This review is based on the first two episodes of the series…
While audiences might be obsessed with the happenings in the Upside Down, they might be sleeping on the second season of one of the best shows on television — Fallout.
Fallout Season 2 picks up after the events of the first season finale — Lucy (Ella Purnell, Yellowjackets) and The Ghoul (Walton Goggins, White Lotus) are heading to Las Vegas to find Lucy’s villainous dad (Kyle MacLachlahn, Twin Peaks); Maximus (Aaron Moten, Mozart in the Jungle) finds himself as the reluctant head knight of The Brotherhood.
The main draw of the first two episodes is the tense relationship between the rule-following vaulter with a heart-of-gold, Lucy, and the kill ’em all and let God sort out the rest gunslinger, The Ghoul. The pairing of these two polar opposites could not be anymore perfect. The resentment the two harbor towards each other is so rich and thick you could drizzle it on pancakes.
However, it’s what lies beneath that sells this pairing even further. Lucy’s unwillingness to see the bad in people, even The Ghoul, is remarkable. Even when she calls him out for being evil, she does it out of a sense of care. She brings up how his family, if they somehow survived the past 200 years, wouldn’t like the way he is. This isn’t a “gotcha” moment, or some sort of dunk — Lucy genuinely believes this statement will be the splash of cold water this devilish desperado needs. Purnell remains pitch perfect in the lead role as she imbues such a pure honesty into Lucy’s wide-eye altruism.
On the flip side, The Ghoul tragically knows that in his days a famed actor Cooper Howard that statement would’ve stopped him dead in his tracks. Because, as he tells Lucy, he was dumb like her once. This statement is bolstered by intercutting scenes of Howard’s continued spying on his wife, and his heartbreak over how deep in the conspiracy to destroy the world in order to propel Vaultec she really is. Goggins does such incredible work with his facial expressions throughout these flashbacks. Despite his best efforts as an actor Cooper is so broken-hearted over the nefarious nature (or so it seems) of his wife’s motivations. And despite all his own nefariousness in the present day, you can tell these moments are the ones that haunt him to this day. The Ghoul is undoubtedly the “cool” character in the series, but he’s also easily its most tragic.
Maximus’ storyline with The Brotherhood is both wildly engrossing, and extremely worrisome.
Aaron Moten does an excellent job as the mistaken hero of The Brotherhood, and its new warrior frontman. The character who craved family and acceptance from this group is now completely miserable that he’s the head of this group that is hellbent on overthrowing the government. He blankly goes through the motions of knighthood. You can tell he wants to believe in the cause, but ultimately knows this is not the way things should be. He wants to be with Lucy, a person he found true friendship with, and not this army of armored bros who find delight in meathead behavior and misguided righteousness.
This storyline is extremely worrisome because of the history the creative team of Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have had. Those who watched Westworld know that when these two start adding to new characters, mass conspiracies and in-fighting, things spin out of control … fast. Westworld constantly suffered from hat-on-a-hat writing. The Brotherhood revolting against The Commonwealth and adding at least four new characters (including Kumail Nanjiani) could easily fall into that same trap. Political intrigue is rife for the classic “who can trust who” traffic jam that hamstrings so many series. Hopefully, this team can adhere to the excellent storytelling structure and character work from the first season, thus avoiding these pitfalls.
The first two episodes of Fallout are an excellent return to form for Prime Video’s hit series. The pacing remains brisk, the character work is as strong as ever, and for those looking for viscerally violent action sequences, you’ll be more than satiated. If the series can maintain this course, while adding new characters and storylines, Fallout will remain one of the best shows of 2025 and 2026.
Fallout Season 2 airs new episodes every Wednesday on Prime Video.
