TV Review: ‘Fallout’ Season 2

Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins return as the hopeful Vault veteran Lucy and the world-weary ghoul in the winning adaptation of the Bethesda Studios game.

Ella Purnell in 'Fallout' Season 2. Photo Credit: Lorenzo Sisti / Prime. Copyright: © Amazon Content Services LLC.

Arriving on Prime Video on December 17 is the second season of ‘Fallout’ (one episode will release weekly), the wild and chaotic adaptation of the popular game title.

Fallout

"Let the end times roll."

TV-MAAction & Adventure Drama

Review
Score

Air Date: April 10th, 2024

Networks: Prime Video

Starring: Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Moisés Arias

Watch Fallout Online

Co-created and overseen by showrunners Graham Wagner (‘Silicon Valley’) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (‘Captain Marvel’), the series stars Ella Purnell (‘Yellowjackets’), Walton Goggins (‘The Hateful Eight’), Kyle MacLachlan (‘Dune’), Aaron Moten (‘Emancipation’) and Moisés Arias (‘Ender’s Game’).

Initial Thoughts

Walton Goggins in 'Fallout' Season 2. Photo Credit: Lorenzo Sisti / Prime. Copyright: © Amazon Content Services LLC.

‘Fallout’ proved to be a hit when it premiered in April last year, and now here comes the next chapter. Can the show continue to bottle the same level of chaotic dystopia, wild dark humor and a surprising level of heart?

On the evidence of the six episodes (of eight total) provided to press to review, the answer is a mixed yes.

Script and Direction

(L to R) Executive Producer and Director Jonathan Nolan, Cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh in 'Fallout'. Credit: JoJo Whilden/Prime Video. Copyright: © Amazon Content Services LLC.

Showrunners Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, plus the likes of creative partners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, keep up a similar level of madness as Lucy (Ella Purnell) and the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) continue their journey through the wasteland.

The show remains an entertaining watch, though the second season still suffers from some of the issues of the first –– when the narrative focus switches from the main duo (or flashbacks to the Ghoul’s past life as movie star Cooper Howard, wrapped up in the events that led to the dystopian wasteland) –– the interest level does tend to dip.

And that’s despite fun guest turns from the likes of Kumail Nanjiani and someone who has a long ling with voice work in the games that we won’t spoil here.

Visually, the show has lost none of its blend of steampunk/‘Mad Max’-esque charm, and the production values remain high.

Cast and Performances

Kyle MacLachlan (Hank MacLean) in 'Fallout' Season 2. Photo Credit: Lorenzo Sisti / Prime. Copyright: © Amazon Content Services LLC.

Purnell and Goggins continue to be the standouts of the show, the joint beating heart. Some of the new communities they meet along the way certainly entertain and Kyle MacLachlan’s Hank is also great value, experimenting on the poor schlubs at the Vault-Tec building he heads to in Vegas.

On the villainous front (not that there are strict black-and-white sides in this world), Justin Theroux is enjoyably slimy as Robert House, an iconic manipulator from the game.

Final Thoughts

Annabel O'Hagan (Stephanie Harper) in 'Fallout' Season 2. Photo Credit: Lorenzo Sisti / Prime. Copyright: © Amazon Content Services LLC.

‘Fallout’s blend of sly satire, raucous action (the series appears to be looking to give Prime Video stablemate ‘The Boys’ a run for its money in terms of heads exploded or otherwise damaged), continues, even if some elements feel repetitive and the storyline’s interest level dips away from the main duo.

‘Fallout’ Season 2 receives 80 out of 100.

Ella Purnell (Lucy MacLean) in 'Fallout' Season 2. Photo Credit: Lorenzo Sisti / Prime. Copyright: © Amazon Content Services LLC.

What’s the plot of ‘Fallout’ Season 2?

The new season picks up in the aftermath of Season One’s epic finale and take audiences along for a journey through the wasteland of the Mojave to the post-apocalyptic city of New Vegas.

Based on one of the greatest video game series of all time, ‘Fallout’ is the story of haves and have-nots in a world in which there’s almost nothing left to have. Two hundred years after the apocalypse, the gentle denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind — and are shocked to discover an incredibly complex, gleefully weird, and highly violent universe waiting for them.