‘Fallout’ TV Show is a Streaming Hit

Debuting on April 10, Amazon released its hit streaming show “Fallout,” which revolves around the long standing game franchise of the same name.

Taking place in Los Angeles of 2296 – 219 years after the bombs dropped during the great war of 2076 – the show follows the paths of Lucy MacLean, Maximus, and The Ghoul. Lucy, a bright-eyed and happy-go-lucky dweller from Vault 33, has spent all her life underground. Her life turns for the worse when raiders from the surface invade and cause chaos in the vault, ultimately kidnapping her father, Frank MacLean.

Changing perspective, we go through the life of Maximus, who was orphaned after surviving a nuclear blast that wiped out the settlement of Shady Sands. He was rescued by a faction named The Brotherhood of Steel and has since grown up in a Brotherhood camp. Slowly moving through the ranks, Maximus soon becomes a squire, with his new task of hunting down a scientist from another faction, the Enclave.

That scientist, Siggi Wilzig, holds the power to allow for the redevelopment of civilization, entirely. Being partnered with a Brotherhood knight, Maximus will soon uncover the inner workings of the Brotherhood of Steel.

Finally, our last protagonist is the well-known assassin, The Ghoul. Known during the pre-war era as Cooper Howard, he was a famous actor and face of the infamous corporation, Vault Tec. The Ghoul is now a deteriorating and devilish husk who must constantly refuel his body with chemicals to ward off the effects of long-term radiation that will churn him into a mindless monster. Also offered the bounty award of finding Wilzig, he now scours the wasteland, looking for any clues to find the scientist’s whereabouts.

During the first nine episodes show, all three of these protagonists meet on a multitude of occasions, slowly uncovering the fact their lives aren’t too different.

In its first season, Fallout quickly rose to be one of Amazon’s top shows, garnering 65 million views in the first two weeks after its release. It has even become Amazon Prime’s second-highest viewed show, only beaten by “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.”

Fallout has proven to many people that well-adapted shows from famous game franchises can be a reality, instead of mere wishful thinking. Working hand-in-hand with Bethesda Game Studios executives themselves, creators of the Fallout games, makes for accurate and proper storytelling to occur while also allowing a fresh new story to emerge.

Being a fan of the franchise myself (playing “Fallout 4” way too much as a 9-year-old), I deeply enjoyed this streaming show. With the dark and witty humor, moving character development, and the stellar props and set designs, I feel it took the best qualities of the games and packed them into a show that will be talked about for years.

With insiders already announcing the production of a Season 2, I will gladly wait another year or two before I can spend a whole week of my life binging and analyzing whatever that next season offers.

Cortlan Souders