Season 1 of Fallout. (spoilers)

I’m changing how I Do Be Watching works here at How About Notflix, because I hated the old way and it just put me off of watching shows completely. Now I’m back to the old formula of watching a show to completion and then writing my review of it. Let’s go.

It’s safe to say that Fallout Season 1 is one of my favorite shows of 2024 so far. It’s really good that Amazon picked up the show for a second season already, because season 1 does not end with much in the way of closure. In fact it keeps the door wide open to continue story lines in season 2 and it would really suck if they ended the show here.

Fallout Season 1 casts the adorable Ella Purnell as the adorable Lucy McLean, the vault dweller who innocently cutes into the harsh world of the post apocalypse after her father is kidnapped and taken away by some bad people. If you’ve played Fallout 3 or 4 you probably figured out from the get go that Lucy’s dad was up to no good and that’s why he was picked to be taken from the vault. Being vaguely familiar with similar plots, you probably also figured this out.

The Fallout TV series is very Fallout-y, by which I mean they’ve captured the essence of the game world quite well. The Bethesda version, maybe not quite the Interplay version. Adorable Lucy escapes the vault to find her father and along the way meets all sorts of wacky characters like Walton Goggins as the Ghoul, a guy who embraced the old west aesthetic a long time ago. As an integral character to the plot, we get regular looks back at Cooper’s life as a human before the war which gives plenty of opportunity to exposition dump what Vault-Tec is and what purpose they have in the world.

Vault-Tec of course being the evil corporation that built the vaults to house experiments that corporations could implement on unsuspecting people when the bombs fell, so that humanity could be rebuilt in the future to maximize profits. What exactly this means in a world where people trade with bottle caps and the US Dollar is mostly useful for squishin bugs is beyond me. We do get a good mystery on the Vault 31-32-33 situation though.

Meanwhile I really liked Norm’s plot line in the Vault section, from his gradual change in demeanor and the way his character evolves over the course of the season. He is a perfect character for a show like this because he allows us to spend more time in a functioning vault with real people. We get the rare glimpse at a utopic vault that isn’t conducting some horrible experiment on its citizens and drugging them or making them go violent or killing them.

I do have some questions for Fallout Season 2. Like what was the deal with Vault 33’s water chip? It was mentioned once being broken and then I’m pretty sure it was never acknowledged again and the forums back me up on this. Maybe the whole scenario was faked for the election?

“Want to make my cock explode now?” I’m curious on what the future holds for Maximus now that he’s an honored member of the Brotherhood of Steel. I really hope we’re not in for another season of “I liked to get where I am and they’ll eventually find out” because that dominated his character in season 1 and I’d hate to retread it again. Maybe Maximus will rise through the ranks and change the Brotherhood into more of a force of good in the world.

And as for adorable Lucy and the Ghoul? I guess season 2 for them will be a good old fashioned hunt job, tracking down the leaders of Vault Tec and letting the audience get some good old fashioned exposition. We know pretty darn well that deathclaws and super mutants are going to show up in season 2, but it’d be pretty neat if the mysterious stranger did as well.

See you in season 2!