Fallout’s second season was so highly anticipated, that Prime Video released the first episode early. The post-apocalyptic drama adapted from a video game promises to take viewers to the city of New Vegas as Vault 33 dweller Lucy and the Ghoul search for answers about their respective families.
The series gets off to a sluggish start. Things move slowly catching up with the different characters and establishing the storylines. We don’t even see Maximus at all. It’s not uncommon for shows on Prime Video to receive multi-episode season premieres to allow the story to build. Fallout could have benefited from that type of release.
Life in Lucy’s old Vault and the connected communities feels especially mundane as the residents rebuild. It’s difficult to stay invested when most of the interesting characters have left. The only exception is following Lucy’s brother Norm. For him, desperate times call for desperate measures. It such a big moment so early and comes so unexpectedly.
Another intriguing subplot revolves around Lucy and Norm’s dad, Hank. There is so much unknown about his past and his current motivations. The ambiguous nature during his return to Vault-Tec makes you question who his allegiances are to. In addition, he begins work on a peculiar project that we’ve only received glimpses of or referenced to throughout the episode. Fallout is laying down the groundwork for what seems to be one of the season’s big mysteries.
What really caries the premiere is the dynamic between Lucy and the Ghoul. It’s your classic inexperienced but moralistic young person and the jaded curmudgeon. Their action scenes capture the dark comedy of the show so well. They are artful but violent almost to the cartoonish degree with body parts and viscera flying all over. Add in the the old timey music and it sets the right tone.
But their paths have so much potential to be parallels. As the Ghoul likes to mention, he used to be like Lucy. He had a code but the changing and dangerous times caused him to change his principles. The flashbacks show how his old self, Cooper Howard, gradually kept doing things he was more and more uncomfortable with. The cause of the morally gray shift was family. A question revolving Lucy is how much of her principles can she maintain in this post-apocalyptic world. Will the Ghoul serve as a cautionary tale? It’s a significant development to explore now that the pair are working together as equals and not as a prisoner.
The second season begins sluggishly as its bogged down by the reintroduction of characters and the multiple groups to follow. However, it does establish some interesting storylines and benefits from the fun dynamic between Lucy and the Ghoul.
New episodes of Fallout release Wednesdays on Prime Video.
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