🔗 Share this article

The Fallout TV series has come back to streaming services, and it's safe to say that fans were delightfully shocked by the quality of its debut season. By portraying the retro-futuristic, post-apocalyptic United States through the lenses of three distinct characters, it succeeded in capturing various facets of the gamer's journey.

There was Lucy the vault dweller, trying to act with integrity and discovering that the ruined world made that incredibly hard; Max, the militant faction rookie, who starts challenging his faction's authority and unleashes a lot of havoc in robotic power armour; and Walton Goggins's character, a standout performance who has entirely abandoned any sense of morality out in the irradiated badlands.

Setting the Stage for a New Chapter

The debut season's conclusion revealed crucial details about the culprits behind the atomic conflict that condemned a population in underground vaults for an extended period. It also left plenty of questions open for the upcoming chapter – and, now, hopes are significantly higher.

“We'd gladly accept ‘not terrible’ – let’s get that on a poster,” quips the show's co-creator.

“Heading into the first season, people were like, ‘Just don't mess it up’,” adds Todd Howard. “We are ecstatic with the feedback to the show, so this time people are bringing more eagerness and new expectations.”

A New Vegas Vibe for Season Two

The new season is taking place in the neon-lit city, the backdrop of the beloved game Fallout: New Vegas, which is often praised for having the sharpest dialogue and characters in the franchise, even if it was a bit broken at launch.

“It’s more of a desert vibe, a Southwestern essence, that’s so key to that game,” notes the co-creator. “That parched, desolate iconic highway feeling of the game is so much enjoyable to translate into the show.”

In the show's timeline, a long time has passed since the events of the New Vegas game by the time the characters arrive there. However, the creators suggest that it acknowledges the gamer's experience.

The Importance of Physical Sets

The Fallout TV series is distinguished by its physical authenticity – its makers insisted on physical models and environments were fabricated, mirroring the cobbled-together nature of the settlements in the games.

“As a sci-fi fan, so many series I watch, I’m conscious that they’re all standing in front of a green screen,” comments co-creator Geneva Robertson-Dworet. “The whole point of an adaptation, especially of a interactive medium, is to appear as if it’s tangible.”

In fact, pretty much each creature you see on-screen is physical, even the notoriously frightening mutated beasts known as the apex predators. In the show, they are portrayed by animatronics, and were reportedly rather intimidating up close.

A Labor of Love

The Fallout series works because it is developed by skilled directors who are also passionate gamers, with the help of the visionaries behind the video games. This common understanding for the universe is clear in the finished show.

The new batch of episodes is debuting on a episode-by-episode basis rather than as a binge-able batch, marking a change from the initial release. This format will allow for a altered weekly discussion, something the creators themselves are looking forward to engage with.

“It delves deeper, it’s bigger, it’s wittier, it has a lot of twists,” teases Howard. “I’m looking forward to seeing what people think.”