FALLOUT Season One: It's Not Just For Gamers Anymore

FALLOUT Season One (4K SteelBook)

2024 / 450 min (8 episodes)

Warner Bros

Review by Mr. Bonnie, from the Brotherhood😺

Prior to watching Season One, everything I knew about the Fallout video game came from my oldest daughter, Natalie. She’s always been a hardcore gamer, and not only did she love this one, I seem to recall her owning some Vault Boy merch at one time. I don’t think she plays it much anymore, but was definitely interested in checking out the TV adaptation, which first debuted on Amazon Prime last year.

I’m always down for binging with Natalie, and truth be told, I was also thankful she agreed to a few nights of Fallout with her old man, if for no other reason than to explain elements that only gamers would know. One big reason most video game adaptations suck is because they forget not everyone in the audience was born with a controller in their hand.

One notable exception was the first season of The Last of Us, which was really good. Besides gushing praise from Natalie, I knew nothing about the game, nor was it necessary. That show did a masterful job developing its characters and adapting the story. Comparatively speaking, I enjoyed Fallout even more.

Because of the origins and post-apocalyptic setting of both series, the comparison is warranted. Setting aside the fact that prior knowledge of the game is not required, Fallout is similarly character driven, well-cast and features first-rate production values. But while the overall tone of The Last of Us is pretty somber, Fallout features a lot of black humor (some of it really twisted), wild production design, interesting subplots and well-placed moments of shocking gore (often played for laughs).  

And unlike The Last of Us, Fallout tells an all new story in the same gaming universe. The main story arc takes place in 2296, a few centuries after nuclear war has destroyed most of Earth. What’s left of organized civilization lives in underground Vaults, hoping to someday return to the surface and guide humankind back to its former glory. Lawless chaos reigns above ground, populated by raiders, savages, mutants and “Ghouls” (who are sort-of undead, but not quite zombies). 

When the leader of Vault 33 (Kyle MacLachlan) is kidnapped by raiders, his daughter, Lucy (Ella Purnell), decides to go to the surface and find him. She ends up in a shantytown called Filly, where a renegade scientist has secret in his head (literally) that everyone seems to want. In fact, there’s a bounty on his head (again, literally) that a vicious gunslinging ghoul (Walton Goggins) plans to collect. There’s also a cult of warriors called the Brotherhood that want the device for their own use, as does Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury), the leader of the raiders who kidnapped Lucy’s dad in the first place.

Another wrong turn at Albuquerque.

Lucy wants the device to trade for her father, while Maximus (Aaron Moten), a Brotherhood squire who assumes the use of his dead knight’s armor, hopes to return with it to avoid being executed. While the device’s purpose is eventually revealed, it’s essentially a McGuffin, and the quest for it is just scratching the surface. There are numerous subplots throughout these eight episodes, some resolved, most left open-ended (a practice I typically can’t stand in serialized TV shows). The most interesting of them is the Ghoul’s backstory. He was once known as Cooper Howard, a popular western movie star whose wife worked for Vault-Tec. We also learn that there’s something sinister behind the seemingly idyllic life in Vault 33. 

Season One of Fallout is of full of surprises, many of them with ominous implications. It also does an especially good job slowly revealing that some of these characters aren’t quite who they seem. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention just how great the show looks, having never seen a post-apocalyptic world depicted quite like this. Natalie said that the show’s rendering of the game’s quasi-retro universe is spot-on, right down to the smallest details, such as the Pip-Boys (wrist computers worn by Vault dwellers).

Speaking of which, the story and characters may be new, but Fallout gamers will still get a huge kick out of familiar props, creatures, TV spots, and of course, the prominent (often ironic) use of ‘40s & ‘50s pop songs. And yes, Vault Boy is everywhere. However, I think I actually liked the show even more than Natalie did. The first episode had me wanting to binge the rest of them that evening (work be damned), while she was content with an episode or two each night. My only real quip is that nearly every plot thread ends on a cliffhanger. A little bit of closure on a few of 'em would have been nice.

I don’t know how Fallout looked and sounded on Amazon, but the overall 4K image is outstanding, as is the Dolby Atmos audio track. What you definitely don’t get on Amazon is the generous amount of bonus features related to nearly all aspects of the production. None of them are very long, but they’re pretty entertaining. We were sent the SteelBook edition for review, which is exclusive to Amazon and features impressive artwork both inside and out.

EXTRA KIBBLES

INSIDE EPISODE 1 - “THE END” - This is basically a commentary by director Jonathan Nolan and actor Walton Goggins.

FEATURETTES - Inside Season One runs just under 20 minutes and features numerous interviews with the cast, crew and Bethesda Games producer Todd Howard (who also exec-produced). Includes plenty of behind the scenes footage.  The rest of the featurettes are shorter, and the titles more-or-less tell-all, including: Creating the Wasteland, Safe and Sound, Set Your Sets on 2296, The Costumes of Fallout, Writing for the Wasteland, Meet the Filmmaker (and Fanatic) Jonathan Nolan, Prosthetics & Make-up Gone Nuclear, Becoming the Ghoul, Console to Camera, Welcome to the World of Fallout.

VAULT SELLER’S SURVIVAL GUIDE - A view amusing Vault-Tec promo pieces.

6 COLLECTIBLE ARTCARDS