Fallout’s second season on Amazon was bigger, that’s for sure. But was it better? Well, I’m not as sure about that. It depends on how you define “better.” At the very least, there was a lot happening.
The first season of Amazon’s live-action adaptation of Bethesda’s Fallout franchise had plenty of moving parts, too, but for the most part, it was focused on our three main characters—The Ghoul, Lucy, and Maximus—venturing out into the wasteland in search of answers. Their stories intersected as we learned more about the Ghoul’s connections to the past. By the end of that season, our characters had grown, learned some things, and it felt like the show had reached a satisfying and logical stopping point for this chapter of the story while still teasing what was to come next. In other words, a good season of a TV show. Fallout’s second season was a lot more complicated and a lot less satisfying. In other words, not a great season of TV.
Fallout Season Two Is Overstuffed With Subplots
Many, many, many different plot points and ideas were tossed at the wall this season, and while some of them got an ample amount of screen time, like the Ghoul’s past encounters with Mr. House and the Cold Fusion capsule, plenty of other storylines didn’t. Here’s a Super Mutant. He knows stuff about the Encalve. That’s cool, right? Okay, well, that’s all you get, and it won’t factor into any part of the rest of the season. Worse, some ideas did get decent screen time, but I’m not sure why. We spent a lot of time tracking the growth of a snack group in Lucy’s old vault, and I thought it was building up to some big clash or change. Nope. Or if that did happen, we’ll have to wait until season three to see it.
Maybe the worst example of Fallout season two wasting time is the subplot involving Lucy’s brother, Norm. At the end of the first season, he was stuck in a vault filled with frozen Vault-Tec employees who were supposed to be woken up every so often to help lead. He ends up freeing them all and pretending to be part of the company. They help him escape, and he manipulates them and lies to lead them outside in search of his sister and answers about what Vault-Tec’s grander plans are for his home. And then…they all discover he’s lying, he gets knocked out twice, and eventually rad roaches kill all of them except Norm and one woman from the group who was sympathetic to him.
Okay. Um…what was that all about? I was excited to see Norm using manipulation and deceit to survive in the wasteland, unlike his sister, who stayed (mostly) nice and honest. And the idea of Norm leading a group of people on the surface sounded like a great way to give his character more to do. Instead, the group is killed, and now he’s heading back to the Vault with a woman he liked. He did learn about the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV), which will likely play a role in season three, but beyond that, this whole side quest didn’t work for me.
Mr. House, a character from Fallout: New Vegas, plays a major role in this season. This live-action version of him is fantastic and shows that the series can bring in game characters and do them justice. Yet by the end, his status is left up in the air, and I’m not even sure what happened to him. It’s very strange to spend so much of the season fleshing out Mr. House, only for the finale to seemingly leave his fate unknown and not even explain why.
Some will argue that the show is setting up events and plot points for season three and will suggest that’s just how TV works. The thing is, a good season of TV should feel somewhat self-contained. A chapter of the story with its own ideas and endings. I don’t need or want every plot thread tied up. However, a TV season should wrap up in a way that feels like a natural stopping point while also providing enough closure and answers that you don’t feel like you wasted your time watching most of it. Fallout season two doesn’t do this, and I think it either needed to gut some plotlines or extend the episode count beyond eight.
Fallout‘s Main Characters Are The Best Part Of Season Two
Thankfully, while the show did a poor job of balancing all its plots this season, it was able to deliver some great moments for Maximus, Lucy, and the Ghoul.
In particular, the Ghoul’s storyline bounced wonderfully between his time before and after the bombs, revealing a lot more about his connections to House, The Enclave, and Vault Tec. For fans of Fallout lore, this is where the show shines the brightest, though for non-Fallout fans, some of this stuff is poorly explained. I had to answer a lot of questions after each episode when talking to people who like the show, yet have never played the games.
Maximus escaping the Brotherhood and becoming a beacon of hope for the people of New Vegas after standing up against invading Deathclaws is a great evolution of the character. The moment when he walks by a young boy while wearing the NCR power armor is a perfect way to visually show his growth. The young boy who was saved by a power-armor-wearing soldier is now the one in armor saving the day.
© AmazonAnd Lucy’s relationship with her father and his plans to use control chips to save the wasteland were also a highlight of the season. It’s clear that Lucy would love for the wasteland to not be so violent and dangerous, but she won’t let her dad turn people into robot-like slaves to achieve that goal. As she tells him late in the season, after handcuffing him to an oven and before running off to destroy his work, “Thanks to you, I’m not a fudging idiot.” She still loves her dad, still respects that he raised her right, which makes his betrayal and eventual choice to wipe his own mind in the end all the more heartbreaking for her.
At least seconds later, she’s reunited with Maximus and can begin the next chapter of her life in the wasteland. I mean, as she points out, the return of Caesar’s Legion and the NCR means New Vegas is likely going to be involved in a big war, one which she could have prevented with her dad’s tech. That’s the thing about war, though, it uh…never changes.
As for the Ghoul, he’s off to Colorado to find his family. So it does seem like once again our main characters won’t all be hanging out together, as Lucy and Maximus are staying back in New Vegas. The change of scenery could help the show a lot. One can only spend so many hours in desert-y wastelands before getting bored.
Still, I’m very nervous that season three of Fallout is going to try to balance even more storylines and ideas across two different locations. If the showrunners can pull that off, season three could be amazing. If not, season three could end up being even more complicated, unsatisfying, and messy than season two.
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