'Fallout' Season 2, did you just pay homage to David Lynch?

We see your damn fine moment.
 By 
Shannon Connellan
 on 
Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan) in "Fallout."
Kyle MacLachlan as Hank MacLean in "Fallout." Credit: Courtesy of Prime

There's moment in Fallout Season 2 that isn't directly an ode to the late, great David Lynch but it absolutely, 100 percent is.

In the very first episode of the second chapter, there's a fleeting scene that Twin Peaks fans might find unexpectedly heartwarming in the middle of this forsaken Wasteland. And it involves a damn fine cup of coffee.

Late in Season 2, episode 1 of the TV adaptation of Bethesda's Fallout game franchise, we meet up with former Vault 33 overseer Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan) who has trudged across the Nevada desert in T-60 power armor all the way to a massive underground Vault-Tec tower. It's completely devoid of life, instead a silent shell of a pristine office building.

Plus, Hank's got over 400,000 unread messages to attend to — it's been at least 200 years since anyone's checked them. With an aim for caffeination and his golden Pip Boy strapped on, Hank makes himself a pot of coffee and takes a sip — and if you don't think MacLachlan's character is about to remark that it's a "damn fine cup of coffee," you need to watch more Twin Peaks.

In this scene, MacLachlan could very well be paying tribute to his longtime friend and Twin Peaks/Blue Velvet/Dune director, who died at 78 in January this year. The actor has long been synonymous with the phrase after playing Agent Dale Cooper in Lynch's iconic mystery series. The FBI special agent insists on taking a moment for his daily brew, and giving oneself a daily present while investigating horrific crimes, preferring "two cups of good, hot black coffee" for himself.

While Hank doesn't actually utter the words despite subtle "say the line, Bart," teasing, there's definitely a smile and a pause — enough for Lynch fans to fill in the famous line themselves.

A photo portrait of a journalist with blonde hair and a band t-shirt.
Shannon Connellan
UK Editor

Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.

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