🔗 Share this article

The post-apocalyptic TV series is back to Prime Video, and it's fair to say that fans were pleasantly surprised by the caliber of its debut season. By illustrating the retro-futuristic, nuclear-ravaged United States through the perspectives of three distinct characters, it managed to capture multiple facets of the player's journey.

We followed Lucy the vault dweller, attempting to act with integrity and finding that the wasteland made that very difficult; Brotherhood initiate Max, the Brotherhood of Steel initiate, who begins to question his faction's leadership and unleashes significant chaos in robotic power armour; and the Ghoul, a standout performance who has entirely abandoned any sense of morality out in the contaminated wilderness.

Setting the Stage for Season Two

The debut season's ending revealed key information about those responsible for the atomic conflict that sealed a population in underground vaults for hundreds of years. It also left numerous mysteries unanswered for the upcoming chapter – and, now, hopes are much greater.

“We'd gladly accept ‘not terrible’ – we should print that on merchandise,” remarks one of the series creators.

“Going into the first season, everyone’s like, ‘Just get it right’,” adds Todd Howard. “We’re over the moon with the reception to the show, so this time people are bringing more enthusiasm and altered expectations.”

A New Vegas Vibe for Season Two

The new season is set in New Vegas, the location of the 2010’s game Fallout: New Vegas, which is often praised for having the sharpest dialogue and cast in the series, even if it was a bit broken at launch.

“It embodies a arid atmosphere, a Southwestern essence, that’s so key to that game,” notes the co-creator. “That dusty, blasted-out Route 66 aesthetic of the game is so much enjoyable to bring into the show.”

In the series narrative, a considerable period has passed since the story of the New Vegas game by the time the protagonists make their way there. However, the creators indicate that it does reference the gamer's experience.

The Importance of Physical Sets

The Fallout TV series is notable for its tactile feel – its production team ensured authentic items and environments were fabricated, reflecting the improvised nature of the outposts in the games.

“Being a genre enthusiast, so many series I watch, I’m conscious that they’re all standing in front of a digital backdrop,” says another of the showrunners. “The key objective of an adaptation, especially of a interactive medium, is to seem like it’s real.”

In fact, pretty much each creature you see on-screen is practical, even the notoriously frightening radioactive creatures known as the apex predators. In the show, they are created using practical effects, and were by all accounts pretty frightening up close.

A Labor of Love

The Fallout series works because it is made by talented film-makers who are also dedicated players, in collaboration with the visionaries behind the video games. This mutual respect for the world is apparent in the end result.

The new batch of episodes is being released on a weekly basis rather than as a full-season drop, marking a change from the initial release. This schedule will create a new viewing experience, a dynamic the team themselves are excited to observe.

“It has more depth, it’s larger in scale, it’s funnier, it has a lot of twists,” says Howard. “I can't wait to seeing what people think.”