Is it possible that we are living in a golden age of TV adaptations of geeky titles? Only earlier this year we had fantastic shows like One Piece and Avatar the Last Airbender and this trend shows no signs of stopping as Amazon’s/MGM’s Fallout has just dropped on Amazon Prime.
Based on the game series of the same name by Interplay/Bethesda, after a brief introduction in the present, we are plunged 200 years into the future after the Earth was devastated by nuclear war. Fortunately, many people survived underground in city-sized vaults for multiple generations.
We are introduced to Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell), daughter of the overseer of Vault 33. Here, the dwellers have an idyllic all-American values community, living in harmony, until raiders invade the vault and kidnap her father, prompting her to escape the vault and pursue the kidnappers.
The second protagonist we are introduced to is Maximus (Aaron Moten), an initiate of the Brotherhood of Steel. The Brotherhood is a pseudo-religion based on capturing technology of the old world through any and often violent means. We get to see Maximus struggle through training until he lucks his way to the rank of scribe and gets to accompany a knight on a mission to the wilds.
The last Protagonist we meet is the Ghoul (Walter Goggins), a bounty hunter mutated from radiation who has lived since before the war, who we briefly saw in the opening scenes. While seemingly unrelated, all parties get involved in a plot revolving around a rogue scientist with an advanced piece of tech which could change the wasteland forever.
First, off the bat, all the performances are brilliant with many veteran actors you may or may not recognise (Kyle Maclachlan, Matt Berry etc). I feel special mention needs to go to Goggins, who essentially has a dual role as we see his life before and after through flashbacks of his life and the lead-up to the bombs dropping. Lucy is hopelessly optimistic to the brink of naivety and Maximus is dim but loyal (I’ve seen someone compare him to the idiot savant perk from the game and I wholeheartedly agree).
The side characters also get a lot of screen time and there are some truly memorable ones as well, the charlatan doctor is a prime example. We skip about the different characters throughout the series and see plenty of what the world of Fallout has to offer and even with this many threads never becomes hard to follow. Although, I feel they missed a trick not having Ron Pearlman not turn up at least once as he has been the voice of the game series for so many years.
As a fan of the games, there were plenty of Easter eggs for me to see, plenty of familiar props and sayings and even a laugh-out line for myself:
“Golden rule of the wasteland, thou shalt get sidetracked… all the time.”
The unique style of the game is present from the retro-future 50’s style tech of the present day to the makeshift armour and weapons we see in the wasteland. This helps it just “feel” like the Fallout we put so many hours into.
It also helps that it sounds like Fallout as well. We get a lot of the classic soundtracks that are used in the game as well as plenty of simple effects making the fans seem right at home.
Coming in with eight episodes all at an hour each, I had an absolute blast watching Fallout. The main characters are likeable, the plot is well written, and although some hardcore fans say it messes with established game lore, I don’t believe that’s enough to not enjoy your time with it. I can’t wait for season two.
Platform: Amazon Prime
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