Going into the Amazon Prime Fallout show, I immeadiately couldn't help but think of Todd Howard - Besthesda Games' leather jacket-clad hype man, who perpensative to over promise and under deliver is practically internet legend by now --16 times the detail memes and all. That being said, two episodes in, its clear that him and show runner Jonathan Nolan (Person of Interest) understand what makes Fallout work and how best to use it.
All of the touch stones will look familiar to those who love Fallout -- from its aw shucks ma'am 1950s esthetics begining to the untold horrors lurking within the halls of Vault Tech. Fallout also serves as a great jumping on point for anyone who hasn't played the games. While there are plenty of Easter eggs and references to be found -- its never done in a way that makes the viewer feel like an outsider.
After a jarring introduction sequence where you know its all going to go to hell, You will meet Lucy -- a charming and likable member of Vault 33. She's being paired with a Breeder to further the human race by trading with another group, blissifully unaware of life still sticking away on the surface. Like every good video game protatonist -- she's a little bit good at everything --shooting, fighting, and gardening. Like a character sheet that hasn't been filled out all the way yet.
The Vault is ran sacked by raiders, and Lucy sets off on the surface to find her missing Father, an idea the Vault's all knowing council inset too fond of, sewing the first seeds of mistrust that Vault Life looks a little good to be true. The attack on the vault is also our first gilimpse of the way that handles its gory action -- visceral, jarring and hilariously over the top -- just the way Fallout should be.
Our focus then shifts to aspiring Brotherhood of Steel Knight Maximus, who seizes an opportunity to quite his own armor after the Knight he is squaring for (played hilariously by Michael Rapparport) meets his end as Maximus lets him bleed out to take his armor. It one of man ways the show seamless transitions between its lead characters while keeping everything in cannon tone. The switching to different chracters feel like the chapter of a single player game, shifting control of the player to a different character.
Back on the surface, Lucy meets an enigmatic stranger who warns her about the dangers of The Wasteland. She experiences a grand culture shock here, taken aback that Vault-Dwellers aren't seen as paragons of virtue as she was raised to believe. After an encounter with Walter Goggins Ghoul, (one of the stand-out performances out of the show) she learns she's been hired to deliver the stranger -- but just his head.
"Vaults are just holes in the ground for rich Assholes to hide in while the rest of us burn."
Comparions to HBOs Last of Us are ineveiable but I don't think its a fair comparison-- as each of the games these shows are based on chose to tell stories in very different ways. The Last of Us tells a story meant to be experienced from the outside, a true third person narrative. Fallout on other hand feels much more like a video game in the best ways --with angles that places the camera intentionally behind a character, so when Lucy opens the vault door for the first time, or when the Ghoul fireds a barrage of slow motion bullets -- we are seeing what they are seeing -- Like a first person shooter. Fallout on Amazon is already shaping up to be classic Television, and step forward for Video Game Adaptions.
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