"Lucy (Emma Purnell) fulfills her stated mission by bringing her father, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan), to justice. It's reciprocal justice, sure, but foiling Hank's plan to pacify the Wasteland via mind control is a clear win, just as leaving him in New Vegas to start anew - without his memories, surrounded by the very people whose minds he meant to wipe - is the twisted form of comeuppance " Fallout " prefers."
"The Ghoul ( Walton Goggins), meanwhile, just wanted to find his family, and he did. Kind of. With an assist from his digitized nemesis, Robert House (Justin Theroux), the cowboy formerly known as Cooper succeeds in locating his wife and daughter's cryogenic chambers... only to discover they already left. A leftover postcard indicates they're in Colorado, so that's where the Ghoul will look next."
"Withholding their reunion reeks of the kind of water-treading felt throughout the first five episodes, but Cooper's search for his family is a series-long arc, not a seasonal one. When he says, "For the first time in 200 long-ass years, I know my family is alive," the nihilistic antihero's chosen optimism is enough progress to make his Season 2 journey rewarding. And it sure helps to have Goggins delivering the line - his earnest, patient performance puts the scene over the top."
"If only the same could be said for the finale as a whole. While effective enough in getting its messages across, "The Strip" lacks heft in its big battle scene, tension in its father-daughter showdown, and resonance beyond what literally happens. That sounds may sound like a lot of mistakes, but they all come back to the same problem: over-editing. Episode 8 is chopped to shit, bouncing between its trio of stories with momentum-sapping speed and careless, imperceptible logic."
Lucy brings her father Hank to justice, foiling his plan to pacify the Wasteland via mind control and leaving him amnesiac in New Vegas among those he sought to erase. The Ghoul, aided by digitized Robert House, locates his wife's and daughter's cryogenic chambers but finds they already left, following a postcard trail to Colorado. Cooper's declaration that his family is alive marks meaningful progress, heightened by Walton Goggins' earnest performance. The finale's main battle, the father-daughter confrontation, and overall resonance suffer from heavy over-editing; Episode 8 cuts between three stories with momentum-sapping speed and careless, imperceptible logic.
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