Fallout Season 1 on Amazon

Absolutely adored it.

I've played Fallout 3 a few times, and got pretty far in Fallout 4. As big of a fan as I was of HBO's The Last of Us, I enjoyed this one way more. I think the idea of creating a new story in a game's world, but actually staying faithful to that world is a slam dunk, and somehow also an innovative idea.

Can't wait for Season 2! In the meantime, I've started New Vegas for the first time, and picked up the Fallout board game.

 

I overall enjoyed it. There was a weird plot hole toward the end that had me tilt my head a bit, but not a big deal.

Oddly, out of all the dynamic scene setting, visual singularness, graphic violence, and considerable action pieces – my favorite part was Walton Goggins sitting at a bar, having fiduciary responsibility explained to him.

 

Could you put the plot hole in a spoiler tag, so I can see it?

Not sure what you're referring to.

 

Sure

Spoiler: By Request

There were a couple things actually.

The straight forward wonky bit was Goggins, as the Ghoul, easily exploiting a flaw in the armor to instant kill three knights. So why did he have that knock down drag out fight with Max at the start of the show, getting himself clobbered? Did he forget he knew how to do that until the plot needed him to remember?

The second is a touch more convoluted and might just be me misunderstanding. Scary lady’s master plan is to get her hot hands on a cold fusion reactor. But the tech is password protected. That’s the pretext for why she nabs Kyle Maclachlan. But earlier we saw Max yoink Vault 4’s reactor and jam it right into his armor - plug-n-play. No password needed. Are these different “reactors”? Same name, different use?

She couldn’t just use Vault 32’s or 33’s reactors? She specifically needed what was in Michael Emerson’s head?

Maybe it’s just me being dense, but I found those parts a touch wabbly. I don’t generally give a crap about plot though, so I don’t really mind

 

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. I also had never played a minute of the game, I had maybe watched a friend play many years ago... I think it's a great premise with unlimited storytelling and I found the series to be an excellent "start" to what could easily become a really great franchise.

The retro-futuristic thing than can quickly be overdone and become goofy, and I think they found the sweet spot here. I have watched several reviews by Fallout fanatics and from just about everything I've watched about the lore, this show really nailed the feel of the games. An incredible cast, really great writing, the set pieces, the humor, the music... It's weird to say a show about a post-apocolyptic wasteland is a breath of fresh air, but this show is just that and I can't wait to see where they take it.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 24, 2024, Original Post Date: Apr 24, 2024 ---

Spoiler: Spoiler

Well I don't think the Ghoul necessarily wanted to kill Maximus/Titus during their showdown in Filly. Surely he knew that killing a knight would have brought way more heat on him from the Brotherhood. He clearly noticed that the user in the armor wasn't well trained, and he did use his knowledge of the suit to partially disable it and even told Maximus, "step one- read the owners manual..." Throughout the series, the Ghoul does quite a bit of killing but he does carry a sense of consciousness about it when he can.

Now the power supply. Those are 2 totally different items. The fusion core powers the suit and is used in the vaults as well. That is basically a nuclear fusion core or reactor, and to my growing knowledge is a not uncommon piece of tech In-universe and goes back to pre-war times as do the power armor suits.
What the doctor has in his head is cold fusion which is an entirely new and experimental thing that obviously was being developed at the Enclave where Emerson's character worked. My guess is that Vault-tec was developing the cold fusion before the bombs and that is why Hank had the password.

 

I'm up Ep. 5. Never played the game or knew a thing about it before watching the show. Ela Purnell is making it for me while Goggins was just the cherry on top. Her can-do corny attitude with real-world decisions coming at her is awesome. Junk Jet weapon was superb.

 

IMO this one is the best video game adaptation so far. Not only because it takes its source material seriously but it also builds on it and expands it.

I've played Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and Fallout 4. While the TV show is much more colorful than those games, the show feels like Fallout all through. The world and its setups, the characters, and the soundtrack are so reminiscent of the game series. While the story itself is pretty common for Fallout players, it still was exciting to follow the characters unveiling the mysteries of this world.

All the characters were interesting and well-acted. But a stand out has to be Walton Goggins as Cooper Howard and the Ghoul. Having him appear in two different timelines was the perfect way to explain certain things.

Lucy is a good antipole to the Ghoul. Her naive and inexperienced view of this apocalyptic wasteland was a strong contrast to the Ghoul's way of living. I also like that she was a pretty well-written heroine. Anyone who's calling her woke, doesn't know what woke actually means or has never played Fallout.

Maximus really reminded me of Finn. But a better version of this character.

Also, the supportive characters and their side stories were fun. Especially Norman. And the good thing: their stories weren't filler and actually mattered. The side plots were interconnected to the main plot.

Huge shout out to the set and costume designers as well. This show looks fantastic, especially because just like his older brother Jonathan Nolan relies more on practical effects and shooting on location. So, I'm happy to hear that Season 2 will be shot on location in California.

I can't wait for Season 2. This show kinda let off in the middle of the story.

My verdict: 9/10


We are finally getting the good game adaptations. The Last Of Us and Fallout are peak TV. And it's awesome that people - especially non-gamers - are finally realizing that games are a great medium for telling stories. Nolan himself said it best: Games are often better than movies and shows these days because games can be more subversive, more interesting, and more surprising.

 

I think it was a good call to release the whole show all at once. As someone who played some Fallout I can tell you, you want to dive deep into this world from the get go. Roaming this wasteland and just "doing one more quest", can become very addictive. By releasing all episodes at the same time, they kinda replicated that feeling. I'm usually not a fan of binge watching, but in this case I actually was hyped to binge watch. This show wouldn't have become as successful as with a weekly release.

But I think you are right about Season 2. A weekly release seems very likely. I have not decided yet whether I like it or not. Haha!

My hopes for the next season and little bit of New Vegas:

Spoiler

1) Team up between Lucy and the Ghoul
Cooper will find redemption. Him looking and eventually finding his lost family (at least in some kind) will give him closure. And he eventually gets a new daughter figure in Lucy.

2) More creatures like Supermutants, Synths and Deathclaws.

3) New Vegas
The show is set after the events of all games. It's Fallout 5 in some way or the other. New Vegas seems to be in ruins or at least in some degree. New Vegas is set in 2281 and the show is set in 2296. So something did happened there. This could be explained by flashbacks. But one thing I can tell you, Hank is going to find someone there. This dude:


Mr. House will most likely be one of the villains. If we do get a continuation of New Vegas' plot, then I want to hear this song:

 

I'm not sure why they did that, but it wasn't because of the confidence they had in the series. They also did this with Mr. & Mrs. Smith. That series was also received well by critics/audiences. They didn't do this with Wheel of Time or Lord of the Rings. Releasing episodes weekly helps keep people interested for longer. I'm not sure what drives some of these decisions.

 

Most shows on streaming platforms are released this way though. Disney+ also starts doing that with its shows premieres.

And as a streaming service it makes totally sense. With a weekly release the pilot usually has the most views and after that the numbers decrease significantly.

In regards of sales it makes sense as well. People are more up for paying for a subscription when they can watch all episodes at once. I mean there are many people who do it that way anyway. They wait for all episodes to release and then watch the show.

The Fallout show generated a lot of hype and praise. This success would have been much slower with a weekly release and thus the sales numbers wouldn't be as high.

But maybe we have to look at it from a casual viewer's point of view as well. You hear only good things about a show, so you are curious. But you are still not sold. But knowing the entire thing is already sitting on your streaming platform where you can marathon it makes the prospect of checking it out far more intriguing than it would be if you had to wait for new episodes for the next months. People lose interest fast.

Last but not least, some shows just work better as a binge watch. Maybe Amazon knew that with Fallout. In the end Amazon wants money and you get more money when something is good. If the show is better as a completed bag, then you get more money with an all in one release because people tell other people to check out this amazing show.

While I don't like the concept of binge watching, I do like to watch a show in my pace. One day I can watch two episodes, then I can take break for several days and come back whenever I want.

 

I don't doubt there are some people who like this model, but there's no doubt it kill marketing. I think back to how Mindhunter was just dropped on Netflix without much marketing and it was forgotten within a week. HBO is the king of prestige TV. So are FX/AMC. This pump and dump model just seems built for viewers who can't pay attention. Binging lends itself to people forgetting what they watched.

 

In the case of Fallout it doesn't though. Amazon still releases TV spots, scenes, Behind The Scenes and Polls for this show almost daily. And this show is already out for two weeks now. So, if you know how marketing works, you can make it work for both models just fine.

I'm not for binge watching, yes, but I'm for releasing everything all at once. Everyone can then watch it with their preferred pace. Everyone wins.

 

I have just finished Ep 1 and am intrigued. I did not know anything about this game nor the lore, but it draws you in. My middle son is an invaluable source of info as he is a Fallout lore expert....

 

I do know marketing works. In a month people will have moved on from this show and if they were releasing it weekly, people would still be talking the finale and then the renewal of season 2. Just like people have been talking about Shogun for several weeks.

The great thing about this game adaptation is that it doesn't require a knowledge of the game and the story isn't a retelling of an existing story. That's part of the reason I thought The Last of Us was pretty lame. The story is better as a game and TV version of it covers territory already beaten to death in live action by stories like The Road/Walking Dead.

 

And yet Fallout is more successful than Shogun. In fact Fallout had the most viewed premiere of any show ever. I do believe it IS partly because of the full release. I think we shoud leave it to Amazon's marketing team to decide on the release schedules, apparently they have much more clue about what works than we do.

In the end I'm just happy that the show is that good and that I could enjoy it in my preferred pace.

 

Well if it's factual that Fallout is more "successful" than Shogun, assuming that is based on views, that is an interesting consideration. Maybe Amazon thought Fallout was very niche? I will say this for me personally between the two series, I did wait to start Shogun so that I could binge, and now I'm a bit more than halfway through and find it difficult to watch more than one episode at a time. I didn't have any thought to binge Fallout, but I ended up watching it in two binges within 48 hours. I think they are both flat out amazing TV, but it's kinda like the Mando vs. Andor debate. They are two very different shows.

 

Amazon wouldn't spent $150 million on a show if they think it just niche. They exactly knew what they got in their hands.

I agree with you. It's useless to compare Fallout with Shogun. These shows are totally different with a different target audience.

Btw I wanted to do something similar like you did. I've only watched the first episode of Shogun when it came out. I stopped because I though the show would benefit from a more condensed viewing. But now all episodes are released and I just can't get the motivation to watch the show. But that's mainly because of one thing: the subtitles on Disney+ are horrible. They are barely readable and way too fast. Amazon or Netflix got much better subtitles.
The show is so beautiful to look at, but I can't enjoy it because I have to focus on these subtitles.

And no, I don't mind subtitles. I've watched Dragonball and Narcos with subtitles without any issues.

Btw subtitles- the Fallout show had some fun with them:

"Brain on a Roomba". Amazon bought the Roomba brand.