Thread by @ChrisAvellone

Okay, so here’s the first community question on #FalloutonPrime. It’s actually a SMALL one so I can test the waters to see if this actually has any value. If you can, save answers for the final part of this section (I’ll mark the end with END SLIDES).

And please note that I’ve asked a lot of senior devs who watched the show, including Cain, and they -cannot- answer this question.

This thread on #FalloutOnPrime has SPOILERS. Ready? If so, read on!

Yes, this is going to ramble. At the end, you may say, “that plot point, well, it’s supposed to be mysterious,” but my issue is the CRAFTING of it: I think they made it too mysterious and it hurts the show in a show that already has too much going on.

It involves the Enclave. Their presence is confusing in this series, which is a big problem. Don’t think I’m a poster child for the Enclave, I don’t like them even though they were in F2.

My personal opinion is the Enclave’s presence, even when mysterious, needs to be clear, considering their importance.

To explain further, they were so important that any mention of the Enclave was expressly prohibited in New Vegas except for the Remnants that the project director fought for despite the fact Todd had a seemingly huge hard-on for the Enclave.

(Not an insult, good on Todd for having a huge hard-on.)

The Enclave also comes across as pretty incompetent (their turrets can’t even stop Wilzig from leaving, which was a plot point I forgave, but it doesn’t make the Enclave especially fearsome.)

In summary (I haven't even got to the question yet): In the TV series, the Enclave’s presence is pretty muddy and arguably dismissive, which hurts and confuses the plot. I doubt most casual fans of the show would remember the Enclave was even mentioned.

Narrowing our focus on the figurehead for the Enclave they actually have on the show and questions about his research, it becomes even more confusing, especially by the end when the tech is used.

So Michael Emerson is an actor who takes care of business. I’ve liked him on Evil, Lost (yes, he was great on Lost back when ppl actually liked the show before the final seasons came out), etc.

As a scientist on the run, he’s great. I didn’t like his script or pacing in the series, but I liked what he did with the role 100%.

The problem is I can’t tell anything about him or his research. I have no idea why he’s doing what he’s doing despite its eventual seemingly “huh?” importance to the West Coast (which does not seem to be backed by his research that’s shown).

My first thought for his canine research is that since it’s on the West Coast so it might be cyberdogs. This feels wrong.

Since cyberdog research is not supported by what he’s doing, which is more like deathclaw remote control which is only on the East Coast and is an Enclave thing (no mention of Enclave on West Coast after F2 was done).

Wilzig’s mystery research is complicated by the fact someone comes in to ruin his “research” based on the slow-motion shouting sequence. I have no idea what’s going on here, and I am not curious about it, I’m starting to wonder if the show even knows.

So then it turns out after all the dog stuff he’s actually smuggling the secret for cold fusion out in his neck. This doesn’t answer much and only raises more questions.

My question is this: Does anyone have more context on what Wilzig was actually doing that I may have missed? (Don’t answer yet! 2 posts to go!)

I didn’t think the connection to the Enclave was as strong as it needed to be, I didn’t think his demonstrated research on the show matched the tech magic McGuffin he brought, and at the end, I wasn’t even sure what he was researching.

While it’s possible Season 2 may answer all this, was interested if someone spotted an answer I didn’t (it affects my feeling on the show craftsmanship).

Please answer away if you saw something IN THE SHOW that answers what Wilzig's research actually was – not speculation on what he was doing, an actual answer. END SLIDES!

@Joseph27127847 Foreshadowing is craftsmanship. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to get a Dogmeat variant and see his origin, but his research was distracting to the core plot and there were no answers forthcoming.

@thebatqa @thetoodinho The problem with that is that it's hard to point to that as opposed to the other experiments, which sometimes are horrifyingly clear. (But hey, it's likely a "good" vault.)

@GSBaelog Do they actually show a cold fusion drop being injected into the dogs, or do they just show the injector in the early segments? (Thanks for the screenshots, very appreciated.)

@Durkmesterzurc I do think there was too much going on to do it justice, but there were opportunities to make a cleaner transition. My issue is I don't think it's a good idea to be careless with the Enclave in that way.

@nameless_addict Although I imagine he was smart enough to already have an escape route after the injection, but he seemed to be winging it due to circumstances (not a big deal).