Woah, woah, woah. Fallout season two’s finale just introduced the MOST unlikely romance we could have imagined to the world of the show. And no, it’s not between any major fandom ships. It’s literally weirder and more wild than that. Yes, Fallout season two just brought to life a romance that we may have politely termed as a “crack ship” before the finale. But now, we guess it makes a lot of sense. Strap in everyone, this is a wild ride.
Fallout Season 2’s Finale Reveals Hank and Steph Are MARRIED
Yes. Fallout season two revealed that Hank and Steph are actually married, and they may very well be in love. In the pre-Great War timeline, Barb and Coop are celebrating their victories just a little too early during Fallout season two’s finale. And as they’re doing so, an excited young Hank MacLean bounds up to them with Steph in tow. If you’ll recall, Barb and Coop had Steph, who worked at Mr. House’s Lucky 38 Casino in the past timeline, help bring Hank back to his room after Coop drugged him and the pair extracted the Cold Fusion diode from his skull. But, we guess Steph did more than just tuck Hank into bed on Fallout.
Hank tells Coop, “You make for one heck of a wingman.” And Steph reveals that the pair of them just hit it off. She says that she and Hank talked all night and “at four in the morning, this little romantic proposed.” They are in Vegas after all. And yes, Hank and Steph got married in Vegas in Fallout season two’s finale. We guess this is the beginning of a beautiful, devious romance.
Hank Is Responsible for Stephanie’s Job at Vault-Tec
Hank and Steph’s conversation with Barb and Coop reveals that Steph wasn’t just in the market for a husband, though. Again, as we know, Steph wants to get into one of Vault-Tec’s vaults, something we know she’ll achieve. And now we know how. Coop told Steph to talk to Hank MacLean about getting a job at Vault-Tec, and she took that a step further. Hank tells Barb that he’s hoping “Mr. Askins can find a job for her” at Vault-Tec. Barb says, “Maybe,” but we know that becomes a yes.
From Fallout season one and season two, we know that Steph is one of Bud’s Buds, executive assistants put into cryogenic sleep to help Vault-Tec take over the world after the Great War and nuclear bomb explosions. Betty, also from the past, says that all of the other Vault-Tec executive assistants were scared of Steph. So we guess not only did Hank get her that Vault-Tec job, but Steph took a shine to the company’s brutality. We do not feel surprised.
Stephanie Knows Hank Works For the Enclave
But though Steph got a job at Vault-Tec, like her husband, Hank, she’s working for an even bigger villain. In Fallout season two’s finale, we see Steph finally unlocking Hank’s keepsake trunk. What’s in Hank’s trunk? Why, it’s a black Pip-Boy, one that can contact the Enclave. The Fallout season two finale makes it clear that the Enclave is the true villain of the Fallout series and that Hank is their devoted servant. But Steph seems to support her husband in that effort; she turns to the Pip-Boy to the Emergency Enclave frequency and says, “This is Stephanie Harper, Hank MacLean’s wife. I don’t know how this works exactly, but he said that you were always listening. And, if you can hear this, initiate phase 2.”
Did Hank and Steph Always Plan to Unleash the Forced Evolutionary Virus on Vaults 32 and 33?
As we learned from Bud’s Bud Ronnie, the Forced Evolutionary Virus is a critical part of Vault-Tec… or is that The Enclave’s… plans for Vaults 32 and 33. Enraged by Vault 32 turning on her, Steph asks the Enclave to initiate Phase 2, which we can only imagine involves flooding the Vaults with some delicious FEV. Judging by Steph’s invocation of Hank in her call to the Enclave in Fallout season two’s finale, Lucy’s dad knew all about the plans to introduce Forced Evolutionary Virus into the Vaults that he so genially ran for so long. Given that Steph turned to the Enclave to enact the orders and Betty didn’t seem to know anything about them, it’s possible the Enclave stepped in to make Vault-Tec’s plans even worse. But only Fallout season 3 will tell.
Are Hank and Steph Still In Love in the Present of Fallout Season 2? (Were They Ever?)
That’s business. What about pleasure? Nerdist asked Kyle MacLachlan, who plays Hank MacLean, and Annabel O’Hagan, who plays Steph, more about the relationship and possible romance between Hank and Steph. Here’s what they had to tell us.
O’Hagan offered, “I hope there is love between them. I think we like to suppose that people who can seem a little villainous, like Hank and Steph, can’t experience love, but I think they do. I think it just has a different purpose in their psyche and in their heart. Steph was just really needing an escape, and needing a savior, in a way. And Hank came at the perfect time for her. But I don’t think that means that the relationship is just automatically miserable. I hope they try to find some love. And I think you have to find the love in those characters. I bet there are some loving moments in there.” And MacLachlan agreed, noting they’d known one another for a really long time, so the likelihood of fondness is high.
We like to think that’s true. The nuance of this shocking relationship would be made even better if there was love between them. After all, it feels likely that by the time Steph awoke in the post-Great War timeline on Fallout, Hank had fallen in love, gotten married, and had children with someone else. And the intensity of those dynamics seems too good for the series not to delve into.
For his part, Hank wistfully and specifically names Stephanie in his list of people he misses from Vault 33 before he erases his own memories in Fallout season two’s finale. It feels clear that he has some deep feeling for her, but what that feeling is exactly, we don’t yet know. Still, love in some capacity feels likely.
Why Did Steph Want to Marry Chet So Badly?
Of course, this romance and marriage with Hank does make us wonder about Steph’s other relationships on Fallout. For instance, Steph seems really insistent on marrying Chet on Fallout season two, after, more or less, forcing him into a relationship and baby daddy role in Fallout season one. We know that Chet is technically Lucy’s cousin on Fallout; we assume, from her mother’s side, since we haven’t heard tell of any siblings for Hank MacLean. So Chet is a relation of the woman who replaced Steph as Hank’s wife. Messy! Perhaps Steph just wanted to integrate herself into Vault life… but maybe she just wanted to keep her enemies close.
This Does Make Steph and Lucy’s Fallout Season 1 Friendship a Little Strange
Speaking of! In Fallout season one, we’re introduced to Steph as the best friend of Lucy, Hank’s daughter!!! Steph actually notes that she’s excited to raise her children alongside Lucy’s. If Steph is in love with Hank MacLean, than this relationship with Lucy MacLean must be wildly strange for both of them. What is Steph’s endgame? Did Hank approve of her becoming close to his daughter? This new relationship on Fallout season two has left us with so many questions and a STRONG need to rewatch season one of the series. What a brilliant show.
What’s Next for Hank and Steph on Fallout Season 3?
All these Hank and Steph reveals leave us with one major question after Fallout season two‘s finale. What’s next for Hank and Steph on Fallout season 3? In the past timeline, we feel confident that we’ll see Steph and Hank’s relationship evolve as their marriage melds with business, Vault-Tec, the Enclave, and more. We can’t wait to see how Steph and Hank contribute to the end of the world on Fallout.
But in the post-Great War, present timeline, the question of Hank and Steph’s fate is more complex. Hank MacLean has wiped all of his memories, and it’s not clear if they’ll return. Meanwhile, Steph has set into motion truly nefarious aims. Will Hank and Steph reunite? Will they start fresh with one another? Would Steph even still want a relationship with Hank now that he has none of his former venom in him? Would Hank want one with Steph, newly innocent as he is? All we can do is wait for Fallout season three to arrive on our screens.
Fallout season two is now streaming in full on Prime Video.
Rotem Rusak is the Editor-in-Chief of Nerdist. She loves a crack ship as much as the next person and is glad Fallout went there.