Fallout Season 2 Turns An Obscure Game Substory Into A Key Plot Element

This article contains spoilers for "Fallout" season 2, episode 1 

We all knew that Mr. House (Justin Theroux) was coming for "Fallout" season 2, but we weren't ready for the impact he'd make right away ... especially because he's using tools that he absolutely doesn't have access to in Bethesda's "Fallout: New Vegas" video game. The RobCo tycoon is introduced in an early flashback sequence, embarking on a surprisingly hands-on mission to test a chunky brain control chip on a hostile construction worker. The scene is impressive and establishes Robert Edwin House as a calculating, conniving villain in a way that fits his theme as a control-obsessed tycoon and the heavily implied chief instigator of the nuclear apocalypse. 

Viewers who are familiar with "Fallout: New Vegas" may find this turn of events somewhat surprising, though, because Mr. House isn't what you'd call a mind control enthusiast in the game. In fact, the only character in the "Fallout" franchise who uses brain control implants that may make the test subject's head explode is a far less prominent character. In "Fallout 3," the player may encounter an unnamed scientist known only as the Surgeon, who experiments on super mutant and ghoul brains at the Red Racer trike factory. It appears that "Fallout" season 2 has lifted this comparatively minor corner of the video game series ... and based on the attention the season premiere gives to the gadget, it certainly seems that the humble side quest mind control chip from the games will be a truly major plot device in the live-action adaptation. 

Interestingly, Mr. House may be the inventor of the brain control chip, but based on the season 2 premiere, it seems that the gadget's role on the show is far more tied to another character. Lucy MacLean's (Ella Purnell) villainous father, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan, who recently spoke to /Film about the "Fallout" team understanding fan concerns about the show), demonstrates proficiency in using the chip within the post-apocalyptic timeline and ends the episode with the intention of refining the technology further. It appears that after his season 1 role as the secretly amoral Vault 33 overseer, Hank is now expanding his villain game to mad scientist antics — maybe even effectively becoming the show's version of the "Fallout 3" Surgeon character. 

It remains to be seen whether Mr. House himself is still interested in mind control tech in the post-apocalyptic timeline of the stellar "Fallout" season 2. Perhaps the flashback simply depicts a brief, pre-apocalyptic experiment that he will soon abandon in favor of a more calculating and less directly invasive approach to guiding humanity, much like the path embraced by his video game counterpart. Or hey, it could always be that the "Fallout" show is planning to take some surprisingly bold liberties with one of its best-known characters. 

"Fallout" season 2 is streaming on Prime Video.