Summary
A truly fresh piece of entertainment that faithfully recreates the world of the games.
From the brilliant minds of Westworld creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan comes the much-anticipated Fallout, the Prime Video adaptation of the beloved game franchise. The eight-episode series joins the ranks of other high-quality on-screen versions of popular video games like HBO’s The Last of Us and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. With its razor-sharp wit, 1950s soundtrack, and stylish yet bloody violence, this is a strong contender for the best series you’ll watch this year.
When the series opens, we’re briefly introduced to a glossy retrofuturistic version of the 1950s, where famed movie star Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins) performs at a kid’s birthday party. Soon enough, the bombs start dropping over Los Angeles and Cooper grabs his young daughter and tries making a run for it on horseback.
More than two centuries later, a vivacious Vault Dweller named Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) is preparing for her blind wedding to a denizen of neighboring Vault 32. The nuptials don’t go as planned and soon enough our young protagonist has to leave the safety of Vault 33 to traverse the Wastelands and rescue her father, who’s been kidnapped by fierce warlord Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury).
Throughout the series, Lucy serves as the de-facto protagonist and the audience’s introduction to the man-eats-man world of the Wastelands. As someone raised in the safety and luxury of a fallout shelter, Lucy is shocked at the world’s cruelty but has little choice but to adapt if she wants to survive.
The second protagonist is Brotherhood of Steel squire recruit, Maximus (Aaron Moten), who dreams of one day becoming a Knight and wearing the iconic Power Armor. First, he must deal with relentless bullying from his peers, a few white lies, an irradiated bear, and a never-ending web of lies.
Fallout | Image via Prime Video
Still alive as a radiated mutant known as The Ghoul, Cooper is the show’s third and most amoral lead. Throughout the series, we learn more about the pre-war world through flashbacks of Cooper’s life before he became a cruel, noseless bounty hunter. The Ghoul’s storyline may be the least compelling in the season, but thanks to Goggins’s performance, he is the most fun to watch.
While the three main characters do come across one another on several occasions, the series is built almost like a videogame, where the viewers get to ‘play’ each protagonist separately. Each has a separate story that builds towards the epic and well-deserved finale.
Speaking of games, fans of the Fallout series will find plenty to love about the show’s commitment to recreating the world in the beloved franchise. From Vault 32’s design to little details like the Nuka Cola thrown in, it looks like no expense was spared in bringing the games to the at-home cinematic world of television.
However, you don’t need to be a gamer to enjoy the TV version of Fallout. While the series is set within the world of video games, it tells a fresh story with new characters. It offers a great introduction to Fallout lore without expecting the viewer to already know what they’re walking in on.
It’s hard to find many faults in Prime Video’s endeavor in video game adaptation. The series leans into satire, bursts of bloody violence, and excellent acting to tell an exciting story. Once you press play on the first episode, you’ll find it hard to look away until the final credits roll.
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