‘Fallout’ Season 2 Episode 5 Prime Video Series Review - Three Deathclaws, Zero Consequences

The fourth episode of Fallout ended on a tantalizing note: Lucy and the Ghoul's encounter with a Deathclaw. It's a very pompous-sounding name for a beast, and that's something Lucy, too, acknowledges in Episode 5. The first few seconds of The Wrangler ratchet up the excitement by introducing not one but three Deathclaws for Lucy and the Ghoul to face. I admit I was quite intrigued. How will this bickering duo get out of this?

The Wrangler, alas, tosses out all the thrill. It leaves you unsatisfied. The Ghoul creates a lame distraction, and he and Lucy make their escape without much trouble. That's it? I can almost understand why all the episodes of Fallout are being released weekly. They rely on cheap cliffhangers to lure viewers in for the next week; they have no meat. When the next week comes, you realize that the payoff is very underwhelming.

If all the episodes of Fallout Season 2 had been released at once, we would have immediately realized that this new season is little more than filler; it mostly sets the table for what's to come in the future. Five episodes in, I don't think Season 2 has yet managed to do anything groundbreaking. It's simply busy setting the table for what should be a grand meal (will that "meal" be Season 3?). The Wrangler, like most episodes this season, lays down exposition that viewers are expected to note down like obedient kids. Nuclear war, for instance, will be caused neither by Robert House nor by Vault-Tec. The real culprit is a mysterious entity. Who? Stay tuned and continue watching the series.

Norm and his small team of Vault-Tec executives arrive at a Vault-Tec headquarters, where Norm learns about something known as the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV). What is it? Stay tuned and continue watching the series.

Hank kidnaps a snake oil salesman, brainwashes him without blowing his head off, and sends him to deliver a message. That message is given to the Ghoul, who is asked to return Lucy to her Vault if he wants his wife and daughter to remain unharmed, untouched by the evil hands of Hank. What can the Ghoul do but oblige? He tranquilizes Lucy, yet she manages to punch him out of a window and says, "I thought we were friends," with a sting of betrayal in her voice. It's a pretty kickass punch, if you ask me, and apart from this, another highlight of the episode is two old women going by the names of Barv and Ma June. There is this show and its characters, and then there are these two women, who exist in their own nonchalant, don't-mess-with-us frequency. Will they appear again in future episodes? Stay tuned and continue watching the series.

Final Score- [4/10]