The Radio (Fallout)

"The Radio"
Fallout episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 7
Directed by	Frederick E. O. Toye Clare Kilner
Written by	Chaz Hawkins
Produced by	Skye Wathen Crystal Whelan Halle Phillips Gursimran Sandhu Jake Bender Zach Dunn
Cinematography by	Teodoro Maniaci Alejandro Martinez
Editing by	Micah Gardner
Original air date	April 10, 2024 (2024-04-10)
Running time	61 minutes
Guest appearances
Sarita Choudhury as Lee Moldaver Fred Armisen as DJ Carl Chris Parnell as Overseer Benjamin Frances Turner as Barb Howard Leslie Uggams as Betty Pearson Johnny Pemberton as Thaddeus Cherien Dabis as Birdie Zach Cherry as Woody Thomas Dave Register as Chet Annabel O'Hagan as Stephanie Harper Rodrigo Luzzi as Reg McPhee Jon Daly as Snake Oil Salesman Dallas Goldtooth as Charles Whiteknife Eric Berryman as Lloyd Hawthorne Angel Desai as Cassandra Hawthorne

"The Radio" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American post-apocalyptic drama television series Fallout. The episode was written by Chaz Hawkins and directed by Frederick E. O. Toye and Clare Kilner. It was released on Amazon Prime Video on April 10, 2024, alongside the rest of the season.

The series depicts the aftermath of an apocalyptic nuclear exchange in an alternate history of Earth where advances in nuclear technology after World War II led to the emergence of a retrofuturistic society and a subsequent resource war. The survivors took refuge in fallout shelters known as Vaults, built to preserve humanity in the event of nuclear annihilation. In the episode, Lucy and Maximus choose to leave Vault 4, Norm continues investigating Vault 31, and Howard's past with Moldaver is explored.

The episode received positive reviews from critics, although some expressed frustration with the episode's pacing.

Plot

In 2077, Howard and Moldaver, who goes by the name "Ms. Williams", talk about her conference. Howard is disgusted by her perception of his friends' deaths in war, and how connected Vault-Tec may be involved. She reveals that she found a solution to a possible nuclear conflict after working on a cold fusion research, which could also provided unlimited energy. However, the war-profiting conglomerate behind Vault-Tec shelved the project. She asks him to watch over Barb, even telling him to record their conversations.

In present day, Lucy is scolded by Ben for breaking into level 12. He states that the experiments were real, but were performed by the previous dwellers before they arrived. Lucy is then sentenced to leave the Vault with very limited supplies. Maximus activates his armor and tries to defend Lucy, but after a small conflict with the inhabitants, he decides to leave with her. Maximus reveals his real identity to Lucy, who forgives him for lying and even offers to let him live with her at Vault 33.

In the wasteland, Thaddeus tries to find a radio station to send a message to the Brotherhood, abandoning CX404 in the process. He encounters a snake oil salesman, who sells him an elixir to heal his wound in exchange for his fusion core. Thaddeus accepts and reaches the radio station, although the DJ fatally shoots him with a crossbow. Lucy and Maximus arrive, and discover that the elixir is turning Thaddeus into a Ghoul. Aware that the Brotherhood will kill him, Thaddeus decides to flee, leaving them with Wilzig's head. With the Brotherhood nearing, Maximus decides to distract them while Lucy leaves with Wilzig's head, and they both share a kiss before going their separate ways.

In Vault 33, Betty is starting with relocating some of the inhabitants into Vault 32. With the co-overseers separated and some of the raiders mysteriously dying, Norm decides to impersonate Betty to hack into her conversations with Vault 31's overseer. He is given access to "return" to Vault 31, and he enters the Vault. At the other end, Norm is surprised by an unseen entity.

Production

Music

The score is composed by Ramin Djawadi. The episode featured many songs, including "I'm Tickled Pink" by Jack Shaindlin, "Sixteen Tons" by Merle Travis, "Only You (And You Alone)" by The Platters, "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" by Dinah Washington, "You're Everything" by The Danleers, and "From the First Hello to the Last Goodbye" by Jane Morgan.

Release

The episode, along with the rest of the season, premiered on April 10, 2024, on Amazon Prime Video. Originally, the season was scheduled to premiere on April 12, 2024.

Critical reception

"The Radio" received positive reviews from critics. William Hughes of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B–" grade and wrote, "Character work is the cold fusion that keeps things powered for the long haul, and "The Radio" just doesn’t keep the lights on as well as it could. It has some fun moments, a few good gags, a nicely earned kiss, and one very good dog. But it can't do much to transcend that fact that it's an episode almost entirely about setting up what happens in the next episode."

Jack King of Vulture gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The last handful of episodes have been stuffed. It's enough to lead you to suspect the show to have been conceived with a longer initial season in mind; even at just shy of an hour long, six and seven ask you to get through a lot and retain a lot of new information before the finale. Even so, it's impressive that the show has managed to weave together the pre- and post-war arcs so seamlessly."

Sean T. Collins of Decider wrote, "If you're in a Vault, and you're not conducting an experiment, you're the experiment. That's the lesson I think Lucy MacLean ought to take from her madcap adventures in the mysterious Vault 4, which come to a surprising conclusion in this, yet another charmingly nasty episode of Fallout." Ross Bonaime of Collider gave the episode a 8 out of 10 and wrote, "Fallout's penultimate episode is putting the pieces in compelling places for the finale, leaving our characters in their most interesting positions so far, as we wait for the ending to likely cause mayhem in their stories."

Joshua Kristian McCoy of Game Rant gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Fallout delivers on its premise in every way that matters, sometimes to its own detriment. It's a show worth seeking out and an instant classic of its genre. Future video game adaptations should look at this as an example." Greg Wheeler of The Review Geek gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Fallout sets everything up for a very intriguing finale to follow. All roads appear to be leading toward the mystery of Vault 31 and what may actually be inside. This sets everything up nicely for what should be a dramatic final chapter."

External links

• "The Radio" at IMDb