The penultimate episode of Fallout season 2, “The Handoff,” was ripe with reveals and moments that laid the groundwork for a climactic finale. Lucy spends the episode with Hank, caught between the potential uses for Hank’s mind control and destroying it. Maximus and Thaddeus spend the episode with the Ghoul on their way to get weaponry for their fight against the Deathclaws in New Vegas. Norm’s plotline progresses this episode, as the Vault Tech employees contemplate how to punish him. In flashback, Cooper’s loyalties continue to be torn during his trip to Vegas. Finally, tensions escalate in Vault 32 and 33 as certain secrets and conspiracies become increasingly difficult to hide.
Given its handful of plotlines, the episode focuses on each character group for only a few scenes. This choice made sense, especially given how each plotline ended in a cliffhanger. For better or worse, this led to the episode feeling entirely like the first half of the finale. Still, the reveals and plot escalations were engaging, and the cliffhangers themselves built excellent anticipation for said finale. Lucy and Hank’s relationship continues to be interesting, especially as he outlines what he believes are the advantages of the mine control. The predictability of Lucy’s conflict and rebellion is outweighed by the progression of her character. “The Handoff” cleverly shows glimpses of Lucy and Hank as having a more normal, sweet father/daughter relationship as he teaches her to drive a golf cart. Lucy’s rebellion, given the violence she has become accustomed to in The Wasteland, is particularly interesting compared to Hank’s polite villainy. If anything, this dynamic could have been explored more in longer or a greater number of dialogue scenes between the MacLeans. With the MacLeans, Norm leaves the episode in an extremely compelling position, needing to stand up for himself and fight his way out of the situation he’s in, paralleling Lucy’s ongoing arc.
As with the dynamic between Lucy and Hank, the trio of Maximus, Thaddeus, and the Ghoul was fun, if sparse. In particular, Maximus’ outward affection for Lucy clashes very well with the Ghoul’s conflicted, subconscious, perhaps lost affection for Lucy. However, this trio could have definitely used more time together to interact, as they moved extremely quickly between the plot beats they needed to hit with minimal banter. Overall, this speaks to the tight squeeze this season has had to make between touching base with its multitude of characters and giving them ample room to breathe and interact. Still, this trio’s dynamic was engaging, culminating in an exciting climax with the Deathclaws and leaving fascinating cliffhangers for all three characters. In the vast world of apocalyptic wasteland stories, the Fallout franchise stands out primarily with the vaults and the storylines within. This season, on the heels of previous reveals about Vault Tech’s ulterior motives, does not have all too engaging storylines within the Vaults. However, this episode delivers numerous moments that shake the foundations of the characters still residing in the Vaults. Despite many engaging character dynamics not having a ton of room to breathe, “The Handoff” sets up a bombastic, exciting finale while touching on all of its major characters.
Rating: 7/10