romaniablack
patreon
TV REVIEW: FALLOUT, Season One! PATREON EXCLUSIVE!
🕑 Added 2024-06-20 20:03:25 +0000 UTCTo be honest with you all, I haven’t settled down and watched anything outside of my channel’s shows in YEARS with the exception of RuPaul’s Drag Race and The Great British Baking Show – mainly, because I haven’t had the energy for the investment. But, I had several recommendations for Fallout (including my gaming brother), and it was only 8 episodes, so I wanted to give it a whirl!
And now that I’ve finished Season 1, I have THOUGHTS.
So, SPOILERS FOR SEASON ONE down below!
The Good:
The crumbs of the plot that you get from the start to the finish of season 1 were very tasty – a part of me wonders if too much was given away by the end of the season, but there is still a LOT of information (with Bud, Cooper’s wife, etc.) that could still be explored and we have no clue where Hank ended up at, so there’s that mystery. Overall, though, the reveals happened in a way that was fluid and made me want to go back and re-watch from the start to see if I would pick anything up that I missed.
The atmosphere – I’m a sucker for nostalgic history mixed with warped futuristic dystopia, so the atmosphere, the creativity with the “monsters,” and the various environments made it to where you were never in the same place twice. The soundtrack is also such a boon for this series to help give it that creepy air of nostalgia. Plus, seeing how abandoned buildings are ' 'repurposed'' was a lot of fun, especially a certain “grocery store.”
Cooper Howard - by far the most fleshed out (ironically?) character and the one I’m most invested in. A war veteran dealing with the displacement from his family, having lived possibly a separate life as a bounty hunter in between the main flashback and the current timeline (which leaves a LOT of potential story there to unfold) – and of course how he’s a rugged, jaded, but deep-down kind hearted man who’s just trying to survive until he can be reunited with his family…and not lose himself in the process? He had my attention from Episode 1 and had my heart by the end of episode 8. Plus, the actor playing him is incredible and a case of superb casting.
LUCY. MCLEAN. I loved her from the first episode and watching her evolution on screen from the start to finish of this season was refreshing. It’s great to have a female character on screen that is smart and can be badass, but is also flawed - mainly in her being too trusting, her naivete, and her taste in men - and someone that’s not relegated to the sidelines. Side note: I loved that she initiated sexual activity throughout the season and when confronted with a possible bit of non-consensual harassment, it was humorously and horrifyingly countered with something even worse. Thanks, show! Lucy definitely is a character I can relate to and connect with and her actress is fantastic, so I’m on board for her adventures with Cooper in the future! Though…I have seen some people shipping her and Cooper in this bizarre Beauty and the Beast comparison and…no. No, Cooper if anything is her crazy uncle/foster-father figure to me. Two souls looking for answers involving the actions their family has taken.
Norm McClean definitely gets the prize for most character development, going from a coward who hid while his sister bravely fought raiders to taking charge on his own to discover answers about his past and current situation; I had a lot of fun watching his character grow and we leave on quite a cliffhanger with his character, so I’m curious what will happen with him in season 2.
The Not-As-Good:
Is it weird if I include Maximus in this? Okay, Maximus. I don’t mind his character by the end of the season - I like this “himbo” that wants to be a hero and is kind of blind to some of the things around him and cues – it makes sense, as he was raised by a sheltered cult and doesn’t quite know the things about societal etiquette as Lucy and Cooper were brought up to know.
I guess my qualms with him are that he’s not given the time to truly flesh out as a character like Cooper and Lucy - we don’t get but one backstory scene with him and it’s just repeated a few times. I would have loved some more scenes of him growing up in The Brotherhood, who aren’t fleshed out themselves very much in this season and remain a bit vague. Plus, Maximus does make some decisions that make you want to yell at your screen, but I suppose that’s the point - I am curious to see what he’s going to do with The Brotherhood next season, especially now that his “super suit” is missing.
And the romance between Maximus and Lucy. It’s just…it felt very forced to me, like we had to make them a couple. True, Lucy was raised to just accept she’d be married off and so her getting to “choose” her partner is definitely a “rebellious phase” move for her – and Maximus had NO idea about sexual intimacy before meeting her at all – it’s just neither have chemistry and I’m really glad that Lucy didn’t stick by him – especially after he SOLD HER OUT to the Brotherhood as soon as he got there. So. Yeah, I’m glad they’re separated and hopefully Maximus can do some growing up in the next season, because our girl Lucy deserves maybe a bit better otherwise. And maybe they’ll reconcile in future seasons that it’s better to be friends, but writers…you don’t HAVE to make two main characters into a couple just because they’re the opposite gender. Unless they genuinely have chemistry and a developed relationship to boot.
The Remaining Mystery:
Cooper’s wife and daughter weren’t on the registered list of Vault people “frozen” in Vault 31, so are they in another vault? Are they ghouls? Are they just dead? We don’t get complete confirmation as to if Muldaver was the original Hollywood Forever leader that Cooper met all those years ago or if she was a descendent; if she was the original, why the name change?
I’m probably most curious as to what’s going to happen to Norm in Vault 31 since he seems to be trapped and if he gets out, how will he deal with Betty and Stephanie? Was Stephanie on the register? I didn’t see her name either, so I’m wondering if Chester will stand up to her or not and help Norm. Regardless, the prospect of Lucy and Norm trying to make change despite their father’s regressive Vault Tec loyalties has a lot of promise, as does Lucy now shadowing Cooper (the end song PERFECTLY encapsulating their dynamic alongside the dog, but could also point to our “three” as the trio of Lucy, Cooper, and Maximus).
I’m not a video game player, so no spoilers, please, but I’m excited to see where this series takes us! Especially with the McLean’s and Cooper’s storylines and how they’ll handle all the family mystery and drama! All in all, definitely recommend it if you like dystopian sci-fi series!
Obviously, I’m not giving a lot away, because I hope you’ll check it out - it’s on Amazon Prime and I enjoyed it – 8 episodes to get you sucked into the world and luckily, they’ve greenlit a season 2, so I’m excited! Let me know what you thought down below!
<3
RB
Comments
Romaniablack
That is good to know about the show not being directly derived from the games! I appreciate knowing that; my brother was saying something similar, but he was pretty vague about it, even then, haha!! That line about war is so tragic and timelessly bitter – that’s interesting to see that from the game; the soundtrack is also sooooo creepy with its nostalgia, I agree! I definitely love the dichotomy of the vaults vs. surface and I agree – now that we know each vault is doing “something different” it has me excited to see the creativity the show can tap into for future seasons and adventures. I LOVED Cooper and Lucy and agree – Lucy’s mindset makes sense and I love her character isn’t afraid to be forward, open, and take charge about her body; it’s very interesting when contrasted with the 1950’s “housewife” aesthetic they’re pushing in the foreground. Ahhh, that makes sense with the deaths at the start and the “game elements” they incorporated into the show, while it still being able to stand without that knowledge! Thank you for explaining that! Yeah, if Max wasn’t a liar throughout most of the season, I think I would have liked his character better; I’m hoping that they make that into an arc for him in season 2 or let him work towards redemption, maybe? Cooper’s wife, I get where she’s coming from, but her corruption from her work is really sad – especially when Cooper sees just how far she’s willing to sacrifice her morals to save her and her family, which he is opposite of…I agree that a few moments (mainly with Maximus) I fast-forwarded through to get to the Lucy and Cooper storylines, haha! But I did really enjoy it and it had me binging it overall! I honestly think watching shows like Neon Genesis and Puella Magi Madoka Magica, haha, helped me to be able to immerse in an environment that’s meant to throw you off and be confusing at first – the help of anime! 😛 I will definitely watch season 2 – and oh, YES – Arcane and One Piece’s Live Action - I will 1000% be on board for those season 2’s when they come! Thank you for the comment and kind words!
L Freya
Coming at the show excited, from the angle of someone who has played the OG Fallout 1 / 2 with great memories of them - not just the games but discussing them among friends, there definitely was some very enjoyable episodes for me in Season 1. There's no spoilers to worry about pertaining to show's plot from those original games, they're not connected too much and the games are pretty self-contained stories anyway. Just a few callbacks and references to things. But I haven't played the later games. The original Fallout game was famous for many things, but it sets the mood right away by sourcing the song "Maybe" by the Ink Spots (from 1940) for that creepy nostalgic soundtrack - and for the time it released having actual songs from the radio in a game was very rare in itself - it still is. But that definitely set the bar for the series to contain the throwback songs it does. The original game is also famous for the line "War. War never changes.", which they dropped in the final or second to last episode of the show, which was nice to see. The basic plot to Fallout 1 starts out with you leaving the Vault on hunt for a water chip for the survival of your vault - also dropped in the show as a reference to the game at some point. To see a bigger picture of life inside the Vault like the show provides is really fun to watch. The mysteries of what is going on between the Vaults in the show and how they seem to be moving people to be harvested between vaults is the most interesting plotline for me and I'm 100% in for everything pertaining to the Vaults. Cooper and Lucy were definitely the highlights, I agree. Incredible casting with those two, and they do a really great job acting the roles. It was nice they handled the sexual activities in a way that portrayed Lucy as not being at all prudish, even coming across to our society's standards as vulgar perhaps - the way she is just so nonchalant about sex with strangers - hell it is exciting because she is with the same group of 50 people her entire life. The crazy deaths you see throughout the first episode and by Cooper and his pinpoint accuracy is a reference to the game I think, which had a trait you could choose when creating your character called "bloody mess." In the game when you pick this trait killing enemies will always result in deaths of the most brutal/gory ways - which you notice happening in this show quite a number of times, with the bizarre kills. I didn't like Maximus after he kept lying. I think I liked him when he setup the Brotherhood Hood of Steel Maximus who was a coward to die - and took his position, but then he took a turn for the worse as he lied about who he was and made some really poor decisions that almost cost him his life and the armor - so I cooled off his character pretty fast. I found myself really not caring for Cooper's wife either. I think the whole thing about her insisting you can't have dogs because they are a luxury meanwhile trying to secure a luxurious position which only 1 in a 100 million people can get, and it all just felt a bit poorly written to be the breaking point in their relationship. There are times in the season where I was really loving it and times when I was pretty bored of what they were showing too, it was good, but didn't get perfect marks from me. It's interesting to read the take of someone who isn't familiar with the games - I found the show a bit too confusing and weird to easily recommend to others who aren't fans of the series, but encouraging to hear your thoughts and excitiment to contiune it in Season 2 - hopefully we get another post down the road after it airs! I definitely will join in for the second season myself, excited to see it as well, but for me there's a number of other shows' with a second season upcoming I'm more excited for - such as Arcane! Hope you're in for that one! And One Piece (live action) Season 2. That has got to be the closest to a drop everything for it when it airs show as there has ever been!
Frank Acevedo
Oh a neat thing i just found out too Lucy’s actress Ella Purnell is also the voice of Jinx from Arcane League of Legends! What a contrast of characters 😮
Frank Acevedo
I had played a bit of Fallout 3 long ago (only like a few hours though - Im more a Skyrim guy😉) but how the show not only gets the whole look and feel down it manages to walk the fun balances of satirical dark humor of the games too which was my barometer of quality. I agree of the characters introduced, The Ghoul and Lucy were the stand outs and Maximus was unlikable, probably on purpose for a bigger character arch i figure, but made his scenes a chore to sit through while Lucy was such fun to watch how she would get through the crazy situations she would end up in despite her naiveté but because she is smart and resourceful and proves that surviving on the surface doesnt mean having to completely lose their humanity. On the other hand the Ghoul and his flash backs were compelling and at times heartbreaking and yeah makes ya wonder what else happened in the 200 years in between. Overall yeah the show was fun and did entice me to play the game again hahahaa. And I look forward to what crazier stuff will happen in season 2 ☺️
