Fallout Series Review (Season 2)

After so many underwhelming video game adaptations, Fallout showed everyone how was it done with a knockout opening season in 2024. The second chapter takes a firmer grip on the source material, directly incorporating the lore into the main narrative. For the most part, it’s every bit as effective and engaging as the original.

In 2296, all roads lead to Las Vegas after the battle of Griffith’s Observatory and we once again follow three main characters with their own individual motivations. Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) intends to find her father Hank (Kyle Maclachlan) who is embarking on a nefarious scheme to control the wasteland’s population. Maximus (Aaron Moten) takes steps away from the Brotherhood of Steel after snagging a critical old-world artefact and The Ghoul/Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins) continues to search for his family, dogging the other protagonists along the way. The trio soon uncovers a hidden plot, one put in place behind the scenes by those who caused the apocalypse more than two centuries ago. The first season of Fallout was extremely adept at jumping between different storylines and the same is true here. As Lucy, Maximus and The Ghoul move forward in their quests, the unsteady operations of Vault 31 and 33 are also progressing. Norm MacLean (Moisés Arias) forms his own group to explore the wastes and darker secrets about the vault overseers are revealed. There’s a great mix of action, discovery and new players entering the scene, some of which will be very recognisable to franchise veterans. The underlying threat that gradually builds throughout the season is well-implemented, but some factions do feel short-changed, most notably the New California Republic and Caesar’s Legion. These were two major groups in the video games, but the former is mostly a remnant and the latter’s story thread is put on pause then resumed at the climax. They’re sure to receive much more development in the next volume, but right now things are a bit hollow.

Ella Purnell and Aaron Moten deliver strong performances once again, but the ghoul remains the best of the three. He’s such a rich character with Walton Goggins delivering more brilliant work across two timelines. Slowly but surely we’re learning about the character’s inner shame and the role he inadvertently played in the destruction of the world. The episodes cut so seamlessly between past and present, greatly deepening Cooper’s bitterness towards others and the reason he keeps searching. With their many brushes with death, the dynamics between the trio are also expanded. Lucy is more hardened and unafraid to strike out on her own, Maximus is more loyal to his values than his clumsy power armoured comrades and we see genuine emotion creeping through the ghoul’s make-up. Some of the newcomers include Macaulay Culkin as a Legion officer and other cast members like Kyle Maclachlan and Frances Turner as Cooper’s wife Barb get much more material and development. The episodes lean heavily into a conspiratorial angle, bringing the sinister machinations of the US government, Vault-Tec and their associates out into the open.

The TV series makes its way into the Mojave Wasteland and New Vegas Strip for its second outing. Both served as the main setting for 2010’s Fallout: New Vegas and the showrunners have gone all out on the fan service. Smaller factions, postcard locations like Novac and other iconography are all presented with solid detail. The big highlight this time is the creature designs with venerable foes coming to life on-screen. When the Deathclaws and Radscorpions attack, their movement and vicious fury is perfectly presented and we also get a brief glimpse of a super mutant with a great cameo to boot. Costume designs are once again spot-on with Caesar’s Legion having the most detailed look. When the action kicks in, brutal gore and the crunchy impact of power armour remain on top form. It’s all capped off by the combination of the franchise soundtrack and Ramin Djawadi’s score which steals in at all the right moments.

While some were apprehensive over Fallout’s second season and its steps onto hallowed fanbase ground, there’s no doubt that it remains one of the finest video game adaptations on the small screen. The three interweaving stories are presented brilliantly, and the eight episodes expand outwards without trampling on what came before. The games may have slowed to a crawl, but the show can fill that gap for the time being.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars (Brilliant)