Fallout season 2 understands why the games needed messy families

Fallout's dysfunctional families have always been a core part of the franchise

Families. Love 'em or hate 'em, if you’re a protagonist in the Fallout universe, then there’s a good chance your family situation is… complicated. Unfortunately, if you’re looking for happy families in this setting — especially in the more recent Fallout games — then you’re going to end up disappointed. Sorry, there are only deeply heart-wrenching family dynamics on this side of the Wasteland.

The complex nature of family bonds is a key part of the franchise’s history, particularly for the modern entrants. In Fallout 3, the player character is tasked with searching for their father and then working with him on Project Purity, which aims to purify the Wasteland's water, even if achieving it requires dubious actions. In Fallout 4, the roles are reversed, with the player character a parent searching for their infant son after he is kidnapped by the Institute, a reclusive, scientifically focused faction that seeks to advance humankind's technological development in the Wasteland, no matter the cost.

In both games, the protagonist's family bonds are complicated by the brutal reality of the franchise’s post-apocalyptic setting and what the survivors are willing to do to get by in the Wasteland. Amazon’s Fallout show is no different.

In Fallout, former vault-dweller Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) has to face down her own messy family dynamics. Lucy’s quest to find and stop her father, Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan), who is busy carrying out horrific mind-control experiments in a laboratory in New Vegas, drives her journey throughout season 2. This is mirrored in the actions of her brother Norm (Moises Arias) and in the revelation of their father's secrets surrounding Vault 33. Lucy isn’t the only one with a complex family relationship. The Ghoul’s journey is spurred by his search for his wife Barbara and their young daughter, Janey.

In Fallout season 2, episode 7, the bond between father and daughter is put to the ultimate test. In episode 6, Hank’s mind-controlling devices save Lucy’s life, albeit as part of a demonstration set up by Hank to prove a point. However, that didn’t stop Lucy from demanding to head down to the mainframe, where she could stop production of the mind-control devices. She almost succeeds but relents when she sees a pacified Caesar’s Legion warrior warning her not to proceed because they've recently mopped the floor. It makes Lucy wonder whether her father could be correct in his way of thinking.

We’ve seen briefly in Fallout season 1 and through flashbacks that, despite the atrocities Hank has committed against the people of the Wasteland and his own vault, both Lucy and Norm see him as a good father. Hank’s paternal tendencies continue throughout this latest episode. He bonds with Lucy by teaching her how to drive the golf cart and cooking her favorite meal. He even asks her about a book they had planned to discuss together after Lucy’s wedding in season 1. The vast majority of these scenes take place in a kitchen area that resembles the one they used to share in Vault 33.

It’s clear to us — and, thankfully, to Lucy — that while Hank does have a very real love for his daughter, his actions are, ultimately, manipulative. He wants her to see his side of things because he can continue his work and eradicate inter-faction conflict in the Wasteland. His love for his daughter doesn’t eradicate his ultimate goals, though MacLachlan’s charisma and performance as Hank does make you want to believe his relationship with Lucy will do just that.

Hank and Lucy’s relationship here mirrors the one between the Sole Survivor player character in Fallout 4 and their son, Shaun. Much like Hank, Shaun grows up to become a ruthless idealist willing to use the people of the Commonwealth as fodder, replacing them with synths (synthetic entities that look and act like the people they’ve replaced, but can ultimately be controlled). While Hank is charming in his manipulations, relying on old memories of an idyllic childhood built on lies and deceit, Shaun’s been separated from his parents for years, and even when he attempts some level of sentimentality towards the Sole Survivor, it’s always to try and get them to see things his way. The roles may be different from Hank and Lucy, but the Sole Survivor and Shaun’s relationship is no less complicated.

Fallout’s writers have long leaned on the family unit and how it can become twisted. It’s a core aspect of the franchise and beautifully portrays how family relationships, much like super-futuristic vehicles and technology, were also abandoned and left to waste after the bombs dropped.

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The first seven episodes of Fallout season 2 are available to stream on Prime Video now. The finale will release on Tuesday, Feb. 3.