Review: Fallout Season 1 Honors the Games 

When people play the Fallout games, everyone’s runs could be different. This due to how folks approach the experience, which factions they side with, and the way they choose to survive in the wasteland. Thanks to the approach taken with Fallout season 1, Amazon’s latest foray into video game shows, the use of multiple protagonists means this adaptation feels like it properly pays tribute to all the things the games are and accomplish.

The whole execution of Fallout season 1 and its multiple leads serves as a means of introducing factions and races from the game in an easily digestible way. Especially since they all end up being tied together by common goals, which allows us to see how each one would approach the situation. Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) is our Vault dweller given a reason to leave the safety of 33. Maximus (Aaron Moten) is a young man attempting to rise through the ranks of the Brotherhood of Steel after being saved by a person in Power Armor as a child. The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) has no ties to anyone and is, well, a ghoul. We also get insight into pre-Great War society, the Enclave, and ordinary wastelander life. Each one is setting out on a journey as the series begins, and their experiences and interactions with one another all better shape our understanding of things.

This decision means that in the first few episodes, season 1 of Fallout is acting as a perfect primer for anyone who hasn’t played the games. Lucy’s led something of an idealized existence safe in Vault 33 with her brother Norm and overseer father Hank. Everyone seems to get along. Things are bright and cheerful. There’s no struggle for health or resources. We’re left with the impression Vault Tec wanted us to have. This also means plenty of references to that propaganda, including Vault Boy and Nuka Cola. As a result, Lucy is a bit naive and overly optimistic, even though she is incredibly intelligent and a skilled fighter.

With Maximus, we’re seeing a harsher view of what people above needed to live like. He sees the Brotherhood as his saviors and is dedicating his life to rising through the ranks in hopes of becoming a Squire and Knight. While he’s far more aware of his surroundings, as well as strong and tough, that upbringing involves his own sort of gaps in knowledge and naivety due to what he has and hasn’t experienced in a Brotherhood camp. Also, it’s because of Maximus’ portions that we get this great look at what exploring and fighting is like with Power Armor. 

As for The Ghoul, he’s something of the audience window into the world. Due to the length of his lifespan, we’re gaining greater insight into what’s happened to the world and United States as a result of the Great War and bombs dropping. While his role is the closest to being a true antagonist among the main “three,” it also helps us better understand morality in this new world and who the viewer may want to “side” with as they watch. 

But it isn’t just this presentation of multiple viewpoints and ensuring that the viewer understands what happened in the past and is going on in the present that makes someone feel like the creators of season 1 of the Fallout Amazon TV show get what is important about the games. It’s the way various situations are handled. It doesn’t only embrace grit and gore, though there are some absolutely brutal moments. (Which is expected! Fallout as a series gets dark!) It also touches on the more heartfelt relationships between people, such as ones between Lucy and her family and the friendship between Maximus and fellow Brotherhood member Dane. 

It also can be just genuinely funny. This isn’t just when certain side characters come up either. Purnell’s earnest portrayal as Lucy means some situations that wouldn’t normally be comical are darkly hilarious. Moten, as Maximus, gets a few of these moments too. Often, because he gets carried away with his mission. Though during some segments with the Power Armor, it reminded me of how an overenthusiastic player might react in a game to a similar situation. When Goggins has his moments as The Ghoul, they’re more dry and sarcastic. 

It also helps that all of the settings are absolutely perfect. Depictions of Vaults are amazing. The pre-war society offers this great contrast to everything we see after the bombs dropped. There are many places in the game that you can tell are pulling directly from Bethesda’s exact locations in-game for inspiration. The props, the buildings, the costume design, and characters’ personalities all fit. The only things that disappointed me is that I noticed a few plot points or elements reminded me of situations or circumstances seen in Game of Thrones and Westworld, and that really stuck out compared to the more original circumstances and situations that also felt like they fit the series and were more innovative.

Season 1 of Amazon’s Fallout feels like it really captures the drama, heartbreak, horror, and even comedy of the games. The decision to follow multiple protagonists and show their unique wasteland experience help better detail the experience for newcomers. It also means we’re getting lots of lore, as well as fun Easter eggs referencing the games. I’m excited to see where season 2 will take us.

Fallout season 1 will begin streaming on Amazon on April 10, 2024.