Video game adaptations can be hit or miss, and according to Bethesda’s Todd Howard (also an executive producer for the TV series), he’s turned down ideas to adapt Fallout into a film or TV show for years. But thanks to the vision of Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy (Westworld), we now have an exciting new series.
Prime Video’s Fallout is an ambitious project based on the wildly successful video game franchise created by Tim Cain and later acquired by Bethesda Game Studios. If there’s one fandom harder to please than comic book nerds, it’s gamers — a hard truth that Nolan, who directed the first three episodes, acknowledges: “When people have spent 50 to 100 hours in a world, their level of investment is very different.”
Fallout begins in 2077, the year of the Great War. Time slows down as famous TV cowboy Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins) watches in stunned horror as bombs fall from the sky. When we catch up to him more than 200 years later, he’s transformed into the Ghoul, a mutated bounty hunter physically and morally unrecognizable from his previous self. The always brilliant Goggins expertly plays both the old Hollywood star and the heartless murderer he becomes, each character surviving under different circumstances.
Young Vault Dweller, Lucy (Ella Purnell) — daughter of Hank MacLean (the legendary Kyle MacLachlan), the Overseer of Vault 33 — has grown up with the privilege of optimism. Their mission to one day repopulate the world drives every aspect of their lives. But when the peace in their subterranean Americana is threatened, she must venture out onto the surface for the first time in her life where the upbeat go-getter gets a bitter taste of reality.
Somewhere between the Ghoul’s darkness and Lucy’s idealism, there’s Maximus (Aaron Moten), a squire and aspiring knight in the Brotherhood of Steel, a militaristic faction hoarding pre-war technology. We’re introduced to him mid-fight, one that he’s clearly losing. Like every surface dweller, he longs for power, especially the Brotherhood’s Power Armor. However, Morten imbues Max with such a boyish excitement that his moral ambiguity is almost endearing.
Showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel, Tomb Raider) and Graham Wagner (Portlandia, Silicon Valley) combined their experiences in action blockbusters and subversive TV comedies to craft this original story set within the game’s post-nuclear world.
Telling the story from these three points of view — a can-do idealist, an orphan desperately trying to climb the ranks of BoS, and an undead gunslinger with only the tiniest flicker of humanity left (if any) — gives viewers a good idea of everyone’s disparate apocalyptic experiences, which are evident in their tense interactions with each other.
Lucy is intriguing because she’s nowhere near a damsel in distress, but, as Purnell recalls, the character was described to her as “Leslie Knope meets Ned Flanders,” which is pretty accurate. She okie-dokies her way through almost every situation, reciting conflict resolution tactics from her vault education. Lucy may be naive and innocent, but she’s not helpless.
This vaulty is resourceful and resilient yet still unprepared for the chaos above ground and all the weirdos she encounters along the way, including a RobCo Industries bot called Snip-Snip aka Mr. Handy (the amazing Matt Berry) and Overseer Benjamin (Chris Parnell).
While his sister traverses the hellscape, Norm MacLean (Moisés Arias) works to uncover Black Mirror-like secrets down in the vaults. Then there’s Wilzig (Michael Emerson), a researcher in possession of an important artifact that everyone wants, including the mysterious and feared Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury). There are other factions like the Enclave and the New California Republic that I can’t get into without spoilers. Nolan told Vanity Fair, “Whoever the good guys and the bad guys were, they destroyed the whole world. So now we’re in a much more gray area.”
Fallout has a mind-blowing retro-futuristic setting inhabited by mutated creatures, irradiated humans turned feral ghouls, and an endless population of raiders. Basically, everything and everyone wants to rob you, kill you, and maybe even eat you.
For those completely unfamiliar with the games, the vast lore of Fallout can be overwhelming. The series gets into the alternate history’s timeline of events, the rise of Vault-Tec, and even gives origins to some of the iconography. But there’s only so much you can fit into eight episodes. Luckily, it sounds like a second season is all but guaranteed.
From the 1950s-era style vaults to the sprawling California Wasteland, production designer Howard Cummings (Westworld, Lovecraft Country) and team did an outstanding job recreating and expanding Fallout’s unique, grungy world. The attention to detail shows just how passionate everyone was about respecting the source material. Aside from the visual references of Nuka-Cola and Vault Boy, every scene is likely littered with exciting easter eggs that I, only a casual player of Fallout 3, didn’t catch.
Given that The Last of Us is one of the latest game adaptations fans and audiences have liked, there are already comparisons between the two series. Both have dedicated groups of creatives who admire the beloved games, incredibly immersive set design, and major star power. But Fallout’s tone couldn’t be more different.
Keeping with the game’s themes, the music in Fallout includes early bops from the 1940s–50s like “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” by The Ink Spots and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Some Enchanted Evening,” with some Johnny Cash thrown in (because violence and horror set to happy tunes are always great). Ramin Djawadi’s (Westworld, 3 Body Problem) original score provides a different kind of ominous tone.
Fallout succeeds in telling a compelling original story within a distinct established universe. Like its rich source material, the series is a delightful mash-up of sci-fi, action, western, and drama that leans into the satirical, absurdist comedy and blood-splattering violence of the games, resulting in a tonal blend of The Boys, Gen V, and Invincible. With its multiple perspectives, impeccable design, and solid performances from Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, and Walton Goggins, it’s more than worth a watch.
It’s impossible to satisfy everyone in the gamer community because everyone has their own way of playing. Still, the series is a great opportunity for non-gamers to experience the unique world without picking up a controller.
All eight episodes of Fallout premiere April 10, 2024, on Prime Video.
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