"The Radio"

"The Radio" is the seventh episode of the first season of the Fallout TV series.

Synopsis[]

Summary[]

Adam and his son Tommy work as lead farmers, wearing a helmet and overcoat similar to that of the NCR Ranger combat armor. After a long day of work, they return home, and Adam goes into his house calling for his daughter Sandra. He is horrified to find the Ghoul sitting at his dinner table eating a strange meat. To his relief, Sandra appears to bring the Ghoul a drink. The Ghoul laughs as he realizes Adam thought he was eating Sandra. Adam orders Sandra to step outside while the Ghoul asks for information. He brings out a letter saying Adam has three children, but he only sees two; Adam admits that his older son Roofus left to join Lee Moldaver's forces two years earlier. The Ghoul identifies the other boy as Tommy and reveals that Roofus had also recruited his brother, which Tommy had kept secret from his father. The letter indicates that Roofus sent Tommy money to pay a courier to transport Wilzig out of Filly to Moldaver. The letter was damaged when the Ghoul killed Roofus and now omits Moldaver's location. Adam demands that his son give up the location for the safety of their family; he reluctantly tells the Ghoul that Moldaver is in the ruins of the Griffith Observatory. As he prepares to leave, the Ghouls asks Tommy if he plans on taking revenge on him as he leaves, or perhaps hunting him down later. Tommy reaches for his gun first, but the Ghoul outdraws and kills him. He leaves the grieving Adam and Sandra behind and downs a vial of anti-feral chems.

Back before the Great War, Moldaver, then going by "Miss Williams," commences a meeting in the Hollywood Forever funeral home. She claims that the people in power are the real enemy, and Cooper, scoffing, starts to walk out. She stops him and suggests he has sold out to Vault-Tec; he volleys the same criticism at her and her ideology. She claims she knows his wife and a side of her he doesn't. After the meeting, Moldaver privately meets with Cooper to tell him that her research division, which is working towards developing unlimited energy via cold fusion, was acquired by Barb's division. Since then, Vault-Tec has done nothing to further the project despite the fact that it could end the Sino-American War. Moldaver asks Cooper for his help getting the project back and gives him a listening device. He is repulsed by the idea of spying on his own wife, but she insists he keep it. Moldaver claims that she does not sincerely hold communist sentiments, but has been labeled as a communist for not buying into propaganda.

In the present, Birdie and Overseer Benjamin admonish Lucy, who is handcuffed to a desk, for trespassing on Level 12 and injuring a fellow Vault dweller. They play a holotape showing Vault 4's origins: Given unlimited control of the Vault, Lloyd and Cassandra Hawthorne and their subordinates experimented on hybridizing human test subjects (refugees from the surface tricked inside by promises of sanctuary) with radiation-resistant species. The test subjects eventually fought back against the scientists. In the tape, a gulper breaks through Lloyd and Cassandra's barricade and eats them; they nonetheless assert that their research still has merit moments before their demise. The laboratory is now used to treat patients still suffering from the original experiments (explaining the pregnant women seen lying in cryo-chambers in Level 12). Benjamin and Birdie ask Lucy what the experiment in Vault 33 was; she insists that there was none. Despite her apology, Birdie tells her that she still must be punished for bringing violence into their community. They place a bag over her head and drag her outside. Maximus sees Lucy being dragged past his suite and resolves to help her.

As CX404 pursues him, Thaddeus arrives at an abandoned Red Rocket gas station and rests to look over his mangled foot, complete with protruding bones. He locks the dog in a Nuka-Cola dispenser to prevent her from following him, still making sure she can breathe, and leaves to search for a radio station.

Lucy is dragged before the chanting Vault 4 residents in the atrium with her wrists tied to a post while Benjamin pulls out a scimitar and sentences her to her death ... by means of exile to the surface, cutting the rope around Lucy's wrists while the crowd cheers. She is additionally gifted two weeks of supplies to give her a fighting chance for survival. Lucy asks Maximus to be allowed to stay. At the same time, Maximus steals the Vault's fusion core in order to power his T-60 power armor and briefly causes a blackout. The backup generator kicks in as Maximus suits up. In the atrium, he begins attacking the residents before Lucy explains that they're letting her go.

They return to the surface, and Lucy entreats Maximus to return the fusion core, as without it, the Vault will only last a few days on backup power. He is resistant to the idea, but ultimately agrees, and they drop it down the chute they came through. Maximus confesses his real name to Lucy and that he acquired the armor by allowing the real Knight Titus to die through inaction. She forgives him, admitting to her own crimes and invites him to live in Vault 33 after they rescue her father. He agrees.

Thaddeus continues trekking through the desert as his injury worsens. He follows a signal from DJ Carl, a wasteland disc jockey who exclusively broadcasts pre-War fiddle music. The snake oil salesman sees him and runs after him, offering to treat his wound. At the salesman's "pharmacy," Thaddeus contemplates killing him and taking all of his drugs, but the salesman points out that he wouldn't know the difference between helpful and harmful drugs. Thaddeus agrees to exchange Maximus's fusion core for the treatment. The salesman gives him a serum that tastes foul, but, against all odds, fully heals his deformed foot in a matter of seconds. He provides directions to a radio station near Shady Sands. Thaddeus is hesitant as the town is "radioactive as hell," but the salesman claims he won't have to worry about radiation poisoning anymore and leaves in a hurry.

Norm continues serving food to the imprisoned raiders. One day, the raiders all die from an apparent poisoning, and Veronica is blamed. Overseer Betty sends out the new Vault assignments; Norm and Reg are to stay in Vault 33 while Woody, Davey, Chet, Steph, and her baby are among those re-assigned to Vault 32. Norm visits Chet, wanting to continue investigating the conspiracy, but the latter has lost interest and is more eager to start a life with his new family. Norm calls Chet a coward. Chet responds, "We all are, Norm. That's why we live in a Vault."

The Ghoul tracks the head to the Red Rocket station and hears CX404 whining inside the Nuka-Cola dispenser. He frees the dog and begrudgingly adopts her.

Back before the Great War, Cooper wrestles with the idea of bugging Barb's Pip-Boy. He pairs the listening device before Barb enters the room and puts on the Pip-Boy. Cooper briefly eavesdrops on Barb having a pleasant conversation with their daughter before throwing the device in the garbage out of guilt. That night, he watches his Vault-Tec commercial on TV and goes rifling through the trash to recover the device. He affectionately scratches his dog Roosevelt as he recalls the Vaults' ban on pets.

In the present, CX404, now renamed "Dogmeat", cozies up to the Ghoul by a campfire. Her new master sadly remarks, "You ain't him."

Meanwhile, Thaddeus reached the KPSS radio station and used DJ Carl's radio to call for assistance from the Brotherhood of Steel. Thaddeus feigns appreciation for Carl's music while noting the booby traps scattered around the area, used by Carl to kill people who come to the station to complain about his music choices. When Lucy and Maximus arrive on the scene, Thaddeus shoots at them, unloading his entire ammunition supply, but his shots hit nothing. Lucy attempts to negotiate for the head, but Thaddeus steps backward into one of the traps, causing a crossbow to fire an arrow through his neck. Surprising everyone, he does not die. He pulls the arrow out, and the holes in his neck heal up. Maximus posits that Thaddeus is becoming a ghoul, a side-effect of the healing serum that the salesman neglected to mention. Three Vertibirds approach the location, and Thaddeus realizes that the Brotherhood will kill him if his condition is discovered. Lucy is confused as she believes the Brotherhood are "the good guys." Thaddeus and Maximus quickly summarize that it's a complicated group. Maximus takes the head and allows Thaddeus to run away. Maximus then disfigures the severed head of one of DJ Carl's critics. He instructs Lucy to take the real head while he uses the other one as a decoy for the Brotherhood. They kiss, and Lucy promises to wait for him in Vault 33 as she leaves.

A going-away ceremony is held for the new transfers to Vault 32. Woody panics about leaving and tries to bail, but the Vault 33 guards intimidate him into going through with the move. Betty names Steph as acting overseer of Vault 32, and the transfers officially move out. Chet experiences a moment of regret when he sees his cousin as the inter-Vault door closes. While Betty is distracted, Norm uses her computer to communicate with the overseer of Vault 31. He reports that the "mission" is failing, and the other overseer instructs "Betty" to return to Vault 31 immediately. After a short wait, the inter-Vault door opens and he enters. Inside, Vault 31 is apparently deserted. Norm follows a mechanical whirring sound and is stunned by what he sees.

Credits[]

The credits sequence shows Griffith Observatory in ruins. It begins zoomed on a sign reading "Griffith Observatory Science & Friendship Center, sponsored by Vault-Tec." The camera zooms out to reveal a crashed Vertibird on a destroyed road, with the ruins of downtown Los Angeles in the background. After passing between several destroyed buildings, the area in front of Griffith Observatory is shown, with two crashed Vertibirds and destroyed barricades amidst a cornfield. The camera turns to black after zooming out to show the entirety of the observatory, with the L.A. skyline in the distance.

Cast[]

Starring:

Guest starring:

Co-starring:

Stunt performers:

Uncredited:

Soundtrack[]

• Inon Zur - "Fallout 4 Main Theme"
• Jack Shaindlin - "I'm Tickled Pink"
• Merle Travis - "Sixteen Tons"
• The Platters - "Only You"
• Roland Kovač Rhythm & Strings - "Bossa Angela"
• Heather MacArthur - "Minutemen Radio"
• Dinah Washington - "What A Difference A Day Made"
• Hamburg Symphony Orchestra - Mozart's "Così fan tutte" (overture)
• Cool Papa Jarvis - "Yeah Yeah Baby"
• The Danleers - "You're Everything"
• Jane Morgan - "From the First Hello to the Last Goodbye"
• Douglas A. Wood - "Oktoberfest"

Behind the scenes[]

The opening scene is likely a reference to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, a major influence on the series. In the movie, a man comes home to find "Angel Eyes" (the Bad) sitting at his dinner table demanding information. Before he leaves, Angel Eyes kills the man and his son, leaving behind a grieving widow and surviving son.

References[]