Beginning at the End – Setting the Scene
Welcome to my in-depth review of Episode One of Fallout. The first episode of Fallout on Prime has a lot of heavy lifting to do. Obviously a lot of the audience will be fans of the game, that’s a given. However, there’s going to be a lot of viewers who don’t play games and are unfamiliar with the universe of Fallout. This means that the first episode has to introduce the world, its history and the setting. As well as that, it must introduce our main characters, tell us a bit about them. It must set up the inciting incident of the new story it’s going to tell.
Fallout has a divergent timeline to ours, from the 1950s, where technology moved in a different direction. It focused on harnessing atomic energy. Resource wars came to a head in 2067 and the US spent a decade fighting against China, before the bombs fell on the morning of the 23rd of October, 2077. The TV show takes place in 2296, almost 220 years after the bombs fell. That’s a lot of history to cover.
Of course it would be easy to fall into the info-dump trap and spend an hour explaining everything that happened. Get Ron Perlman to read a summary of the history of Fallout. His voice is great, but this would probably turn off viewers, especially those who know the lore well and those who are just watching to see what it’s about. Instead, the show does a great job of introducing this world and gives us enough to start reaching some conclusions about what is going on. It does not overload us with information.
The Prologue: The End
We begin with “The End”. An odd place to start, perhaps, but the Fallout universe is post-apocalyptic science fiction so of course it begins with the end of the world. We open on a kids birthday party, with a man dressed as a cowboy showing off some rope skills and posing with a horse. Immediately it’s clear that this isn’t our modern world, the TV is not in colour and looks old. The fashion looks dated as well, very much 1950s style. Yet we see a domestic robot ready to serve.
War and Nuclear Attack Fears
Fallout has a very 50s “World of Tomorrow” vibe with clothing and music, which I love. We can see that the technology is more advanced than what we have in some ways, but it is also behind in other ways. We also get little hints about the war and fear of nuclear attack. Which the mother quickly hides by turning off the radio and changing the TV channel.
“…negotiations were scheduled to continue today as the White house had no comments about the President’s whereabouts.”
Radio announcement heard in the opening of Fallout on Prime
We hear this just before the radio is turned off. It’s clear that people are asking where the President is, and are not reassured by the lack of any comments from the White House.
“… between America and her adversaries crumbled this morning in Anchorage, Alaska. The spectre of nuclear war facing this nation for ten long years is finally…”
News on tv in opening of Fallout on Prime
One would assume the above quote ends in ‘over’ but the TV is turned off by the mother before we can hear the rest of it. Later, the weather anchor on TV stops his report, saying “I can’t do the weather when I don’t even know if there’s going to be a next week.” The mother mentions only thinking happy thoughts today and changes the channel for the kids to watch “Grognak the Barbarian”. Yes, that’s a Conan reference, Fallout is full of references and easter eggs to other media.
There is forced cheerfulness but there’s clearly concern about the future and the outcome of the long war with China. Everyone’s drinking and celebrating, socialising happily. Watch how quickly it changes when the first shockwave hits and the host refuses to let anyone other his own family into the fallout shelter under the house. He punches the other man, their friendship dissolving suddenly in the face of nuclear devastation.
Cooper Howard
We also learn a bit about the cowboy entertainer, Cooper Howard. His daughter Janey is helping him at the party. The dads mutter about him working birthday parties because he has alimony to pay. This indicates he is separated from his wife or going through divorce. He refuses to do the ‘thumbs up’ gesture he’s apparently famous for.
One of the men calls Cooper a ‘Pinko’, a term I had never heard of. It was used a lot during the Cold War in the 60s. It’s a derogatory term for someone that is left-leaning, socialist or light communist. Red is the colour we all know is associated with communism. We can deduce that there’s a lot of anti-communist feelings, due to the war against China, a communist country. So, a ‘Pinko’ would be like diet communist, or commie-lite.
Thumbs Up: Why Didn’t You Do It?
Janey asks her dad about the thumbs up gesture, and he reluctantly explains. The idea is, if you see a mushroom cloud from a nuclear bomb, you hold up your thumb. If the cloud is smaller than your thumb you are safe and should run in the opposite direction. If the cloud is bigger than your thumb, don’t waste your energy running. This isn’t accurate, but the advice gets around. Cooper mentions being told this in the Marines, so we also know he’s a veteran.
We see Cooper on his horse, with his daughter heading for the hills while the other guests panic and flee. It’s a great opening, in my opinion. It tells enough about the state of America at this point in time and shows the end of the world. It doesn’t get bogged down in all the details or dump a megaton of exposition.
There’s a lot of fun little easter eggs for game fans though. Such as Nuka Cola and Sunset Sarsaparilla bottles on a table. We see Grognak the Barbarian and the Ruby Ruins on TV. Of course, it’s also easy to assume that this was just an introduction to the universe. Of course all the people in the opening will be long dead when we’ve moved ahead 219 years. Keep that in mind.
Lucy: Vault 33
Lucy spends a bit of time introducing herself, essentially reading out her resume over the top of scenes of her life within the Vault. We can see everyone wearing the same blue and gold jumpsuits. There’s no long explanation of what the Vaults are, but we find Lucy is looking for a husband, but cannot marry anyone in 33 as she’s related to all eligible bachelors. There’s a Triennial trade with Vault 32 which is not really explained either.
“My reproductive organs are intact, my hygiene well maintained and yet I have been unable to find a suitable marriage partner. At least one I’m not related to. And we have rules about that for a reason.”
Lucy MacLean, Vault 33 Dweller
This highlights an issue with all of the closed off Vaults and any isolated community of people. Eventually without new blood coming in, the group will either need to engage in incest or die out. The Vaults are supposed to keep humanity alive to recolonise the surface when they deem it safe to do so, after all. They want heterosexual marriages to ensure ongoing population management, but obviously do not want to risk inbreeding. So they have this trade program where a ‘breeder’ can be traded to another vault in exchange for resources such as seeds and machine parts. Like a dowry, I suppose.
There is obviously some incestuous relationships going on, as we see from a few comments Lucy makes and a conversation with Chet, the gate manager. Chet is Lucy’s cousin, so they can’t marry, although he confesses he loves her and it seems everyone knows this. Lucy responds in an interesting way:
“Messing around with your cousin, it’s all well and good for kids, but it’s not a sustainable long-term sexual practice, you know?”
Vault 32 Meeting
They meet with the dwellers from Vault 32, which is connected to 33 by a tunnel leading from the farm area. They look a little different, if you look closely at them. A bit less clean-cut than the Vault 33 folks, and more scarred. It’s unclear if anyone notices this, but the eagle-eyed viewer might get the hint something’s amiss. Especially when they’re seated at the wedding reception and intermingled.
Lucy’s brother, Norm, has definitely got a high Intelligence stat. He says nothing, but it looks like he suspects something is up. Even as Hank talks about what might be on the surface, as he explains that Lucy’s kids will be able to recolonise the surface. This is what the dwellers know, that they keep a population going through the generations for Reclamation Day, when they will go up to the surface and recolonise it.
This is reflected in Lucy’s first conversation with her new husband. Again, it’s quite an odd one for a blind-date arranged marriage. She opens with “What’s your sperm count?” before going on to point out that “sperm is pretty important in perpetuating America.” It’s kind of laughed off and brushed aside.
Wedding Gifts and Hand-Me-Downs
Indeed when she shows Monty to their new living quarters, she talks about the hand-me-down items they’ve been gifted, such as a blender. You will also notice that she writes her name and the date on the inside of the wedding dress. The Vaults have limited space so there’s no room for large scale fabric manufacturing or fashion boutiques.
A lot of things are hand-me-downs in the Vaults. We see this in Fallout 3’s opening too, when you attend your 10th birthday party and receive a Grognak the Barbarian comic book from Amata. She proudly states it has no missing pages and that she got it from her father’s old things. Nobody in Vault 101 is writing and printing new comics, so most non-food gifts must be like this. The same would go for things like wedding dresses.
Back to Lucy, she is clearly not shy when it comes to sex and seems quite content. It’s only afterwards that she begins to suspect all is not as it seems. When Monty acts a bit odd, like wiping himself on the curtain (which is gross and weird). When he uses the blender as a glass for water, she gets up and grabs her Pip-Boy. This is a wrist mounted computer that has many functions, one of which is a Geiger counter.
Lucy Is A True Fallout Protagonist
The thing I like about Lucy is that she isn’t a damsel in distress. She’s a positive and kind person, for sure, but when Monty attacks, she doesn’t hesitate and is quite capable of fighting back. She’s smart and resourceful, making good use of the aforementioned blender to fend him off. She will kill and injure if she needs to, and that qualifies her to be a Fallout protagonist.
Wounded, she grabs a stimpak before going to help the others against the raiders. She goes straight to the armory, but she grabs the syringer and gets to work, knocking out a handful of raiders. She’s willing to fight for her family and her vault.
Gratuitous Violence Is Essential In Fallout
Viewers might find the violence graphic and over the top, if they haven’t played the games. It is. Absolutely. Which is how it should be in Fallout. The classic games had some comical death animations and a dark sense of humour with the descriptions of combat outcomes. In the modern games, you have the hilarious death cameras and the Bloody Mess perk.
I especially enjoyed the scene with Chet and the raider, who charges at him. Chet lets the door close on said raider, which obliterates him in spectacular fashion. It’s brilliant and very Fallout. This gratuitous violence juxtaposed with “Some Enchanted Evening” by the Castells.
That’s the essence of playing Fallout, over the top violence with some classic 50s music in the background! Then we get to our inciting incident for Lucy’s story. Lee Moldaver, who led the raiders into Vault 33, takes Hank MacLean with her by force. This is a typical Fallout plotline. You lose something important, a dad, a child or a platinum chip.
Maximus: The Brotherhood of Steel
We go to meet our next main character, Maximus. It’s obvious that this group are military of some kind from the uniforms and dogtags. There’s clearly some bullying going on as well. Immediately there’s some hints of indoctrination when Dane says “Flesh is weak but steel endures.” This is a phrase they clearly hear and say often.
Game fans will know quickly that this is the Brotherhood of Steel we’re dealing with, and clearly some kind of training facility. It’s unclear where this is but they’ve obviously either built or taken over a military base. The aspirants are sitting in a lecture, where the Scribe spells out what the Brotherhood are without excessive exposition. They collect, study and protect technology.
Once the Prydwen arrives and we see the Knights in their Power Armor, the usual flashy show of force the Brotherhood are so fond of, we know something’s going on. Aspirant Dane is summoned and chosen to be a squire to Knight Titus. They seem excited to be going on this mission, and we see that Maximus is angry and jealous of them. (The character is non-binary and they/them pronouns are used in the show, even the Brotherhood can respect pronouns without drama. So you can do it too.)
The next morning, Dane has been injured by razorblades stuck inside their boots. This is a real thing used as a bullying/hazing tactic. Maximus is dragged off and blamed for this. We cut away before it’s clear what is going to happen to him.
Back to Vault 33
Vault 33 efficiently clean up the mess of bodies, blood and damage from the raider attack. Lucy is treating her stab wound with a skin stapler, which is odd as the Vault should have a doctor but it does show she’s tougher than she might appear.
The surviving vault dwellers hold a meeting, but nobody wants to hear about going to the surface to look for Hank. Norm tells Lucy that the council don’t want to find him, because they like being in charge. Lucy resolves to go out and find her father, getting Norm and Chet to help her get to the Vault’s external door. Again, this is a defining moment from the games, when you leave the starting area.
It’s also a defining moment for Lucy’s character arc. She’s never been outside Vault 33 before, so she has no idea what to expect. It takes guts to venture out into an unknown world like this. As part of the heroes journey in any story, a key point is when the protagonist makes the choice to follow the thread of the story. A decision to pursue their goal. This is that moment for Lucy, and she is off to explore the wasteland. We see in the distance a Ferris wheel on a pier and can deduce that Vault 33 is located in Santa Monica.
There’s a sweet little moment when Lucy and Norm hug before she leaves the Vault. It’s clear that family matters to her. Even though Norm seems uninterested in most things, he obviously loves his sister. It’s lovely to see, because the rest of this segment shows a very clinical approach to the aftermath of such a violent incident.
Outside the Vault
Lucy steps outside, blinded by the strong sunlight. This is again a callback to the games, as a similar thing happens at the beginning of Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas and Fallout 4. It’s almost a cliché now. The first thing she sees on the ground is bones and skeletons. Human bones. Plenty of other debris and stuff as well, but it again serves to highlight that millions of people died in the Great War.
The Vaults were only able to save about 0.1% of the population of America. Millions died on the surface. There are many fun and comical moments in the games and in the show, but there’s a lot of darkness too. A large number of skeletons are outside the Vault door at 33. You see the same in Fallout 3, outside Vault 101. Skeletons, with picket signs saying “Let us in, assholes,” and “We’re dying.”
The opening of Fallout 4 is similar. We start in the Pre-War and run to the Vault. We pass a group of people, your neighbours, who don’t get in. Not even the sales rep gets in. You get in and your spouse asks what’s going to happen to those people outside the gate. The answer? They’re going to die. Brutal, but that’s the truth. Sure enough, when you leave Vault 111 again, there’s a bunch of human skeletons lying around near the gate.
Lucy looks around, and steels herself for the journey ahead. She has no idea where to go, but her optimism is enough for now. She’s determined to find her father. She chooses to keep going.
Maximus, Again
We then cut back to Maximus, who is being interrogated and threatened with execution. We get a bit more of an idea about what the Brotherhood are like. Maximus ends up being given Dane’s position as Squire to Knight Titus. Which he’s quite happy about. An interesting quote from the Scribe (I’m assuming Head Scribe but we don’t really know who he is).
“Violence is merely a tool. We use it to bring order to the wasteland. But violence against a Brother of Steel is a sign of weakness.”
This tells us plenty about what the Brotherhood believe and how they view violence. They seem to have become even more cult-like since we last saw them. The branding ceremony and everything seems to be new. There’s incense and ceremony, which really feels like zealotry or religious fanaticism.
They are taking orders from the Commonwealth, which is the area around Boston in Massachusetts. So quite far away, and it does suggest that the East Coast chapter are now working with the West Coast chapters of the Brotherhood. They had separated in 2277 in Fallout 3, but when Arthur Maxson took over and brought the Brotherhood to the Commonwealth, things had changed. It’s interesting and I’ll talk more about this later.
The mention of the Enclave prompts one of the aspirants to ask if the Enclave is real. The Enclave came from remnants of the US Government, and have been defeated a couple of times in the games. The Oil Rig was destroyed during Fallout 2, with only a handful of the remnants living in the Mojave area by 2281. Raven Rock and Adams Air Force Base would have been destroyed by the events of Fallout 3 and Broken Steel. We’ll see a bit more of them in the next episode.
The Ghoul
A new location. It’s unclear exactly where this is, but Honcho mentions California, suggesting they are not in California. Even so, he knows of Lee Moldaver, she did say that everyone knows who she is. Except us, but we’ll learn more about her later. These three men dig up The Ghoul, and this might be a new viewers first time seeing one.
Ghouls are irradiated humans, instead of dying of radiation sickness, they have mutated. This causes some physical deformities, loss of skin, noses and hair, but they are healed by radiation and live extended lifetimes. Some ghouls end up with too much damage to their brains and become ‘feral’, mindless and aggressive to anything non-ghoul around them. It also seems that eventually all ghouls will become feral as time goes on. I’ll get into the ghoul ecology eventually in detail.
The Junk Jet – A Classic Fallout Weapon
It’s funny to see the Junk Jet being used with doll parts as ammo. This is a game reference, unsurprisingly. In Fallout 3 you could get schematics to make a weapon called the Rock-It Launcher, which used miscellaneous items like books, pre-war money and garden gnomes as ammunition. You could even fire cutlery and dishes from it. In Fallout 4 there’s a similar weapon known as the Junk Jet which let you fire junk items. Not the best weapon, but certainly highly entertaining to use garden gnomes to kill people.
I was also amused at the bit about how feral ghouls can’t abide chickens. I have no idea where this comes from. There’s not a lot of instances of chickens in the games and when there is, any feral ghouls seem to attack most things equally. I guess it’s just a funny bit, especially when The Ghoul picks up the chicken and the guys panic. I assume he just overheard their conversation before they dug him up.
We get some more gratuitious and over the top violence, which shows us that The Ghoul is really quite skilled in combat. He doesn’t give much away but seems angry that Honcho knows where he’s from, ‘originally’. This is alluding to who The Ghoul was before he became a ghoul, i.e. before the war. Most of the ghouls you meet in Fallout were alive before the war.
Who Is The Ghoul?
We still don’t quite know who The Ghoul is, unless you are astute and recognise Walton Goggins eyes and voice! Sure enough, he says a line that is a callback to the very opening of the episode.
“Us cowpokes, we take it as it comes.”
Indeed, this is Cooper Howard. Missing his hair and nose, his voice a bit more rough perhaps as well. Now we know, the opening wasn’t just a show of what happened when the bombs fell. It is important to one of our main characters. Cooper is still around, as a ghoul. We know he had a daughter, and a wife at one point. We know he was famous pre-War, and a veteran.
My Overall Review of Fallout Episode One
Overall, I love this episode. I think it really gives just enough information for newcomers to the series to grasp what’s going on, while still giving a compelling start to the new story. We get some background details and some good foreshadowing. There’s no huge exposition dump, which would run the risk of being boring and putting viewers off. But there’s also lots of little hints and references for fans of the games to notice.
I love the three main characters. They are definitely fitting into the good, neutral and evil karma archetypes, which echoes the karma system from the games. In Fallout 3 and New Vegas, you have a karma level which changes based on your actions. You lose karma for stealing and murder, and you gain karma by helping people or giving to charity. The classic games had a reputation system too so people would know if you did something horrible and wouldn’t trust you.
The Three Karma Archetypes
Lucy is optimistic and clever, but she’s not completely incapable of fighting or killing if she has to. After all, every single mainline Fallout game lets you play as a male or female character, even the first game from 1997. We’re not going to lean into the sexist ‘damsel in distress’ who is too dainty to get blood on her hands or afraid to defend herself. The wasteland is an unforgiving place, full of dangerous creatures, dangerous people and dangerous environments. Lucy may be naïve about the surface, but she’s not incapable.
Maximus is the neutral karma character, he’s clearly having a tough time with the bullying and whatnot but there’s definitely some selfishness there too. He says he did not cause Dane’s injury but asks if he was wrong for wanting it to happen to them. Considering they are the only person who acts friendly towards Maximus, it’s quite horrible to wish them ill, you know? Yet, Maximus gets what he wanted in the end. That’s the definition of the neutral karma, a very mercenary approach where you do what benefits your own goals first before thinking about others.
The Ghoul is the evil karma character. Does that mean he’s a bad guy? Kind of. He’s clearly got his reasons and his motivations, which we will learn about through the series. He has no issues with killing or injuring people to get what he wants. He’s savvy and skilled, and he’s opportunistic. Is he the kind of guy that would detonate the bomb in Megaton? Yeah, I think he is, if it would get him closer to his goals or benefit him in some way to do so.
Thank You For Reading My Review of Episode One
If you want more information on the Fallout universe, subscribe below. You can also find videos on my YouTube channel covering a lot of the worldbuilding and storylines from Fallout. You can see my playlist on the Vaults here. For more articles on writing and on Fallout, check out my latest posts here.
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