The Wasteland Expands in Fallout Season 2
For reasons we all understand, adapting a popular video game into a movie or TV series is a gamble that fails more often than it succeeds. Games can get away with lazy storytelling and characters because gameplay and interactivity fill in the gaps. Prime Video's 2024 Look Impact from Bethesda was a happy exception. It took the game's iconic post-apocalyptic world and filled it with an all-star cast, a gripping storyline, and the perfect blend of fan service and overall accessibility. Fallout is back with a new season, slightly expanding its scope and adjusting its pace. It's a bit like a game that has gone from a linear world to an open world. There's more breathing room there.
Old New Vegas
Aftermath Season 1 Essentially, it was about Vault dweller Lucy McLean (Ella Purnell) and uneasy ally and traveling companion Ghoul (Walton Goggins) searching for Lucy's father, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan) in the irradiated desert of the New California Republic. The first season was all about world-building, introducing the general public to a fiction that many gamers knew by heart.
With the premise and world established, season two loosens the focus a bit and divides the attention. Lucy and the Ghoul continue their journey, but much more time is spent on Cooper Howard's pre-apocalypse backstory. Season 2 introduces Mr. House, a name some players may recognize from Fallout New Vegas. In addition to following these narrative directions, life, drama, and intrigue continue within the vaults. The six episodes we were able to watch felt like a show struggling to keep a lot of plates spinning. And mostly successfully.
Season 2 expands and deepens the game's story, and fans will enjoy exploring the sights and history of Fallout New Vegas. One of the game's strengths has always been its setting. Fallout's unique alternate history of post-war America and the Cold War is full of irony and allegory. Prime Video has the talent and resources to add details and textures that the game couldn't afford.
Practically speaking
The script for the second season of Fallout continues to balance between drama and humor. This season, Ghoul and his pre-apocalyptic self are taken much more seriously. There's more than earned pathos in Goggin's spectacular star turn. Lucy adds layers of emotional armor while barely flinching from the violence. Justin Theroux's Mr. House is interesting from the start, and MacLachlan's Hank begins to move away from the politely smiling cipher he was last season.
Visually, Fallout Season 2 continues its exciting mix of gruesome practical effects blended seamlessly with digital magic. Let's just say there is many exploding heads. The gore is done with enough ironic distance to make it palatable. The game's tradition of using popular music from the 1950s and 60s as commentary is once again relevant.
In the first season, it seemed like Fallout was determined to not only celebrate the game, but also explain it to everyone else. It succeeded on both counts. The second season seems like a series that drags on for a long time. It's not that the main quest has disappeared, but the side quests remain as well. I have no idea how the season will end. What I've seen so far suggests there's a lot more to come after 8 episodes have aired. If you liked the first season of Fallout, the second season will not disappoint.
***Episodes provided by Prime Video for preview purposes***
