Fallout
The Ghoul: “Yeah, well, the Wasteland’s got its own golden rule. Thou shalt get sidetracked by bullshit every goddamn time.”
(Anyone who has ever played video games, especially those from the RPG genre, will recognize themselves in this sentence 😅)
As for movies and series (especially the latter), 2024 is just fantastic for me! Not to mention top-notch! Now, the fact that I don't have time to watch these titles is a different problem…
Ah, “Fallout”… one of my most anticipated series…ever.
You know, since I was a kid, I loved video games, and I grew up on the first “Fallout” titles (for me, for example, “Fallout 2” is still the best game of all time, and I'm convinced that no one on this planet has played it more than me… without exaggeration). The following “Fallout” games have modernized, which (perhaps to the slight disappointment of the old guard) turned out to be a good move in the end, and this series of games is still very popular today, even making it into the news (albeit not very pleasant news).
And now (FINALLY!) the series has come to the small screen.
“Wait, wait… if this is a series based on video games that I have no idea about, is it worth watching?”
ABSOLUTELY!
The point is simple… every “Fallout” game has its own story, and the series is integrated, i.e., it has become canon, and the plot takes place about ten years after the events of the last game (“Fallout 4”), which follows the chronological order.
So, briefly about the background (of the series, not mine) of the events, as well as the plot itself…
In an alternate history of our planet, World War II brought America into the “golden age” of development and technology, dominated by atomic physics, vacuum pumps, and overall advancement in nuclear technology. And since in this version of Earth, the discovery of the transistor (which, as you know, was one of the crucial elements for the development of electronics, and thus the modern world as we know it today) was not as relevant, this led to very unusually advanced (and bizarre) discoveries for that period, such as robots, nuclear-powered vehicles, energy weapons, and the like… in other words, what was once fantasized to look like (retrofuturistic) America of the 50s and 60s, came true here.
However, all this led to a war for resources and a strained relationship with China and the threat of nuclear war in the next hundred years. Striving to avert complete (but seemingly inevitable) catastrophe, the US government, in collaboration with the megacorporation “Vault-Tec,” started the project of building special atomic public shelters (Vaults). The idea is that each of these shelters can accommodate up to 1,000 people and can literally function as small communes and survive for decades (or even centuries) locked and isolated from external influence (radiation), and when the right time comes, be unlocked so that the survivors can repopulate the planet. However, only 122 shelters were built in the end. And then the nuclear war happened in 2077.
Some 200 years later, a girl named Lucy leaves her shelter (Vault 33) and is the first (and only person) from her shelter to step onto the wasteland of the Earth (i.e., America) and sets off in search of her father, who was kidnapped under very unusual circumstances.
Lucy is a very charming, smart, and charismatic girl… and a little too naive. She grew up in a shelter where people were kind to each other and helped each other, where everything seemed perfectly normal, and where they were taught that one day the residents of their shelter would come to the surface (when the radiation stops) and repopulate the planet and help all those who weren't lucky enough to (survive) in the shelters.
What Lucy wasn’t prepared for… is the post-apocalyptic wasteland where people live in small settlements, and the “laws” are like in the Wild West. A small part of the population continued to live (survive) despite the nuclear war and radiation and somehow managed to endure. However, people are generally distrustful of each other, food and water are not exactly abundant, and besides services, the only means of payment are caps from Nuka-Cola soda (the parody is obvious). And if you want to roam the planet's wastelands, there's a high probability that bandits or dangerous mutated creatures will rob, eat, rape you (and maybe do something worse and not necessarily in that order).
Lucy soon realizes (but learns very slowly) that the “surface” people will look to deceive her in every way and finds it very difficult to accept this (new) reality.
In her search for her father, her paths will cross with various unusual people, but here we will primarily focus on Maximus and Cooper Howard, who are, along with Lucy, the main (anti)heroes of the series.Maximus) i Kupera Hauarda (Cooper Howard), koji su, uz Lusi, glavni (anti)heroji serije.
Maximus had a very traumatic experience that left him an orphan (I won’t reveal too much, as it’s very interesting and somehow connected to Lucy) and was taken under the wing of the organization “Brotherhood of Steel” (abbreviated BoS). This organization is very specific. It is very rigorous and has a clear chain of command. Their task is to explore the wastelands of the American continent in search of pre-nuclear technology and to preserve it (but not share it with the rest of civilization). They are quite harsh and resemble some sort of military-religious sect, recognizable by their elite armored soldiers-knights, and it is the technology (power armor) that only they have access to. By a (very strange) set of circumstances, Maximus comes into possession of such armor and roams the land wishing to fulfill the BoS mission, which is to find a particular scientist.
Cooper is… well, a ghoul, and for those not familiar with the “Fallout” world… well, let’s put it this way, they are considered a separate race and look like slightly more “human” zombies… but they are, in fact, people who were exposed to high levels of radiation (as a consequence of events from 200 years ago), which caused them to mutate (not in a very pleasant visual way). They can live long but must be careful not to lose their humanity and reason and not become like wild beasts (feral ghouls) and start attacking everyone (which they can prevent, i.e., delay with a special drug). Cooper has established himself as one of the most dangerous bounty hunters and is over 200 years old! In other words, he had a life before the nuclear war. Now he is a cynical gunslinger/cowboy, but in the golden age of America, he was a famous actor in western films, had a family, fame… and that’s why he might be the most interesting character in this series, because through his memories, we will piece together many things from the distant (American) past, vault shelters and their REAL purposes, who really caused the nuclear war, what is the role of the “Vault-Tec” corporation in all of this… and where, for God’s sake, is Cooper’s family?
A šta je zajedničko za ovo troje? Glava naučnika po Zigi…mislim, bukvalno samo njegova glava. Naime, Zigi je radio u jednom postrojenju (samo ću reći Enclave za one upoznati sa “Fallout” igrama 😉) i sebi je ubrizgao u glavu misterioznu plavu spravicu a zatim pobegao postrojenje u pratnji jednog psa (ako je neko rekao Dogmeat, niste u pravu, ali sviđa mi se kako razmišljate 😁), a zatim je ubrzo ostao bez glave…Zigi, ne pas. A način na koji je ostao bez glave je urnebesan, a Lusi nije bilo dobro zbog toga (koja ga je srela u jednom trenutku).
And so for Lucy, the scientist’s head is a bargaining chip to eventually free her father (and fulfill the scientist’s wish to deliver his head to a certain person), for Maximus to redeem himself before the brotherhood (you’ll see why), and our ghoul Cooper has his own reasons for that head.
And what this all leads to, you’ll find out if you watch the fantastic series “Fallout”! 😁
What’s so great about this series?
EVERYTHING! 😁
Visually, the series is (at least for me) spot on! From the wastelands of the post-apocalyptic world and its small settlements, abandoned places, and peculiar locations (random encounter anyone? No? Okay, never mind…) to short jumps (flashbacks) into the past and depictions of retrofuturistic America… the series simply excellently conveys the charm of video games, and in some elements even successfully enhances it. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen many mutated creatures, which are one of the trademarks of the “Fallout” series. It was interesting (and creepy) to see radroaches, yao guais, ghouls, and the legendary two-headed cows (brahmins), and for the series, a completely new creature was created (actually a combination of two creatures from the video games)… however, it doesn’t matter if you’ve played the games or not, but I really hope they’ll include radscorpions, geckoes, bloatflies, mothmans, centaurs… and the inevitable super mutants (Super Mutants) and maybe the worst predators of the “Fallout” world – deathclaws in the coming seasons.
A special visual treat is when you see a soldier in the famous “Brotherhood of Steel” power armor… though I’d like to see armor from another tough faction in the future, which is only briefly mentioned in the series.
The series is indeed focused on (quality) CGI, but the locations where it was filmed definitely contribute to the game’s charm, especially the post-apocalyptic world that was filmed in the deserts of Namibia, including a real abandoned mining town (ghost town).
The music also (expectedly) followed the quality of the series. Besides the original compositions, there is also music from the “Fallout” video games. One of the trademarks of the “Fallout” series is an excellent selection of music from the period from the 50s to the 70s. Perhaps these names won’t mean anything to some (and they certainly will to others), but it’s worth mentioning performers like Nat King Cole, Johnny Cash, “The Ink Spots”, “Metrotones”, Jean Armstrong, and many others.
Of course, nothing without acting…
Ella Purnell has previously caught the audience’s attention on the small and big screens with her talent (“Wildlike”, “Arcane”, “Yellowjackets”, “Army of the Dead”, “Kick-Ass 2”), and her very appearance and very interesting facial features, she brilliantly breathed life into the (at moments naive, at moments crazy, at moments direct, and at moments diplomatic) main heroine Lucy. She very much resembles the protagonists from video games, where obvious choices often produce completely unexpected reactions from the environment (and herself), making her seem like an incredibly hilarious and crazy character.
Aaron Moten as Maximus did his job okay. His character is a bit specific and at moments seems quite straightforward (in line with the environment in which he was raised and trained), but he has a certain trait of craziness and confusion, especially around Lucy. I think his character is yet to be developed. He somewhat reminded me of Finn from the last Star Wars trilogy. You might have seen this actor in films like “Emancipation” and “Father Stu”.
Walton Goggins as Cooper/ghoul… now this is a serious player in the series. This actor is known for his versatile roles (“The Hateful Eight”, “Django Unchained”, “Invincible”, “The Righteous Gemstones”, “The Shield”) and it’s not an exaggeration to say that he successfully carried the series on his shoulders, even managing to overshadow the main actress. Simply, his transformation from an actor who acts in westerns to a ghoul who completely embodied the role of a lone wolf cowboy-avenger/gunslinger/bounty hunter with sarcastic comments (and very often deep thoughts) is what surely delighted the audience and there is no doubt that he will get many various nominations (and maybe win some) for this role.
It’s worth mentioning some supporting actors who complemented the series well. There is the experienced Kyle MacLachlan (it’s enough to just say “Twin Peaks”, though there are “Desperate Housewives”, the original “Dune”, “Blue Velvet” and some other classics) as Lucy’s father (and the leader of her vault), then Sarita Choudhury (“Homeland”) as the mysterious Lee Mulder whom the entire wasteland fears. There is also the great Leslie Uggams (Blind Al from the “Deadpool” films, then the series “Empire”) as Betty Prison, a resident of Lucy’s vault but with dark secrets. Then there is another vault resident, the unusual Stephanie Harper played by the charming Annabelle O’Hagan, and Moises Arias (“Ender’s game”) who plays the reclusive (but very intelligent) younger brother of Lucy, Norm.
What else makes “Fallout” so irresistible? Well, all the mentioned elements contribute to an incredible and exciting atmosphere. Like in the eponymous video games, you know your main quest, but on the way to the goal, all sorts of unexpected adventures happen, and you make decisions that can affect the main outcome.
The series is full of Easter eggs that viewers who haven’t played the games won’t even notice, but fans of the series will (a dog that is a homage to Dogmeat, “The Enclave”, Brahmins, Robobrain, code 101097, NCR, New Vegas, the way of hacking devices, “Super Duper Mart”, a damaged water chip in the vault and many others).
The “Fallout” series almost instantly got the green light for the second season, which was expected. This is great news because the series hasn’t even scratched the surface of what the video games in this series have to offer. From various mysterious factions in the game that would certainly be interesting to see, as each has its own agenda and are quite unique (Caravan Merchants, Khans, Salvatores, Shi, Vault City, The Railroad, Super Mutants, Caesar’s Legion, Robert House, The Institute, Minutemen), to various creatures, and perhaps an homage to some characters from the “Fallout” video games. Also, we hope that the dog CX404 will get more screen time because the dog is an important companion to the protagonist in this video game series. And maybe somewhere Dogmeat will appear, you never know…
I think it’s obvious that I’m thrilled with this series and could write more about it, but there’s a high probability that you already want to throw a bottle of Nuka-Cola at my head, so I’ll slowly bring this review to an end.
But I must add another very important aspect of this series… and that is that it has retained the spirit of the original games. Which means it’s at times very dark, bloody (characters here die in the worst and most hilarious ways possible, in the spirit of the video games), and has crazy and twisted humor. It’s good that “Bethesda” (creators of the latest “Fallout” games) teamed up with “Amazon,” which isn’t a stranger to making (literally) brutal series like “The Boys” and “Invincible” and that the series is not for kids (it’s rated PG-16, but PG-18 would have also been appropriate). Because if they tried to soften it, the series would lose its meaning and be a big failure.
It really doesn’t matter if you’ve played the video games or not (you really don’t need prior knowledge, it’s just a plus), the “Fallout” series is truly top-notch production. For me, it is one of the most pleasant surprises of 2024 and has definitely become one of my top 10 series ever.
Absolutely recommended and I can’t wait for the next season!
And you, dear reader, how familiar are you with the “Fallout” world? 🙂
Imdb | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic
Premiere: 2024
Format: Series
Number of Seasons: 1 (eight episodes)
Average episode duration: 60 minutes
English 
Serbian