Spoilers for the latest episode of Fallout, “The Wrangler,” lie ahead.
The second season of Fallout is really heating up, as our favorite characters are finding themselves in both intriguing and dangerous situations. Such a sentiment is especially true for Lucy MacLean and the Ghoul (formerly known as Cooper Howard). The unlikely duo have finally arrived in Las (or New) Vegas, as Lucy hopes to confront her murderous father, Hank. However, this week’s installment delivered a major – and painful – betrayal and a massive cliffhanger that CinemaBlend spoke to series star Ella Purnell about.
During “The Wrangler,” Lucy (Ella Purnell) and Ghoul’s (Walton Goggins) arrival in Vegas brings renewed hope for the former and painful memories for the latter (and a face-off with a Deathclaw). The episode ends on a dour note, though, when the now-mind-controlled Snake Oil Salesman meets up with the pair and reveals Ghoul is offering Lucy’s safety in exchange for his wife and daughter, Barb and Janey, who’ve been cryogenically frozen. The ghoulish gunslinger, who’s visibly emotional, then tranquilizes Lucy.
Saddened over merely being used as a bargaining chip, Lucy uses a power fist to punch Ghoul, who flies out of a window and is impaled on a pole. Suffice to say, the character is left in a very precarious position, and CB asked Purnell for her take on whether Goggins’ character can even survive a brutal injury like this:
You know, I don't know, and that's a question that I've asked before. I don't know. I mean, obviously a lot of the actual physiological response of a ghoul is down to the game, and I can't speak to that. But I do think it's curious that Lucy doesn't know and probably has never thought to ask, you know, as lovely and optimistic as Lucy is, she does still have a spoiled, selfish and naive element to her that comes from being raised in the vault.
Ghouls can indeed withstand quite a bit of physical punishment, but even they have their physiological limits. Upon seeing Ghoul’s body slam into that pole, I definitely winced, and that’s saying something given how violent Fallout can be at times. During the interview, with Lucy Purnell, she spoke more specifically to the scene from the fifth episode and shared her take on what was going through Lucy’s mind when she attacked the person she thought was her ally:
I think that the scene you’re referring to, the one at the end of [episode] five, I don't think she's thinking how much can this man take. I don't think she's even thinking, ‘Is this going to kill him?’ I think she's thinking, ‘Screw you.’ I think she is completely motivated by pain and hurt. And that is so interesting to me because I think Lucy's a very calculated person. I think she thinks before she acts and the amount of time she's spent on the way on and, with the Ghoul, he's acting on instinct. She wants to hurt someone just because they hurt her, and I think that is so interesting. That's character development, not for good, but it's character development.
Although Lucy does still hold onto her optimism and mostly maintain her jovial demeanor, she’s definitely been changed by her experiences in the wasteland. I mean, heck, the woman just had to fight off an addiction to drugs after being treated for an injury. Purnell herself has also been rising to the occasion when showcasing Lucy’s evolution, and she pushed through the challenges of making Season 2.
So, on the heels of this latest episode, there are two big questions. The first is: will the Ghoul survive his injury, while the second is: what lies ahead for Lucy now that she’s within Hank’s reach? Inquiring minds will just have to wait and see what happens next. On that note, grab a Prime Video subscription to stream new episodes of Fallout, which debut on Wednesdays at 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT as part of the 2026 TV schedule.
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