Fallout Season 2 Is Already Improving On Season 1 In One Key Way
by Jeremy Mathai · /FilmOkey dokey! This article contains spoilers up to "Fallout" season 2, episode 2.
Of all the possible directions to take "Fallout," the show's creative team turning the second season into a road trip comedy has to be up there as one of the most inspired. Unlike recent video game adaptations like "The Last of Us" or "Five Nights at Freddy's" (we're just going to pretend "Borderlands" never happened, thank you very much), "Fallout" made the critical decision early on in development not to just hew closely to the structure and plot of the original games. Even season 2, which was touted as a sort of companion piece to the "New Vegas" 2010 title, succeeds mostly by capturing the feel of playing the game — as opposed to literally following each and every narrative beat.
That's exactly why the Prime Video series continues to improve, even when it comes to a wholly original dynamic we already loved from its debut season. The collision between the insufferable optimism of Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) and the world-weary cynicism of The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) easily established itself as one of the highlights in season 1 ... even if that was only explored in tantalizingly brief spurts. The finale wisely made the pivot to set up their reluctant alliance as they traverse the wasteland on a mission to track down the unmasked Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan) and bring him to justice.
Two episodes in, and this is already paying off brilliantly. Both season 1 and 2 have taken full advantage of the pair's prickly chemistry (which has been torrid enough to inspire some seriously passionate "Ghoulcy" shippers). By forcing our two main characters into close proximity and throwing all kinds of dystopian scenarios at them, "Fallout" is well-positioned to make this its best season yet.
Fallout season 1 took a simpler approach to Lucy MacLean and The Ghoul
Relationships can get pretty complicated when you cut your captive's finger off just to prove a point, right before trying to sell her off to an organ harvester. Who knew! Lucy MacLean and The Ghoul didn't exactly get off on the right foot back in season 1 of "Fallout," as the two ended up in direct conflict with one another over their shared objective: to find Siggi Wilzig (Michael Emerson) before any other bounty hunters do. Naturally, what they intended to do with him couldn't have been any more different. Lucy needed to deliver him to Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury) in order to free her father Hank, while The Ghoul simply wanted to collect that bounty for himself — and, unknowingly to viewers at the time, get some revenge on Hank for the disappearance of his family. Once their paths crossed, however, The Ghoul quickly turned Lucy into his captive and never gave her much reason for their dynamic to evolve much further beyond that.
While necessary to get from Point A to Point B, this was a much simpler approach compared to what season 2 appears to be doing. Sure, season 1 showed glimpses of a more potent and equal relationship between the two. Over the course of their storyline together, Lucy's eyes were slowly opened to the horrors of the surface world around them. Between learning about the hellish (and mercifully short) lives of the other ghouls out there and figuring out how to balance her ideals with the practical realities of this radioactive apocalypse, one could even argue that The Ghoul had a positive influence on her. But it wasn't until the season 1 finale that the series finally hinted at this odd couple's true potential.
Fallout season 2 is already living up to its potential
Look, certain genre tropes stand the test of time for a reason, and one of those reasons is the fact that it never gets old to watch a wide-eyed innocent crashing against the pessimism of a veteran who's been there and done that. For showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner and their writing team, forcing Lucy and The Ghoul into a main storyline where they literally can't escape each other was always going to be a no-brainer of a choice. Not only do Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins have incredible chemistry together (no, not just the romantic kind), but their characters might as well have been tailor-made to get on each other's nerves. From the season 2 premiere's opening shootout gone spectacularly wrong to the duo bickering over a canister of water early in episode 2, it's clear that this sophomore season has every intention of putting these characters through the wringer.
And just when we thought their polar opposite worldviews couldn't lead to more conflict between them, their arc in episode 2 (fittingly titled "The Golden Rule") only takes them even further. After explaining the fundamentals of "A Christmas Carol," Lucy hears someone crying for help in an abandoned hospital and realizes they have no choice but to intervene. The following attack by radioactive scorpions leaves Lucy with the moral dilemma of saving an innocent or The Ghoul, however, and she makes her toughest choice of the season to save the woman instead — while promising to return for The Ghoul, whom she leaves behind to think about the "consequences of your actions."
Is Lucy already becoming more like The Ghoul than she'd like to think? We're eager to find out. New episodes of "Fallout" hit Prime Video every Wednesday.