Fallout Episode 1 Review
The ‘Fallout’ show has arrived on Amazon Prime Video, becoming the latest popular video
game franchise to receive an adaptation, and right from the first episode, you can tell this is
something different.
The show starts with a prologue set in the 1950s, where actor Cooper Howard (Walton
Goggins) is performing at a kid’s birthday party, before a nuclear war starts, with bombs
dropping on the cities in the distance. We skip ahead two hundred years to where people are
still living in the aftermath of the devastation. The wealthy have taken to living in huge bunkers
known as vaults, where they live in a 1950s-inspired society where law, order, honesty and
good manners are prioritized. Meanwhile, on the surface, civilization has collapsed, there’s no
authority and everyone lives by the law of the jungle.
The main protagonist is Lucy MacLean, a resident of Vault 33. When her vault is attacked by
raiders from the surface and her father kidnapped, she sets out to find and rescue him, leaving
the safety of the vault and venturing into the brutal, harsh and deadly world above.
She’s a typical character who’s out of her depth in a world she was never prepared for, and
approaches it in an innocent way, trying to rely on the good manners and upbringing she’s had.
She’s engaging and relatable, and there’s plenty of scope for development here and a lot of
possibilities for how she’ll come to deal with the reality of her situation.
Another major character is Maximus, a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, a religious
organization that attempts to keep some kind of law and order in the desolate wastelands where
there’s no real authority. He’s arguably the least likable character and has the least interesting
storyline. He starts out being bullied by the other members of his order before being made a
squire to one of the Brotherhood’s armored knights. There seems to be something contradictory
in his character, though, as he wants to be recognized but doesn’t want to become a squire and
seems unsuited to the lifestyle. Maybe he’ll have a better story in future episodes, but right now
he isn’t relatable in the least.
The real star of the show is the Ghoul. He’s actually Cooper Howard, the actor from the
prologue, but is now a two hundred year old zombie bounty hunter. He’s got the classic western
gunslinger vibes and absolutely steals every scene he appears in. He also clearly has a large
backstory that’s just waiting to be explored and I’m looking forward to seeing more of him.
For the first episode, it naturally focuses on worldbuilding, and there’s a lot of that to be done.
The world of ‘Fallout’ is different to other post-apocalyptic settings. It’s filled with ‘50s technology
and fashion and there are tons of references to classic Americana scattered throughout it. It’s
also gory and irreverent, filled with dark humor and body horror. There are probably many
references to the games that I’m missing as I’ve never played them, but it doesn’t harm the
enjoyment in any way, and isn’t required to understand what’s going on.
In all, it’s a great first episode that had me hooked right from the start. It’s visually interesting
and has enough good characters and plotlines to keep the story turning. I’m eager to see where
the rest of the series goes.