Fallout: The Series season two review

 
    I found season two was a bit...meh. Like eating Sugar Bombs that are two hundred years old, you're getting a lot of rads but not very much in the way of nourishment. Before you begin clutching your Pre-War pearls, I should clarify that I am both a huge Fallout fan who has played all the main games as well as a guy who actively hates those outrage merchants that reflexively despise everything on the internet. 

    I came into the franchise with Fallout 3, became a huge fan, and have generally followed its efforts ever since. But I’m not mindlessly supportive either. I felt Fallout 4 was a step-down storytelling wise from Fallout 3 (let alone New Vegas) and that Fallout 76 started in a state that was absolutely missing the point of the franchise. Nevertheless, I loved season one and thought it was a fantastic introduction to the setting for newcomers..

    This is frustrating because I was super excited about them visiting New Vegas and the greater Mojave Wasteland after the teaser for it in the previous season’s finale. Unfortunately, there’s something to be said about being careful what you wish for. In this case, the attempt to write around the events of Fallout: New Vegas while paying homage to them proves to be a needle that the showrunners just can’t thread. More on that later.

    The premise is Lucy Maclean (Ella Purnell) and Cooper/The Ghou (Walter Goggins) are on the trail of Hank Maclean (Kyle MacLachlan), Lucy’s father and the mastermind behind Shady Sands’ destruction. Hank has a nefarious plan to use mind-control technology to build the kind of paradise that the vaults were intended to be (or so he claims).

    Maximus (Aaron Moten), meanwhile, is now a highly decorated Brotherhood of Steel paladin and preparing for his Chapter’s overthrow of the Commonwealth Elders. Norm (Moisés Arias) is meanwhile trapped in Vault 31, surrounded by cryogenically frozen middle managers from Vault-Tec and Chet (Dave Register) is unwillingly caring for his sorta-girlfriend, Steph’s (Annabelle O’Hagan), baby. Oh, and Mister House shows up (Raffi Silva, Justin Theroux).

    There are a lot of plots and eight episodes mean that we move around at lightning pace to deal with each of them. Unfortunately, the season just keeps adding new plotlines while not taking sufficiently long enough to develop its current plot. There’s the Great Khans, Caesar’s Legion, The Kings (now feral ghouls), a focus on who is behind Vault-Tec, what Cooper’s wife’s true motivations are, and how the US government is involved. No sooner does it introduce a new element to the show than we move on to introducing another one.

    The biggest problem with season two is lore bloat. The first season was perfectly enjoyable if you’d never experienced Fallout as a gamer (my wife is proof) but the second season I suspect must be damned near incomprehensible to anyone who hasn’t played Fallout: New Vegas. It’s not terrible but I feel like they could have cut two subplots (probably Norm’s and Chet’s, entertaining as they may be) or at added another couple of episodes to develop the existing ones. Probably both.

    The show also feels like it’s in conversation with the online critics of its first season. A lot of the more controversial decisions of season one like Vault-Tec being behind the war, Mrs. Howard being evil, and the death of the NCR are all walked back. But this happening didn’t feel organic. It also does its best not to provide any answers as to what happened at Hoover Dam or the Courier’s existence, which is a bit like ignoring who won WW2 in the Fifties, A lot of beloved franchise elements are also treated for laughs that don’t really work like the Brotherhood of Steel chapters feeling like they belong on Rick and Morty.

    Season Two isn’t bad, at least if we’re measuring whether I’m entertained. I was, mostly. I loved things like finally getting to see Pre-War Canada and now think that would be the perfect place for the next Fallout game. I also felt the acting of all the leads and recreation of Vegas was well done. I think Caesar's Legion was well realized if terribly underused. Sadly, everything else was a bit too exaggerated and comical. Will I watch season three? Yes. However, I hope they dial everything down and focus on the things that matter most: the characters and their journey.

7/10