Fallout: Review

Fallout: TV Review

The key to any launch of a new series is a gripping premise and a compelling opening.

And while video game adaptations have been a mixed bag in the past, thanks to the efforts of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in the stirring adaptation of The Last Of Us, they are currently in high demand again.

So it's fair to say the Fallout TV show has a lot to measure upto - from the legacy of some near-30 years and an extremely stacked cast, there's plenty riding on this eight part series that mixes storylines from three differing points of view.

Thankfully, due to high production values, a retro-futuristic aesthetic and a perfectly realised worldbuilding, Fallout succeeds thanks to its opening moments being the perfect mix of something that grabs you instantly and never really lets go.

Set in a post-apocalyptic America, some 219 years after the first nuclear bombs dropped, the story leans hard into its erosion of trust in authority figures, with a compelling story that follows Yellowjackets star Ella Purnell's Lucy MacLean, a vault dweller who is forced to abandon her seemingly idyllic world under the ground and venture into a wasteland for reasons that are too spoilery here to divulge (and frankly which would ruin the opening episode's mix of surprise, suspense and shock).

However, throughout the course of the eight episode run, Fallout doesn't just focus on Lucy's story; it also leans into the dual timeline of Walton Goggins' Hollywood star past and his present as a Ghoul, a wandering character that stalks the Wasteland like a Clint Eastwood Man With No Name cowboy. And for good measure there's also Aaron Moten's Maximus, squire in The Brotherhood, a legendary legion of Power Armour clad Arthurian knights who are essentially mercenaries for hire.

While Lucy and Maximus' story is one of innocence lost, the Ghoul's story is one of tragedy and yet weirdly, optimism as the Hollywood stylings of his Gary Cooper-esque heartthrob are explored. Again, it's spoilery to ruin the trajectory of his arc here, but suffice to say, with an expanded world, these new characters into the Fallout world feel like they are ones which would easily slot into any video game release.

However, Fallout's greatest strength is that it is broader than "just another game adaptation" in the same way that The Last Of Us tackled humanity. That's not to dismiss the Easter Eggs and nods that live within the show, but more than it feels polished, slick and entirely accessible to those entirely unfamiliar with Bethesda's Vault-Tec driven world.

But it's the mix of tones here that make Fallout such a stand out for 2024.

Whether it's matching brutal balletic violence to 1950s crooner songs or quirky offbeat humour, there's plenty that surprises across the entire run of episodes - and plenty that offers pleasures in the streaming world we now inhabit. The fully-realised world across timelines is utterly plausible, engaging and thrillingly brought to life, with high-end production values no matter where or when the location is.

Admittedly, there are moments in the back half of the season which feel a little like padding (and perhaps are a tacit nod to side-quests in the game), but a killer storyline set in Vault 33 helps paper of some of the slightest of narrative cracks.

Purnell's MacLean feels like an extension of Parks and Rec's perky Leslie Knope, a tacit nod that even when things have turned to the absolute worst, it's still better to be your absolute best. That's not to write off Purnell's acting as a wholesome good ole American Pie twee-ness, but her optimism shines through. Make no mistake though, Purnell more than provides the grit when necessary.

Yet Fallout is a show where the leads shoulder equal responsibility and more than deliver a return on your time investment. 

Goggins' rich character and soft subtleties bring much to both the Ghoul and his Hollywood past - with rising communism and winds blowing through Hollywood, Goggins makes an excellent fist of the character arc, giving rise to what makes him a survivor in the Wastelands. But he's never without a wry quip or an effortlessly cool moment too - making what could be a ghastly character extremely relatable.

Equally Moten's Maximus has a difficult and beleaguered journey - even if it is a simple arc. Thrust into a lowly role as a Squire in among an elite Brotherhood, there's an element of jocks and nerds running through its veins, but rather than just the comedy of circumstance, Moten leans hard into the growing loss of innocence throughout - and the corruption within his own soul as well as his comrades.

There's also a fourth story within Vault 33 that deserves to be commended too - but alas, to say much on that is to reveal spoilers on a journey best appreciated in ignorance.

Ultimately, Fallout is an astoundingly assured series that grips from the beginning and never really lets go. With an idiosyncratic adaptable style that's all its own, it's a subtle warning of what lies beneath both the surface of a world decimated and ultimately all of us as human beings.

Fallout is streaming on Prime Video, with season one's first eight episodes released simultaneously.