Ryan Shoots First: Fallout (S1 Ep1) “The End”

When it comes to video game adaptations as tv series in the last few years you have two ends of the spectrum. On one end is The Last of Us which is pretty universally agreed as being exceptional. On the other end is the Halo series. Two massive franchises but very different responses. Halo feels soulless, sterile and like a cash grab. So where would Fallout fit in? It was hard to get a read from the trailers. Some parts looked good others who knows. We would have to wait to find out. Well thanks to Amazon deciding to move the release date up we got to find out a little sooner than we first thought as the season launched on April 10th and we’re here with our thoughts from the premiere episode. 

First I will say the first episode achieves all its goals when it comes to being an engaging sci-fi series. I heard from many people who said they never played the game but just the visuals and atmosphere had them interested in the show. From that perspective, the series nails its premiere. The cold open is fantastic, it has style and it presents the status quo in a way you instantly want to see where it is going and what comes next. But for the uninitiated if you are not aware Fallout takes place in an alternate universe centered around nuclear power. It powers everything from your kitchen to your car and your Mr. Handy robot helper. As you can imagine this leads to the fall of mankind leading some into the world of Vault Tech. I’ll save you the lore behind Vault Tech as the show will likely go pretty far into it but it is vast and very engaging. 

The show centers around a few characters scattered around the wasteland in various factions and forms. They all have some goal and the great mystery at the center will see them all converge later on in the show but for now, each voice is presented in an interesting way and we empathize with their mission and their journey. Lucy especially the opening half of the episode plays like the tutorial to the game and many of the opening few hours of the games. We see everything from her perspective same as you would in the game and that was a cool angle to take. 

This premiere had it all, cool set pieces, interesting characters, and a world rich with mysteries and lore you just want to dive in and uncover and that’s a great recipe for a series that can have some staying power. It felt a lot like the West World pilot and f course that show was headed by a lot of the same people Amazon brought on for this series. So here is hoping they manage to keep the train rolling and it doesn’t run off the tracks like West World did. 

Observations 

• Oh man, I instantly am curious about the pre-nuke world. 
• They’ve nailed the look. 
• That sounds about right. 
• We got Vault Boy thumb lore! 
• Boom 
• Dude that’s nuts. 
• Who needs enemies…
• I love how the cars look the way they do in the games. Not just old cars. 
• What an opening 
• I hope they dive into the crazy shit that went on at other vaults. 
• Using this as a sort of skill setup stage in the game is funny. 
• Aw cause they have to reuse them. 
• OG Paul Atredeys 
• Oh her dads the dang overseer 
• Haha poor Jet. Cousin lovin 
• This gonna be bad 
• Good conversation starter 
• 32 bout to take everything. 
• He’ll always be Rico to me 
• Haha okie dokie 
• Well that’s one way to cleanup after your first time. 
• Time to put those skills to use!
• Hopefully, that knife wasn’t irradiated. 
• Just like in the game! 
• Solid doors after 200 years 
• Dang those are some hearty pickles 
• Well, he WAS a good overseer. 
• Power armor baby 
• Wow a very primitive form of communicating 
• Good to see in the apocalypse everyone is still horny all the time. 
• Very good use of light when she stepped out as she’s never seen the sun before. 
• Can you imagine stepping out and then just seeing the ocean. 
• Dang that made me jump 
• Man that was some serious acting there. Well done. 
• Kinda hope we never see the knight out of his armor