Many fans are probably looking for an explanation for the special experiment that took place in Vault 31 in Amazon Prime Video’s latest series, Drop.
Based on the hugely popular Bethesda game series, the show follows Ella Purnell’s Lucy (one of three unique perspectives in the story), a woman living a sheltered life in an underground vault in a post-apocalypse.
When he leaves early in the series to go to the wasteland, his brother Moises Arias Norm sticks around and eventually uncovers the vault’s dark secrets.
( Fallout TV series actors, characters and Actors (photos) )
What was the trial of Vault 31?
Last episode DropIn the first season, there are many answers to the true events of vaults 31, 32 and 33, as well as the special test to be performed.
Before the bombs dropped, it was revealed that Vault-Tec (the company that created them in the first place) was dividing many of the available vaults between different companies. The point was to let these companies try to reboot humanity in their own way.
While this information began to emerge thanks to a flashback from Cooper Howard’s (now known as the Ghoul) past, more was revealed when Moses Arias’ Normi got a nose job.
Norm’s journey eventually leads to Vault 31, where he stumbles upon a massive secret: many Vault-Tec employees are cryogenically frozen in stasis. A resident of Vault 33 also runs into Brain-on-a-Roomba, who turns out to be former Vault-Tec Senior Junior Vice President, Bud Askins.
This talking brain revealed the idea of using these handpicked “highly supervised junior managers” to repopulate the world above:
Brain-on-a-Roomba: “These are Bud’s buds. My Buds. America outsourced the survival of this country to the private sector. But it would have been crazy to keep a failed nation alive. So we kept Vault-Tec alive instead. A well-trained staff of highly supervised junior executives from our from my assistant training program. Because the future of humanity is based on one word: control.”
The conversation then revealed the purpose of Vaults 32 and 33: a perfect gene pool for Vault 31 members to reproduce.
As Bud’s brain says, it is “The Final Manifestation of HR R&D:”
Norm: “So, what is Vault 32 and 33? Just controllable people?”
Brain-on-a-Roomba: “What? No! When you put it that way, it sounds morally dubious. They are our breeding pool, the ultimate embodiment of HR R&D. Genetically selected to breed with My Buds to create the supermanager class. Positive people, people , who make lemonade. People who inherit the earth after we’ve wiped the surface clean.”
All the overseers in the past (like Hank Maclean) were one of those former frozen residents of Vault 31, and the grand initiation ceremonies were shams; each provided a breeding opportunity for those particular Vault-Tec members.
What happened to Vault 32?
The fall of Vault 32 is revealed in the first episode of the Amazon Prime Video series, but as the show progresses, it becomes clear that something else happened.
Although at first it appears that the riders entered the vault and killed everyone inside, its inhabitants were destroyed much earlier – two years to be exact. So if Moldaver and his crew didn’t slaughter everyone, what exactly did?
Well, the people living in Vault 32 discovered the truth about what Vault-Tec did with the three interconnected vaults. In response, they rebelled, resulting in a massacre witnessed by Norm and Dave Register’s Chet.
Before they knew it, Lesli Uggams’ Betty Pearson cleaned it all up. His hope is to split the remaining inhabitants of Vault 31 into 32 to save the program.
(Who Is Dave Register? 4 Things To Know About The Fallout Actor)
What’s next for Los Angeles Vaults?
Surprisingly, Drop hasn’t yet been renewed for a second season, but it’s clear that the writers have plans for where the story will go next.
Norm, trapped in Vault 31, is in a real pickle. But he will no doubt get out at some point; maybe someone else will come sniffing.
It should be assumed that all the sleeping Vault-Tec workers will have a bigger role going forward. In fact, it’s possible that one of those frozen people is the Ghoul’s wife—maybe even his daughter.
Then there’s Hank, Lucy’s father, who was supposed to be on his way back to some important people in New Vegas. This story likely ties back to what Vault-Tec hoped to achieve with its three interconnected vaults.
Drop now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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