After watching it through two times, I’m in love. To my surprise, the Fallout TV show blew away any and all of my expectations. The show created a sense of naiveness and suspense that filled the plot with twists and turns along the way. On top of all of this, it included a soundtrack that touched my old soul and held my attention.
To give a little backstory to those who may not be familiar, the Fallout franchise has been around since the late 90s, producing computer and console games set in a post apocalyptic world after the bombs dropped in 2077. Though these games are set in the future, the styling is strongly based on Mid-Century America while adding a technical spin. When the bombs dropped, many went into what are called vaults, which are effectively long-term bunkers for hundreds of people.
Though this show is named and based in the same universe, it holds its own plot and doesn’t rely on the games to fill in any gaps. Even with it standing on its own, it does tie up many loose ends that the games present in their lore.
The show follows the main character, Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell), on her quest to find her father, as he has been kidnapped by the antagonist known as Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury), the leader of a group called the Enclave. She has a ploy to infiltrate the vault with the intention to steal rations and supplies. Along with all of this, there was a deeper motive for Moldaver to provide infinite power back to the city in hopes to restart proper civilization, but only Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan), the Overseer of vault 33 and Lucy’s dad, has the final key to achieving this.
Through trying to find Lucy’s dad, many crucial characters are met along the way that lead the protagonist on smaller side quests that teach and shape Lucy to life on the surface. All of the small divergences lead her to her ultimate goal of finding her dad, but also uncovering some of his and the vault’s dark secrets leading into a cliffhanger ending of what is to come of these harsh realizations.
In creating this tantalizing plot, the show relies heavily on special effects work to create some of the settings and creatures along the way. Being this way can be a bit jarring to some, but knowing that it was heavily influenced by the game studio Bethesda (the studio that produced the Fallout games), it is simply incredible to me and feels so familiar.
Along with the general atmosphere of the storyline, the music that is in the show is like none other that I have watched up to this point. It is a mixture of music from the games and many songs from the 1950s and 60s, including artists such as Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Johnny Cash and many more. This music sets a mood that just enveloped me and caused the feeling as if I were in the show.
While it may seem that I’m head over heels for this show, it also does have some quirks. Many of these gripes follow the lack of development in a few of the key characters. It just left me wanting more from them (maybe Bethesda is teeing up for season two, fingers crossed). To extend on this feeling, I feel the show left out the day-to-day life aspect and focused on the heavier hitting moments, which made for great engagement but also left opportunities for a richer storyline on the table.
With all this said, I came to really enjoy this show, dry and quirky humor in all. And it comes out with a big thumbs up for me (reference from the show). I highly recommend it to those who have either watched or played the game or those who may be interested in science fiction.
