This brand new TV-series is an adaption of the Fallout computer games. I have never played the games and I'm still not sure I really want to, but that didn't stop me from diving into this new show. The story takes place in an alternate reality where everything kind of looks like we're in the 1950s in the Los Angeles area. Humankind has destroyed most life on the surface and now only few survivors are left when we enter the story some 200 years later. The survivors live in a desert world where resources are scarce and it's a dog-eat-dog Mad Max world.
Below the surface are a number of bunkers or vaults that were created by the mega corporation Vault-Tec. Here people live in the belief that they will return to the surface and repopulate the world once the time is right. Nothing is as it seems and there are many secrets both above and below ground. The show moves between before and after the nuclear war providing some information and backstory on how things happened and why the world looks like it does 200 years later.
The look-and-feel of the show is really great. The world building is excellent. Of course you wouldn't expect anything less when Westworld legends like Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy are involved. The soundtrack is also nice and very 1950s, and with Ramin Djawadi behind the music, it's not really surprising either. The show is entertaining most of the way and easy to follow, also if you don't know a single thing about the games. It does feel like you are watching someone else play a computer game at times, particularly in some of the action scenes, but it is never boring and the episodes are all of the same quality.
What prevents me from giving it a top rating is that most of the characters are bloody annoying or stupid or both.
- Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) is a Vault Dweller who decides to exit her bunker and try to track down her father, Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan), who was kidnapped during a raid on their bunker. Lucy is ridiculously naive and stupid and she doesn't evolve much during the show. I understand that being naive is part of her Vault Dweller history, but come on, speed it up a bit, mkay?!
- Maximus(Aaron Moten) is a dumbass stormtrooper Finn clone and is almost as annoying as his Disney Star Wars clone. He is a Brotherhood squire and is hoping to become a knight in the brotherhood and to drive his own Power Armor suit. His greatest achievement for the entire season 1 is to be super annoying.
- The Ghoul(Walton Goggins) is a pretty cool character. He shares some similarities with a certain Westworld creature named The Man In Black. We learn who he was before he became a ghoul but I'm sure more will be revealed in Season 2, that is already planned and confirmed by Amazon.
- Norm MacLean(Moises Arias) stays in the bunker when Lucy decides to explore the outside world. He learns a thing or two about their life in the Vaults. There are many secrets to be found if you start digging. He might be a coward but at least he is not bloody annoying and he is not stupid.
- Oh, in case you wonder, yes of course there is a Token Trans character. That Wokemazon Pride checkbox has been checked and the Woke culture can calm down. Fortunately its screen-time is limited, so far.
It's not quite a show of Westworld depth or quality but even a plebs-friendly TV-series can work well sometimes and I'll be sure to watch Season 2 whenever it gets done.
Rating: 
TV Series Title: Fallout
Season: 1
Episodes: 8
Creators: Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Graham Wagner
This Release: 2024
Movie Genre: Action
Actors: Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Walton Goggins, Moises Arias, Sarita Choudhury, Kyle MacLachlan
Movie Format: Streaming
Movie Label: Amazon Prime
Content Type: Movie Review
Language: 
Updated: 2024-04-14 12:26
Created: 2024-04-14 11:53
