“Fallout” Season 1 Review: Is It Worth Watching?
Written by Trevor Stone Priesnitz
For people familiar with role-playing video games, the Fallout series likely needs no introduction. With 9 games and one allegedly in the process of development, the series has seen a lot of attention over the past 27 years. The shortest way I can describe this series if you are unfamiliar is this: retro-futuristic America is plunged into nuclear apocalypse, and chaos ensues.
As an intermediate fan of the series, I have played hundreds of hours of the titles “Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4” combined. I have also enjoyed watching countless videos and perusing various wikis about the expansive lore of the universe. With all that in mind, I would like to tell you what I think about this new series. Would someone who is engrossed in the games enjoy this show? Do I think this is a good place to start if you haven’t played any of the games? If you would like to know, I would love for you to keep reading. With all that being said, I will try to keep any spoilers to an absolute minimum.
Fallout is, to me, a series about a handful of loose elements that can be used like tools from a chest. A series that can go from being ridiculously silly to horrifically depressing on a dime. And I can tell you that from the very first episode, I was shocked. I believe not only that this show meets my expectations, but it swings for the fences. It nails so many elements of the games that I did not think could be adapted properly into a different medium. It weaves stories about characters that are not only believable, but it leaves me voraciously wanting more. By the final episode in the season, I was frustrated by the fact that I would have to wait so long just to see what’s next. But let’s shift to a narrower lens, so you can get a better idea of why I praise this show so much.
The characters are the glue that holds this entire show together, individuals whose stories take their time making their relevance known to each other. While the main three characters all perform excellently, I was consistently impressed with the performances of minor characters. Even the smallest of roles felt like fully-fledged individuals who interested me in some way (looking at you, Woody). Out of the main three, I found Walton Goggins’ character the most entertaining. He plays “The Ghoul,” a zombified bounty hunter who has undergone the fictional radiation complication that turns you into … a ghoul. Goggins portrays a character that has more layers than an onion, and he gets plenty of screen time to unpack that luggage. This never felt unwelcome with careful attention paid to spreading out these flashback moments over the eight episodes.
But it would be a disservice to not mention how fantastic Aaron Clifton Moten and Ella Purnell’s performances are as well. Trust me when I say that I was always bummed when the perspective shifted between the three main characters because those 10 or so minutes always drew me in so effectively. Purnell’s character, Lucy, is the poster image of the vault dweller, an unquestioning believer in the capitalist society crafted by the corporation Vault-Tec. Her character comes from an underground vault that has been untouched by anyone from the surface for hundreds of years. Her character is the “straight man” of the three, and the closest we get to a fresh perspective of the wasteland for people new to the series. This does not make her any less enjoyable for veterans of the series as she is a likable and positive force that keeps us grounded in what kindness can do in a hellscape like this one.
Moten’s character, Maximus, has got to be the most well-written character in this entire series. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, a fanatic and zealous military organization dedicated to hoarding all technology in the name of security. Moten was able to give us a performance that is shockingly human and profound. Maximus is a flawed character, but that is why I always want to know what he will do next. He is not predictable in any way, a character that is constantly learning and adapting to the world around him. Maximus is a character who is searching for a home and is willing to do almost anything to do so. This questionable morality makes for a mysterious character that we don’t know is good or evil. Moten is an incredibly talented actor with great control over his facial expression. He can go from showing unadulterated joy to stone-cold brutality, from pure horror to adorable curiosity.
Moving on from characters, I would love to cover the visual design of this show. The use of physical props over computer-generated imagery (CGI) in most scenes made me absolutely giddy. So much love and care was put into faithfully re-creating weapons, armor, and setpieces from the video games. While there are many references to the games through these things, they do not hamper the experience at all for people who have not played the games. It could be something as small as a recognizable billboard ad or something as prominent as an iconic piece of attire. Lucy sometimes sports the leather armor synonymous with many of the video game protagonists of the games. It also made me very happy to see Dogmeat, the moniker used for almost every dog companion in the Fallout universe. Dogmeat in this show is exactly how they are in the games, as deadly and vicious as they are adorable. In the visual design lies my only large complaint about the show. With some of the tricky scenes the studio inevitably had to use CGI, which is understandable. But many of these parts with CGI seemed stilted and sloppy, including very awkward power armor movement and flying scenes. The place where the CGI truly shines is the extreme and grotesque violence present. Just as a disclaimer, Fallout as a whole is over the top with its gory violence. So if you have a weak stomach you will probably want to sit this one out.
How do all of these elements come together as a whole? Like I said at the beginning, Fallout is a series that uses small elements like tools out of a chest. The elements that I have discussed in this review are these very tools. While they are not always present in every scene, they are interchangeable and fluid. I think that this show was able to achieve the loose and fun feeling of the video games without sacrificing any respect for the source material. It is obvious that the people who created this show truly love the video game series and put their souls into this. For me, this show is an easy 8.5/10. This show is an excellent starting point for anyone new to Fallout, and from what I have seen that is the case for many new fans. People have been purchasing the Fallout games in droves over the last few weeks, and it is no coincidence. If you watch and enjoy this show and haven’t played a Fallout game, I highly recommend doing so. If you have Prime, which is necessary to watch Fallout, I have good news for you. As of writing, Amazon’s Luna (a cloud gaming service) has both “Fallout 3” and “Fallout: New Vegas” available to play at no extra charge to your Prime subscription. Ain’t that a kick in the head?
Featured Image by Amazon Studios
