Behind the Scenes of the Fallout Universe, the Gaming World’s Most Surprising TV Hit

The Fallout TV series has come back to its platform, and it's safe to say that audiences were agreeably astonished by the excellence of its debut season. By illustrating the atomic-age, post-apocalyptic United States through the eyes of three separate characters, it managed to capture different facets of the player's adventure.

We followed Lucy the vault dweller, striving to act with integrity and finding that the barren landscape made that incredibly hard; Max, the Brotherhood of Steel new recruit, who starts doubting his cult's authority and creates significant chaos in mechanized battle suit; and Walton Goggins's character, a standout performance who has entirely abandoned any sense of morality out in the contaminated wastes.

Setting the Stage for a New Chapter

The show's first season finale unveiled crucial details about who helped cause the atomic conflict that condemned a population in underground vaults for centuries. It also posed plenty of questions open for the upcoming chapter – and, this time, hopes are much greater.

“We’ll take ‘pretty good’ – we should print that on merchandise,” quips one of the series creators.

“Heading into the first season, everyone’s like, ‘Just get it right’,” adds the game director. “We’re over the moon with the response to the show, so now people are coming in with more eagerness and altered expectations.”

A New Vegas Vibe for Season Two

The new season is taking place in the neon-lit city, the backdrop of the beloved game Fallout: New Vegas, which is often praised for having the sharpest dialogue and characters in the series, despite the fact that it was a bit broken at launch.

“It’s more of a desert vibe, a Mojave vibe, that’s so key to that game,” explains the co-creator. “That dusty, desolate Route 66 aesthetic of the game is so much rewarding to translate into the show.”

In the show's timeline, a long time has elapsed since the events of the New Vegas game by the time the characters make their way there. However, the creators hint that it does reference the gamer's experience.

The Importance of Physical Sets

The Fallout TV series is notable for its tangible quality – its production team prioritized physical models and environments were constructed, echoing the improvised nature of the settlements in the games.

“Being a genre enthusiast, so many series I watch, I’m conscious that they’re all standing in front of a green screen,” observes another of the showrunners. “The primary goal of an adaptation, especially of a video game, is to feel like it’s tangible.”

Actually, virtually everything you see on-screen is practical, even the infamously terrifying irradiated monsters known as the apex predators. In the show, they are portrayed by practical effects, and were by all accounts quite terrifying up close.

A Labor of Love

The Fallout series resonates because it is developed by talented film-makers who are also longtime fans, alongside the original creators behind the source material. This mutual respect for the world is apparent in the final product.

The new batch of episodes is being released on a episode-by-episode basis rather than as a all-at-once release, offering a different experience from the initial release. This schedule will create a different audience reaction, something the showrunners themselves are eager to engage with.

“It has more depth, it’s more expansive, it’s wittier, it has a lot of twists,” promises the game director. “I am excited to seeing what people think.”