The Fallout TV Series is Awesome and I Can't Wait for Season 2

Season 2 of Fallout is coming soon, and I'm excited for the return to New Vegas! When the show was first announced, I'll admit that I was skeptical. While I enjoyed the Halo series, I know I was in the minority, and as you probably guessed from my post about Fallout 4, I'm not the biggest fan of how Bethesda has approached the franchise from a story standpoint. I was afraid that the TV series would be more of the same, especially when preview screenshots of what looked like the Prydwen were shown--yes, the giant airship is cool, but the Brotherhood having such an audacious display of power sort of goes against their original ethos as isolationist, technology-hoarding pricks, does it not? Yes, they had airships in Fallout Tactics, but that game was (key word: was) of dubious canonicity. I'm not here to talk about canon, that's tedious as hell, and a story for another day. Nah, right now, I'm here to talk about why the show is awesome and why it worked.

Video game movie and TV adaptations are pretty hit-or-miss, and there are a lot more misses than hits. Street Fighter: The Movie is goofy and fun, but for every one of those there's Borderlands: The Movie, Doom, and so on. Sure, there are the Sonic movies, but that's a franchise I'm not much of a fan of so I won't go into that. One recent example that I did really like was Detective Pikachu. They did an excellent job adapting the world of Pokémon into live action. The world was vibrant, recognizable, and more or less took place within the world of the main Pokémon games! That last part impressed me. They were able to make a movie adaptation of a big video game franchise, have it appeal to mainstream audiences, and set it within the world of the game itself. Such a thing was once thought impossible.

Given the Legion's attitude towards women, I have a bad feeling about this, and I think Lucy does too.

The Fallout TV series is set in 2296 in California; the first time the series has returned to the state save for some small slivers of it in New Vegas. It has three protagonists: Lucy, a naive but kind-hearted vault dweller from Vault 33; Maximus, a loyal Brotherhood of Steel Squire who may not be the sharpest tool in the shed; and The Ghoul, a cowboy mercenary who, over 200 years ago, was a blacklisted Hollywood star named Cooper Howard. Each character allows the audience to see a different perspective on the wasteland: Lucy is the audience surrogate, experiencing it for the first time. Maximus has spent his whole life here, living as a member of one of the most iconic groups in the franchise. The Ghoul/Cooper gives us flashbacks of what life was like before the war, while his "present" self became pretty much everyone's favorite character. Yeah, I'm thirsty for The Ghoul, what of it? It's about The Vibes, man. He's got The Vibes.

I wonder if they'll actually acknowledge who the original "King" actually was...

Most importantly, the show became a perfect entry point for newcomers to the franchise and didn't lean too heavily on fanservice, for the most part. One of the biggest problems with Fallout 3 and 4 is how it features things that are quintessentially parts of "West Coast" Fallout, despite taking place in the greater DC and Boston areas. Super Mutants, Radscorpions, and Cap currency all existed as parts of the west coast Fallout world for a reason. Super Mutants were made at the Mariposa Military Base, scorpions are barely seen outside of desert environments, and bottlecaps existed as currency because they were an indicator of fresh water. Fallout 2, which took place 64 years after the first, used an actual currency system minted by the NCR, since that game took place entirely within that faction's territory. 3 and 4 should have had their own unique currencies, but I guess that would've required too much creative thinking.

The Goodest Boi

Despite being set in prime classic Fallout territory, we don't see Radscorpions or Super Mutants. The most we see of the latter is a hand-drawn wanted poster for one. We see the skull of a Deathclaw in the final scene of the series, and that's about it. I appreciate the restraint. It made it even more satisfying when we see the perfectly recreated props like the Stimpacks, Pip-Boys, and laser rifles. They even had the Water Chip from the first game, although I would argue that this bit doesn't really go anywhere and feels like little more than a callback. 

What's also important is the tone of the series. Fallout deals with a pretty serious subject matter, yes, but it never shied away from comedy. The TV series absolutely nailed it. Scenes where we learn the true nature of Lucy's father are properly shocking and heartbreaking, while others like when Lucy gets exiled from Vault 4 had me laughing my ass off. The series understands the nature of the wastelands: it's dangerous, it's unforgiving, and it's weird as hell.

Now, if there is one Nit with which I have to Pick, it's about Shady Sands. No, it's not about the fact that they nuked the NCR's capital, nor is it about a freakin' date on a chalkboard which could have easily been an error. It's actually about the location. Shady Sands is supposed to be much further north than Los Angeles. It should be noted that it actually does slightly shift between the first two games, but not that drastically. I'd really consider this to be pretty minor if it didn't bring up other questions like, how come nobody mentions the Boneyard? Is it in San Diego now? It's a retcon, sure, but just establish it as one to answer some questions. That's all I want.

One direction the show chose that really excited me was who fired the first nuke. When it comes to mutually assured destruction, it does not matter who fired the first shot. One side launches their warheads, so does the other. When they're in the air, nothing else matters. So, who fired the nukes? Simple. Vault-Tec did. I remember hearing on the ShoddyCast that this was an idea from the Fallout movie pitch of the late 90s/early 2000s, and I thought it was genius. What better way to sell the Vaults than to drop the bombs yourself? They have a vested interest in keeping the Sino-American war going.

Where's season 2 going to take us? Honestly, we can only speculate beyond "Holy crap it's New Vegas". The region looks like it's a mess, and it's very possible that Caesar's Legion won the war. This is easily the worst possible outcome in the game itself. I can never bring myself to side with the Legion. I always gun down slavers in video games unless it has the potential to break the game (looking at you, Morrowind). That said, I think from a storytelling standpoint, the Legion winning the Battle of Hoover Dam has the most potential. What happened to Courier Six? Did they side with the NCR, Mr. House, the Legion, or were they Independent? Did they die during the battle? What of Caesar's tumor? Did the NCR win the battle, but was it a pyrrhic victory and the Legion came from Arizona with massive reinforcements? I hope the show answers these questions and more.

Fully expecting a crisis of conscious for Maximus.

The trailers for the show also showed what looks like Vault 0, a location originally from Fallout Tactics. I've never played Fallout Tactics, but it appears this game, or at least ideas from it, are now part of the Fallout canon. I'm actually here for this. While the idea of the Brotherhood being more than isolationist technology hoarders never sat right with me, I think the idea of them attempting--but failing--to be that is interesting, so I'd like to see how that plays out. Vault 0 is also likely the headquarters of Vault-Tec, so I'd like to know what they've been doing there for the past 200 years.

New Vegas had so many characters and locations that will be super exciting to see. In addition to the Legion, the posters show what looked to be Ghoulified members of the Kings. That's a story I want to hear. We also see what looks to be Victor--if he's here, does that mean Mr. House is alive? We did see him in the flashbacks in season 1. What about Yes Man, is he installed in House's mainframe? And if we see Yes Man, will he be played by Dave Foley? God I hope so. Rumor also has it that Macaulay Culkin is playing a "mad scientist" character--could it be Arcade Gannon? Maybe Fantastic?! Will we see any of the companions like Veronica, Cass, Boone, or maybe Marcus? I have so many questions, and while I do worry I may have my expectations set too high, I think the series will deliver on most of them. Not every question needs to be asked, and not every question needs an answer. 

I'm curious where Fallout TV will go after season 2. Will we go further into Fallout's past, and visit Vault 13 for the first time since Fallout 2? Will they go to the midwest? That's an area barely explored in Fallout lore. In fact, where was that Enclave facility actually located in the first season? I want to see them as the bad guys again. The X-series Power Armor in live action would be downright badass. Regardless of where it goes, I'm excited for it all. It seems to me like when Fallout has actual writers, it's really good! How about that.