TL;DR – This is an episode that, while bursting with lore at every seam, also gives one of the best performances of the series so far.

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

Fallout: The Wrangler Review Introduction –

Well, we have passed the halfway point of the season, and quite often, this is where modern TV series flounder around until they find their feet towards the finale. However, Fallout looks to be doing something different this week, because not only do we get an episode filled to the brim with fascinating lore that people will be debating for weeks, but we also get some of the best character moments of the series so far. Now it is time to dive in to see what Season 2 Episode 5 brings us.   

So, to set the scene, things have gone from bad to worse in the Wasteland. The Brotherhood have started a civil war that may have been helped along a bit, okay, a lot, by Maximus (Aaron Moten). Um, is that New Vegas, or is that a Deathclaw nursery? Also, just saying, having Lucy’s (Ella Purnell) dad, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan), out there doing experiments with people without any oversight, is not the most comforting prospect around. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there may be [SPOILERS] ahead.   

Lore

To say that this episode was full of lore is probably a crime to the word ‘full’ because it was dripping from every surface across the Wasteland. New Vegas joins the list of locations from the games that have not fared well in the last couple of years, as ‘The Strip’ has become overrun with Deathclaws. But no matter what happens, Freeside prevails, which might be a good lesson for the future I love the outfits everyone is wearing, they hearken back to the Vegas of old, but they also feel like a practical choice, perhaps all that’s left from pre‑war stock. Even without that bartender’s musings, we get a feel for the place and its history through the world they have created here.

We start getting into the weeds of what led to the start of The Great War, with a slight walking back, or maybe it would be better to say, a slight recontextualising of the big reveal at the end of Season One. It was here that we discovered that it was the American corporations that dropped the bombs on America. Thanks to our little talk with Robert House (Justin Theroux), we know that they might want to be the ones to push the button, they don’t have the strength to pull it off, and that there is another player out there. My gut says The Enclave, but I’m not sure, and that intrigues me. That whole sequence in Old Vegas was a delight. I also like the full-on F.E.V. reference thrown in this week, which you could have missed if you were paying too much attention to Chekhov’s Radroach Farm.  

Performances

As well as getting deep into the lore this week, we also get some of the best performances of the series so far. Previous episodes this season, like The Innovator, have played on the duality of The Ghoul/ Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins). However, I think this is the episode that really lets Walton Goggins delve into that juxtaposition in his performances. Because you get to see parts of The Ghoul in Cooper, and parts of Cooper in the Ghoul, you feel that he is honestly sad that he used Lucy as bait and that he has grown to care about her. That pain gets crescendoed by a power fist to the chest, a slight defenestration, and a very unfortunate impalement. I honestly gasped when it happened, because even though I know in my head that he is a ghoul and this will probably get walked back next week, in the moment, I was captivated by the performances.

This extended to the whole cast because we open with Jon Daly getting to chew all the scenery (and have some of the scenery chew on him) as the Snake Oil Salesman, which might be the best character name in the show. But we also get to see Kyle MacLachlan pull off some pure glee as his invention finally works, which is unsettling for several reasons. After dabbling around this season, Justin Theroux finally gets to cut loose this week, and it is a delight to watch. I knew from The Leftovers that he could go to some wild places, and I’m glad they have let him. Finally, we got to see Moisés Arias shine a bit more, and I really hope he gets some focus in the back half of the season.          

Fallout Season 2 Episode 5 Review Recommendation 

In the end, do we recommend Fallout: The Wrangler? Absolutely. This was a blast of an episode [metaphorically speaking], from start to finish. I revelled in the lore flying around and enjoyed the pomp and circumstance at every turn. Have you watched Fallout: The Wrangler? 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 – Owen Ellickson
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 – Sarita Choudhury, Martha Kelly, Jon Daly, Dale Dickey, Rafi Silver, Edwin Lee Gibson, Rachel Marsh, Adam Faison, Jeremy Levick, Rajat Suresh, Tony Robinette, &  Justin Theroux
And – Edythe Jason, Jesse Burch, & Lana 5