Fallout: A Game-Based, Alternate History Apocalypse Your Grandparents Might Have Envisioned
By John Kirk
Rating : A
If you’re not familiar with the premise of the award-winning console game that Fallout is based on, but you’re a fan of vintage-themed retro sci-fi, this show should not disappoint.
Get ready for Apocalypse Wow.
Imagine a Cold War, late ‘50’s alternate history when America has mastered atomic energy on a household appliance level but still fears nuclear attack by Communist Russia. And then the unthinkable happens. The bomb is dropped, which sets the stage 200 years later for a meeting of generationally sheltered survivors and what’s become of the world.
Walton Goggins as the bounty hunter “The Ghoul” in Fallout.
Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) is a resident of Vault 33, one of the many multi-generational communities across America, who is dedicated to the purpose of surviving for when she and her Vault-mates can, one day, reclaim America and restore it to its former glory! When disaster strikes Lucy’s Vault, optimistic Lucy makes the fateful decision to go above ground, brave the wasteland and right the wrong done to her community and bring order to the savage world above.
The narrative structure follows the quest mode of gameplay which, if you’re a fan of the game, is a feature that will be readily apparent. It has two advantages: it’s a very simple but immersive style of storytelling that immediately throws the viewer into the story, but it also gives the viewer a sense of discovery and exploration of the new and warped world that America has become.
The story is also seen through the perception of two other characters. Maximus (Aaron Moten) is a squire in the service of the Brotherhood of Steel, a paramilitary, quasi-religious organization bent on recovering pre-war technology to preserve it and keep it from the rest of the population. His role is to serve his knight, a warrior armed with a suit of power armour as he goes out into the wasteland under his own quest.
We also meet the Ghoul (Walton Goggins), a mutated survivor who has lived for more than 200 years and remembers the time from before the war. He has his own mysterious quest, and makes his living collecting bounties as he wanders the wasteland. He has a frightening reputation, is terrifying to behold and is a formidable gunslinger.
The three storylines of these characters intersect and combine into a single plot that has a deep, conspiratorial tone. This not only mirrors the theme of the game but provides a mystery that viewers can enjoy piecing together. When answers are revealed at the end of the season, even more questions arise, setting the audience up for a possible second season. While no second season has been officially announced, there can be no doubt as the intentions of where the writers are headed.
The joy of Fallout doesn’t necessarily lie with just being a fan of the video game. While there is an abundance of material present for game fans to get excited over, it’s the unique nature of the setting that should wow new viewers.
The juxtapositional “retro-futurism” that makes up the character of the show is compelling in itself, with the absence of the Korean War and instead, conventional war fought with the Russians over Alaska in T-45 and T-60 armoured battlesuits for instance.
Novel household products like the Radiation King television or the Rob-Co robotic domestic servant “Mr. Handy” (voiced by Matt Berry) create an environment so unique that the viewer will want to pause the show to study the backgrounds.
If the viewer isn’t mesmerized by the settings, the powerful theme of how humanity fares in the absence of any societal structures will be enough to make anyone pause and reflect. The nuclear wasteland of the future is the absolute projection of humanity’s own inhumanity. Lucy, a Vault Dweller, who has lived with law, order, and a sense of values that all are all intended to help her and her follow community members reclaim and repopulate America, is suddenly confronted with a completely lawless environment that doesn’t want to be resettled. Mutated plants, animals and humans abound in a world divided by different factions who are all wrestling for control of it. That alone is enough for the audience to consider.
Of course, there are other themes: capitalism and communism, the American ideal of Manifest Destiny and of course, a high degree of jingoistic patriotism. These are highlights of a past that is incompatible with the hypothetical “present.”
But there is room for the added joy of hearing late ‘50s/early ‘60s “Ratpack” music as the continual soundtrack as another background vintage feature.
Sinatra, The Ink Spots and Dean Martin are among artists who provide a wonderful counterpart to the game’s original theme music. While gameplayers will recognize the signature three notes from the opening to the game, the presence of the classic lounge masters will be something that can be enjoyed by a new audience, and reinforce that sense of past pop-culture values.
Turn on your Radiation Kings and rev up your power armour. The Apocalypse never looked so cool, Daddy-o.
Fallout. Starring Ella Purnell, Walton Goggins, Aaron Moten, Kyle McLachlan, Moises Arias, Michael Emerson, Leslie Uggams, Johnny Pemberton, Matt Berry. Streams on Prime starting Wednesday, April 10 at 9 p.m..