Fallout season 1 is a breath of irradiated fresh air

Who would have thought that yet ANOTHER series about a post-apocalyptic dystopian hellscape would be a good idea? And not just a another post-apocalyptic dystopian hellscape, but one based on a first-person shooter video game? Ugh, seriously? When will it be enough? Will we ever get post-apocalyptic dystopian hellscape fatigue? Apparently not any time soon. Is that a good or bad thing? I say ye, ’tis the same as any other genre…the proof in the pudding is in the eating.

That’s a bit of a cynical opening to this column, I’ll admit. My head turns when I see a new end of the world show teaser. I’m not sure why they grab our interest so completely. It probably has something to do with how we are all caught up in doom scrolling on our phones. Who knows. As an over-thinker, I should probably put my tired brain-bone to work on it. But not today. Today, I’m going to revel in the quirky, original, amazing Prime Video offering: Fallout season 1.

Good grief, am I that old?

Fallout is based on a popular video game of the same name, which has spawned at least a dozen spinnoffs and sequels. With a popularity like that, and sporting a fresh retrofuturistic (today’s word of the day. Try to use it in conversation!) style, Fallout was destined to be made into an actual movie or series. Frankly, it’s kind of amazing that it has taken this long to happen. The original Fallout was release waaaaay back in 1997. That bakes my melon. Seriously.

The end of the world…the way your gramma made it

As I said, Fallout is a ‘retrofuturistic’ world. Setting aside the obvious dichotomy there, it’s a fantastic artistic style that lives next door to steampunk (think Robocop done with only steam-powered technology). I say fantastic, and I stand by that. We’ve done the clean, smooth, futuristic tech to death (no offense, Star Trek). Retrofuturistic renditions are still pretty novel in comparison. Fallout nails the artistic style and absolutely ups the ante with top-shelf writing that slings a 50’s siloed morality and language smack dab into the aforementioned dystopian hellscape. It is visually enthralling and the characters are easily investable.

Kind of like the British

But when the layers of characterization are slowly peeled back, they reveal a dark underbelly. The one dimensional depictions fall away to reveal hidden motives and avarices. Wholsesome ‘good golly!’ morality evolves in front of our eyes and is replaced by the stark realization of circumstances that forces our characters to grow or die. In short, the character development is on point.

Not to be confused with another female bad@$$

Fallout stars Ella Purnell as Lucy MacLean, a young female adult who has lived her entire life in one of any number of Fallout shelters built to survive the atomic holocaust that our universe has (so far) has avoided. Hearing her name, my eyebrow immediately sprung up Spock-like. Second only to the original Die Hard is Live Free or Die Hard, another annual watch for me. John MacLane’s tough as nails daugher is one Lucy MacLane (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Love it. Whether on purpose or accident, I was on board from the git-go.

What follows is a non-linear tale of present day sheltered life (very literally), post-disaster militias, pre-disaster origin stories and pre-pre origin stories that walks a thin line between necessary and confusing but manages well enough. We are introduced to neo-knight Maximus, a character whose motivations and growth are not yet predictable. We meet THE Ghoul (not to be confused with the garden variety ghouls), played by the always awesome Walton Goggins doing his best Red Skull imitation. Oh, and Dogmeat. Dog-lovers rejoice.

If you are looking for a new earworm…

Fallout seems to take great pride and care in every aspect and nuance of this show. The end credits are presented to the tune ‘Crawl Out Through the Fallout’ by Sheldon Allman (circa 1960). That song has been playing on loop in my head ever since and was THE perfect ending. Each epi has it’s own retro tune to play us back to reality but none can match that slice of perfection. After the credits rolled, I simply turned to Mrs. Average Dude and declared ‘I. Am. A. Fan.’

I truly have nothing bad to say about this series other than to say I hope SO MUCH that they don’t muck it up in subsequent seasons. I still have not forgotten nor recovered from the tragic, meteoric crash of the series ‘Heroes’. I have never seen a great series go south so quickly. It bothered me so much that it tempers all my series expectations. Having said that, I wholeheartedly endorse Fallout season 1 with a jim-dandy rating of 4.75/5. Fallout is swell and I can’t help but be jazzed for season 2. And if I get radiation burned in the end, I’m going to feel it.

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