‘Fallout’ is the next ‘The Last of Us’ — but more fun: review
Move over, “The Last of Us” — Prime Video’s “Fallout” is here.
Now streaming, “Fallout” is similar to HBO’s Emmy-winning “The Last Of Us” in the sense that it’s also a dystopian series based on a popular video game.
Aside from the inevitable comparisons, “Fallout” is different enough to stand on its own. It’s not a comedy show, but it’s got more oddness and dark humor in it, almost in a similar vein to “The Boys.” (For instance, the 1949 show tune “Some Enchanted Evening” plays during a violent fight sequence.)
While it might not achieve the emotional poignancy of “The Last of Us,” “Fallout” delivers a compelling post-apocalyptic drama filled with quality performances and a colorful world.
The series, which is executive produced by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy (“Westworld”), begins in the 1950s.
Former Marine-turned-TV-star Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins) has fallen from his glory days and now makes his money appearing at kids birthday parties.
He’s got all the grace, dignity, and quiet sadness of a cowboy. Then, in the distance while he’s at a kid’s birthday party, there’s a mushroom cloud and a blast — clearly some sort of nuclear explosion. Cooper heroically saves a little girl, and everyone runs toward a bunker, squabbling about who can go in.
The show jumps 219 years later.
Now in Vault 33, generations have lived in this bunker with their own society.
They’re practically “The Jetsons” underground. Everyone is polite, organized and wears the same uniform. There’s a school system, rooms have a retro ’50s aesthetic and Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan) is the benevolent ruler overseeing it all.
Hank’s daughter, Lucy (Ella Purnell, “Yellowjackets”), cheerfully talks about enjoying gardening with her dad, watching movies, fencing, teaching history, learning how to use a rifle, “And participating in my family book club!”
Her main problem is that she has been “unable to find a suitable marriage partner,” she says. “At least, one I’m not related to. And we have rules about that!” (After finding a potential groom, she thinks nothing of immediately asking him, “So, what’s your sperm count?”)
Their world is turned upside down when surface dwellers led by Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury) raid them.
Hank gets abducted, and Lucy sets out to rescue him.
It’s hard for the naive and optimistic Lucy to blend into the harsh world outside of the vault — not just because it’s foreign to her, but also because, as one person comments, she has, “Clean hair, good teeth, all 10 fingers. Must be nice.”
Happily, to viewers who enjoy the consistently excellent character actor Walton Goggins, he’s not only in the beginning of “Fallout,” but he’s still around 200 years later.
But now, the formerly heroic All-American Cooper has turned into The Ghoul, a noseless mutated lone wolf with a skewed moral compass.
Goggins makes a meal out of the role, as is his wont.
As Lucy soon discovers, the surface world is teaming with odd threats, such as cannibals, sea monsters, radiation, organ harvesters and giant mutated animals.
There’s also organizations such as the military zealots “The Brotherhood of Steel,” of which Aaron Maximus (Aaron Moten) is part. His story intersects with Lucy’s.
There’s room at the table for more than one dystopian series based on a video game. So while comparisons between “Fallout” and “The Last Of Us” are unavoidable, the shows don’t have the same goals — and viewers who like one might just as easily enjoy the other.
They’re both stories about humanity and survival after disaster upends modern civilized society, but the HBO series is heavier. “Fallout” is still gritty, but its tone is lighter.
It’s still not for the faint of heart, as it’s violent and strange at times, but it’s an enjoyable watch for those who appreciate the genre.
