The end of season 1 of Fallout teased a trip to New Vegas. But fans may have to practice their patience in this sometimes-chaotic sophomore season of the video game adaptation.
SEASON 2 OF “FALLOUT”
The opening episodes of the post-apocalyptic show pick up with Lucy (Ella Purnell) and The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) trekking through the Mojave Desert. Both are on different missions with the same goal: to go to New Vegas and find Hank (Kyle MacLachlan). Lucy wants to bring her father to justice. While The Ghoul wants to know what happened to his wife and daughter after the blast.
In another of the many threads in Fallout, the newly knighted Maximus (Aaron Moten) is feeling uncomfortable in his place within the power-hungry Brotherhood of Steel. This altruistic group is dedicated to preserving pre-war technology. They believe they can only be trusted with maintaining this world.
When that is all going on outside, Lucy’s brother Norm (Moises Arias) is making his own plans with his vault. His character goes from slightly dubious of their vault surroundings to bravely leading his own expedition. The dwellers of the vaults are pushed aside in the opening episodes of season 2, with too much going on outside these silos to focus on the gang from Vault 32 and 33.
CONFUSING MIX OF TONES
Season 2 of Fallout smashes three or four different genres together to create a confusing mix of tones. The source games have always blended the 50’s America with the decaying post-war apocalypse landscape. But the show doesn’t always successfully manage the same feat.
The opening four episodes of the six given in advance to the press struggle to spread themselves too thin. It follows multiple characters in different locations with different motivations. And that’s not to mention all the different flashback scenes. This series requires a certain amount of attention to keep up with where everyone is and what year the scene is taking place in.
The first three episodes are dedicated to laying out the landscape of Fallout. There’s a lot of exposition as we meet new factions and new characters, which becomes frustrating. For those not indoctrinated into the games, it’s a lot of information to take in at the same time. Especially, when these new characters, religions, and creatures are often just a fleeting side quest for our main hero. There is more time spent explaining the world rather than just letting the characters explore it.
TOO MANY CHARACTERS, FACTIONS
One of the most noticeable new groups introduced to this world is Caesar’s Legion. This violent faction models itself on ancient rule, believes in slavery, and is ruled by a mad dictator. Fallout is at its best when it goes all-in and embraces the eccentricities of the source materials.
There are so many characters, with new factions and backstories added every episode. The show simply does not have enough time to cover them all to a satisfactory level. Each episode slightly confusingly bounces between pre and post-war, underground and overground, seemingly not interweaving. Whether the writers successfully blend the stories together in the last two episodes remains to be seen. But it’s hard to imagine how they will successfully make the whole thing make sense together instead of feeling like three separate shows smashed together.
A LATE ARRIVAL TO VEGAS FOR “FALLOUT”
The show comes into its own by episode 5. The world of New Vegas is finally explored. Considering it was hinted at last season, fans may be disappointed that the wait to see the post-war ruins of Vegas is such a long one. It’s worth the required patience, with Mr. House hinted at throughout flashbacks to the pre-war world. New Vegas is everything fans of the game will want it to be. It’s just a baffling decision not to get the characters there sooner. Once its destination arrives, Fallout becomes the season you hope it’s going to be.
When the writing falters, the set design shines. The attention to detail in the world-building is phenomenal, thanks to practical sets. Novac, Freeside, House’s Lucky 38 casino, and Area 51 all appear in this second season. It’s jam-packed with easter eggs for fans of the franchise. The show does a fantastic job of recreating scenes from the games in a way that makes them look real and lived-in. Fallout is so well made that you could almost forgive some of the clunky writing and failure to balance the scattered cast.
Another part of the games brought to life for this second series are the creatures. Fans of the game would have seen this coming from the skulls seen in the finale. But non-gamers may find themselves surprised at how scary some of these beasts are. This is one of a few ways the second season turns up the volume on the blood and gore.
GOGGINS & PURNELL SHINE ONCE AGAIN
Walton Goggins is the MVP of the series in his split role as Howard Cooper, a decorated veteran turned movie star. As well as in the aftermath of the bomb, the nihilistic walking dead Man In Black, The Ghoul. Even behind the extensive prosthetics and makeup, Goggins delivers pathos. Ella Purnell is excellent as the peppy Lucy who is evolving in the harsh landscape outside the fantasy world of her vault. Purnell doesn’t get the material to really let lose, while Aaron Moten’s Maximus has to do some of his most emotional work while wearing the suit. Maximus and Lucy suffer from being grounded characters in a world inhabited by louder, brasher people.
Season 1 of Fallout was already a vast world full of eccentric characters. But Season 2 adds even more. We finally meet the slimy Mr House (Justin Theroux). A mercurial technocrat who feels all to relevant to the modern audiences. Another new addition to the cast is Kumail Nanjiani. A bombastic member of the Brotherhood of Steel, who seeks civil war. Macaulay Culkin also appears, leading a new, even more murderous faction roaming the wasteland. These latest additions are having a ball playing their bombastic characters. Fallout is the type of show where big choices work, and Theroux, Culkin, and Nanjiani know that.
OVERALL THOUGHTS ON “FALLOUT”
Fallout is still struggling to find its feet and balance its complex plots, large ensemble cast, and world-building. While it excels at creating a believable universe full of religious factions, evil tech giants, and violent creatures, the writing doesn’t always know how to pull it all together narratively. How do you effectively adapt such a rich, varied world and condense it into just eight hours of television? Fallout has almost worked it out.
Prime Video releases Fallout Season Two on December 16th at 6PM PT
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