Inside Fallout, the Gaming World’s Most Unexpected Small Screen Triumph

The Fallout TV series is back to Prime Video, and it's safe to say that fans were pleasantly surprised by the caliber of its first season. By illustrating the retro-futuristic, nuclear-ravaged United States through the eyes of three separate characters, it managed to capture various facets of the player's journey.

There was vault-dweller Lucy, striving to act with integrity and discovering that the ruined world made that incredibly hard; Max, the militant faction initiate, who begins to question his cult's leadership and creates a lot of havoc in mechanized battle suit; and the Ghoul, a breakout character who has completely shed any sense of morality out in the radioactive badlands.

Setting the Stage for the Second Season

The show's first season finale revealed crucial details about the culprits behind the atomic conflict that sealed a population in bomb-proof bunkers for hundreds of years. It also posed plenty of questions unanswered for the upcoming chapter – and, this time, expectations are much greater.

“We'd gladly accept ‘pretty good’ – let’s get that on a poster,” quips Jonah Nolan.

“Going into the initial season, people were like, ‘Just don't mess it up’,” comments the game director. “We’re over the moon with the feedback to the show, so this time people are arriving with more excitement and different expectations.”

A New Vegas Vibe for Season Two

The new season is set in New Vegas, the backdrop of the 2010’s game Fallout: New Vegas, which is often praised for having the best writing and characters in the series, even if it was a bit broken at launch.

“It has a arid atmosphere, a Mojave vibe, that’s so essential to that game,” says the co-creator. “That dusty, desolate Route 66 feeling of the game is so much fun to incorporate into the show.”

In the show's timeline, a considerable period has elapsed since the story of the New Vegas game by the time the characters make their way there. Nevertheless, the creators indicate that it will honor the player’s journey.

The Importance of Physical Sets

The Fallout TV series is distinguished by its tangible quality – its creators insisted on physical models and locations were fabricated, reflecting the cobbled-together nature of the towns in the games.

“Being a genre enthusiast, so many series I watch, I’m aware that they’re all filmed against a blue screen,” comments co-creator Geneva Robertson-Dworet. “The primary goal of an adaptation, particularly of a video game, is to feel like it’s authentic.”

Indeed, virtually each creature you see on-screen is practical, including the notoriously frightening mutated beasts known as the apex predators. In the show, they are portrayed by puppets, and were apparently quite terrifying up close.

Made by Fans, for Fans

The Fallout series works because it is made by skilled directors who are also dedicated players, with the help of the original creators behind the source material. This mutual respect for the world is apparent in the end result.

The new batch of episodes is debuting on a episode-by-episode basis rather than as a all-at-once release, marking a change from the first season. This schedule will create a altered weekly discussion, a dynamic the team themselves are excited to observe.

“It delves deeper, it’s more expansive, it’s more humorous, it has a lot of twists,” says Howard. “I can't wait to seeing what people think.”