Green...

It is season 2. Of potentially 5. maybe even more.

End of 2/5, and we've got Max and Lucy being just "hunky dory".

Max looks happy.

End of 2/5 and we've got Coop thinking Barb is still his wife - despite all of her lies/"I don't know you Barbara" - from over 200 years ago. He thinks they've rigged the game, that they despite everything managed to outplay the other player in this regard. That Barb is leading him to her and Janey.

Coop has hope.

And then who do we have in the background of both those scenes, flickering, looming over both of those relationships?

House.

Foreshadowing? Setup? A warning? I think the fuck it is.

It's ominous.

Honestly, I think as much as I love this show, season 2 isn’t written as well as season 1. When I look back over all the beats covered, it feels like too much was crammed into too few episodes.

Maybe it’s because they have something really crazy planned for season 3 and they wanted to lay all the track down for it to happen, but I don’t know if that’s a good excuse. At times it felt like watching a slideshow of cool shots the team wanted that didn’t feel earned or flow naturally.

there were definitely some misses:

The in-breeding plot line just went nowhere, what was that all for?

We knew the pods were going to be empty, but to me the ghouls best moment this season was the Lucy betrayal and him being impaled on the pole. It was so powerful to see him cling to his humanity, and now that we know what we know, I wish he had said something about Barb in that moment too. Because as it stands, that relationship was presented in an inauthentic way to just present a plot twist for viewers. So because that moment was so peak, I think that when we see the ghoul get the postcard and feel hope, it doesn’t feel like a real change for him. I also agree with other viewers that him not being betrayed by his wife really puts a questionmark over his actions and statements in season 1. And honestly, I loved the tension of not knowing if the ghoul wanted to get revenge on his wife or to reunited. It would be such an interesting choice for his character to face. Hopefully there are more twists to come.

I do think the Macaulay Culkin reveal was kinda weird in the same way because we hadn’t seen him since earlier in the season

The Hank and Lucy part was definitely extremely satisfying, and felt like a great conclusion for the two of them.

But I will say, for a whole season where the ghoul and Lucy are compared and mirrored, and they’re constantly betraying and saving each other, it kinda ended like a wet fart. Don’t get me wrong, I liked that he saved her. But they have the most interesting dynamic in the show and we just saw the ghoul get impaled, and Lucy almost cause him to go feral and there is just no working through of that emotional beat.

I also think it’s strange that a core message to the ghoul is to not be the lone wanderer and where is he? Lone wandering.

I really hope we see more of Ron Perlman next season too!

When it comes to Barb, I both appreciate the depiction of their relationship but as a hater of the woman forced to be evil trope I’m also a little bummed. I hope they develop her more next season and show her taking more agency, because as it stands it seems like the enclave and coop are just duking it out over deciding her actions.

*disclaimer, I love barbs character especially as villian who genuinely believes they’re doing the right thing. This isn’t any dislike of her existence or her actress, just disproving some of the “cooper is still in love with her” line of thinking.

The parallels: Lucy and past cooper are going through the same things in this episode. A loved one they have been convinced is evil is getting in their head because the fact is humanity is complex. Hank tries to show Lucy why the mind control is moral and how his hands were “forced” because of the evils of the wasteland. Barb is doing the same thing, claiming her hands were forced because the evil of Vaultec. I think her character is quite interesting, and I don’t doubt she’s against dropping the bombs, but at the same time you don’t rise the corporate ladder in a company like Vaultec unless you’re willing to do some heinous shit. Just like Lucy we see Cooper being bought in, because who wants to believe their loved one is evil? Of course it’s more complicated, but what Barb and Hank are definitely more complicated than that, it doesn’t mean they’re free of guilt.

Of course Cooper still loves his wife present day, but he is not in love with her: as I see it, Cooper wants to find Barb for 2 reasons, to find Janey and to get closure. Of course he still loves his wife, family, as he put it, is a fucked up thing, and despite everything they’ve both done at this point, he still wants to know why and where she is, to get closure.

No the divorce is not faked: this is more from an understanding of narrative, but doing that twist would be very cheap and actually make both cooper and barb less interesting. Part of the allure of their storyline is understanding how to good loving people not only became what they are now, but why they fell out of love. That is far more interesting than pretending to be divorced.

Just like Lucy, returning to Barb, aka what’s familiar, would be going backwards for cooper: again, from a narrative perspective, Lucy and Cooper are trying to move forward and discover who they are as people now in this world, both Max and Barb are safe, familiar. To go back to those relationships is to stagnate and go backwards. Especially for Cooper, he can’t keep living in the past, and while finding Janey is different cuz his relationship with his daughter is cut short, his relationship with Barb has run its course

He doesn’t call out for her when trying to not go feral just Janey: seen this said before but yeah, if you’re married and love someone, even if you have a kid, I feel like your spouse should come up, and if the writers wanted to start hinting he’s still in love with Barb, they would have included her

Deleted scene: it’s Lucy and Janey that come to him in the deleted vision scene, not Barb. Nuff said

Barb is not being completely honest: similar to my first point. There is more to the story than, my hand was forced, and if there isn’t, Barb is much less interesting than I thought. In season one we see Barb gaslight Cooper multiple times so no I don’t buy this “I’m a victim” act. Of course she would say that. You saw the panic on her face when Cooper reveals what he knows. She would have said anything to convince him otherwise, that she’s not a monster

The way I personally see it is that Cooper and Lucy’s story are mirror images of each other. So what Lucy is experiencing in the present, Cooper is revisiting in the past. Despite everything, Lucy still has an affection for her father. The creators were wise to cast Kyle MacLachlan in this role because he’s so charismatic and charming, you can almost forget for a moment that Hank has done heinous acts, so we feel that same internal conflict as his daughter. And despite wanting justice and goodness to prevail, Lucy is still very much confused about what that really means, and her father is doing a good job muddying the waters.

it feels like we've barely seen lucy! and i know there's three main characters, but i'd argue she's the main main one. although speaking of the main characters, where has max been?? he's missed two whole episodes, which in an eight episode season, is wild!!

Lucy and the Ghoul going on a roadtrip

What Maximus is doing in the Brotherhood

What Norm's doing with the Vault 31 Buds

What's going on in Vault 32

What's going on in Vault 33

Hank experimenting on people in the management vault

Cooper's pre-War flashbacks

...most of the storylines suffer because they don't have enough room to breathe.

Season 1 definitely had a much simpler story to tell, as it just had:

Lucy going on a journey to find her dad

Maximus going on a journey for the Brotherhood to acquire an article of technology

The Ghoul going on a journey to collect a bounty

Norm navigating things in Vault 33

Cooper's pre-War flashbacks

But it admittedly worked there because there, Lucy's journey is at the heart of the story, and the other leads' storylines all weave in and out of that. She spends an episode and a half on her own, then an episode and a half with the Ghoul, then three episodes with Maximus, then she ends season 1 back to traveling with the Ghoul. Admittedly even then the Vault 33 storyline is a bit disconnected from the main story, and it's hard to say when it's going to reconnect back with what's going on with Lucy, the Ghoul and Maximus.

Here, we're only now starting to see the threads of Lucy, the Ghoul and Maximus come together in the last two episodes, while the threads taking place in California feel like they're taking up screentime that could be allocated to develop the Nevada character stories.

At the very least, there needed to be an extra episode or two that focused solely on the characters who make up the Nevada storylines (that is, Lucy, the Ghoul and Maximus). Lucy and the Ghoul's journey, for instance, would be a bit more fun if they showed us some of the little moments, and not just the big ones. Scenes of things like Lucy and the Ghoul stopping on the road to take a break because Lucy's feet are beginning to feel sore, or buying food and supplies from a merchant, or hell, sitting by a campfire as Lucy tries to get the Ghoul to open up about himself, those would be very entertaining. Maybe even add them going on another sidequest or two besides the one they had with their run-in with the Legion.

I really notice this with Lucy and the Ghoul, and their character journeys. The Ghoul is desperately looking for answers about where his family is, while Lucy wants answers about her father and the things he did. A scene of them sitting by a campfire and talking would allow them to address character beats like, "what does the Ghoul think about his family post-War?" and "How is Lucy feeling about her father, or her brother, or any of the various choices that she's had to make along this journey?" Ideally, the Ghoul and Lucy would each be the perfect individual for the other character to discuss these things with, but they're too busy advancing the plot to just take a few minutes to do some character building.

I think I've mentioned it before, but part of me does wonder if the early renewal for season 3 was less to do with Amazon having a lot of confidence in the show and more to do with season 2 essentially being part one of a two part story that'll be wrapped up in season 3. And that could explain some of the pacing issues.

But maybe season 3 will be slightly better than season 2 in a few regards, as:

I imagine they won't have to tiptoe as much around Fallout: New Vegas fans.

They might just have had a bit more time to write and polish the scripts. The renewal for season 2 came right after season 1 came out, and about seven months passed between the renewal date and when they began filming in late November 2024; season 3 was announced at the Amazon Upfront event in May 2025 right after season 2 wrapped filming, and will start filming in May 2026.

They'll be wrapping up story threads for characters like Hank this season, and possibly for the Vault 32/33 story.

I wrote under this post by @commandermorganwrites about the tarots we see in the motel behind Lucy and Cooper, but I wanted to make my own post about the topic, too. I'd be happy to hear everyone's thoughts about this!

A tarot person here! Generally speaking, Kings and Queens of the same symbol - here the swords - are considered a good omen. They talk about a team or a couple which is balanced (same symbol, both royals and not like other one is King and the other one is Knight). Together, The King and The Queen of the same symbol can take on the whole world but they might collide because they're a bit too similar. In this case, the Swords follow their own rules and expect the others follow these same rules, period.

Swords royals are strict, follow rules, can be distant and cold in their pursues of their goals, but they're not ruthless when upright. They do things which can seem cold but there's a very valid logic behind it. They both rule firmly, with logic and analyzing everything. Their trickiest part is how to handle emotions, as they are both so logical and follow the rules, especially the rules they have set for themselves. Page -> Queen -> King -> Ace form a line of enlightenment, reaching out something through evolution. The page starts this new journey with curiosity and desire to gain more knowledge and clarity; the knight continues the journey with passion towards knowledge but is still a bit immature or wet behind his ears; the queen has established a solid foundation in the element's energy with knowledge and wisdom; the king rules even bigger area with even greater wisdom; and the ace is the point when the person has learned everything the page, the knight, the queen and the king teach. It is a culmination of all these cards' meanings, and signifies new beginnings, especially when it comes thinking, thoughts, logic and goals.

Ace of Swords overcomes confusion, it's the clarity of mind, it's that moment where you go "Oh no, what have I done?!" or "Oh, this is how things actually are!" It is righteous, calling for justice, and since this whole journey is from Page of Swords to Ace of Swords, it symbolizes a steady pace towards a goal that will be reached. The person will get justice. The confusion will go away. The clarity will win. AHA moments will be meaningful and create change, both inside the person and outside of them. If these cards are for Lucy, it represents her journey on the outside world; she starts with a naive logic, learning more, adapting, realizing that some of her logic is solid and sound but it doesn't work exactly the way she imagines. She pursues justice and will have it, even if she had to do it herself. She will eventually conquer the outside world and become a capable person to navigate the world, albeit she is changed in that progress (aka too much naive energy has to go). Her "Golden Rule" and everything else similar, which Lucy follows strictly even when she didn't had to, is typical for Swords cards. If these are cards for Cooper, then I would read them as his regular worldview and how he has used to be will change. As he has been on his journey for 200 years, he is at the King of Swords now and is reaching for the Ace of Swords - the ultimate clarity, the clearest answers, the clear view - but how he gets there might not be the way he thinks he will get there (as Aces are extremely powerful and do recall a wake up call in some cases). This can also mean that the clarity Cooper gets is that bargaining with Lucy is not just a simple gig like in the past but this one SUCKS and he was not anticipating it. The King of Swords' issue is lack of emotions and he will reach his highest potential - The Ace of Swords - by understanding that in order to survive, in order to rule as a king, one needs to respect their emotions and feelings, too.

Fool's card for Cooper can be a message of its literal meaning "fool -> look you idiot, what did you do?!" because he followed so tightly his own King of Swords logic. Even when he hesitated, Cooper still chose Sword's energy. It can (also) mean, that this is a new territory to Cooper - Fool is a brand new beginning where the old ways (beliefs, thinking, behavior, personality, life style, job etc.) have to go. If so, he just reached his Ace of Swords, and every Ace is followed by The Fool, the new beginning.

And while I wish the show had showed more of that developing relationship ahem

It kinda hit me how much she had to forgive and get over to trust him. And that’s why she gets that look of horror when he shoots her with a the tranq- it the realization that all her forgiveness and trust had been misplaced, that all the work she had done to be with this man meant nothing to him (well at least from her perspective in the moment).

"We were actually beginning to get along"

Barb is still a rich, privileged woman complicit with mass murder, warmongering, and human experimentation. Do I really need to throw out comparisons to totalitarian regimes or our current system of rich people doing horrific shit because they don't care about the Poors?

"How can Barb do anything against Vault Tec?"

Sure she’s in a difficult situation, what with Vaultec being an all-powerful corporation and all. Many of us can even relate to her reasoning of doing bad things to protect the people she loves. But yeah, she plays an active part in Vaultec’s plans, and there are real consequences to her decisions. She is a villain. And she is also a well-written character.

And the power-fist punch is that final straw.

Because Lucy has been changing people for the better - we see that with the Ghoul, obviously, but also Maximus, and even Ma June, all these wastelanders becoming kinder, better people because of Lucy's influence. They are reminded of ways to help others, to trust.

But for Lucy, her experiences are stripping away her mask for the worse. All the pain and betrayal beneath the surface is coming out, and with it is a ruthless violence. And maybe because she comes across as so happy-go-lucky harmless, the wastelanders think she's weak or incapable, but as Norm points out, they don't know his sister. She can decapitate someone and carry their head around like a toy if needed. She can maim her raider husband with a glass jug to the jugular. She can shoot her feral mother in the head. She can pick off khans and raiders and feral ghouls quite readily, and has chosen to keep to the non-lethal route so far.

Lucy is more than capable of great violence, and the parallels between her and past-Cooper couldn't be plainer. House's frenetic rant about Cooper being a killer is just as relevant to Lucy's arc in "The Wrangler", and while the Ghoul's journey is reconnecting with his good side beneath the mask, Lucy's is heading into the opposite direction.

The Ghoul's remark about them being the same is coming true, but Lucy's mask has always been that Vault-instilled ethics and morality, a strict edict on how to behave and what makes a "good person". And it's all coming off.

And without that, who is she? Who is Lucy without all that? That's why she questions it, she doesn't know, and it terrifies her. Her one solace was the Ghoul, someone she trusted, someone she could focus on and journey with without worry, and now that even he's betrayed her, she has nothing and no one to hold all that back.

All signs are pointing to Lucy taking a darker path. Even Ella has mentioned that the kind of violence Lucy uses toward the Ghoul isn’t a one-time thing. It will happen again. I just don’t know if she will still believe in the golden rule while feeling more at ease with using violence, or abandon it altogether, considering that it has brought her a lot of harm.

The whole saga of her killing the Kings was about what Lucy is capable of when her moral code is turned off.

And the power-fist punch is that final straw.

Because Lucy has been changing people for the better - we see that with the Ghoul, obviously, but also Maximus, and even Ma June, all these wastelanders becoming kinder, better people because of Lucy's influence. They are reminded of ways to help others, to trust.

But for Lucy, her experiences are stripping away her mask for the worse. All the pain and betrayal beneath the surface is coming out, and with it is a ruthless violence. And maybe because she comes across as so happy-go-lucky harmless, the wastelanders think she's weak or incapable, but as Norm points out, they don't know his sister. She can decapitate someone and carry their head around like a toy if needed. She can maim her raider husband with a glass jug to the jugular. She can shoot her feral mother in the head. She can pick off khans and raiders and feral ghouls quite readily, and has chosen to keep to the non-lethal route so far.

Lucy is more than capable of great violence, and the parallels between her and past-Cooper couldn't be plainer. House's frenetic rant about Cooper being a killer is just as relevant to Lucy's arc in "The Wrangler", and while the Ghoul's journey is reconnecting with his good side beneath the mask, Lucy's is heading into the opposite direction.

The Ghoul's remark about them being the same is coming true, but Lucy's mask has always been that Vault-instilled ethics and morality, a strict edict on how to behave and what makes a "good person". And it's all coming off.

And without that, who is she? Who is Lucy without all that? That's why she questions it, she doesn't know, and it terrifies her. Her one solace was the Ghoul, someone she trusted, someone she could focus on and journey with without worry, and now that even he's betrayed her, she has nothing and no one to hold all that back.

All signs are pointing to Lucy taking a darker path. Even Ella has mentioned that the kind of violence Lucy uses toward the Ghoul isn’t a one-time thing. It will happen again. I just don’t know if she will still believe in the golden rule while feeling more at ease with using violence, or abandon it altogether, considering that it has brought her a lot of harm.

I love how Lucy is so open and generous with her physical affection, and I'm not talking about sex, I mean the innocent touches. I'm talking about warm, genuine interaction. One of her love languages is physical touch (and probably acts of service lol). She was raised in a safe environment where shaking someone's hand, laughing and grabbing their arm, clapping them on the back, a friendly kiss on the cheek is normal. It's effortless. She doesn't even need to think about it. It comes naturally to her.

And the increase in her small touches she gives Cooper, to me, shows how she's begun seeing him as a person. He's familiar. He's stopped being threatening. She felt safe and comfortable enough to revert back to behavior that is so intrinsic to her core.

And I LOVE how flabbergasted Cooper is every time she touches him. Each time, he looks at her or responds physically in some way. He registers the touch.

When he shoots her with the tranq dart

Look at his eyes. They are wide, blank, and empty, as if he’s disassociated and is on auto pilot. He’s emotionless, which is a far cry from his usual self. This is the guy who becomes a freaking drama queen whenever he fires a shot. Think Filly, the Observatory, the Khans. We don’t see any of that here. None. Nada. Zilch. Instead, there is something akin to… fear?

When Lucy looks at him after being shot

Now notice the quick upturn in the corner of his lips, plus the clenched teeth. He looks like he’s in physical pain. She’s the one being shot, but she doesn’t even flinch. She’s still shocked at the betrayal, so the pain hasn’t registered yet. But Cooper, oh boy, he’s acting like that dart went straight through his chest instead of hers. You know his fondness for her goes deep when he starts to associate her pain as his own.

Bonus

The man looks like he’s one sec away from spilling tears the whole time. His glassy eyes say it all. This whole thing is killing him inside.

When Walton said Cooper ‘cares deeply’ for Lucy, he meant deep deep. Just look at the agony Cooper experiences when he has to pull the trigger on her. Not bad for a dipshit vaultie - who he doesn’t even like eh?

If I’m Coop, I’m thinking I destroyed the first bit of human connection I’ve experienced in 300 odd years, sure. But I’m also thinking she’ll probably be physically safe. So…

Like, yeah my crush hates me now but I can probably save all 3 of my girls. It’s just only 2 of them are under immediate threat and can’t protect themselves.

It’s all about strategy.

But then your crush punches you out a window and now you’re sitting on a pole thinking, damn, I turned into my ex wife.

Granted, the consequences of Cooper’s decision are much, much more serious than Lucy’s. His actions have completely destroyed her trust in him. And while the old Lucy might have forgiven him, the current Lucy - because of his influence - is much more unforgiving.