Fallout Star Breaks Down The Season 2 Scene That Almost Broke Them

Fallout season 2 ends in pure chaos, but the moment that apparently hurt the most to make wasn’t in the finale. Walton Goggins says his toughest day came earlier, in an Episode 5 showdown that flips his character’s compass in a pretty brutal way.

The scene that broke Goggins

Goggins, who plays Cooper Howard/The Ghoul in the Amazon Prime Video series, pointed to the episode where his wasteland survivor decides to sell out Lucy (Ella Purnell). He didn’t mince words about how much that one cost him.

"The betrayal of Lucy... goes against [the Ghoul’s] will."

He talked about the Ghoul edging back toward his humanity in that stretch — even while he’s literally stuck up on that pole — reminding himself he’s still a man who mattered, with a child and a life that existed before the apocalypse. That push-pull is what makes the turn hit so hard for him.

What happens in Episode 5: 'The Wrangler'

Here’s the setup. In Episode 5, the Ghoul makes a deal with Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan) to get closer to his own family again. The price: Lucy. He tranquilizes her and hands her over to Hank. It’s cruel, calculated, and, yeah, it stings.

The finale twist that guts the characters

By the end of season 2, Hank makes his own brutal trade. He wipes his memories clean — including any recognition of his daughter — as a kind of self-sacrifice. If the betrayal wrecked Goggins, this final beat crushed at least one other cast member. Annabel O’Hagan, who plays Stephanie Harper, put it simply:

"That scene with Hank and Lucy tore me to shreds."

Season 2 throws plenty of bodies and morals into the grinder, but for Goggins, the hardest part to live in wasn’t the grand finale — it was the quiet moment where the Ghoul had to prove he’s still capable of doing the worst thing to the person who least deserves it.