Fallout Season 2 Episode 4 Review: The Demon in the Snow

Fallout Season 2 Episode 4 finally puts things into action as Maximus stands up to his Elders for what’s right. Meanwhile, the Great Experiment within (and outside) the Los Angeles vaults is also starting to unravel, making for an interesting storyline.

So far in Season 2, Maximus’s arc and his involvement within the Brotherhood of Steel has been intriguing. What we’ve seen, both in Season 2 and Season 1, is that Maximus is not hardened by the Brotherhood’s authoritative and totalitarian rules, but rather by his generous upbringing in the New California Republic.

Though that fact has been subtly shown in Season 1, where Maximus had hesitated to put himself upfront with Quintus and his former commander, “The Demon in the Snow” finally gives him that open space.

Of course, none of this would’ve been possible without Thaddeus, whose hijinks have changed from being a bully to being an oddly helpful figure. Much of this surprise came to be when Maximus stopped Harkness from killing Thaddeus’s “working” kids back on “The Profligate”.

What we’re given on Thaddeus’s side of things is an old trick of the book: assuming Harkness’s identity to keep some semblance of order until Maximus can get a hold of things. While his scenes are kept on the down low in order to keep the narrative moving, it does lead to some hilarious moments of physicality here and there.

Although all this is happening, Maximus really gets his dues here. He really holds up on his own, even when Dane comes to help, which goes to show how far he’s come since Season 1. Whereas he was psychologically restrained, Maximus is more on his toes and is much more focused now.

It really comes to show both in those brief moments he has with Dane as well as his confrontation with Quintus later on. In the soft-spoken  moments, Maximus displays that renewed determination to protect the “ghoul-ified” kids with a bit of tenacity.

This new sense of urgency, which first presented itself on “The Golden Rule”, does a good job in making the case of why Maximus deserves to be a lead. His narrative and arc has been carefully fleshed out and expanded upon, through soft flashbacks and empathetic character moments with Dane, Thaddeus, and even Harkness.

When it all comes to a head with Maximus eventually confronting Quintus, it’s a gripping moment. We know that Maximus wants to do good by himself when he tells Quintus about what he did. Yet, he has this innate fear that Quintus is too deep in his ways to ever believe Maximus.

It’s a powerful moment that serves as a great turning point for Maximus since he’s finally getting out of the Brotherhood’s overly-fanatic ways. When Maximus mentions that the kids he saved were ghouls, the heartbreak that’s felt on both ends (moreso on Maximus’s.)

The resulting shoot-outs pretty exciting to watch as well as it throws the Brotherhood into a chaotic mess that’s been brewing for a while. The visual effects are fantastic even if the brief cafeteria fight feels supplementary.

Back in California, things between Vault 32’s new overseer, Steph, and Betty have been slowly coming together. While this story has also lingered in the background, the steps that it takes on this episode feel reminiscent of another event within the Fallout timeline.

To catch you up, there’s been this “in-breeding support club”, led by Reg, that’s been using up most of Vault 33’s resources. Due to the fact that Vault 33’s water chip broke, there’s been a considerable lack of food, which Betty has been trying to better manage.

Here, Betty tries to take precautions by negotiating with Steph, who’s enacted her own sense of oversight in her Vault. Steph’s arrogance towards Betty makes it seem like she’s doing this for a specific reason like it’s motivated by something else. Her mannerisms suggest its rooted in something much deeper than what she’s letting on.

Woody accidentally overhears this and tries to report it back to Steph, which is definitely a red flag. Then again, the whole Vault storyline holds its own secrets that weave so many moving parts together. It can feel a bit jumbled, but what comes out of this conversation is interesting.

As Chet tends to Steph’s child, the realization that Steph’s been acting cold and distant finally catches up to Chet. Since the beginning of Season 2, Chet’s just been a minor-minor side character to Steph and Betty’s conflict. Fortunately, this episode gives him room to finally do something about it.

Inside of Steph’s drawer, he finds a hidden wallet, which reveals that Steph is actually Canadian and not American, which is an integral detail to keep note of. With all of these pieces lining up, it starts to become clear why Steph’s personality has shifted.

Steph has been trying to fit into the culture and society of this Americanized system in order to get what she wants. Now that she’s in power, she has some sort of control to wield against Betty, who she recognizes as a threat.

However, the biggest question seems to be how Season 2 will blend her motivations from Season 1 and this new character detail together. 

Originally, Steph took that cold turn because Bert was killed by the raiders. Now, it seems like she’s got an agenda against the system because of her status as a Canadian.

In the games, America decided to annex Canada because of its oil fields, which were taken advantage of before the War. Due to China’s attack in Alaska, American deployed its military throughout Canada, sparking riots that were shut down hard.

This would eventually become the Resource Wars, which seem to be playing out on a smaller scale through the interconnected Vaults. It’s an interesting idea to explore as things ramp up, but the narrative connection between this and Steph’s relationship with Bert is kept together by some threads.

As for what happens on Norm’s side of things, he seems to be developing this relationship with Claudia, which is a nice addition to his arc. However, with Ronnie hinting at something crucial about the “Great Experiment”, time will only tell if there’s a rivalry or more infighting to play out.

Speaking about Alaska, the flashbacks involving Cooper and Charles rummaging in the frontlines gives weight to what was described in Charles’ speech previously. Cooper truly cared about protecting the other men and having that briefly brought up here nicely shows that spark.

Although some Chinese soldiers take Cooper down temporarily, it’s the appearance of the Deathclaw that’s absolutely terrifying. This is the first time we’re finally seeing one on screen and it makes a grand introduction, thanks to a mix of practical and digital effects.

Thankfully, that’s not all we see as once Lucy and the Ghoul arrive on the Strip, it’s all ominous and scary since we haven’t seen the Strip this empty before. Their arrival, as well as Lucy and the Ghoul’s escape, makes for one big happy, messy conclusion for this episode. 

Fallout Season 2 Episode 4 finally gives Maximus the push he needs as a lead while meticulously expanding what’s happening in the Vaults. It might be a bit much, with all of the moving parts finally coming into play. That said, the scale of how each arc is handled starts to make them all the more intriguing.

Additional Thoughts:

• I’m surprised that Fallout actually canonized the fact that Deathclaws were in Alaska since it’s been heavily rumored within the community that they were.
• I’m still wondering how the Deathclaws moved from Quarry Junction (the New Vegas location where most of them spawned) into the Strip.
• It was fun to see Lucy and the Ghoul starting to get along more as well as Lucy finally standing on her own. Plus, her whole brawl with the ghoul-ified Kings was pretty great too!
• While Lucy getting addicted to chems like drugs feels like a one-time thing, I’m wondering if it’ll return as a joke or as an important detail later on.

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Fallout Season 2 premieres on Tuesday, December 16, on Prime Video.

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