It’s not easy to adapt a video game into a good live-action film or TV series, as we have seen plenty of poor attempts in the past. However, there have always been exceptions that come out once in a while and prove to the general public that good adaptations can also be made. Arcane is a prime example of that because it got a great reception and a ton of love and fan art from the fans. Now, we have another example to talk about. It is none other than the new Fallout TV series, inspired by the gaming franchise of the same name.
In this post, I will share my thoughts on the Fallout TV series. I won’t spoil anything but only give an overview of the whole show. Although, I am an all-out gamer I have never played any Fallout game, so this brief review is coming from a person who wasn’t familiar with the Fallout universe before.
The premise of the show goes like this: “In a future, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles brought about by nuclear decimation, citizens must live in underground bunkers to protect themselves from radiation, mutants and bandits.”
That said, now I would like to start by saying that the whole show consistently exhibited a high quality throughout the eight episodes. By that I mean, the quality of production, writing, direction, and dialogues, and as such, all were really good. I didn’t feel anywhere that the show tried to do something out of character. Everything that was included, was needed to be there. For example, the gore, the stupidity of some characters, sidetracking from the main plot, etc. When I found out more about the nature of Fallout games, all of that made complete sense.
Even though I didn’t play the games, it can be safely said that the team behind the Fallout TV series did their complete homework to give the fans a live-action feel of the Wasteland, Vaults, and everything in between.
What I liked most about the show was its cast which I think was masterfully selected. I knew very few people, such as I knew Ella Purnell voiced Jinx from Arcane, and that the leader of the Brotherhood was Phillip Price from Mr. Robot. The rest of the cast was new to me but to my surprise, I liked them all. Every time Aaron Clifton who played Maximus came to the screen, I couldn’t help but think of him as a doppelgänger of Denzel Washington. Oh, the similarities!
But the highlight of the show for me was Walton Goggin’s performance of Cooper Howard aka The Ghoul. I found his character to be very well-written and full of depth despite his outward appearance being very grotesque. Whoever wrote the dialogues for this character has my respect because those were some good lines and when performed by the very talented Goggins, it was icing on the cake. My favorite one was when Lucy asked him, “What are you?” and The Ghoul replied, “Oh, I am you, sweetie. You just give it a little time.“
The Ghoul kept reminding me of the Man in Suit from Westworld due to the continuous badassery similar to the latter character. Not to mention, the Fallout TV show was created by the producers of Westworld so, of course, there would have been subtle similarities.
If I talk about the overall plot, I would say it was nice. It was nothing groundbreaking but whatever it was, it delivered a nice punch. Throughout the show, there seems to be a looming mystery and suspense. I liked that they uncovered most of the stuff in the first season instead of leaving fans with only a cliffhanger and waiting for the next season like some shows do.
There was a plot twist in the finale of the show that caught me by surprise and is worth praising. I have seen a lot of stuff so if there is any film, game, or TV show that manages to surprise me with its reveals, it automatically gets plus points from me.
All in all, I would say that the Fallout TV show by Amazon was a pretty good watch for me and a great introduction to the Fallout universe. Just like Cyberpunk Edgerunners sold me into playing Cyberpunk 2077, this show has also convinced me to finally try out Fallout games. The fans of the games have also greatly approved of the Fallout TV series which in itself is a great feat. Overall, Fallout was an amalgamation of great soundtracks, a talented cast, interesting characters, a nice plot, and a solid video game adaptation.
I totally recommend the Fallout TV series and I think regardless of having played the games, one should try this out.
