Walton Goggins’ 93% RT Sci-Fi Show Has the Best 49 Minutes of Dystopian Terror Ever Put on TV

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The Prime Video series Fallout (2024-Present) is a drama set in the post-apocalyptic world of the popular Fallout video game franchise. However, it’s not a direct retelling of any single game’s story. Instead, it presents a brand new story within the Fallout universe, considered officially part of the franchise’s established lore, just like the games themselves.

Prime Video’s Fallout is a remarkably successful video game adaptation, and a lot of that success is thanks to Walton Goggins. His character, The Ghoul, is both funny and frightening, but also deeply sympathetic because of the hardships he’s faced. One particular episode reveals the truth behind The Ghoul’s condition and is considered one of the most chilling depictions of a dystopian future ever made.

“The Ghouls” Finally Ups the Ante of the Fallout Universe

From the beginning, Fallout doesn’t hold back on showing how harsh the world has become. The series immediately starts with the devastating nuclear war that wiped out much of civilization. In the first episode alone, we see raiders attacking vaults, brutally killing residents and even kidnapping Lucy’s father. The show makes it clear this isn’t a safe or peaceful place – it’s a dangerous world where only those who are tough enough can survive.

The first three episodes primarily establish the show’s setting and follow Lucy’s departure from Vault 33, interspersed with action-packed moments, most notably a thrilling fight in Filly. This scene centers around a conflict for Dr. Siggi Wilzig involving Lucy, the Ghoul, and Maximus. During the chaos, the Ghoul brutally eliminates much of Filly’s population, while Maximus, wearing Knight Titus’s armor, tries unsuccessfully to intervene.

The first few episodes have violence, but the show avoids becoming a straight-up horror series, which makes sense given that it’s based on the post-apocalyptic role-playing game, not a horror franchise. It borrows from horror elements, but maintains a clear distinction. However, Season 1, Episode 4, titled “The Ghouls,” is a genuinely terrifying 49-minute experience.

“The Ghouls” continues the story immediately after Lucy and the Ghoul lose Dr. Siggi Wilzig’s head. During the fight, the Ghoul’s yellow vials—a substance the series implies ghouls need to maintain control—are broken. Without these vials, ghouls become feral, losing their humanity and turning into ravenous, zombie-like creatures.

The Ghoul puts the search for the doctor’s head aside when he remembers he needs to restock his special medicine, or he’ll start losing control and become a wild beast. He decides to ask an old ghoul friend named Roger for help. However, when they find Roger, they discover he’s already close to becoming feral. He begs for a dose of the medicine to regain control, but the Ghoul has run out.

For the first time, viewers see the Ghoul show a hint of compassion. Unable to save his friend, he attempts to console him by reminiscing about happy times and good food, like apple pie and ice cream. While his friend is lost in these memories, the Ghoul sadly ends his life to prevent a painful transformation. This act is the Ghoul’s final kindness, but immediately afterward, he begins to cut flesh from his friend’s body to eat.

The moment when the Ghoul ends his friend’s suffering and then immediately begins to eat his body is deeply disturbing. It highlights the harsh reality of their world and how desperate people become to survive. The world has become such a barren place that even friends resort to cannibalism just to stay alive a little longer.

In one scene, Lucy drinks tainted water and later falls ill with radiation sickness. The Ghoul uses this moment to explain the harsh realities of surviving on the surface, hinting that she’ll have to change and become more like him if she wants to live.

He’s not just talking about turning into a creature, but also about becoming someone selfish and ruthless, willing to do whatever it takes to stay alive. This is especially frightening because it feels like that’s where everyone ultimately ends up.

The Episode Reveals More Horrors the Longer It Runs

Following Roger’s death, the Ghoul understood he had to do whatever it took to get the life-saving vials he desperately needed. When a request to an old friend failed, he made the horrifying decision to trade Lucy to illegal organ harvesters for the drugs. He brought Lucy to a deserted supermarket that had been converted into a makeshift hospital, where two men accepted her in exchange for the vials.

Lucy is given into the care of Snip Snip, a Mister Handy robot. Initially, Snip Snip seems friendly, but he quickly reveals his plan to remove Lucy’s organs. Though he doesn’t explicitly say it will be fatal, it’s clear Lucy wouldn’t survive the procedure. Snip Snip almost manages to cut through Lucy’s chest, but thankfully, she’s able to trick him and shut him down.

This moment is shockingly worse than anything else in the episode so far. The Ghoul has already shown he’ll do whatever it takes to survive, but selling an innocent woman is a new low. It’s not just the sale itself – he’s condemning her to death to save himself. What Lucy discovers inside the supermarket is terrifying, including the prisoners – ghouls trapped in old refrigerators, seemingly destined to be used for cruel experiments.

The most unsettling aspect of this episode is its portrayal of a complete loss of human compassion. Moral principles seem to have vanished, as everyone prioritizes their own survival, even to the point of committing terrible acts. While some of these actions are driven by a desperate need to live, others, like those of the supermarket managers, are simply motivated by a desire for power and control.

Lucy, with her good heart and trusting nature, tries to free the ghouls trapped in the supermarket. While she manages to release the captive ones, she accidentally lets out some dangerous, wild ghouls too. She’s then forced to kill one of them – even someone she thought she could help – and this makes her realize that she can’t save everyone. It’s a painful lesson, but a necessary one. Being kind isn’t enough; she needs to acknowledge the real dangers around her.

Having just escaped the terrifying supermarket, Lucy gives the Ghoul a few vials – he’d collapsed after sending her in there. She vows not to end up like him, hands him the vials, and walks away. Surprisingly touched by her compassion, the Ghoul lets her go. He then takes the vials and goes inside, discovering a huge supply of them available for the taking.

After this experience, something shifts within the Ghoul. He used to believe only self-preservation mattered, but Lucy shows him that even in terrible situations, he can still be a good person. As he reflects on the past, he understands how much of himself he’s lost. While he hasn’t fully succumbed to his monstrous side, his humanity is fading because of the path he’s chosen, and this moment forces him to confront his actions and consider his future.

“The Ghouls” Also Reveals the Horrors Hidden in the Vaults

The majority of the story in “The Ghouls” centers around the ghouls themselves, but it also introduces a broader sense of danger, showing that no place is truly secure. The first episode reveals that Lucy’s vault, Vault 33, was attacked by raiders who cleverly disguised themselves as fellow vault dwellers. They were able to pull this off by using uniforms and Pip-Boys stolen from Vault 32. A surviving raider hints that Vault 32 was involved in something suspicious even before the attack, suggesting a more complex story than just a simple raid.

Wondering about the fate of the people in a nearby vault, Norm decides to check it out. He brings his cousin, Chet, along to Vault 32, and they discover dozens of bodies. However, the corpses are old, suggesting that raiders weren’t responsible for what happened to the vault’s inhabitants.

The words “DEATH TO MANAGEMENT” were written on the wall in blood, and Chet believes the vault residents killed each other. Norm’s investigation of the computer system revealed that his mother’s Pip-Boy was used to enter the vault, deepening the mystery surrounding the terrible events that occurred in Vault 32.

Honestly, this part of the show felt short, but it completely shattered the idea that the Vaults were safe havens. We’d seen the dwellers as genuinely good people, the best of humanity, and it was so unsettling to realize that wasn’t the whole story. What happened in Vault 32 showed us that even if they’re protected from the radiation, the Vaults aren’t the secure places we thought they were. It really drove home the point that things aren’t always what they seem, and that true safety is just an illusion in this world.

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2025-11-26 17:42