Fallout (Season 1)

Creators: Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson Dworet
Starring: Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Kyle MacLachlan, Moisés Arias, Xelia Mendes-Jones, Walton Goggins, Sarita Choudhury, Leslie Uggams, Johnny Pemberton, Zach Cherry, Annabel O'Hagan, Dave Register, Teagan Meredith, Frances Turner, Michael Cristofer, Mykelti Williamson, Cameron Cowperthwaite, Michael Emerson, Michael Rapaport, Dale Dickey, Jon Daly, Chris Parnell, Fred Armisen, Erik Estrada
Original Airdate: 2024

★★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

Destroying any and all preconceived notions about the viability of popular video game adaptations, Prime Video's Fallout presents a quirky, one-of-a-kind post-apocalyptic universe that's accessible to fans and non-fans alike. Its eight episodes hit all the right notes, telling a simple but surprisingly complex, action packed story that takes itself just seriously enough. At first, you'll worry we've entered one of those "mystery boxes" intended to string viewers along without revealing anything of consequence. But it instead delivers more answers than we know what to do with, generating enough creative juice to spill into future seasons. 

Envisioned by Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Roy, the biggest thrill is seeing how all the pieces fit to form a fuller picture by its end. Players of the game are probably well versed in the broader details, but those going in cold are in for a trip, with no foreknowledge required to appreciate all that must have gone into translating this to the small screen. And in recalling the better elements of genre staples like Mad Max, Star Wars and Lost, it also manages to sidestep the frustrating narrative baggage that's occasionally accompanied them. 

Filled with dark, satiric humor, spectacular visual effects and a trio of award-worthy performances, what most stands out is its timeliness, or in an even larger context, its timelessness. Considering the game itself came out in the late nineties, this interpretation arrives at just the right moment, mixing themes of nuclear war, political strife, socioeconomic collapse, capitalism and governmental control into an entertainingly subversive package that aims much higher than anticipated.

In the Great War of 2077, a nuclear blast decimated Earth, leaving a retrofuturistic society with scarce resources. Survivors took refuge in fallout shelters or Vaults, designed by a technology company called Vault-Tec. It's 200 years later when Vault 33's cheery, optimistic Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) volunteers to marry a neighboring 32 Dweller, but when a violent raid occurs, her father and Vault overseer Hank (Kyle MacLachlan) is abducted by the mysterious Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury).

With help from her brother Norm (Moisés Arias), Lucy ventures outside the vault into a devastated Los Angeles Wasteland to locate Hank. While searching, she'll encounter newly promoted Brotherhood of Steel squire Maximus (Aaron Moten), who's on a mission of his own. She'll also cross paths with The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), a gunslinging bounty hunter once known as famous movie actor Cooper Howard. Caught in the crosshairs is escaped Enclave scientist Dr. Siggi Wilzig (Michael Emerson), who holds the key to a valuable energy source and might be Lucy's most important bargaining chip.

Focusing primarily on three main characters, the series really revolves around Vault-Tec's history and how it informs their present situation. After a brief, but unforgettable flashback showing actor Cooper Howard and his daughter Janey on the day of 2077's nuclear attack, we're taken out of a 50's looking milieu that's technology stalled post-World II and thrust into the confines of Vault 33 in 2296.  Eventually, we'll not only discover how this whole project came to be, but its entire purpose for the survivors inhabiting it.

Everyday life down below and in the adjacent Vaults of 31 and 32 appear almost utopian at first, which is exactly what the designated overseers intended. And it isn't as if the citizens have much choice since their only alternative is the dog eat dog landscape of the Wasteland, complete with its deadly radiation levels and random carnage. 

The Vaults may reflect the illusion of community, but it's also a tightly controlled, antiseptic environment that leaves little room for independence. While easily identifiable as a cult, for characters who've known nothing else their entire lives and are deprived the freedom to think or feel for themselves, it's simply business as usual. 

Being the daughter of Vault 33's overseer, the innocent, impressionable Lucy is all in with Vault-Tec's philosophy until a catastrophic breach threatens to reveal organizational secrets her brother Norm is hell-bent on uncovering, whatever the consequences. The attack on the Vault itself is one of the series' defining moments, as a soundtrack of oldies play over a brilliantly choreographed ballet of gruesome violence, with the residents' idyllic existence juxtaposed against blood soaked brutality. 

When a traumatized Lucy escapes the Vault to find Hank, she's warned how life outside that bubble will challenge her loyal optimism. These are the sacrifices some must make to adapt and survive, in certain cases morally transforming into something they'd never imagine. No one knows this better than Cooper Howard, the once popular Hollywood actor now roaming the L.A. Wasteland as a disfigured bounty hunter who eerily resembles Captain America nemesis Red Skull. 

Cooper's motivations are the most intriguing since his centuries-spanning biography plays as a supervillain origin story, with Goggins bridging the gap between charismatic celebrity and family man we see in flashbacks and the mutated monster he'll later become. But once we're given glimpses into the Cooper's role as Vault-Tec pitchman and wife Barb's (Frances Turner) pull as a high ranking executive within the company, his downfall becomes clearer. 

Lucy finds the ideal ally in Maximus, a bullied squire from the Brotherhood of Steel, who steps into the position vacated by his injured best friend Dane (Xelia Mendes-Jones). But when a controversial decision lands him in the power armor of the knight he's assisting, he and Lucy realize their shared goal is best accomplished together. But not until facing down some serious obstacles like The Ghoul, who's after exactly what they are. An awe-inspiring western style shootout in the second episode establishes just how dangerous he is, as Lucy finds herself on the receiving end of his wrath for reasons that aren't entirely coincidental.

Trust ceases to exist in the Wasteland so the toughest battle for Lucy is coming to grips with this and accepting her life wasn't as rosy as she'd assumed. With intersecting storylines balancing simultaneously, all roads lead to the finale, which fills in a lot blanks, clarifying the events that brought these characters to this point. 

After proving just how engaging she can be as popular soccer team captain turned plane crash survivor in Showtime's Yellowjackets, Ella Purnell's superstar card is now punched with her affecting turn as Lucy. While the expressive, saucer eyed actress excels in the action scenes, what stands out is how well she conveys her character's evolution, slowly waking to the realization everything she assumed about the world was a lie. Through it all, her upbeat "okey dokey" attitude and inherent belief in good rarely crumbles, remaining determined to push forward without being infected with the bitterness that's consumed others. 

Purnell and Moten share believable chemistry as a tandem, with the self-loathing Maximus suffering a similar crisis of conscious, wrestling with who he is and pretends to be, but still baring the emotional scars of a tragic childhood event. It's hard not to compare his arc under the knight's armor to what Disney's Star Wars sequels failed in doing with Finn's storm trooper, instead pushing that character to the sidelines. Front and center throughout, Maximus is anything but an afterthought here, with Moten carrying a large share of the plot.

Journeyman character actor Walton Goggins steals every scene as Cooper Howard/The Ghoul, disappearing into each while still somehow convincing us they're one in the same under all those layers of makeup. His flashbacks are a highlight of the series, invoking Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as the Rick Dalton-esque Cooper wrestles with his marriage and public endorsement of a very controversial program.

Goggins is also downright brilliant as the gunslinging Ghoul, ruthlessly letting everyone know just how easily they could have wound up in his shoes. Only by the end is it confirmed what and whom he's really after, hinting that he may still have a small shred of humanity left. And however brief, it's great to see Lost's Michael Emerson again, as the former Benjamin Linus brings his unmistakable eccentricity to a role that doesn't veer all that far from what his fans would eagerly expect.

The finale gives a lot up while still laying plenty of road for this story to continue as long as its creators want it to. Whether or not the momentum can be maintained is another matter, but based on what comes to light in the closing minutes, there's a lot left to explore. With certain characters revealing their true colors, uneasy alliances being forged and some questions still left about what we've seen, it's anyone's guess where it could lead. 

Fallout picks up steam with each new development, pulling its characters in different directions before delivering a twisty, cliffhanger finale that sets the stage for subsequent chapters. We're not getting more because we need answers, but to see where the story goes next. It's addictive sci-fi TV done right, overcoming limitations even the best in this genre face when attempting to deliver an adventure of this size and scope.