Very few adaptations have leapt from the small screen to… the same small screen quite as well as Fallout has. Part of that is due to Prime Video’s dedication to bringing Bethesda’s rich world to life. That quality shines through Fallout like an oil-drenched candle, improved only by the likes of Ella Purnell, Walton Goggins, and Aaron Moten in starring roles. A gripping (but still fresh) story that doesn’t step on the lore’s toes (much) is just the cherry on top.
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Fallout gets nearly everything right — from the skintight blue vault dweller jumpsuits to the vaults themselves, harbouring a select few from the fallout that landed them there in the first place. Fallout plays fast and loose with its post-apocalyptic worldbuilding, following a nuclear war in 2077 up to 2296.
It’s there that Fallout, the series, takes place. We follow Lucy MacLean, a happy-go-lucky vault dweller (born and raised), as she readies herself for marriage. It isn’t long before things take a turn for the worse. Much of Vault 33 is massacred, and Lucy’s father (Kyle MacLachlan) is dragged off. Lucy breaks Vault-Tec’s biggest rule and sets out into the wasteland in search of her father, leaving her brother (Moises Arias) behind.
We’re quickly introduced to Maximus, an aspiring Knight currently serving the Brotherhood of Steel. That’s a name familiar to anyone who’s played the games, but newbies may need an introduction to the group dedicating itself to preserving old-world technology and safeguarding it from the bad folks. They’re also responsible for those bad-ass metal-clad power suits you’ve seen just about everywhere in the marketing.
Finally, there’s the Ghoul, who’s easily the most interesting puzzle piece of the entire show. Sure, part of that is due to reliance on Rad-Away that stops him from becoming a mindless feral ghoul, but it’s how he gets there that interests us most. Not only was the Ghoul a famous actor pre-fallout, but his wife was also one of the suits at Vault-Tec. If you still aren’t clear why that’s a bad thing, we’ll let you take that journey alone.
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Fallout’s greatest strength is building many intriguing plot points and characters and successfully weaving them together in a way that’ll have you reaching for the ‘next episode’ button every time the credits roll. And we haven’t even gotten to the stupendous actors, nor the fantastic sets they’re running around.
Prime Video doesn’t shy away from dirtying up Fallout in the right way. We mean that literally — with the sets actually looking like they’ve taken a couple of atomic beatings. Fallout ups the ante by delivering exquisite, vibrant cinematography and action-heavy choreography that’s worthy of the name.
But we also mean it figuratively. Fallout is home to a host of the nastiest characters you’ll ever meet, apocalypse scenario or no. It’s an essential building block that only serves to make the world feel that much more… lived in. Realistic, violent NPCs characters only up the stakes for our, uh, heroes.
We won’t bore you with testimonials for Goggins and Purnell, who have both proven themselves fantastic actors pre-Fallout. Okay, fine; we lied. The standout here is Goggins’ embodiment of the gun-slinging post-apocalyptic cowboy, equalled only by Purnell’s performance. Given the chance to step away from voice-heavy roles, Purnell’s charm carries the show, and her gradual descent into a wastelander makes Fallout… Fallout.
Whether you’re a fan of Bethesda’s Fallout or not, there’s something for everybody in Prime Video’s adaptation. One of the series’s weaker aspects was the weekly release schedule that accompanied S2. We’ve gone through the trouble of holding our applause ’til the season was out, making it ideal for a weekend binge.
