The new drama series Fallout is an adaptation of the iconic post-apocalyptic role-playing video game series of the same name. However, the series, which was released on 11 April 2024, does not directly adapt any of the game’s storylines. Instead, it builds on the bare-bone elements that make up the world introduced in the franchise and crafts a wholly new tale involving three distinct protagonists whose plotlines intersect. The Fallout TV show ending teases a new journey for our heroes and heroines. Let’s dive deep into what it means and how it sets up season 2.
Spoilers ahead!
Fallout: Everything to know about the TV show’s setting, cast, director and ending
Fallout setting explained
As you probably know, the franchise is set on a post-apocalyptic Earth that was fundamentally transformed into one big wasteland after a 2077 nuclear war between the United States and China. Thus, the title Fallout. But even before the war, this world was vastly different from ours.
On this alternate reality Earth, the collective fears about the rapidly advancing nuclear weaponry and proliferation in the 1950s and 1960s did not give way to the nuclear deterrent policy. The same fears kept heightening and a new Cold War erupted, this time between the US and China.
And finally, in a retrofuturistic (an aesthetic that blends tropes of an earlier era with futuristic elements) 2077, the nuclear bombs fell and civilisation, as we know it, was obliterated. A few well-off people had bought for themselves a place in the many underground shelters called vaults that were packed with supplies to last hundreds of years. But for most of humanity, there was nowhere to go. Those in close vicinity of the detonations were luckier, for they perished instantly. But those that were far died slowly and painfully from the deleterious effects of radiation.
Read our complete Fallout TV show review here
Many on the surface survived but were irrevocably changed. Some mutated, becoming shells of themselves. Most slowly degenerated into outright zombies called Ghouls who subsist on human flesh. The wildlife, also irradiated, was transformed as well. Predatory animals became bigger and more dangerous. Cockroaches and other insects became as big as domestic cats and regularly killed, injured or incapacitated humans. Some aquatic animals turned into unholy, Lovecraftian monstrosities. The surface world in a nutshell became inhospitable to all but the worst of humanity.
The show’s story is set 219 years after the armageddon.
Fallout TV show’s cast and characters
Our three heroes are Lucy MacLean, Maximus and Cooper Howard or The Ghoul. Let’s go through them one by one.
Lucy, played by Ella Purnell (you might remember from Zack Snyder’s zombie movie Army of the Dead as Dave Bautista’s estranged daughter), is the naïve, doe-eyed young woman from Vault 33, whose father Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan) is the overseer of the vault. One day, their vault is attacked by ruffians from the surface, who murder many of them and kidnap Hank. Lucy, although born and bred in the vault and wholly unaware of what manner of creatures await her, is determined to rescue him on her lonesome. Conspiring with her brother, she opens the vault door and ventures out. The only clue she has is about a woman called Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury).
Maximus, played by Aaron Moten, is a squire of the Brotherhood of Steel, a cult-like organisation which keeps advanced technology out of undeserving hands. To that end, these people hoard every piece of tech that they can scrounge. They also have knights like the mediaeval ones whose ostensible purpose is to protect the weak. They use an almost impenetrable suit of armour with powers not too different from the first suit Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark built in Iron Man (2008). Being a squire, Maximus, who dreams of being a knight, is sent on a mission with a certain Knight Titus, whose arrogance miffs Maximus. In an ambush by a huge mutated bear, Titus is grievously injured. Maximus kills the bear but leaves Titus to die and dons the armour himself.
The Ghoul, played by Walton Goggins, is one of the aforementioned zombie-like ghouls who has been alive since before the doomsday. Although he was irradiated and turned into a zombie and consumes human flesh, he has stayed alive using a special chemical that also keeps his wits intact. Real-name Cooper Howard, was a Western actor before the nuclear bombs fell and still wanders around like a Wild West anti-hero, secretly searching for his family.
Who is behind the Fallout TV show? Creators, directors and other crew
Fallout was created by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner. While Geneva is known for co-writing Tomb Raider (2018) and Captain Marvel (2019), Wagner’s credits include Silicon Valley (2014–2019) and The Office (2005–2013). Additionally, Fallout’s executive producers include Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, responsible for creating HBO’s Westworld (2016–2022), which explored issues (like late capitalism) that are somewhat similar to Fallout.
Nolan, who is the brother of Christopher Nolan (director of acclaimed movies such as Oppenheimer and The Dark Knight), has also directed the first three episodes.
Check out our list of the best Christopher Nolan movies
What happens in the Fallout TV show’s ending?
As mentioned above, the three protagonists go on journeys that eventually converge. Lucy, believes everyone on the surface also follows human laws (including Jesus’ ‘Golden Rule’ of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you). She is proven horribly wrong and learns some hard truths about the cutthroat nature of the surface world and humans. A lot of humour is derived from Lucy regretting venturing out of the vault and her continual shock at the behaviour of the surface-dwellers. She comes across a scientist Dr. Siggi Wilzig, played by the brilliant Michael Emerson, who appears to be redoing Benjamin Linus from Lost (2004–2010). Upon learning that she is from one of the vaults, Wilzig, who is a fugitive from his community, tries to tell Lucy that the surface is not safe for her, but she is hell-bent on finding her father, come what may.
In a town called Filly (in former California), she reunites with Wilzig. But her acquaintance is attacked by the Ghoul out of the blue. But Maximus, now wearing the suit of armour, descends and proves their deliverance. Lucy agrees to take Wilzig across the wasteland as the doctor’s destination is Moldaver as well. Meanwhile, the Ghoul succeeds in disabling Maximus’ armour, who is left defenceless and pursues Lucy and Wilzig. Wilzig, bleeding profusely from his foot injury from the Ghoul’s bullet, asks Lucy to cut off his head and take it to Moldaver instead. When Lucy is understandably disgusted by the idea, he says it is the only way to save his father.
All through her journey, Lucy is brutalised and becomes a hardened version of herself. But she still refuses to give up her humanity like Ghoul and other surface-dwellers have. She is also captured by Ghoul at one point. Unlike your usual Western heroes, the Ghoul is a cold, calculating creature whose last vestiges of humanity have eroded. He is merciless towards Lucy. And yet, in the end, Lucy remains true to herself.
Maximus, initially just dreaming of being a knight one day, comes to a realisation thanks to Lucy that while the world may be awful at the moment, it doesn’t have to be this way. Humanity can rebuild a better world.
Even the Ghoul softens a little in the end after a kind act towards him by Lucy. When he is helpless, Lucy chooses to save him instead of letting him die as revenge. We also learn why Ghoul became what he used to be in a parallel narrative set in 2077. He was a normal human being and even a Hollywood star in pre-war Los Angeles two centuries ago. He was married to a woman called Barb (Frances Turner), an executive at Vault-Tec — the tech company responsible for building the vaults that housed thousands after the nuclear fallout.
With the help of Moldaver, who incidentally also existed so long ago, he learns that Vault-Tec was responsible for dropping nuclear bombs, an idea that was put forward by none other than his wife in a board meeting.
It all ends when the Brotherhood of Steel sends knights, including Maximux, to Moldaver’s hideout and a battle ensues. The Ghoul also joins in the fun. Lucy succeeds in reaching Moldaver in one piece, but her target is not the villain Lucy thought she was. The real villain turns out to be her father. Hank himself had been a Vault-Tec worker in 2077 who cryogenically froze himself along with many other employees of the company in Vault 31. Vaults 32 and 33 were intended to house the genetically sound children of those employees. Her father was also responsible for the decimation of Shady Sands, the first capital of the New California Republic and a thriving town with a population of more than 34,000.
Although shell-shocked, Lucy instinctively believes Moldaver and refuses to unlock her father despite his pleading. At the same time, back in Vault 33, her brother learns the same fact from a robot but is locked inside a chamber to keep him from broadcasting the information.
Inside Wilzig’s skull, in possession of Moldaver, there was a cold fusion reactor that would restore the power to Shady Sands and hopefully turn it once again into a place for living. Moldaver does exactly that but dies of her injuries incurred from the battle.
The lights blink to life in the city below, which is also the setting of the 2010 game Fallout: New Vegas, one of the finest entries in the entire franchise.
A brief review of Fallout TV show
If you already cannot tell, I love Fallout. It was a genius move to skip adapting any of the game storylines, and actually not so different from what all the sequels in the franchise have done. Building a story from scratch allowed the writers to unleash their creativity. The series also nails the major aspects of the games. The dark humour, sharp commentary on capitalism, satirical elements and the inevitable nature of violence and war (the TV show also has the famous “War never changes” intro line from the games) — it’s all there.
For this show to work, the writing had to be perfect. And it is. It never felt like the makers were artificially stretching the story to stick to some mandated runtime like you see a lot these days. The humour, gallows or otherwise, is interspersed quite nicely into the narrative. A few grim events are depicted with an insouciance and frivolity that might disturb some people.
The pacing is just right. It is never too slow to bore the viewer and never too quick to skip over major character beats and plot developments. Oh, and everything comes into place beautifully and seamlessly at the end.
The performances are uniformly excellent. Purnell is a revelation, and so is Moten. But the star of this story, despite limited screen time, is Goggins. He has been a phenomenal actor for years, and here he crushes the role. Emerson, Choudhury and MacLachlan are also great in brief roles.
The Fallout TV show continues the recent, welcome tradition established by the likes of HBO’s The Last of Us of video game adaptations actually being good. The curse that used to surround video movies and shows based on video games finally appears to be over. The solution is something most of us have known all along — hiring good writers.
(Image: Courtesy of IMDb)
Will there be a second season of the Fallout TV show?
While Fallout season 2 has not got a green light yet, the finale of season 1 promises more interesting things in store for the three main characters: Lucy, Maximus and the Ghoul. Whether Amazon agrees to a season 2 will depend on the viewership, but looking at the reviews, an imminent season 2 renewal announcement seems likely.
Where is the Fallout TV show streaming?
The Fallout TV series is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
Bonus tips for watching Fallout
While Amazon Prime Video has released all the episodes at once for your bingeing pleasure, I would instead advise you to take your time. Watch the episodes one by one and let the story breathe in. This is the kind of show that will reward your patience. Also, play the games if you are a gamer. They are fun and genre-bending (in the sense that they combine several genres, including post-apocalyptic, adventure, horror and more).
Best horror video games(Hero and featured image: Courtesy of JOJO WHILDEN/JoJo Whilden/Prime Video – © 2024 Amazon Content Services LLC/ IMDb)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
-What does the ending of Fallout mean?
Fallout season 1 ending indicates that while everything bright about Lucy is now gone. She has learned that humanity is inherently evil, though she is nowhere as cynical as the Ghoul. The ending also means that there is some hope, for Shady Sands will once again be a bustling town.
-What is the saddest ending in Fallout?
The saddest ending is definitely of Lucy’s character arc. Her whole worldview, based on goodness and kindness, has been changed. Maximus’ ending was also sad as his conception of a world that makes sense has also changed.
-Are Vaults 32 and 33 connected?
Yes, both Vaults 32 and 33 were meant to be inhabited by the offspring of Vault-Tec employees lying dormant in cryogenic sleeping chambers. Those offspring were then meant to colonise the surface world once the radiation levels were low enough.
Kshitij is a journalism graduate who did not initially intend to become a film critic, but such are the vagaries of destiny. Now, Kshitij is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and a member of the Film Critics Guild, bringing expertise and experience in evaluating entertainment content with him. Additionally, he serves as a jury member on the Critics' Choice Awards in India. When he's not busy wielding words, catch him nose-deep in books or joyfully lost in the realms of gaming and photography.
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