Fallout Season Two, Episode 8 "The Strip" review

This season of Fallout has been an awesome roller coaster of nostalgia from start to finish.  Familiar faces and places, twists, turns, and treachery.  We even saw a CANADIAN!  There's no doubt Kilter Films loves Fallout as much as we do, and they get the quirky/awful humor that makes the series unique.  From the snappy dark dialogue from The Ghoul to Lucy's ever-effervescent, unflappable innocence, this show feels like they set out with a specific series of events to show us, and a precise line in the wasteland to get us there.  Not every show understands that assignment, meandering through its own content — Fallout Season Two felt right and tight from the Deathclaw's tail to its teeth.  

We start Fallout's season two finale with something David's been waiting for — what's going on with Caesar's Legions – specifically, who will be the next Caesar.  It's exactly who I thought it'd be, but I'd be a terrible review host if I ruined that for you, wouldn't I?  

The Ghoul has plenty on his plate as well, now face to face with a digital version of Mr. House.  Powered by the cold fusion diode, he's now found a renewed purpose – life.  Or at least some semblance of it.  On the flip side of that coin, so does our Ghoul friend, and it's the same one he's always had — finding his family.  Now that he knows that there's a management vault in New Vegas, it's time to find his way into it.

On the streets of New Vegas, and clad in New Republic of California power armor, Maximus squares off against the now-free Deathclaws.  For once, and perhaps the first time in his life, Maximus gets to be a hero for real.  If he lives long enough for all that, anyway.

Back in the vault, Lucy's quest comes to a head.  She intends to erase the mainframe, and now's her chance, if she's got the stomach for it anyway.  After a brief conversation with Congresswoman Diane Welsch, she finds a solid solution for her predicament.

Norm's quest is also coming to a head as the residents of Vault 31 talk through how they'd handle this situation as young managers.  Their solution hits a bit of a snag, but they're all a bunch of go-getters with real can-do attitudes.  Unfortunately, Norm once again finds himself on his own as he makes good his escape.  

Back under the city, The Ghoul gets a bit of info on how this vault came to be, who resides in it, and how it came to reside underneath New Vegas, guarded by an army of Deathclaws. Speaking of those Deathclaws, we head to the surface where Maximus continues to square off against what appears to be an impossible number of the beasts.  If I were a betting man, and clearly this is New Vegas so it's the place to put down your caps, he's going to find his way through this one.   Guess we'll see...but it's looking pretty dire.

Honestly, the only wobble in pacing I found in this episode was that some of the cuts to Maximus were so brief that they could have been slid together into something more cohesive.  It gets there; it can just be a touch jarring for such a brief cut.  

In the vault, things are equally as dire, but for different reasons.  There's no way I'm telling you what's going on there as we are so deep in spoiler territory that you've gotta see it to believe it.  Frankly, this review is going to be so much shorter than any of the previous ones because it pays off just about every thread dangled in this season.  The fate of several vaults, characters, and factions unfolds moment after moment, to the point where there isn't a second wasted in this episode.  I was riveted in place the entire time.  If you thought any of the prior episodes had lulls in pacing or didn't have enough meat on the bones, you've gotta take your hat off to the team — this is how you cap a season.

For a show with roaring beasts, exploding heads, and apocalyptic ends, Fallout Season Two closes with some solid emotional gut punches.  Season Three (which has already been confirmed) marches into new territory.  Where does life take you next?  We get some hints where we're headed, and it's exciting.  Thankfully, we won't have to wait too long — the team has already committed to filming Fallout Season 3 on May 1, 2026, with an accelerated release schedule potentially for some time in 2027.  

Let us know down in the comments what you thought of Fallout Season Two!  Did you love the twists and turns in this episode as much as we did?  We'd love to hear from you — see you in the comment, Vaultie.