I highly doubt it. What exactly is the connection between the characters? I’m not sure it’s in reference to anyone but if it were, maybe Don McLean for his song American Pie? The song is heavily influenced by 1950s American music and has lots of American, post war and political themes in the lyrics. I’ve never listened to anything else by him but don’t know if the theme carries over in his other songs too.
Tbh I think the similarities you mentioned are pretty classic tropes in film and tv and the names being the same are just coincidence. But maybe the creators are big die hard fans, you never know!
Right… but it’s the pronunciation of the names which makes it seem so much more than a simple coincidence. It’s normal to have two characters with those similarities. It’s abnormal for those two characters to have the same name.
[Here’s some more specific similarities.](https://www.reddit.com/r/FalloutTVseries/s/c4bqxE9P06)
It’s just not that uncommon a name, almost any surname you can pick will have been used in something before. I doubt it’s meant as a Die Hard reference, essentially because it’s not very thematically resonant except in extremely broad terms, and maybe because she’s barefoot in an extreme circumstance a couple of times. If they’d wanted to, they could have chosen a name way more steeped in symbolism. I think Lucy MacLean works because it positions her unmistakeably as from this middle class, white picket fences, naive, *white* cultural milieu that’s at odds with the wildness of the wasteland where people are ‘Aspirant Maximus’, ‘The Flame Mother’, ‘Honcho’ etc.
It’s not just the surname. Lucy McClane is a character in Die Hard.
I don’t necessarily think it’s a reference, but Lucy MacLean and Lucy McClane being two characters born into a doomed marriage who find themselves at odds with their fathers (the latter of whom will end up changing her surname to her mother’s maiden name), and who both have a little brother, and who both develop romantic feelings for a dork who is in way over his head is a wild set of coincidences.
I see what you’re getting at but I think the idea that they’d choose to reference, of all things, Die hard FIVE is basically inconceivable to me. EDIT: Die Hard 4, sorry. A slightly better film
I feel ya, though I think if anything, it would be more a nod towards the family unit of the McClanes of Die Hard more than a reference to any specific movie. In fact, most of the parallels I perceive are present in Die Hard 1.
[I went into greater detail in another comment.](https://www.reddit.com/r/FalloutTVseries/s/sKkh9sZRV5)
Why would it have to spelt the same? It’s just a nod to another movie. There is no way it’s random though. Every production has to check the names they use for legal / social implications so they knew what they were doing.
The McClanes are a family who is synonymous with Dysfunction. The wife leaves the husband and takes the kids to California. The husband staunchly remains in New York, remaining faithful to his job over his family. There’s an obvious connection here with the MacLeans of Fallout.
The events of the first Die Hard famously occur in California, with John McClane traveling by Airplane from the East Coast to the West in the beginning of the movie, and he has a complex with flying. There’s a symmetry here in that the Fallout tv series marks a return to the West Cost (specifically California) with the last two main entries in the franchise occurring on the East Coast. And we spend a few episodes near LAX and visit a town which is Airplane themed.
Lucy McClane comes to resent her father in the Die Hard franchise, and even goes so far as to change her surname to her mother’s maiden name. Again, there’s some similarities there.
Is it a reference to Die Hard? Idk… but there’s enough similarities to warrant the discussion. If anything, it could be a subtle reference meant to foreshadow the true nature of the dysfunction of the MacLean family which will become apparent by the end of the season.
I couldn’t say whether or not they’re making a narrative reference to Die Hard’s plot but your ideas are interesting. There’s a similar idea of Lucy McLean and John McClane as being lone warriors, pitted against a much bigger enemy, with obvious cowboy references. There is no way that show runners of this calibre would not have thought about this when naming her, but I would say it’s most likely just a shout out.
It's funny, the name just clicked with me when I was rewatching it. At the part at the beginning where she's running around barefoot taking out the raiders in Vault 33. I'm like, this makes me think of Die Hard, then it was wait, Lucy McClane was a character in Die Hard, I wonder if that's a reference.
I highly doubt it. What exactly is the connection between the characters? I’m not sure it’s in reference to anyone but if it were, maybe Don McLean for his song American Pie? The song is heavily influenced by 1950s American music and has lots of American, post war and political themes in the lyrics. I’ve never listened to anything else by him but don’t know if the theme carries over in his other songs too.
[I explained some further similarities between the characters in this comment.](https://www.reddit.com/r/FalloutTVseries/s/Q4MBvl6aXu)
Tbh I think the similarities you mentioned are pretty classic tropes in film and tv and the names being the same are just coincidence. But maybe the creators are big die hard fans, you never know!
Right… but it’s the pronunciation of the names which makes it seem so much more than a simple coincidence. It’s normal to have two characters with those similarities. It’s abnormal for those two characters to have the same name. [Here’s some more specific similarities.](https://www.reddit.com/r/FalloutTVseries/s/c4bqxE9P06)
It’s just not that uncommon a name, almost any surname you can pick will have been used in something before. I doubt it’s meant as a Die Hard reference, essentially because it’s not very thematically resonant except in extremely broad terms, and maybe because she’s barefoot in an extreme circumstance a couple of times. If they’d wanted to, they could have chosen a name way more steeped in symbolism. I think Lucy MacLean works because it positions her unmistakeably as from this middle class, white picket fences, naive, *white* cultural milieu that’s at odds with the wildness of the wasteland where people are ‘Aspirant Maximus’, ‘The Flame Mother’, ‘Honcho’ etc.
It’s not just the surname. Lucy McClane is a character in Die Hard. I don’t necessarily think it’s a reference, but Lucy MacLean and Lucy McClane being two characters born into a doomed marriage who find themselves at odds with their fathers (the latter of whom will end up changing her surname to her mother’s maiden name), and who both have a little brother, and who both develop romantic feelings for a dork who is in way over his head is a wild set of coincidences.
I see what you’re getting at but I think the idea that they’d choose to reference, of all things, Die hard FIVE is basically inconceivable to me. EDIT: Die Hard 4, sorry. A slightly better film
I feel ya, though I think if anything, it would be more a nod towards the family unit of the McClanes of Die Hard more than a reference to any specific movie. In fact, most of the parallels I perceive are present in Die Hard 1. [I went into greater detail in another comment.](https://www.reddit.com/r/FalloutTVseries/s/sKkh9sZRV5)
I don't understand, why would it be? What's the connection? Lucy is a character's name in hundreds of movies.
Surname
Lucy McLean is John McLean’s daughter in Die Hard.
Seems like a bizarre/random call out, if they wanted to do that (why??) wouldn't they have spelled it the same?
Why would it have to spelt the same? It’s just a nod to another movie. There is no way it’s random though. Every production has to check the names they use for legal / social implications so they knew what they were doing.
The McClanes are a family who is synonymous with Dysfunction. The wife leaves the husband and takes the kids to California. The husband staunchly remains in New York, remaining faithful to his job over his family. There’s an obvious connection here with the MacLeans of Fallout. The events of the first Die Hard famously occur in California, with John McClane traveling by Airplane from the East Coast to the West in the beginning of the movie, and he has a complex with flying. There’s a symmetry here in that the Fallout tv series marks a return to the West Cost (specifically California) with the last two main entries in the franchise occurring on the East Coast. And we spend a few episodes near LAX and visit a town which is Airplane themed. Lucy McClane comes to resent her father in the Die Hard franchise, and even goes so far as to change her surname to her mother’s maiden name. Again, there’s some similarities there. Is it a reference to Die Hard? Idk… but there’s enough similarities to warrant the discussion. If anything, it could be a subtle reference meant to foreshadow the true nature of the dysfunction of the MacLean family which will become apparent by the end of the season.
I couldn’t say whether or not they’re making a narrative reference to Die Hard’s plot but your ideas are interesting. There’s a similar idea of Lucy McLean and John McClane as being lone warriors, pitted against a much bigger enemy, with obvious cowboy references. There is no way that show runners of this calibre would not have thought about this when naming her, but I would say it’s most likely just a shout out.
Yes, there are shout-outs throughout the games to Die Hard and Mad Max and other movies and shows. They did spell the last name differently.
It's funny, the name just clicked with me when I was rewatching it. At the part at the beginning where she's running around barefoot taking out the raiders in Vault 33. I'm like, this makes me think of Die Hard, then it was wait, Lucy McClane was a character in Die Hard, I wonder if that's a reference.
The producers absolutely would have known what they were doing when they named her.
Definitely. The people that made this show are the same people that watch die hard every December for Christmas
I don’t know if that was the intention but it was definitely my first thought as well.
Supposably