Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 1 of ‘Fallout’
Prime Video’sFalloutseries is filled with plenty of unexpected and surprising pairings and partnerships, but one of the most intriguing is not a romantic one. In fact,the relationship these two major charactershave with one another is about as far removed from romance as it can possibly get. Instead of starting things off as dedicated companions, these two start things off inFalloutas bitter enemies. On one hand, you have Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) — an optimistic to a fault Vault Dweller who believes that there’s a little bit of good in every person. On the other hand, you have Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins), otherwise known as The Ghoul — a pessimistic immortal who views the world of the Wasteland as a violent, desolate place. The two could not be more different, and that shows, yet they form a unique bond that one doesn’t typically see in television shows very often.
In a future, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles brought about by nuclear decimation, citizens must live in underground bunkers to protect themselves from radiation, mutants and bandits.
Lucy and The Ghoul Are on Opposing Sides from the Get-Go in ‘Fallout’
Not only are Lucy and The Ghoul’s personalities fundamentally different inFallout, but their upbringings differentiate from each other in a variety of ways.Lucy has spent her entire life enjoying the pampered lifestyle of Vault 33. Sure, she has had some combat training and experience keeping up with the Vault’s day-to-day operations, but she has never seen any real action in her life nor has she ever really needed to. That’s until a band of ruthless and violent raiders led by a woman named Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury) invade the Vault. They kill around half of Vault 33’s residents before taking Lucy’s father Hank (Kyle MacLachlan) as their hostage.
Meanwhile, The Ghoul is getting dug up by a band of mercenaries who hope to find an on-the-run Enclave scientist by the name of Wilzig (Michael Emerson). This grave may be where The Ghoul is introduced, but his origins date long before the events of the show - a little over two hundred years earlier in fact. Once upon a time, Cooper Howard was a prominent and well-known actor in Hollywood, being married to a high-ranking Vault-Tec executive named Barb (Frances Turner). Cooper’s world soon imploded in on itself, both literally and figuratively. Not only did he learn that his wife was a willing component in destroying the world, but the nuclear fallout turned him into a bitter, vengeful Ghoul.
The Ghoul Shows Lucy the Horrors of the Wasteland
When Lucy and The Ghoul do inevitably meet inFallout,they’re on opposing sides. The Ghoul finally tracks down Wilzig and is ready to take that sizable bounty on his head. Lucy is just trying to find her way to her father’s captors, but she can’t stand idly by as a seemingly kindhearted man like Wilzig gets captured, maimed, or killed by this Ghoul. The Ghoul doesn’t take too kindly to that, so not only does he mortally wound Wilzig, but he also nearly murders Lucy. Thankfully,Maximus (Aaron Moten), in his newly acquired power armor, is able to keep The Ghoul at bay long enough for Lucy and Wilzig to escape.
Wilzig is unable to survive his wounds andLucy is forced to see his head off, so she can deliver the piece of technology stuck in his skull. The Ghoul catches up with her almost instantly, but not beforeLucy loses Wilzig’s head to a hungry Gulper. The Ghoul decides to try and fish out the Gulper and retrieve Wilzig’s head in the only way he knows how —using Lucy as bait. Lucy’s nearly devoured by the voracious mutant, untilshe feeds the monster The Ghoul’s drug vials, which keep him from going feral. During all of this, Lucy is lecturing The Ghoul on the “Golden Rule”, otherwise known as treating others with the same level of respect that they would give to you. The Ghoul responds by telling her his own golden rule, which doubles as a funny nod to theFalloutfranchise’s side quests: Thou shalt get sidetracked by bullshit every goddamn time.
For the next few hours, which feel like several days,Lucy is The Ghoul’s captive, and he puts her through about every challenge and morally objectionable scenario that one could possibly go through. The Ghoul makes Lucy carve the flesh of a dead Ghoul for food,making her drink heavily irradiated water, before ultimately selling her off to an organ chop shop run by a deranged and malfunctioning Mr. Handy (Matt Berry). The Ghoul’s bad karma eventually catches up to him, ashe collapses before he’s able to get paid in the form of more drugs.
Can I Watch ‘Fallout’ Without Playing the Games?
The Wasteland has something for everyone.
Lucy Shows Mercy to The Ghoul Even After All He Did to Her
Lucy manages to escape the clutches of the Mr. Handy robot and is able to free the other imprisoned Ghouls while putting the feral ones out of their misery. Most people would probably simply escape and leave a cruel captor like The Ghoul to literally rot, but not Lucy. Surprisingly enough,Lucy shows compassion to The Ghoul and gives him the drugs that he needs. It’s a curious move, and while it doesn’t absolve The Ghoul of his sins, it certainly gives the ruthless bounty hunter something to think about.
Perhaps The Ghoul thinks he owes Lucy for saving his life, as he surprisingly comes to her rescue inFallout’s ending when Hank is revealed to be a genocidal maniac. Turns out, The Ghoul has a history with Lucy’s old man, as he’s secretly been a pre-war Vault Tec employee this whole time, and he supposedly knows where Cooper’s wife and daughter are located. Hank manages to escape, but both The Ghoul and Lucy are determined to find him and get answers. They’re willing tochase him all the way to New Vegasif they have to, and that may very well be where they have to go to find him.
After what The Ghoul put her through, it’s difficult to imagine why she would ever want to be around him again, even if it means finding her father. Still, they both are on a desperate search for answers, andthose answers may lead to discovering the people who truly orchestrated the so-called “Great War”. To solve this mystery, they’ll need to travel together, only instead of being captor and prisoner, they’ll be partners on the road to Nevada. A pretty incredible relationship development in a very short amount of time.
The complete first season ofFalloutis available to stream on Prime Video.
