When Fallout premiered on Prime Video in 2024, there was ample trepidation about whether this series would deliver where other video game adaptations had failed. The program, created by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner -- and executive produced by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy -- more than proved its worth.
Thanks to a focus on creating an original storyline that honors the property created by Bethesda Softworks, along with immersive world-building, unique characters and a fun tongue-in-cheek style, the series did well by the franchise's fandom.
Now, a year and a half later, Fallout is back with Season 2. Rest assured, after viewing the first six episodes, I can attest that, once again, Fallout turns the crumbling of humanity into a rollicking good time. There are story and character details that I can't discuss without spoiling the plot, so I won't. That said, if you want to go into these episodes fresh, turn back now.
The Brotherhood of Steel armor. Prime Video
Fans of the Fallout games can all agree that the most engaging component of the series is the franchise's absorbing story world. There are iconic locales and a deeply developed lore that is all held together by an oddly quaint retrofuturistic aesthetic. It's a formula that makes the series unique, bridging nostalgia with fantasy.
As with the first season, the new episodes lean into these world details without feeling contrived. Look around, and you'll see people wearing Pip-Boys and drinking bottles of Nuka Cola. Radroaches and StimPaks sprinkle the story, instead of oversaturating it, broadening the edges of an already realized reality. These are the fun Easter eggs for fans of the games to engage with, while newcomers can relish in the absurdity.
Season 2 shifts locations, relocating the story to the iconic setting of New Vegas. It's a fun pivot. Aside from unleashing more aesthetic references to the games, the new environment brings new stakes to the mix.
Aaron Moten is a standout performer in Season 2. Lorenzo Sisti/Prime Video
All this wouldn't really matter if the show didn't have a collection of strong heroes to root for; Fallout has three. Ella Purnell, Walton Goggins and Aaron Moten return as Lucy, The Ghoul and Maximus. Our main characters find themselves grappling with crises of identity.
I was afraid the new episodes would be a retread for the characters. While I'd have no issue watching Goggins swagger through the desert, delivering one-liners through his noseless face, I'm happy to say that each of these characters faces challenges that spark discomfort and change within them, leading the show to go into exciting, sometimes unpredictable, directions.
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