spoiler on the outcome of the Fallout series on Amazon Prime
Mh… maybe it's because I blasted through the series in two sittings. But in the end it all felt a little too comfortable for me. In particular, how everything ties together in the end and how the heavy talking and flashback-heavy “truth bombs” reshape the narrative landscape of this post-aocalyptic wasteland was more exhausting than illuminating.
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Am I the only one who finds it strange that Cooper's wife goes from being a worried mother who just wants a place in one of the “good Vaults” for her family to being the ice-cold Vault-Tec decision-maker to let the world end?
A worrying amount of coincidences
As someone who has spent hundreds of hours in various Fallouts but never completed any of the main quests (because I always got lost in the wasteland after several dozen hours of side quests), I can't say exactly how close this is to the game. But I found the plan of the assembled chief capitalists to wipe out billions of lives for possible (control) gains in the future a bit too crazy to function as a shocking revelation.
Fittingly, it seemed heavily contrived that Cooper, of all people, who knows all this, becomes an immortal ghoul who has exactly the right job and the talents to make the difference in the finale. In general, I often have a hard time with stories that have a twist that is only secret because one of the protagonists simply leaves us in the dark about it. Such secrecy seems more like a well-planned magic trick than like high-level storytelling.
Even days later, I still don't really understand what Maximus' plan with the fake fight was. And yet: I was entertained until the end. Fallout as a series works well – with all its absurd humor, its side stories that you literally stumble into, and the occasional brutal reminder that this world isn't just fun after all.
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The chance for Season 2
As a production, in terms of equipment and artistry, it was convincing across the board and I simply enjoy watching the actors – especially Walton Goggins and Ella Purnell. Someone here was really serious about this world. I attribute most of the narrative problems, if you want to call them that, primarily to putting together a mass-market production that has to both satisfy fans and bring newcomers on board. The fact that you almost inevitably take on too much and run the risk of getting ahead of yourself is an inherent risk of such an undertaking.
But that also means that Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy can concentrate on the already established second season, telling a story without the twist bait and standard stirrups that were still necessary in season one. I have the feeling they are taking advantage of this opportunity.