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Most fans of the Fallout franchise know weird, awful things happen in Vaults - that remains consistent in Season 1 of the Prime Video series. This next set of episodes shows a great deal of what is going on in the Vaults. Or at the very least, viewers started to see more and more that things weren’t what they appeared to be. Vault 33 was shown to be an ideal Vault, where things were perfect and everyone was happy. However, there is a question if that really was the case.
Then there’s the mysteries at Vault 4. So many things at Vault 4 simply didn’t add up. Some of it does make sense, but the current Overseer sees things differently than previous leaders. In these two episodes, Lucy becomes more jaded, and it appears that Maximus finds a home. How will that shake out, though for the Fallout Prime Video series?
Before you dive into the recap, you can check out our Fallout Season 1 review if you wish to know what we thought about it. You can also catch up on what's been happening with our Episodes 3-4 recap.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for episodes 5-6 of the Fallout Season 1.
Highlights of Fallout Season 1 on Prime Video’s episodes five and six
Episode 5
- Things are great between Knight and Squire, then aren’t
- Lucy and Maximus team up
- The Overseer Vote takes place
- The Future of the Vault is planned
- Lucy’s never heard of the NCR
- What happened in Vault 32?
- Where did Lucy and Maximus wind up?
Episode 6
- Vault Propaganda and design flaws
- “The salesman for the end of the world”
- Crooked Cops harass The Ghoul
- Vault 4
- “Remembering Shady Sands” and “The Flame Mother”
- Horrifying happenings at Vault 4
Recap of Episodes 5 and 6 of Fallout Season 1 on Prime Video
Episode 5
Just when things seemed great between Thaddeus and “Knight Titus” in Fallout Season 1, they went horribly awry. Maximus made the mistake of revealing his true identity after branding Thaddeus. In response, the latter stole the Fusion Core so Maximus could not get out of the suit, and fled.
Thankfully, the next day, Lucy showed up to break him free and slay the Radroaches that were starting to crawl all over the armor. He offered her Rad-Away - A Vault-Tec product to remove radiation - if she helped him. However, she had been looking for The Brotherhood of Steel’s help to get her father back from Moldaver. He does ultimately agree, and a version of “Glory, Glory Hallelujah” played in the background.
Meanwhile, back at the Vault, the Fallout Vault Dwellers had to vote on a future Overseer: Betty, Reg, or Woody. This is another moment where I said to myself “The Vault Dwellers are idiots.” Reg couldn’t even vote for himself. Even he voted for former Overseer Betty.
There’s a really confusing scene that will get cleared up later, between Maximus and Lucy. She asked about the past 200 years since that’s when the bombs dropped. However, Maximus said the bombs dropped recently - when he was a kid.
Back at Vault 33, Norm looked into the past Overseers, and noticed a pattern: They were all from Vault 31. Then it cuts back to Maximus and Lucy, who were trying to get across a bridge with other people on it. Lucy tried to de-escalate, and when she raised her hands, the people focused on her Pip-Boy and opened fire.
Turns out, these people were Fiends - described by Maximus as “people who eat people”. Several people talk about Vault 31, though. They use an incredibly weird slogan.
“When things look glum, vote for someone from Vault 31”, the slogan says.
A bit later in this Fallout episode, Norm asked Stephanie what made Vault 31 different, and she didn’t really know, even though she was from there.
“Gee, I dunno. Maybe the mashed potatoes were a little bit better?” Stephanie said.
Betty, now Overseer, is making plans to discuss the future of Vault 32. After all, it’s abandoned, and just wasting space. They are going to do something about it, but the question was what were they going to do.
Lucy and Maximus, meanwhile, come to Maximus’ former home, Shady Sands. Fans of the franchise likely remember this place, and it could be considered an easter egg. Vault 13 is near this place, and it was a location in Fallout 1. It’s mentioned in every other game virtually, but it only appears in the first game as a part of the New California Republic.
This all left Lucy confused. There were civilizations that popped up after the bombs dropped, but her Vault stayed hidden away, instead of coming out for Reclamation Day. Turns out, civilization continued without them.
“Everyone wants to save the world. They just disagree on how," Maximus said.
In a combination of misery at being back at Shady Sands, and the bullet wound he received, Maximus seemed to be pretty miserable. Lucy took him to a nearby building, the Hawthorne Research and Development building.
Betty decided in the next scene that some of the Vault 33 members were going to move to Vault 32, to rebuild and get things settled properly there. It was a very suspicious scene, considering everything was completely cleaned up when the Vault Dwellers took a tour of 32, during this Fallout Prime Video scene.
Betty even mentioned to Norm that she knew where Rose’s Pip-Boy was, buried with her. She knew because she helped bury Rose, alongside the former Overseer. That’s an incredibly suspicious tone and conversation. The episode then ends with Lucy and Maximus in an unknown Vault.
Ending Theme: It’s Just a Matter of Time - Brook Benton
Episode 6
“Time is the ultimate weapon. The future of all humanity comes down to one word: Management," Bud Askins
Interestingly enough, this episode of the Fallout Prime Video series begins at Vault 4, where Cooper Howard is doing a commercial for Vault-Tec. Cooper met Bud Askins, who was a former West Tec executive - also responsible for the rollout of the T-45 Power Armor. He admitted the suit had some design flaws, which Cooper said cost many men their lives in the war for Alaska.
Later in the past, Cooper Howard chats with the man who voiced Bartholomew Codsworth, the Fallout 4 robot (Matt Berry). In this chat, Cooper revealed he lost a film role because of the Vault-Tec ads. Codsworth’s voice suggested that he was the “Salesman for the end of the world.” In this timeline, doing ads as an actor was unbecoming.
Fast forward back to the present of Fallout, and The Ghoul hears that familiar voice on the robot. Before much could happen, The Ghoul was harassed by a pair of sheriffs. Knocking out The Ghoul, the scene would wrap up.
It turns out that Lucy and Maximus were in Vault 4 and were welcomed warmly, and the Vault’s foragers even recovered Maximus’ Power Armor. This is when they learned that this Vault also took in survivors of Shady Sands. The two were kept in a room labeled “Test Subjects”, which also led to a pretty comical moment.
Lucy suggested the two of them become intimate, and Maximus didn’t understand what any of it meant. That kind of thing was apparently frowned upon by the Brotherhood of Steel. At first, Maximus thought the whole place was a cult, with how everyone was so smiley and happy.
It was incredibly strange to see The Overseer of Vault 4, Benjamin (Chris Parnell) only had one eye in the middle of his head. There were other weird mutations in the area as well, like someone with a nose on his forehead, and someone with a flipper for a hand. Something is definitely amiss at Fallout’s Vault 4.
Back in the past, Cooper’s wife revealed that since she worked for Vault-Tec, they could get into one of the “good Vaults”, and not have to buy their way in. Just looking at the history of the Vaults in the Fallout franchise, many of them were quite horrible.
Meanwhile, Cooper’s friend, who was labeled a communist, tells him the future of human survival was outsourced to Vault-Tec. They have to sell Vaults, but they can’t unless there’s a need for them - so Vault-Tec wants there to be a nuclear war. The man would leave Cooper with a card to come to a meeting, to learn the truth.
Lucy was shocked to hear that Overseer Benjamin was a native Vault Dweller as well and that he didn’t like taking in outsiders, with their “smelly food, and weird ideas”. He’s very much a conservative and doesn’t like outside influences. Lucy tried to bring up the forbidden “Level 12” of the Vault but was summarily kicked out of his office.
Maximus, on the other hand, was trying to steal a Fusion Core for his Power Armor, but Birdie showed up and gave him a Pip-Boy instead, and his own private room. It was almost like he was indoctrinated into a cult. Suddenly, he loved Vault 4.
It was a very interesting role swap since Lucy was paranoid, and looking through a room devoted to “Remembering Shady Sands." That's when she saw the timeline of how things went there, alongside an NCR flag. She was then invited to a “surface dweller tradition," before things swapped back to The Ghoul.
Moldaver comes up in conversation since The Ghoul is looking for her. She’s referred to as “The Flame Mother”, and said he had to punish The Ghoul for shooting up a legitimate business. Instead of being fed to the hogs, like the punishment was supposed to be, The Ghoul decided to fight back and waste both sheriffs. When looking at a picture of Moldaver, he said he didn’t remember her looking quite like that, which leads to a flashback but viewers don’t see much of it yet.
At the Vault 4 get-together for this Fallout scene, everyone was taking off their Pip-Boys, and smeared the ashes of the fallen at Shady Sands on their forehead. They even drank blood. Yes, this has to be some kind of cult. There were also references to “The Flame Mother”.
Back in the past, Cooper Howard met Moldaver which led to fans wondering how she was till alive 200 years later. The Vault 4 meeting even had a painting of Moldaver, as we saw her earlier. Lucy tried to talk Maximus out of staying, but he was too happy. That left Lucy to explore Vault 4 on her own.
In Level 12, she saw some horrifying pregnant women in tubes and a video screen that showed one of these women giving birth to what looked like piranhas. Those same fish then consumed the woman while she was still alive.
One of the Vault Dwellers showed up to see who was nosing around during this Fallout Season 1 scene, saying he was worried one of them got out. That meant it was time for an alarm and a harpoon gun. Lucy’s squeaky boot reveals her location, and though she tries to get away, she fails. While Maximus munches popcorn, Lucy is captured.
Ending Song: I’m Tickled Pink - Jack Shaindlin
Final Thoughts
What an incredible set of Fallout episodes. More mysteries came to light, and I found myself even more confused than before. How is Moldaver still alive, and not a Ghoul? Is Cooper’s wife everything she claims to be? What really happened at Vault 4 to have all the mutated people running around?
The plot really thickened in these episodes, and there are still more secrets to discover, I think. We still have no idea what happened in Vault 31, either. There’s so much more to know, and I think the next two Fallout episodes will sufficiently wrap things up.
Fallout on Prime Video is available starting on April 10, 2024. You can check out other episodes' recaps here:
- Fallout Season 1 Episodes 1-2 recap
- Fallout Season 1 Episodes 7-8 recap
- Fallout season 1 ending explained
