X-Men '97 Episode 1 Review: Reliving the Nostalgia as Our Favorite Mutants Make a Thrilling Comeback! Plus, Fallout Episodes 3-4 Review

>> Sarah : Greetings, nerds. This is Scene N nerd. I'm your host, Sarah Belmont, and with me, as always, is our mister producer, will polk. How are you doing tonight, will?

>> Will: Doing very well, Sarah How you doing this evening?

>> Sarah : I'm doing good. You know, it's May.

>> Will: Yep.

>> Sarah : It's so weird how. How time works. I mean, we. We've already gone through, I don't know what feels like seven or six shows.

>> Will: I know, I know. And I know we're. I know we're finally getting around to X Men tonight almost. Almost two months after it debuted. But, yeah, I'm glad we finally are. Cause, it was. I know we'll get into it more, but I definitely enjoyed the beginning of it. And, Yeah, and I know you had a fun. Sounds like you've had a pretty good weekend over this talking before show. If anybody of our listeners follow us there on social media. She was very excited about getting some tickets to, a tease this in August. So go ahead and bookmark it now, y'all. In August. We'll have a short hiatus.

>> Sarah : Yeah. There will definitely be a week where I cannot record, that is for sure. And I'm just. I'm thinking about one house of Dragon finale years.

>> Will: Yeah.

>> Sarah : But who knows? we'll figure out something. but as we start new shows, we do have one bit of news to discuss, the controversial at times on this podcast show. So Cobra Kai has announced that it will, drop its final season on when will.

>> Will: Yes. So they had a teaser trailer dropped today, and they're going to be releasing the final season in three parts. And the first part, first five episodes, is going to be coming July 18. The second part will be November 28. And then the third part will be, sometime in 2025, which, it'll be actually 15 episodes, but this final season. And, also there is the movie, which I think was supposed to come out this year, actually got pushed back to, May 30 of next year. So I don't know. I would assume that part three would come out before the film just to build up, hype for it, because it's the. The film is past both Ralph Macchio's universe and also Jackie Chan's universe of, karate kid that's going to blend together. So that's the. That's the news from the cobra kai karate kid world.

>> Sarah : How did I fall asleep while you were explaining all of that? I was like, we're talking about universes. Oh, my God.

>> Will: Yeah. Yeah. Well, as you said, it was a very controversial thing in our podcast.

>> Sarah : Yeah, yeah. Everything's on Netflix, correct.

>> Will: the film will be released, I believe, theatrically, but everything else will be on Netflix.

>> Sarah : Okay. Yes. Very interesting strategies these days for different things. And also movies being released on streaming platforms and not going to theaters. Like, before we started, I was. I'm not finished with it. but I was watching the new Anne Hathaway movie that, you know, in the background.

>> Sarah : And, It's fine. It is what it is.

>> Sarah : but it is better than Netflix. dropped anyone but you. Yeah. You've heard about this movie, right?

>> Will: Yeah. Yeah.

>> Sarah : Like, because it made a lot of money when it was in theaters, right?

>> Will: believe so.

>> Sarah : Feel like it did. I feel like it did about it. Glenn Pyle and. And the girl from Euphoria who's not Zendaya.

>> Will: Yeah.

>> Sarah : But,

>> Will: Or did it. Or did it make a. Or did it like to stop it? Actually, I don't know if it did make any money. I remember when it was released.

>> Sarah : I have a vague sense that it did, like, because of the date when it released, because I feel like it dropped, like, in January or something, and just making.

>> Will: Maybe it was the mute. Maybe it dropped the weekend that Madam Webb came out.

>> Sarah : Maybe. Maybe. I don't think. Think so, but maybe. Anyways, I still. Because I kept hearing about this movie and the chemistry and all this stuff, and. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't get it. I do not get it. That movie is trash. And this is coming from someone who loves romantic comedies. Okay? I love that genre. Okay, m but this. I don't think I laughed a single time.

>> Will: Oh, boy.

>> Sarah : It was so bad. And it just. I don't know. But then again, you've heard me talk about movies recently where, there's something about them where it's just like, okay, this is act one. This is act two. Now we're here.

>> Will: Yeah.

>> Sarah : Man, I'm so not engaged. And which. Which was my expectations going into this movie? The idea of you, it's pretty much meeting my expectations. But because I didn't have so many people raving about this movie, I'm not mad at it. I knew what I was going to get.

>> Will: Right, right.

>> Sarah : Their chemistry is actually decent.

>> Will: Okay.

>> Sarah : It's the writing of the script where I'm just like, really? You had this to play with, then you're just. You're wasting it.

>> Will: Yeah. Yeah.

>> Sarah : You're just wasting it. and also, you don't. Okay, here's my theory. You don't watch romantic comedy, to watch the two people just have a lot of sex. Okay. That's what we call porn.

>> Will: Yeah.

>> Sarah : Okay. You know, you watch the flirtation, you watch the seduction at a ball, you watch the meet cutes moments, you watch the miscommunication, and then you wind up back together. I just feel like they had. They. They had way too much, like, oh, we're in bed together. I'm like, wow, this is, like, a 15 minutes long scene. Why? Really? And then we're just gonna jump to the breakup. This is quick.

>> Will: Okay, I will. I will not put that one down for date night.

>> Sarah : I wouldn't.

>> Sarah : I just was curious about it, because I feel like this movie should have come out a month ago, because I swear, a month ago, all I could hear was, like, Anne Hathaway doing interviews, and I'm blanking on the guy's name. He's, an up and comer. He's been in a few things recently. but anyway, they're great. So I don't mind it as much as I minded anyone but you, so m. Yeah.

Will: Netflix has a series about real estate brokers called selling sunset

So just. Just my casual rant about movies as I see them. I mean, I had to get this out of the way because. And at this moment, Will's thinking to himself, wow, are we gonna ever talk about the shows? We will. We will. I'll say my, like, two minute speech on both of them, but. But this weekend, I don't know who did the scheduling of this. Bridgerton, I believe, is coming out this weekend.

>> Will: Okay.

>> Sarah : Okay, I got. I got selling the OC, which, Which. Okay, Netflix has a series there. There's. There's selling sunset, which is based in Los Angeles, and it's about real estate brokers. Yeah, yeah. But it's really about just older, like, 30 to 40 year olds, women being bitches to one another. like, drama. Like, take mean girls and apply it to a 30 to 40 year old age range. And then. And then it was so popular, they did a spin off called selling the OC, which has some. There's more guys and there's more other relationships. And I really am curious about this season three that's dropping tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. and then Bridgerton. And then this movie, the idea of you was coming out, and so I was just like, okay. I was just gonna take one at a time. Got my priorities sorted. I usually get to Bridgerton late, because reality shows are just easy.

>> Will: Yeah.

>> Sarah : They're just so easy. Get through. Oh, yeah. The other. The. I. I don't know why they did this, but the real housewife, Kyle Richards, her, well, ex husband Mauricio, he's a real estate agent in, in LA. And they came out like a year ago with season one of buying Beverly Hills. And this is all on Netflix. So Netflix, like, just owns reality real estate marketplace?

>> Will: It sounds like it, yeah.

>> Sarah : And I will say season two is far better than season one. However, I don't really care for the family dynamics. So anyways, it's this whole thing.

>> Will: Yeah, yeah, I. Yeah. I haven't honestly, you know, other than watching the shows that we are going to talk about here, I've just been like, kind of sort of watching the NBA playoffs, but the games, some of the series have been better than the others. So, sort of like, okay, let's just get through the first round, so we just get to the second round so we can actually have some good games.

>> Sarah : Well, I mean, you probably feel in that way because everything that happened was college basketball a few weeks ago, where, as somebody who doesn't watch basketball, I could not believe how much any of my social media feeds were, like, college back. Specifically women.

>> Will: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

>> Sarah : Caitlin park and everything. It's just. It was crazy.

>> Will: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. For sure.

>> Sarah : Yeah. Okay, so I have another story.

>> Will: Okay, go right ahead.

>> Sarah : I hate Hulu and Disney plus. I'm, uh-huh mad at them. I don't know what happened, but it wouldn't let me resubscribe to Disney plus by bundling it. It wouldn't let me do it. And I tried multiple days. I finally was able, and I just said, screw it. I'm just gonna create a different account. Yeah, I could have. I just created a different account. And I just was like, whatever, but. All right, well, that leads us to, as, will preemptively said earlier, five minutes ago, before I went on my long tangent, we are starting X Men 97, episode one. To me, my X Men, which the premise is Cyclops races to find the source of new anti mutant technology. it was good. I can appreciate that. How do I put this? It was the start of something, while at the same time, we're walking into the story in the middle m because very early on, it's revealed that Charles Xavier was assassinated by Guyrick. And. And this is off camera before the show even starts. So this is maybe like, months later. Like, how far. How far along has it been?

>> Will: Yeah, so this is continuation of the. Of the show and from the original show that originally was Saturday morning, 90 92 to 95 96. So this is one year later. Yeah. So. And the, So I watched. So I didn't watch like, every episode back in the day, but when I was in college, I mean, it was. I did watch this show quite a bit. I think there were maybe about 95, I think, episodes total in the, in the rich, in the original. And, And so I was, you know, so, familiar with some of the story arcs and stuff. But, at the end of the series, what, happened was that guy Rick used a device on Charles that magnified his telekinetic abilities.

>> Will: And so Magneto had to. They, since Magneto and Xavier are old friends, agrees to help him out, you know, use his magnetic power to keep the outburst from hurting other people. Cause I mean, at this point, Charles couldn't control it. And he was, you know, it was. The powers were growing and stuff. And so what ends up happening is, one of, I think Charles, one he fell in love with from another planet, they enlisted her to come get him and to take him. She's basically said that they have the technology and stuff that can cure him from what Guyrick had done to him. And so Charles goes off. And so that's. That gets us set up to where we are now. So I guess everyone just thinks he's presumed dead, even though he does show up in the credits, so. But he is presumed dead. And that's why. That's how the. Why this series started off the way that it did with X Men 97.

>> Sarah : Right. Which I am. I am familiar with, too. and I've mentioned this on the show before, but I am in no way watching this episode and recalling exactly what happened.

>> Will: No, no, I had to. I will freely admit I had to go back and, like, you know, I had to do some wiki and just remind me, like, what happened, because it's been about 25 or so years since I watched his show.

>> Sarah : Even then, I don't like, for me, I don't feel the need, like, I have to go back and watch it just because the. Enough was familiar enough was like. Because, I think the bones are the relationships. And it's like, there's clearly some moments between Wolverine and Jean Grey. There's moments between Jean Grey, like, all of the dynamics were there. And I know Rogue is in the background with gambit and. And that's my ship. So. So, that all I can appreciate how, as you put it, like, this is a continuation while at the same time, for anybody who's new or it's been so long since they, they watched. It can still walk in. And there's enough that they nostalgically remember while the same time, like, well, I don't really know what. I don't really like this. It still feels like a new story at the same time. and so, and so I think they did a good job about with, like, balancing that continuation versus, ah, while at the same time just like, like, clearly starting a new story to tell these characters. I do admit I don't appreciate the choice of focusing on Cyclops.

>> Will: Yeah, well, I mean, you know, he is sort of now the de facto leader of the group, so. And, you know, like, and as you said, the relationships really are what sticks out to me with this series. and of course, Logan and Scott's and also gene. The whole love triangle, but also just the mutual love hate relationship that Scott and Wolverine have, was on display in this first episode, especially, as Scott was being Mister. Mister leader Guy and, yeah, the Boy Scout. So, you know, it's one of the, I've always, I've always seen, it's funny, as far as characters, I've always liked Cyclops for whatever, even like, like when I was to play the arcade game, I would like everybody be picking up Wolverine. I would always pick either cyclops or storm.

>> Sarah : So, you know, that tracks, which, I don't know, it's not like I like Wolverine either. Or wanted. Like I said before, my people are gambit and rogue. Okay, those are my people. they weren't featured that much. So that's why I was a little like, okay, there was also a lot of jubilee in the episode, and I, will admit I still don't really understand her powers. I really don't. hopefully this season, I will begin to.

>> Will: I will say just, yeah, as far as the power set, I mean, things do seem a little cleaner. I was a cleaner, I guess, the capabilities, and I don't know if it's because they. Even though they did stay true to most of the nineties animation and stuff, they did do some creative, like, choices of allowing certain power sets to seem to be manifest itself a little closer to the, you know, to what they should be. but, yeah, so, you know, so I did. I did like that aspect of the show. And like I said, as far as the aesthetic, I mean, you know, as soon as the remixed theme came on, I was just like, oh, that's like a warm blanket of nostalgia.

>> Sarah : It just. I mean, between the music and the. The art, the design of everything, it really did feel nostalgic. But current.

>> Will: Yeah. Yeah.

>> Sarah : Like, it brought up to speed, but not losing what made it so memorable to begin with and so impactful to a lot of people who watched it. so this Robert Dacosta, he's kind of like our. The character that's used, that's saved. And then the X Men are explained and are revisited, if you will. And so what do you know about him?

>> Will: So, I don't know much about him other than, I mean, I think his. I think his alias is sunspot and I think he, if I recall, he become. He's one of the new mutants.

>> Sarah : Okay.

>> Will: and so, yeah, and like you said, I mean, in this. This news in X Men 97, he really is sort of playing the. The role of the. Of the audience as far as sort of like Algal. He was back in the days of sort of establishing everything, even down. Even down to. I couldn't help but think about whenever he. Whenever, whenever we first met Beast or he. And we were reintroduced to beast, how the one thing that this. How the one scene in the marvels stood out to me, like when we got the spoiler if I haven't watched that film. But, when we were introduced to Beast, then, in the. In the lab when Rambo saw him and I did get kind of vibes, feelings of that. And I think Jubilee was also introduced, the beast that same way. So there are a lot of callbacks to, like, to the original animated, series and now, you know, future, stories as well, with the show. So.

>> Sarah : Well, Jubileese tells, like, the first episode, which ironically, as she's explaining, I'm like, oh, she's recapping the first episode of this show. I don't know why that's so memorable, but, but it really is. And, and despite all of that, we still don't really understand. She's like, power techniques of Jubilee.

>> Will: Yeah, this is. Yeah, just all the power technics.

>> Sarah : Yeah, yeah, yeah. and so while Scott and Jean are dealing with their grief of, Xavier's death, we also, have Jean Grey being pregnant in this. In this. So. So that will be, a through line this season. And I, you know, like I said, I watched it, but I don't really remember morph.

>> Will: I, don't remember morph either from back in the day. I don't. Yeah.

>> Sarah : I'm saying it right now. I don't know why they allowed him in this family. He is annoying and he's just morphing left and right. And I'm just like, dude, that party trick, you could play it one time. Yeah, I get it. That's what you do. But seriously, man, it just. It was. It was not the best introduction of morph. for me, especially because we really. He's posing as Charles when we're. It's just like, dude, no, no, no.

>> Will: Too soon. Too soon.

>> Sarah : Too soon. Across the board. And the. And it's funny because I, for whatever reason, the moment this scene started to happen, the very end, the last few minutes, I was like, in my brain, I'm like, oh, oh, we're getting that scene from the trailer now. Okay. And it's the scene where Magneto, is explaining to the x Men that everything that Charles left behind is his, including the school, the house, the fortune, everything. So he's. He. So Scott thought he was in charge, but, oh, no, no, it's actually going to be magneto. So that's why it's called to me my X Men.

>> Will: Yeah. Which. Yeah, and to me my X Men. And also. Yeah, apparently that was the line of the, in the very first, comic book. At the very last panel, Charles says that to the X Men, to me, my X Men. And it was. Yeah. So it was sort of like their version of Avengers assemble. And, so that was where. That's sort of where that came from, just to sort of bookend some things in X Men lore.

>> Sarah : Right. Yeah.

>> Will: But, Yeah, but like I said, I really enjoyed it, you know, because, again, we're a little delayed and starting it. I know it's, as of recording, I think the first, episode of the three part finale aired this week, and which also had, I think the title of it has the, You know, the callback. What is it? Totality is extinction or, the lie that, trask has in the. In the prison is. Is in the. Is the titles of these, of the finales and stuff. So again, you know, there's a lot of. A lot of callbacks and, and, you know, I really appreciate some of the storylines. You know, they really get into the whole, you know, for folks who aren't so familiar with the X Men as far as just the. The two factions, as far as humanity and the people who had an x gene and the prejudice and stuff, I mean, they really did do a great job of just helping to establish this world for, you know, longtime fans could just jump right back in. But also folks who are. Who are new to the new to this and new fans and new generations can really get. Understand sort of the dynamics and, you know, underlying prejudices and. And hatreds, that normies, I guess, have towards folks who have the x gene. So, yeah, like I said, I really enjoyed it and look forward to seeing more episodes, as the season progresses. I've been having foMo, seeing everybody reacting about it. So I'm glad we're finally to it, right?

>> Sarah : Yeah, definitely.

>> Will: Yeah.

>> Sarah : no, I'm glad we are. We are watching it. I'd have started it. And we will see where it goes. I know there's one particular episode that I keep hearing things about. so I want to get there before I get spoiled. So.

>> Will: Yeah. Yeah.

>> Sarah : and on that note, we move on to fallout episode three, the head. The wasteland's got its own golden rule. Oh, yeah. This is when they're trying to. They're on the search for Will Zig's head.

>> Will: Yes. Yes, it is.

>> Sarah : So does the creature in the swamp. Yeah, the creature in the swamp eats the head.

>> Will: Yeah, it does, yeah.

>> Sarah : Does Lucy like, feed it to him or. Because I. I blacked out on a. On a part of this episode, where I was. I was very confused. Like, I saw the ghoul using Lucy as bait. Right at that point. How did. How did the sea creature get the head?

>> Will: So it ate the head because Lucy had wrapped it up, you know. So we. We get into traveling through the wasteland. Ghoul catches up with. She gets to the, you know, she sees Bambi and. And then the, creature. The gulf is, I think is what they call them, you know, ate Bambi. And then it attacked her, snagged her pack, and, you know, and as she was beating, you know, trying to get away from it, it did swallow. Swallow will his head. Yeah. So, yeah, because she had it, you know, she had it wrapped up in the, in the little blanket there.

>> Sarah : Okay. Yeah. For summary, I don't know. I watched this episode, but I was. I was very confused.

>> Will: Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, it was. It was a lot going on in that. In that sequence there, because it was, you know, the creature was grotesque. I was kind of like. I was like. It was a good mix of practical and special effect there as far as the, as far as the, creature there. So. Because. Especially when they were doing the waterboarding and her boot got caught in it and all that kind of stuff.

>> Sarah : Right, right. But the episode itself, is a flash. Starts with a flashback of the ghoul, back when he was Mister Howard, pre ghoul. Days, if you will, on set of a western movie where he meets his wife and daughter. and, and it's kind of a, it's a bookend episode because they start with a flashback and they end with the flashback.

>> Will: Yeah, yeah. Because during he was filming the western and, the showrunner wanted him to. To kill the bad guy.

>> Sarah : Right.

>> Will: And he was very opposed to that. And he was like, well, he was going to go, I'm going to go talk to the producer. And they were like, actually just got fired.

>> Sarah : Right?

>> Will: Yeah. So, yeah, so, you know, so I like the way they set that up because it was really showing how Howard, his, his sort of ethos and with playing this character, you know, he really had some value set in place, which I think really does, you know, like you said, what the bookend of this episode and also what we see in episode four when we get to it really, sets up a nice little arc that, you know, as I, as I was watching these episodes, I got locked. This is, these are the episodes where I'm like, okay, I'm on board with this series. I know last week I was a little. We'll see where we go. But, And I think part of that was to just, you know, watching a prestige show like Shogun. It was kind of hard. I had to, like, it was kind of hard to like, go from that to prestige to popcorn. But popcorn was with, actually has a good story and, and all. but, yeah, once I. But this week was, I was like, ah, now see where they're going here? And I did get, I'm like, okay, I'm on board with this now.

>> Sarah : So, so it does end with, with him putting on the suit for the vault tech ad, correct?

>> Will: Yeah, yeah.

>> Sarah : Like I'm trying to figure out, is that, is that in episode four or in episode three?

>> Will: Yeah, they start to blend together for me, too, because I watched them a while back. But so, yeah, so, you know, we meet his wife. We meet, you know, we met the daughter, of course, in the first episode. we meet his wife. She, takes them to the, you know, he steps away, and at the craft table she's like, I got a present for you.

>> Sarah : We don't have to go through the entire scene.

>> Will: Well, no, I'm trying to, like, pin it together and make sure I'm not blending three and four. So, yeah, longer, short of it. He gets. Yes, he gets the vault tech suit. Then they do the.

>> Sarah : But I don't think that was all in the same, like, I feel like they ended it. Maybe they didn't. I don't know.

>> Will: Oh, you're right. They actually ended up with him blowing the, shooting. The, They come across it in the wasteland. The thumbs up.

>> Sarah : That's episode two.

>> Will: That was it. Yeah.

>> Sarah : Yeah. You know what? You know, long story short, hopefully people have watched the episodes. And so at some point between episode three and four, we get the payoff of that final scene in the wasteland with. With the ghoul and the thumbs up. Like. Like he. He is that guy, which I had suspicions about while watching episodes one and two. they just confirmed it. And what I really took away from the whole sequence of him putting on the suit and becoming the ad campaign guy is like. He makes a comment like, is this really, impenetrable or something along.

>> Will: Yeah, this is block radiation.

>> Sarah : Yeah. And then there's a look. And specifically between his wife and vault tech. And I'm like, girl, are you. What do you know? What are you setting up for your husband potentially? ex husband, if I remember the opening sequence of season one correctly or the episode one. I feel like there might have been trouble, but I'm not sure. Anyways, so that is the flashbacks. Flashbacks pertaining to the ghoul. Very significant part of this whole series.

>> Will: Yeah, that's.

>> Sarah : Yeah, yeah. and meanwhile, in present day, he's. He's basically torturing Lucy while at the same time, like, beefing Lucy up from her vault days. That's the best way to put it. I mean. I mean, he basically, like. Like, did. What did she end up drinking?

>> Will: in the. In the next episode. So it was just radioactive order.

>> Sarah : Radioactive. No, I. I'm. If I'm following. Oh, I keep. For some reason, I keep scrolling down to look at my episode four notes while we're talking about episode three. I don't know. I don't know.

>> Will: Roll it back. So. So, yeah, so he does torture her with the waterboarding. And he's using her debate for, you know, to get the. You know. Cause he's looking for the head and stuff. but, you know, but also, like, Lucy's naivete was just, like, on full display here. Like, as far as, you know, the golden rule is. And all that kind of stuff. And I love the thing that, like you said with. With the ghoul, he's definitely wanted to stand out these, like, you know, the golden rule is out here in a wasteland says, thou shalt get sidetracked by bullshit. every goddamn day. I was just like, yeah, he's just not into side quest here.

>> Sarah : Right.

>> Will: Yeah. It's very focused on his mission, finding that head for. For mold. Over.

>> Sarah : Well, is that who hired him?

>> Will: I believe. I think so. I think so.

>> Sarah : Okay. Okay. Because I didn't know if it was somebody else.

>> Will: Yeah. Or. Yeah, I don't know. Or was the people who resurrected him there at the, whoever hired the guys to resurrect him there. Yeah.

>> Sarah : Which we don't know if that was molde or if it was somebody else.

>> Will: Right.

>> Sarah : So what. What were you. What are your thoughts about Maximus this episode?

>> Will: So I'm glad Thaddeus was introduced, because that was the missing. Missing piece for Maximus. you know, whenever we. We see Maximus in this episode, dumbass is like, yeah, he. He, takes off the. Takes, off the armor, hangs it up there, which, again, just like this, reinforces, like, everything that Michael Rapaport's character was. Like, you're not ready for this. And every. You know why, you know why he's just not cut out to be a knight, at least. At least not. Not at this stage of his career, just, to be so careless like that. but we also see, again, those edges of his dark side, because whenever Thaddeus is finally dispatched to help and he quickly gets back at the suit, he, for a moment, thinks about popping his head, you know, obviously because of, you know, Thaddeus was the. Was the guy that was, bullying. Bullying him there in the, in the. In the camp that, when we were first introduced to him. So. But I liked. I liked that Perry, because I think that was what that character was missing was. Was someone to. To play off of. And I thought, they're there. Their routine definitely added depth to the story and where things were going with them, especially as they were trying to find the head as well.

>> Sarah : Yeah. I agree to an extent with you that, Thaddeus added some humor and some levity to the maximus of it all. I still. Maximus as a character still confuses me, and not in a good way, where I'm just. I still don't quite understand him, m what he wants, how he thinks this is gonna work out, like. Like what, where he comes from. Like, there's still a lot of mystery around there. while at the same time, I'm just like, okay, give me some death. Give me some death.

>> Will: Well, to your point about. Yeah, yeah. To your point, I mean, I think that's, you know, the hanging up the armor really gets something that you just said there, which is he doesn't know what the hell he's doing. He's just like, you know, he wants to. He wants to be the big Billy badass, but he's just. He's not equipped to be able to do it training wise or mentality wise or whatever.

>> Sarah : Yeah, I mean, yeah, just like Lucy's not equipped to be in the wasteland.

>> Will: Yeah, like.

>> Sarah : Like, I get it. It's a bit boring, but I get it. It's a bit boring.

>> Sarah : we also get some, vault 33 action, which I was not expecting, where Chet, ah, gets reassigned and is no longer gatekeeper. And we find out that there are three vaults, 31, 32, and 33. A complete triangle. and they are holding on to. And vault 33, of course, is holding on to some of the raiders who remain from the first episode, and they decide that they want to rehabilitate and integrate them into their vault system society.

>> Will: Yeah, this is. Yeah, they, at least some of them do. I like. I like Norm. Norm is one of those characters is growing on me really fast.

>> Sarah : Yeah, yeah, yeah.

>> Will: because he's like, you know, it's like, yo, really?

>> Sarah : Yeah. Well, you knew from the get go, when he tells Lucy what's really going on, that the kid knows what's happening and understands politics, but he lacks this courage, and I'm not really understanding why. And so everything that between his sister leaving, his dad being taken, he's finding his own courage, in a sense, of figuring out what's really happening here and how to get his family back.

>> Will: Yeah, yeah.

>> Sarah : Which allows us to understand why the vault society was created. What does this all mean? And. And honestly, it just goes back to what Madurva says in the first episode, the mclean's and the emphasis on that name, which I don't know which episode, but between episodes three and four, Lucy does tell the ghoul her last name, and even he, like, recognizes it. So again, president, person, relation. That's all I'm saying. so, will, can I finally go to episode four? Because.

>> Will: Yes. Let's move to episode four.

>> Sarah : Okay. Fallout episode four. The ghouls, Lucy and the ghoul encounter dangerous situations, leading to a moral dilemma and intense confrontations. Norm uncovers secrets of vault 32, linking back to his mother's past and raising questions about the resident's fate. so in this episode, we learn about how a ghoul survives. And if they don't survive, they basically turn into, like, a zombie from the walking dead.

>> Will: Basically.

>> Sarah : Like, I was watching it, and I'm like, man, that's just a zombie from the walking dead. And. And they. To survive, they. They basically take drugs. Yeah, yeah. So, so it's this mix of you become a walking dead zombie slash, sober drug addict person going through severe withdrawal. Severe withdrawal. So, and we get all introduced to this through a sequence, with a. With a ghoul named Roger who is found at the wasteland clinic. And it's really Lucy's first introduction to, what happens when a ghoul goes bad.

>> Will: Yeah, it's not pretty.

>> Sarah : It's not. It's terrible. Terrifying.

>> Will: Yeah.

>> Sarah : And. And so, and. But you know what? You know what? the ghoul, he sees right through it. Him and Roger exchange some words. You think there's pleasantries going on. And then at the end of the day, the ghoul just shoots him, puts him out of the misery, and then makes Lucy, help him basically carve. Carve out some meat and make some ass jerky.

>> Will: Yep.

>> Sarah : Ass jerky. Jerky.

>> Will: Yeah, yeah.

>> Sarah : I mean, this ghoul Lucy dynamic going on in episode.

>> Will: We do, we do, yeah. And. And when I was watching this episode and what I was touching back on with some of the things with, the ghoul, whenever it was Mister was Howard. And also now with Lucy, I guess shades of like, the old classic, novel heart of darkness because it's a very similar, like, dynamic here where, you know, where the ghouls, Kurtz and Lucy's Marlowe. And we see, you know, we see especially how the way this episode ends when the ghouls, like, sitting on the. On the sofa there at the end of the supermarket and watching the old, movie that he made and saw the choice that he made, as far as the, you know, ended up killing the bad guy, which was the thing that he was so, that Howard was so didn't want to do. whereas, you know, and we see the. And I use Lucy as Marlowe as far as just like, the character who, you know, also as we're going deeper into the wasteland, she's also starting to lose some of that, you know, the vault naivete. She still has some, but, you know, but, like, she had to make some choices, like, you know, make an asterisk and then, you know, seeing the other ghouls in the supermarket there and, you know, and whether or not she's going to turn into. Become hardened as well. like the ghoul did.

>> Sarah : Right, right. Yeah. There's a lot of that in this episode between the Lucy and the ghoul, about the further she goes on, especially as his apprentice, the more she becomes just like them. Like, she's disgusted by what she sees on the surface level. But the longer you're up there, the more you understand their ways and the more you yourself find yourself doing these things, which, I mean, we see play out later on after she gets, basically sold. Sold for parts. Yep, sold for parts. not as a sex slave. No, no, no parts. It's just simply harvests, harvesting of organs, and, she manages to fend off, her robotic torturer and, decides to release the prisoners. And even though the guys are just like, you really want to include these.

>> Will: You really want to do this?

>> Sarah : And, I mean, if Lucy took just half a second to look at what was behind those doors, she may realize that those were also ghouls who were like Roger.

>> Will: Yeah.

>> Sarah : so I don't know why that didn't dawn on her. but. But it was a pretty cool action sequence overall, with her way through that. and I like it because even though so far, the ghoul has been, like, driving a lot of the action we've seen on this show, because he was, incurring his own type of withdrawal at that moment. and he was the one who sold her for parts. He was put on the sideline, and Lucy had to step up and actually show what she could do. It was good. and then she ends up also giving the ghoul the drugs that he so desperately needs.

>> Will: Yeah, yeah. Which I think was a, you know, that was as we were just talking about. I mean, if that was the thing, even though she has. She's having to do more. Like, she had. She ended up having to kill Martha because, you know, Martha was, you know, she was trying to rationalize with her. You don't need, you know, she was with her. She was coming towards her after she released, all the ghouls and, you know, Martha being one of the feral ones. And, ultimately, she, you know, she did have to kill, you know, kill her, but, but yeah, but then whenever she did take pity or, you know, it's. It still stayed true to who Lucy is, even though the ghouls done all these things to her, made her drink radioactive water, cut off her finger after, you know, whenever they had and after she bit off his finger and then, you know, kind of eye for an eye and all that. With all this happened, she still, you know, whenever it was, at the end of the day, after she managed to get out of that situation, the supermarket, she did take those vows out to him so that he could, you know, he could live. And so, you know, so even though the wasteland has taken some things from her, it still hasn't taken the core person, who she is away from her, which, you know, and then we see what, you know, with the ghoul sitting there watching the tv and the look on his face whenever he's watching, what the, you know, killing the bad guy after he didn't want to, and what compromises he's made, you know, really, really shows, like, really gets into a good, juxtaposition of their characters.

>> Sarah : Yeah, yeah, definitely. we don't really. Maximus isn't in this episode, correct?

>> Will: No, no. We get a lot of action with, Norman and, you know, involve 32 with. With, Burt, you know. Well, what's the guy's name? Chet. Chet. Sorry. Bert was her husband. Yeah, Chet. Yeah, about how. How her water broke into the last episode, because after she had Chet turned on, the spread around, I.

>> Sarah : Was really know the family trees, but, I'm sure that there's some. Some sort of level of interest going on there.

>> Will: I think there might be, because it goes back to the conversation at the wedding party, with the cousins. Yeah. Yeah. So there's. There's definitely some familial, stuff going on there, for sure.

>> Sarah : Yeah. Yeah. But overall, I like Chet just because Norm needs him. He needs his wingman, his. His sidekick character to help him, figure out what's going on. Because Norm finds himself interacting with some of these, prisoners, who suggest that vault 32, we're up to something, which Lee. And then he has to go get Chet and. And be like, please be my gatekeeper. Unlock, the gate. And they end up going in there. And, what's written on the walls is death to management. And some clues that things were not what they seemed. and at some point in the conversation, it was talking about how the readers got in there to begin with, and it had to be released from the outside. Well, they look on the pad, and I guess it's traced back to Rose McLain, who is Norm and Lucy's mom.

>> Will: Right, right. Cause I know they were trying to access the vault 32 computer from their side of the vaults, and they couldn't get in. So it was kept getting access to Nazi. So when it got that reveal, it was just like, ooh, okay, what's going on here? And, like. And then they get back to the ghoul. You know, that name McLean, it keeps coming up, and there's. There's several things. There's several possibilities here. Maybe Rose, you know, another barter marriage set up, arranged marriage between two vaults as far as being kids. And I don't know.

>> Sarah : I don't know if it has to do with that just because Minerva, like, she tells Lucy, you have your mother's eyes.

>> Will: Yeah.

>> Sarah : and we also aren't really explained where. Where Rose is and what happened to her.

>> Will: Right, right.

>> Sarah : So. So we don't. We don't really know. Like. And clearly they don't know, but they know their mom, so at some point, she was in the vault. But. But so far, surface people know that name, too. The ghoul and. And Midorva, in particular, who. I still have that theory thrown out there that Minerva is the ghoul's daughter who we meet in the first episode.

>> Sarah : why she's not a ghoul and why it's been 200 years. You know what, fantasy, Sci-Fi fantasy. This is based on a video game. Okay, let me have my theory.

>> Will: So.

>> Sarah : Long, descendant. Okay. You know, I'm just. I'm just saying there's. There's weird connections all over the place. Coincidental, but. But I do like that. I do like having the, the odd offset that is the vault society versus the surface level. It's a good mix up. And I will say, even though I questioned it, I think. I think I prefer episode four just because Maximus wasn't involved. I think it's just the. The three different storylines simultaneously happening wasn't working for me. It felt like, go, stop, go stop. But because you have Normandy, we have Lucy, both on, like, these parallel universes, almost like it worked for me more. It felt more fluid and consistent. while. Even though they were also searching for the target, too, because there's so much we don't fully understand about the brotherhood and Maximus's, pathos as a character, it felt more like its own independent story than naturally drawn into this whole M. McLean ghoul mystery of it all.

>> Will: Yeah, yeah, I agree. I agree.

>> Sarah : Yeah. So, But death to management, and. And they were quick episodes. I do have to say, last week, I didn't realize at the time those were extended episodes, and I was like, dear Lord, that's why they felt so long. They were long.

>> Will: Yeah. Well, I. Yeah. Like I said, I think these, watching these two back to back really did. And I agree. I think I did like episode four better. but, but they did complement each other very, very well.

>> Sarah : Yes. Yeah. absolutely. The whole Lucie Gould arc, I mean, having. Having to wait a week to watch episode four, it wouldn't be as strong as if. As if watching them back to back like this. So hopefully, hopefully that pays off with later episodes to come to as we're. We're now halfway through.

>> Will: Yep, we are.

>> Sarah : Don't have that much more to go. and we will be continuing this fallout story. I'm still. I know I hadn't shared my overall thoughts, but I hope our listeners know me well enough to know that I'm still on the fence.

>> Will: Yep. Yep.

>> Sarah : yeah, definitely all the feds.

>> Will: Yeah.

>> Sarah : I'm the. I'm not mad at it. I don't hate it. It's not the worst thing I've ever seen, but I'm still also just like, yeah, it's.

>> Will: Yeah, it's good. I mean, it's entertaining. Yeah, yeah, it's. Yeah, it's like I said, there's. I've seen worse. I've seen better. Like I said, I. This was this week. These two episodes got me on board. I am on board now.

>> Sarah : I. Yeah, yeah, Will is soft. Yeah, it's a lot harder.

>> Will: No, like I said, I had to. For me, I had to read. I had to, move the rapid, reset the antenna to, like, level set my ex. My expectations.

>> Sarah : Yeah. Yeah. well, on that note, will, why don't you tell our listeners where they can find you?

>> Will: Yes, you can find me on X, formally known as Twitter, at will m polk W I L L M Mpolk.

>> Sarah : And you can find me there, too, at SJ Baumont sjblmt. Please follow our crew on Twitter at Sena Nerd for this on Facebook false and Instagram and threads at scene underscore n underscore nerd and visit our website, www. Scene N nerdpodcast.com. But most importantly, rate, follow and comment on Apple podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or, wherever you get your podcast. Good night. Geek out. You're welcome.