reminds me that it’s been a long time since I saw Save the Tiger. Hence, I couldn’t really intelligently respond to your one comment. Plus, it was getting late, and I needed to head to bed for work first thing in the morning. The Cotton Hill comparison made me laugh. Seems to be in a similar boat as The Hospital where no one much talks about it these days. And both got thumbs up from Roger Ebert, though he does allude to what you said about Save the Tiger. In the case of Save the Tiger, he seemed to like the acting more than what was actually in it, which I’ve had that experience at times. Limiting to what was nominated, Robert Redford and Al Pacino would have made strong winners for The Sting and Serpico. Of the nominees, I’d say Jack Nicholson for The Last Detail, which also never much gets talked about, no real idea as to why. One weird thing is Jason Miller was up for supporting when he could have won for lead for The Exorcist as it is primarily his story. There’re undoubtedly others that year I’m overlooking like Edward Woodward for The Wicker Man. The film after Save the Tiger, if you hadn’t already seen it prior to the Oscar deep dive, you have the leg up on me, as I’ve never seen it. My brother never heard of it until I answered the question of who beat Al Pacino for The Godfather Part II, and his response was more or less, “Harry and Ton- Wha-What, what the FUCK is Harry and Tonto!?” Trying to think of gaps on my end with the eighties, and I think the only one I haven’t seen is Robert Duvall’s win.
Thomas Corp
2026-02-06 00:23:10 +0000 UTCWe're almost definitely heading to Steph and/or Betty getting an ax in the back with "That, my friends, is the minority vote," which is one of the things I'm most looking forward to now that Hank isn't around to be dealt with anymore. I'll probably never see an onscreen couple with worse chemistry than Joe Mantegna and Mary Steenburgen in Joan of Arcadia (especially surprising from two such seasoned pros), so that might skew my sense of this a bit. I'm mostly still just riding on Lucy instantly changing gears when she finds out Maximus is totally ignorant about sex, so different from how it usually goes and something we could see more of.
Ryan
2026-02-06 00:11:25 +0000 UTCPretty much everyone figured this was what the Caesar's letter would be from seeing it started with "I am," but it's still a nice surprise that we're actually going back to that and Macauley's apparently going to have a bigger role next season. Maybe he'll take some lessons from King Silas (very impressed if anyone remembers that one). The Caesar's Palace line was one of those times I could only respond "I'm disappointed in myself for not seeing that coming." It's only fitting that at the same time Thaddeus is wondering how he's going to tell fish stories, Lucy runs into Jan in the Pan. And like we learned from the Fifth Doctor, sometimes it's a lot more disturbing to see someone asking you to kill them. But we still don't linger long on it, because the episode can't with all it has to pack in, which is my big problem here. Eight episodes just isn't enough for how big this story has gotten, and I'm left with the same feeling as when we last left House of the Dragon which has now been revealed to just plain be missing the last two episodes after HBO cut off the money hose unexpectedly. The announcement of The Pitt's third season actually came with a hilarious statement by some network guy, "Hey, did you know it's actually possible to put out fifteen episodes every single year? Why didn't anyone tell me?" I've seen some complaints that House doesn't actually do anything here after all the buildup, but I'm just digging that he's now totally impotent however much he might speechify. He wants so much for the Ghoul to say "I have seen the face of god" so he can respond "You might just be right," and Cooper just won't give it to him. Now if we can give him the full Arvin Sloane ending, alive forever stuck in a deep dark pit (as much as that show's last season sucked, they totally nailed that one thing). Which also frees the Ghoul up to give Hank the Alonzo Harris Special, much appreciated after all the bad things we've had to sit through from him. And then Hank willingly turns into Dougie Jones, and depending on how much next season plays into the parallels of how this is like dealing with a relative with dementia, that might be pretty tough for me to get through. Regarding Norm, how would Chekhov have put it: If you introduce an elevator full of roaches in act one... Really not much else here beyond being happy the right people lived and died, with the roaches apparently having the same instinctive moral sense as Mailer and the other soldiers he infected. I'm just hoping the inevitable romance between these two next season isn't written too painfully, which is very often where these things fall down for me. For a show I've often praised for being so accessible to people who know nothing about the games, that stinger is a real headscratcher. Clearly Liberty Prime is supposed to be something important, but all I'm seeing is the same power armor the show has had plenty of. And I have very little faith that Quintus will be able to do much with it anyway. So a pretty limp note to end on, but otherwise I've loved this whole season, and when a show's biggest problem is there isn't enough of it, that's a good one to have. So happy we're getting more.
Ryan
2026-02-06 00:01:39 +0000 UTCAs a non-gamer, S2 has felt a bit different to S1. In S1 it felt like you could just follow the story and any nods to the game were easter eggs for those who knew what they were. The main plot of the show itself felt fully complete. In S2 it's not that I can't follow the story, but I can't escape the feeling that some elements are there because they are from the game and gamers will like them. So we get the Legion, the Enclave, Deathclaws, Super-mutants, FEV etc. All of which I know come from the game. And they are more than just easter eggs, they contribute to the plot, and I am not confused but it feels like there's a lot going on and it feels a bit crammed in. Part of the issue is only having 8 episodes, but that was true in S1 and it didn't feel as bad. And when I say, "bad", it's relative. I still enjoyed S2 but S1 was better.
LatePaul
2026-02-05 10:58:43 +0000 UTCLove the necklace. And I like the new shade on the nails. A busy finale. Love your words on the cast. See that we catch back up with the Legion where the Legate discovers what I heard fans predicted about the note. The idea seemed fairly plausible. And now he’s taken command making everyone say to him, “Hail, Thaethar!!” Leading to violent buffoonery, as you put it. And that’s all I can comfortably talk about the Legion plotline without sobbing. I suspected we’d be seeing Macaulay again as we never saw his character killed. Jesus, there’s my dad talking on that one. And I was reserving talking about the recent death of Catherine O’Hara on the chance that Macaulay was in this finale. I was sorry to hear about Catherine, dear sweet legend. Just seeing Macaulay makes you think of Catherine, and you want to give the man a hug. And the tribute he paid to his mom, it... there are no words that’ll do any justice to how the heart shattered on that one, plus the subsequent sobbing. Norm narrowly escaped death, love how your concern was instant. Those roaches came out to play. As I’m fond of saying: you are not an awful person, because I am, and you’re never at the meetings. Those roaches went to town on the vaulties. When they go at Ronnie, we speak, “I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot, so because you are lukewarm, I will spew you out of my mouth.” on the roaches’ behalf. Nice that they let Claudia be. And I adored how you encouraged Norm to use some of the vaultie fuckers as human shields, and I adored your words to said vaultie fuckers. Love Maximus found the weapons setting, and had some fun, with assists from Thaddeus. Sweet how Thaddeus is rising the ranks of your favorites on this show. Maximus committing to the last stand where he’ll die braver than most was one rather awe-inspiring sight. Even the Ghoul would be impressed, taking it in and saying, “Well, I’ll be double-dog damned!!” if he was present for that. Shame the one lady was a pessimistic sort, though it does get the shared laugh. The NCR saves the day. Fans sound happy about that one. Then there’s Lucy’s dilemma of showing the world that she can get ahead. Speaking of: Love how you asked the logistical questions before they got answered. We both chided Lucy for advocating patching Diane up. You were nicer about it than I was. Shared “Fuck off, Hank!” when he really went too far. (Not that he hadn’t already, mind you.) Likewise, we both had joyful, “Oh, son of a bitch! You shot him in the ass!!” responses to when the Ghoul did so to Hank. It is wonderful to see how the Ghoul makes it clear that he’d have said to Hank, “I’ll send you straight to Hell, fucker!!!” before putting five in his head, but instead he leaves it the decision to Lucy. We both found it to be one of the sweetest things. I do hope that Lucy marched Hank past the other brainwashed workers so that they could have the chance to let Hank know that he is right about one thing: he is a CPA. A certified public ASSHOLE!! (HURRAY!!) Alas, Hank implements phase two as does Stephanie. Surprised yet not surprised that Stephanie is Hank’s ex is about right. You mentioned that Lucy handled the scene of Hank without his memories much better than you would have. Yeah, didn’t think about that one last night, though yes, I can see how that would get you. Lucy and Maximus are reunited. The chemistry is still lackluster. ...Still better than Daenerys and Jon, so there’s that. Brings us to the Ghoul renewing old acquaintances with House. I can neither confirm nor deny anything about the travelers as I don’t know one way or another. (And I agree with you on the words of you being a reactor who’s a layman with this fandom.) Heart breaks when you see his and Barb’s efforts were for naught. For now. Still not much in the way of diving into Moldaver being likely just as bad as the other villains. Discovering her and Trinity used to be an item in their younger years was a surprise, so there is that. Maybe next season. Brave of the Ghoul with how he lets HUAC paint him as the villain, leaving Barb and Janey comparatively safe. Leading to the reveals of the empty vaults. Not tremendously surprising. We did both observe that we didn’t actually see them in the vaults earlier. Again, that’s my dad talking. Give Walton all the awards for his scene where the Ghoul knows for the first time in two hundred fucking years that his family lives still. Shared love of that scene. His business with House is concluded. For the Ghoul is his own man. As the Ghoul says, “I am what I am.”, which is now two things in this that bring to mind projects connected with Nathan Lane. Incidentally, Nathan just turned seventy, God bless that man. Catch back up with Dane right at the end. Quintus now unveils some blueprints. And ending on an ominous close up of said blueprints for ...something, presumably from the game. And you hear the fans crying out about ...something. Good or bad, I don’t know. One thing for sure, season three’s going to be a hot mess. Once it comes out in about five years, like you said. Nice that Norm is in less of a dire situation at the end of this season. And more importantly, our good girl is safe for now. Very good. I was seriously terrified about that going badly, and what that reaction would like given recent news. And yes, perhaps that’s morbid to think about, and if I have offended you by saying that, then I am sorry, Jess. I apologize. If nothing else, it was a great time diving back into this world with you, and thanks for the fun journey through season two. Great stuff, Jess.
Thomas Corp
2026-02-04 23:54:55 +0000 UTC
