TL;DR – This is the first episode of the season that has felt a touch on the messy side, more setting up pins down the end of the alley than hitting strikes, but that might just have been me not gelling with some of the plotlines.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this series.

Fallout: The Golden Rule Review Introduction –

In the world of Fallout, there are a lot of pieces on the board, with people, factions, and forces unseen across the Wasteland that are all on the move. But when you have all those pieces moving around, it can be easy for things to lose traction, most notably your engagement with the narrative. I think that might have happened a touch today.

So, to set the scene, things have not been going well for Lucy (Ella Purnell) after she left The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) in the hospital. She did not know that the person she was helping was a member of The Legion, who did not find her musings on The Golden Rule very motivating. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood’s early musings of a civil war have hit a snag when Paladin Xander Harkness (Kumail Nanjiani) from the Commonwealth has arrived full of swagger and implied threats. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there may be [SPOILERS] ahead.   

Looks Like We Got Ourselves a Civil War

The first main narrative this week comes from the Legion, or in this case, the Legions, as a civil war has broken out after a disputed leadership succession. Look, as far as civil wars go, a disputed leadership succession is a classic, especially given the Roman inspiration. It was delightful to see Lucy know more about Roman history than the people cosplaying like they were a Civilization unit that you forgot to upgrade. It also means we get our second big cameo for the season with Macaulay Culkin showing up as a Legate. The slow way they revealed who he was from his helmet was a delight, even if you knew Macaulay Culkin was in the season, but it must have been a wild reveal if you didn’t.

Parallel to the chaos in the Wasteland, the flashbacks take us into Cooper’s own unravelling. Much of our flashbacks this week were all about how Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins) discovered who he is as a person. His life is falling apart as his wife, Barb (Frances Turner), is clearly one of the people involved in the conspiracy he is investigating. Still, they have asked him to murder a potentially defenceless man. It is pulling at his moral core, which, of course, is juxtaposed with what is happening in the Wasteland. I was not a fan of this section, other than the one-on-one that he has with Dogmeat (Lana 5). It brought a grounding aspect to the character as it is nice to see he cares and respects at least someone in the Wasteland.       

We Are the Ones Who Bleed.

Our other plotline that we explore this week is the fallout from the attempted civil war, which has been a disaster for Elder Cleric Quintus (Michael Cristofer) as people start fleeing a sinking ship, and even Maximus (Aaron Moten) is concerned, asking if he can just straight up murder Paladin Xander Harkness. I honestly liked the vibes that we got between Maximus and Harkness. Harkness is everything that Maximus wants to be, and when they go for a flight, it is the first time we see Maximus show some real emotion.

But of course, in the long line of generally good characters not being able to have good things, looking at you, Spiderman writers, the broship can’t last because Harkness, our Han Solo substitute, is also a child killer. This whole section felt somewhat contrived for me because the moment they spot the unknown automation, you knew it would have to link it back in with the opening Thaddius (Johnny Pemberton) tag. Thus, it became a slow march towards complicity or murder in defence of others. I am glad Maximus chose the latter, even though it is going to be a shame to see Kumail Nanjiani disappear from the show, as he was a delight.    

Recommendation 

In the end, do we recommend Fallout: The Profligate? While I did have some reservations this week, I think it also shows just how good the season has been so far that I still recommend the episode even though I didn’t quite jive with it this week. Have you watched Fallout: The Profligate? Let us know what you thought of the episode in the comments below.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Fallout
Directed by – Liz Friedlander
Written by – Chaz Hawkins
Created by – Geneva Robertson-Dworet & Graham Wagner
Based on – Fallout designed by Tim Cain, Mark O’Green, Scott Campbell, Christopher Taylor  & Interplay Productions & the Fallout video game series by Bethesda
Production/Distribution Companies – Amazon MGM Studios, Kilter Films, Bethesda & Amazon Prime
Starring – Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Moisés Arias, Frances Turner, Kyle MacLachlan, & Walton Goggins
With – Johnny Pemberton, Michael Cristofer, Kumail Nanjiani, Macaulay Culkin, Martha Kelly, Barbara Eve Harris, Dallas Goldtooth, Jon Gries, Sisa Grey, & Justin Theroux
And – Jesse Burch, Kaleti Williams, Guy Heilweil, Ava Scarola, Alyssa Riley Ndati, & Lana 5