I love the Bethesda Fallout games. Not the original Interplay ones, mind you. I tried playing them and I just could not get into them. But the 3D ones? I love them. So, yes, I am a fan of the Fallout series but not the biggest one. So, what do I think about Amazon Prime’s live-action series set in the wastelands of Fallout? Well, let’s go see!
Now, while I do understand that Fallout is, as of this moment, Amazon Prime’s most viewed show, I do still have to make this a SPOILER FREE review as it was just released a week ago. I know a lot of you have already seen the entire eight episodes but, just in case, I’m still making this a SPOILER FREE review.
Fallout is set in the far away future. Nuclear war has destroyed most of civilization, with most areas turned into a large and desolate wasteland. The show follows three characters. The first one is Lucy, a young woman who was born in a Vault, a giant bomb shelter, who has never set foot outside her seemingly sanitized little world. There’s Maximus, a fledging member of the Brotherhood of Steel, a faction originally dedicated to saving as much pre-war tech as possible. Finally, there is The Ghoul, a former actor from before the Great War that decimated the planet, who has, thanks to being irradiated by the nuclear bombs, become a creature known as a ghoul. All three, thanks to a series of events, are in the hunt for an Enclave scientist. Or, at the very least, the thing he has that makes him valuable.
First thing, I will say the thing that I appreciated the most from the series is how it captures the feel of the Bethesda games. They did a wonderful job of capturing the look and feel of the wasteland, the Vaults and the makeshift towns, to just name a few location. The sets do look like how they’re supposed to be. Vaults being mostly sterile looking environments while the wasteland so uninhabitable. The town of Filly, just like in the Bethesda era of games, look like they were thrown together with whatever refuse they could stick together, leading to twisty paths and rundown areas. They’re beautiful in their own ugliness.
I also have to commend the costume department as they absolutely nailed each look. Which is amazing because there was so many things that could go wrong! I was extremely afraid with things like the Vault jumpsuits looking like simple latex or skintight outfits. But the people who put the show together seemingly looked at the games and sewn together what the jumpsuits would look like in real life! For the T-60 Power Armor, there was a chance it could look dumb. After all, it’s a huge chunk of admittedly cartoonish looking armor. Yet, thanks to the decision to use mostly practical effects, they made the T-60 Power Armor actually look intimidating!
I also have to praise the makeup department as they really paid attention to detail, most of the time. I do like how Lucy’s hair gets messier as time goes by and how her Vault jumpsuit seemingly gets changed little by little as she traverses the wasteland. However, I will say the makeup prosthetics on Walton Goggins, who plays The Ghoul, does look a little less detailed than I wanted. Then again, if they really did go all out, we wouldn’t get to see his lovely facial expressions clearly, which would impact his performance. So, it all balances out.
Speaking of performances, I will give everyone passing marks in general. Ella Purnell does a wonderful job portraying Lucy as the very naive former Vault dweller who has to “grow up” quickly so as not to get eaten by the surface world. Aaron Morten’s Maximus has to “grow up” as well as he faces the harsh reality of what life as a member of the Brotherhood of Steel might not all that’s cracked up to be. However, the real steal stealer is Walton
Goggins as he actually plays two roles. He plays The Ghoul, a practically undead bounty hunter who has live for literal centuries and has become hardened by the wasteland. He also plays Cooper Howard, a popular actor in Westerns before the Great War. Well, it makes sense that he would play both roles as Cooper Howard does become The Ghoul after the Great War.
I also have to commend the smaller roles, such as Moises Arias as Norm, Lucy’s brother who lived with her in her Vault, and Michael Emerson as Dr. Siggi Wilzig, the scientist everyone is hunting for. Once again, I do love the performances everyone gave but I do have to give special mention to them as they do a wonderful job.
While Amazon Prime gets all of the aesthetic parts right, I still had a few issues with the series. The first one would be some of the side stories and character arcs come off a little half baked by the end. One thing a fan of the Fallout games know is that each Vault usually has a hidden layer of mystery to them. I can’t get into specifics as this is a SPOILER FREE review, but when it’s revealed what it is, the story just ends. I know the intent of the show was to make viewers want to know more. But the problem is it feels like the writers intentionally made it so there was no proper conclusion.
I also have some issues with the character development of Lucy and Maximus. Like I said earlier, Lucy has to change in order to actually survive in the wasteland. She does, in a way, but there are times when it just seems she reverts back to her old, innocent personality. And it’s at that point when she was supposed to be much more battle hardened! But the biggest issue I have is with Maximus as I never got a good read on his character. He just swings back and forth between being a wimp and stoic. Once again, I get the writers were trying to convey he’s kind of a wimp but puts on airs. It just feels very inconsistent.
Actually, there’s also a good amount of inconsistency with the overall tone of the series as it changes from being a dark but still fun take of living in a post apocalyptic future to getting pretty joke-y during the latter half. It’s almost like they were adding jokes when it wasn’t needed because they had to up the humor content. It doesn’t dive into Marvel territory but I did wish they would’ve cooled it during some scenes.
However, in the grand scheme of things, these issues are pretty minor. The pros most definitely outweigh the cons I’ve mentioned. If you’re a fan of the Fallout games, specifically the ones from the Bethesda era, I say give it a watch. Even if you’re not a fan of the games, I do think there’s enough here to enjoy despite not knowing anything about the wasteland. If you’re part of the latter camp, think of yourself as a Vault dweller going into an unknown wasteland. Sure, it can be scary but the reward may be great.
What did you think of Amazon Prime’s Fallout series? Let me know in the comments section below!
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