Amazon’s Fallout Season 2 Review – The House Always Wins
After the successful run of Amazon’s Fallout TV series last year, it’s back for a second time. Can Amazon continue its success or does the show suffer from the dreaded sophomore slump?
Join us as we venture back into the wasteland of Amazon Prime’s live-adaptation of Fallout with the release of Season 2 in our full season review, and whether it’s worth binging it during the holidays.
Important note: This is a spoiler-free review, so you can read it without fear of running into somethng that might ruin a surprise or two.
When the World Goes Down In Flames
Season 2 of Fallout picks up exactly right after the events of last season, with our main protagonists, Lucy MacLean the Vault Dweller, Cooper Howard, AKA the Ghoul, heading off to New Vegas to track down Hank MacLean to finally get some answers and justice, with Maximus rejoining his Brotherhood of Steel as its new hero. I won’t speak muchabout the plot point beyond that, even with Episode 1 now live, as I think everyone should go in as blind as possible this season. As the review already states, I’m going to keep this relatively spoiler-free as much as I can and focus my talks around character development and overall improvements in this season.
Much like last season, this season focuses on three main stories, with additional stories from other characters to further build the world. Although the show gives attention to all three main protagonists, and now the new ones who are doing their own side adventures, this season of Fallout is undoubtedly all about the Ghoul, aka Cooper Howard.
No surprises, considering how he became such a fan favorite after the first season, with Walton Goggins delivering a performance that was both entertaining and thrilling as he played a gunslinger western Ghoul, while also providing a heartbreaking one as the Ghoul’s human counterpart, Cooper Howard. He shows the most terrifying monster by portraying the worst of humanity, but also its most sympathetic victim.
That brilliance carries into Season 2, where the show stops treating his humanity as just a tragic backstory and makes it the engine of the narrative. If Season 1 was about seeing a man lose it all, including his humanity, then Season 2 explores what that man will do get it all back. He’s covered in a rotting flesh of radioactive cynicism, but with his newfound purpose, those layers begin to peel back, revealing a desperation as compelling as it is violent. A monster who still has some humanity left in him, even if he doesn’t always show it.
It’s a balancing act that Goggins executes with terrifying perfection. I honestly can’t think of anyone else who could portray the Ghoul in live-action the way Goggins does, and if there was ever a person born to play a role, then The Ghoul is that role for Walton Goggins.
But it’s not a spotlight that he shares alone, despite the bigger focus on him this season. We have our other main protagonists. Lucy, who is continuing her journey to find her father, once again finds herself accompanying the Ghoul for a common purpose. Ella Purnell continues to portray the character as a naive optimist, thinking everyone is good and can literally be speech-checked out of conflict, like in the games. But that “okey-dokey” persona she wears is wearing out, as she continues to see the horrors of the topside world. If the Ghoul represents what the world does to a person, then Lucy represents the struggle to remain unchanged by it—a perfect foil to Goggins’ character.
She’s a satirical take on what an American might have been in a perfect 1950s, something established in the first season. Sure, you may say to yourself, she shouldn’t still be acting like that, but despite it being almost two years for us since the first season started, in the Fallout universe, it’s only been a matter of a few weeks, if that. She’s still a vault dweller who doesn’t understand the world she’s in and how it works, though she is starting to come to terms with it with each passing episode. I have a feeling she won’t be the same naive vault dweller she started as for long, especially as she continues to see how much uglier the world can get.
Then there’s Maximus. Aaron Moten returns as the Brotherhood of Steel soldier, though he feels a bit more isolated this season. While Lucy and the Ghoul are out surviving through the chaos of the wasteland, Maximus is grappling with the weight of his new rank. To the brotherhood, he’s a legendary hero who defeated and killed Lee Moldaver in the Season 1 finale. He’s their savior, the man who secured cold fusion for the Brotherhood of Steel—the man who will lead them to greatness.
Maximus isn’t that character, but it is the reality he now has to live with, and his arc this season is all about that conflict and being able to make the hard decisions. Season 1 offered him a view of a better life, but to protect that life, he had to embrace a lie. That suit of armor that he fought so hard to earn has now become his prison, bound by an inescapable duty and the rigid ideology of the Brotherhood.
While Lucy and The Ghoul fight a battle in the Wasteland, Maximus is fighting a political war within his ranks, offering a unique perspective into the world of the Brotherhood of Steel as they prepare to extend their reach in the wasteland.
And let’s not forget the other supporting characters from the previous season, who are now slowly becoming major players. The residents of Vault 33 are still in shambles after all the chaos that happened in the first season, with those in power now trying to figure out how to move on and survive.
Norman MacLean, Lucy’s brother, played by Moisés Arias, is still locked inside Vault 31 with overseer Bud Askins, who turns out to be a Vault-Tec employee who eventually sticks his head in a jar, which is equivalent to a Roomba in this universe. Again, no spoilers here, but I think fans are going to love how the writers continue to mold their characters around the specific playstyles players have adopted in the games.
Being Season 2, Amazon has gone bigger with the casting, with special guest stars like Macaulay Culkin and Kumail Nanjiani. I won’t go into any details about their characters, but I think fans will like what they see. There are other guest stars, but my lips are sealed. I anticipate sheer chaos from the community once the other stars are revealed. Of course, this being set in New Vegas, you can expect plenty of Mr. House, not only in terms of how he’s shaping the story in the present, but also his grand involvement in the end of the world, which Season 1 was already hinting at.
In terms of overall writing and pacing, I think Season 2 is better than the first, which, for me, says a lot, because I loved the first season of the show. Every single episode (sans the final two, as they were omitted) had me hooked from start to finish, and for every minute of them. I love how, like in the first season, Season 2 manages to balance all these stories across all the episodes. Usually, when you have too many characters, the story starts to become muddy, and yet here the writing is so well done, with a pacing to match, that whenever you begin to wonder what’s going on with one of the characters, it switches back to them. You don’t ever feel like you’re waiting for the show to get back to the “good stuff” because it’s always at the good part, and it never overstays.
One thing I do want to address, because I know the Fallout community is going to ask, or eventually be “upset” over it. Although the show is rooted in Fallout’s DNA, I don’t want to say it’s entirely faithful to the franchise’s lore. Season 1 created a lot of confusion about specific events and their timeline. I get it, things can get crossed with how big Fallout is, and with the show being canon, there are some things it introduces that may or may not retcon certain things. Personally, the way I see it, I can go back and play one of the old games, and sure, some stuff is no longer part of the lore or has been altered since then, not just because of the live-action, but because of the games themselves. But that doesn’t mean they still aren’t good. In the end, the games and the show are good, each maintaining the Fallout identity that we love so much. Take that however you want, but I do think the show is in great hands, where some of these changes don’t seem all too big in the grand picture. The show is clearly made by fans, and for fans. Even if it doesn’t get everything right, I, like with the first season, feel that Fallout is perhaps the best live-action video game adaptation we’ve seen thus far.
Building a Better Apocalypse
Although the reported figures suggest the budget for Season 2 is similar to Season 1, a major difference is that production has been moved entirely to California. In contrast, last season was mostly in and around New York, with the budget being around $153 million, or $19 million per episode. This season reportedly costs around the same, though it comes with a $25 million tax credit from California.
The reason I bring this up is that while watching the season, I was under the impression that the budget had ballooned to something like The Lord of the Rings: The Ring of Powers had, which was $465 million for the first season. It’s not uncommon for seasons to become more expensive to make, and Season 2 certainly looks to be more expensive, but it’s clear that whatever extra money they got, this season is putting every cent to good use.
In many ways, it’s a stunning technical achievement: with the right crew and vision, you can make anything look like a blockbuster film without blowing through your budget. This season comes with much larger sets, even more unique locations, grander effects, and with the variety of places that California has to offer, from its sprawling neon Hollywood strips to the hot, scorching Mojave Desert, a new level of authenticity is brought to the screen that no amount of CGI can replicate. The show takes full advantage of its new home, grounding the absurdity of the wasteland in a reality where you can almost feel the radiation emitting through your screen.
My favorite thing about this season is that it seems the crew has doubled down on practical effects. Of course, CGI will be used, and heavily, as there’s only so much practical effects can do before it becomes impractical, like with Season 1 monster fights. But if you haven’t watched the making of Season 1 yet, I highly recommend you do, as you’ll be surprised by just how much of what you saw on screen was real, not generated on a computer.
It’s a curse not being able to spoil things and talk to someone about this until the episodes air, but I’m confident that fans are going to go insane when they see how some of the stuff has been brought to life, both in CGI and in practical use. The visual fidelity has taken a massive leap forward this season, all in the name of crafting an even bigger, more immersive world than last season.
Then there’s the music. Like last season, you can expect plenty of licensed tracks to be used throughout the show, in theme with the era. There are some fun ones in there, but for me, it’s seeing composer Ramin Djawadi back for yet another Season of Fallout. Once again, he finds the perfect blend of sounds to create a landscape that feels both nostalgic and terrifying. I’ve always believed that sound and music are the glue that holds an experience together, and without Djawadi’s score, the emotional weight of this season wouldn’t land the same way. It’s fantastic, and I feel he perfectly captures the emotions of a scene through his music, resulting in some of the show’s most memorable moments.
War May Never Change, But This Series Keeps Getting Better.
Given how Season 1 turned out, I had little doubt that Season 2 of Fallout would end up being a fun ride to watch through. I had my worries about them touching the New Vegas IP, but after sitting through most of the episodes, I’m reminded of why I fell in love not only with the show but also with the Fallout: New Vegas video game. It truly is a love letter to all Fallout fans; even if it gets some things wrong, it’s hard to look past just how much it gets right.
Fallout Season 2 is funnier, darker, and more emotionally charged than Season 1, improving on it in every way by taking what was so great about Season 1 and making it even greater in Season 2. It’s a must-watch for not only all fans, but also those who first joined in on their Fallout journey back when the first season aired. I can’t recommend this show enough, and my only disappointment is knowing I now need to wait for Season 3, which I’m certain will happen.
Fallout Season 2 episode 1 is now available to stream, exclusively on Amazon.
Pros
- Better than Season 1 in every conceivable way
- Great character writing and development
- Beautiful visuals - fantastic use of practical effects
- Amazing score that captures every scene
Cons
- Some of the character motives are pretty questionable during some points in the series
- Makes the wait for Season 3 a lot harder
Fallout Season 2 screener provided by Amazon for review purposes.
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