"In the cold open, we see her escape an internment camp alongside another woman - I think it's supposed to be her mom, going by the "raised you Catholic" line - and they're almost caught before a fellow freedom fighter suicide bombs the power-armoured grunt who threatens to wrangle them up. Steph's mom is hit with shrapnel, and before she dies, leaves her with chilling advice: "Don't think of them as human beings. Think of them as Americans.""
"The Steph B-plot is very much in line with one of the key themes of Fallout across its two seasons: the idea that you never truly know someone, nor the actual content of their character, whether they be your doting - and widely respected - father, the loving wife with whom you share a daughter, or an irradiated Clint Eastwood cosplayer."
The episode blends extensive setup, simmering new twists, and a compact action set piece. A late reveal shows Steph's pre-war involvement in the Canadian resistance and her escape from an internment camp, where her dying companion instructs her to view captors as Americans rather than human beings. The Vault 32 overseer exhibits sociopathic, dehumanizing beliefs that explain her suitability for Vault-Tec's experiments. A central theme emphasizes that individuals' true character often remains unknowable, illustrated by characters who commit horrific acts while rationalizing those actions for personal ends, including nuclear mass murder and the creation of a pacified robo-army.
Read at Vulture
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