YMMV / Fallout (2024)

• Adorkable:
  • Lucy's Wide-Eyed Idealism, perkiness, and firm dedication to being a kind individual make her insanely endearing and sympathetic, especially as the show continues to put her through Break the Cutie.
  • Maximus has his moments as well, especially with his excitement when wearing the Power Armor for the first time and experiencing life in a Vault for the first time ever.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is Titus a Dirty Coward and a sign the Brotherhood is unworthy of respect or is his distaste for Maximus more personal? After all, Maximus is a replacement for his presumably chosen squire that is believed to have deliberately injured them to get his position. The fact Maximus is an adopted war orphan from Shady Sands versus one of the Brotherhood's traditional bloodlines may also play a part in this distaste. Was he actually sending Maximus off to die in the cave, or did he know that the Enclave scientist was harmless and was just giving him a Secret Test of Character? Was his statement about getting him executed also just the pain talking or sincere?
  • Just how good is Moldaver anyway?:
    • NCR's survivors think of her as a Big Good but she leads a bunch of Raiders to Vault 33, and they end up slaughtering plenty of innocents. Furthermore, her plan will result in the sexual assault and death of her supposed friend's daughter (and also the murder of her son). Did she have a last-minute change of heart, or was this a sign of how much she despised Hank?
    • Was the slaughter of Vault 33 her idea as revenge for Shady Sands, or was it the only way she could get the Raiders involved in her plan to kidnap Hank and she had no other way to control them? While she didn't shed any tears about the massacre, by its end, she had the Vault Dwellers dead-to-rights and could've easily killed all of them, but she chose to simply detonate a bomb (with plenty of time to duck and cover) to seal them in. Was it Cruel Mercy–leaving them to cope with a similar trauma of Shady Sands–or did enough Raiders die or be captured for them to listen to her?
  • Hank's decision to nuke Shady Sands and destroy the NCR government is agreed upon to be evil, so the morality isn't in question; the real question is why the decision was made. Did he do it because Vault-Tec ordered him to destroy a thriving government, because he was jealous of his wife's new companion that was taking his kids, or both?
  • One of the pre-War representatives was an important character in a previous installment and people are trying to make heads or tails of his behaviour: How complicit is Robert House in Vault-Tec's experiments and the events that led to the Great War? He's shown both not actively agreeing with Vault-Tec's plans and actively having doubts as to whether such an "investment" is worth the payoff. There's also the far more banal matter of sharing a conference room with a bunch of people powerful and insane enough to start an atomic war; outright objections would change nothing at best and put House in their crosshairs at worst. New Vegas depicted House as far more pragmatic, and willing to coexist with a post-War country (NCR) on his terms, but not above exterminating a faction that could be problematic in the future (Mojave Brotherhood) or just in his way/not subservient to him (the Kings in some NV endings), so his behaviour in this show can be interpreted in a variety of ways. It's possible he merely paid lip-service to the idea of nuking the world or argued against on pragmatic grounds in order to avoid being executed for knowing too much but was against the whole plan.
  • Given how much older he looks than before, is Frederick Sinclair the same character as before (retroactively making him a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing) or his father?
  • Elder Quintus seems to be a Reasonable Authority Figure and even an Internal Reformist. He is clearly disgusted by Titus' cowardice and spares Maximus twice. However, his ideas for what the Brotherhood of Steel should be doing take on an ominous turn whenever he speaks, such as him talking about how power must be seized and lamenting how the Brotherhood used to rule the Wasteland. Additionally, he only spares Maximus whenever he seems to be either of use or showing uncommon ruthlessness (i.e., "I want to hurt the people who hurt me."). Is he more of an Elder Lyons type who wants to better the Wasteland, more of a Father Elijah type who wants to wipe it clean, or even more of a Lord Ashur type who wants to conquer it for what he sees as its own good?
  • Is the Ghoul's insistence that Lucy will become more and more like him just him being cynical about human nature? Or is he insisting on it because he used to be a better man before the bombs fell and he's trying to tell himself that becoming heartless and self-serving was necessary?
• And You Thought It Would Fail: Leading up to the premiere, there was much grumbling and speculation over the quality of the series due to the very long track record of terrible live-action adaptations of various Video Game properties, with diehard fans in particular being worried about it turning out to be as lackluster and divisive as Halo (2022) or Resident Evil (2022). After the premiere was well-received by audiences and critics alike, many of these same fans were pleasantly surprised (though some had issues concerning the lore aspects).
• Ass Pull: Within the wider context of the franchise, Vault-Tec existing in any form post-War wasn't hinted at before the series. True, Vault-Tec specialized in constructing fallout shelters, but every scrap of information about it depicted it as a corrupt and incompetent Mega-Corp, so their survival wasn't a given, and since their goal is taking over the world and destroying any faction in their way, them not intervening before the 2280s and letting the New California Republic expand as far as it did shows that they weren't considered to be an important post-War player before the TV series. And while surviving Vault-Tec employees were encountered before - most prominently in the form of Stanislaus Braun and Valery Bastow - they were more interested in their private amusements and the success of their Vault's experiment than achieving world domination in the name of the company, and neither of them gave any impression that any company reclamation plan existed.
• Awesome Music:
  • "Ladyfingers" by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass is a soothing saxophone instrumental that plays over the scene of Lucy and Max crossing paths with fiends. It fits the world of Fallout perfectly.
  • "Only You" by the Platters plays as a hilarious moment of Soundtrack Dissonance when Max "saves" Lucy in Vault 4, and it fits the setting so well it's a wonder that it wasn't used in the games sooner.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • Chet is first introduced as Vault 33's bumbling gatekeeper and Lucy's ex, who pretends the door doesn't open in an effort to prevent her from meeting her groom from 32. Lucy decides to let him down nicely while also revealing that not only are they actually cousins, but she also thinks it's totally normal for cousins to experiment as long as they're kids. A hilariously squick-inducing choice of words coming from someone who was otherwise introduced as a straightforward Adorkable Wide-Eyed Idealist only moments ago.
  • The joke at the end of Episode 2. Wilzig thinks he's too wounded to continue his journey. Lucy gives him a Rousing Speech to keep him going...only for him to reveal he already took a cyanide pill. He then awkwardly rambles about its good qualities, calling it "the most ethical thing Vault-Tec ever made", and wondering why it wasn't more popular.
• Draco in Leather Pants:
  • The Ghoul/Cooper Howard has a lot of fans who are willing to ignore his more unsavory actions such as relentlessly killing multiple people and kidnapping and later trying to sell Lucy, due to Walton Goggins' natural charisma in the role. It doesn't hurt that he only became this after the bombs drop (forcing him to do whatever it takes to survive), that he does have some standards, and has a tragic backstory.
  • Mr. House being revealed as one of the masterminds behind the Great War hasn't stopped many fans from holding out hope and making detailed but largely speculative arguments that he was a Token Good Teammate to the moguls who was against their plan but couldn't stop it, or at least had A Lighter Shade of Black goals and methods.
• Dry Docking: A lot of fans online refuse to ship The Ghoul/Cooper Howard with anyone regardless of canon, so that they can imagine/write fanfics pairing them with themselves or their Author Avatars.
• Epileptic Trees:
  • New Vegas being in ruins and abandoned is something that many viewers extrapolated based on exactly one shot that shows the city dark in the distance... at dawn, when the lights would logically be shut off. While it is dark and partly damaged, there's nothing to indicate that New Vegas is so destroyed that the Courier's efforts were All for Nothing. Even if there is no power, an equally likely explanation could simply be that a recent attack robbed New Vegas of its electricity, and that the city is still functioning to a degree. And, of course, there is the fact that the decline of the Strip could simply be a knock-on effect of the collapse of the NCR in southern California (with Mr. House himself noting that the NCR consists of his best customers), and the city itself is not completely ruined and just doing poorly.
  • In regards to the heavy implication in the Season 1 finale that Vault-Tec might have caused the Great War. While not ruled out, it's simply shown that Vault-Tec, and a cabal of corrupt corporate executives wanted it to happen, not that they explicitly did it. This means that it is still possible the show could, in flashbacks in later seasons, still end up aligning with the ambiguously canon "Fallout Bibles", where the Enclave was said to have fully embraced nuclear war as a way to "wipe the slate clean" and "begin again"(and the mysterious shadowy figure overhearing the executive meeting itself is often used as claims that the Enclave may be revealed to be behind Vault-Tec's actions), along with claims by Tim Cain that China did in fact drop the bombs first. And this is of course ignoring the possibility of other groups dropping the bombs first (such as the Zetans or Soviets).
  • After The Reveal that Vault-Tec has become The Conspiracy after the Great War and are dedicated to wiping out all Post-War civilizations not associated with them so they can Take Over the World and establish One Nation Under Copyright, some fans have suggested that Vault-Tec is in part responsible for the series’ Medieval Stasis, such as them being the true masterminds behind the CPG Massacre in the backstory of Fallout 4 and being the patrons of Littlehorn & Associates and Mr. Burke's true employers in Fallout 3 along with them being the masters of both Talon Company & the Gunners.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Lucy's character has been nicknamed "Vault Girl."
  • Walton Goggins playing Cooper Howard a.k.a "the Ghoul" has given rise to the nickname of "Walton Ghoulgins".
  • Even though Jon Daly's character is official credited as "Snake-Oil Salesman", most viewers have universally referred to him as "Chicken Fucker" due to his extremely memorable introduction.
• Fanon Discontinuity: Many within the Fallout: New Vegas fandom would prefer to ignore the impact this series has had on a number of factions within the game; the NCR has been left in an unclear but worse state years after their last appearance, with Shady Sands being stated to have fallen in 2277 (with some accusations that it has decanonized New Vegas entirely as it was the same year that the First Battle for Hoover Dam took place, with Shady Sands and the NCR still being major players four years later which losing a capital city would certainly upend)^note Todd himself would reiterate in a later interview that the show had never decanonized NV and that the "fall of Shady Sands" event in 2277 is a separate event to its actual nuking which took place after the events of NV. This fails to address how NV NP Cs never mentioned any Fall or fully believe Shady Sands is in a positive, thriving state even 4 years later. The NCR has radio so the fall of a capital city would be extremely noticeable. This all adds to an existing fanbase Lying Creator view of Todd and Bethesda after the appearance of the Prydwyn even though they said they wouldn't decanonize any of 4's endings. Also, Mr. House was revealed to be one of the participants at Vault-Tec's meeting about the Vaults and instigating the Great War, while The Stinger of the finale shows that New Vegas itself has been abandoned or at least left in a ruined state of its own over a decade later, making any action the Courier took to help Vegas and the factions a case of All for Nothing.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • This show's fans get along with those of The Last of Us, which is another post-apocalyptic series based on a video game. Many fans of both shows are happy for each other's successes, believing that it will continue the positive streak of good adaptations of video games.
  • With Westworld given that both shows are directed and produced by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. Nolan even admits in an IGN interview that Fallout 4 helped in the development of Westworld, particularly the gaming mechanics. Some Westworld fans even joked that the Fallout show is secretly Westworld Season 5, not helped by the fact that The Ghoul is eerily similar to The Man in Black.
• He's Just Hiding: While the New California Republic as a whole in the series is gone, some fans like to think that its more likable soldiers and citizens from New Vegas are still alive, just in hiding. One of the writers for the games would eventually come out and confirm that the NCR is definitely on the downtrodden scale of things, but there are still remnants of it scattered throughout California and it is Not So Extinct.
• He Really Can Act:
  • Erik Estrada's cameo as a former NCR Ranger, complete with the uniform and all, was seen as a very surprising and extremely well-done dramatic moment for both the series and his career. Many people who could recognize him were surprised to see his cameo and have been speculating if we're gonna see more of him in Season 2, noting that the action will probably move on to more of the NCR's territory into New Vegas.
  • Moises Arias as Norman "Norm" MacLean turned out to be a pleasant surprise for a lot of viewers. Many viewers who were kids in the 2000s only knew & remembered him for his Disney Channel Kid Com roles as annoying, bratty kid-characters, particularly as "Rico" in Hannah Montana. However, Moises has been well received for his role as Norm, really conveying his initial-cowardice, insightfulness, and determination, while encapsulating the character's desire to find out the mysteries behind the vaults, and the horror he feels when he finds out the truth.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The teaser trailer makes a joke about Free Two-Day Shipping, and announces the series is coming April 12th... for it to arrive two days early.
  • One of the narratives around the Brotherhood of Steel in the later installments of the games is that they were dying out without recruiting Wastelanders into their ranks. Considering that the Brotherhood is one of the safer places to grow up, logically they should not have any such problems unless they consistently suffer from devastating combat losses. Then we learn that Aspirants (or at least those from the same boot camp as Maximus) have no idea how babies are made or how sex works. Apparently, sex ed was dropped from the curriculum at some point in time.
• Jerkass Woobie: Cooper Howard, or The Ghoul, lost his acting career working with Vault-Tec when he learned the Awful Truth that his wife came up with the idea to turn the Vaults into test chambers for whatever Vault-Tec's shareholders wanted. He was then outside the Vaults when the bombs went off, became ghoulified at some point in time, and lost his family while witnessing the fall of civilization firsthand. These experiences have left him a very cynical and changed man willing to mow down anything and anyone in his way and sell Lucy to organ harvesters in desperation.
• Just Here for Godzilla: A large percentage of viewers are more interested in seeing Walton Goggins play a ghoul cowboy than any other aspect of the show.
• Les Yay: Between Moldaver and Lucy's mother Rose. Their relationship is not explicitly romantic but Moldaver's first remark to Lucy is mentioning how much she looks like her mother. She keeps Rose's feral ghoul form alive and eats dinner with it. When she's fatally wounded, her last act is to sit next to Rose's corpse and hold her hand.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Thaddeus loses all audience sympathy when he locks Dogmeat in a Nuka-Cola cooler and leaves her to die despite her doing little more than inconveniencing him.
  • The Season 1 finale shows that Hank McLean is a fundamentally despicable and abhorrent wretch of a person in that he wiped Shady Sands off the map with a nuclear bomb, killing tens of thousands of innocent people, devastating the New California Republic and condemning his own wife to a hellish Fate Worse than Death as a Feral Ghoul all out of a mix of his own Control Freak nature and a twisted classism-based Insane Troll Logic.
• Most Wonderful Sound: Credit to the sound design put into the production of the series, there is just something immensely satisfying about the "FWOOM" sound of the fin-stabilized grenades being shot out of the Ghoul's handgun.
• Older Than They Think:
  • The revelation that Vault-Tec were possibly the mastermind behind the Great War was originally supposed to be used for the canceled Fallout movie treatment.
  • The NCR being destroyed was an idea originally tossed around by Chris Avellone, as he hated how the Fallout universe began to resemble a modern civilization instead of the post-apocalyptic wasteland presented in Fallout (though he later reclarified that he envisioned the post-War nations as not destroyed but infighting states Babylon 5 style). The option to nuke the NCR's Long 15 supply lines into New Vegas, Ulysses' tribe's home of Dry Wells which was absorbed into Caesar's Legion, or both in Lonesome Road is an expression of this desire. Van Buren was also slated to have an ending where the player could nuke the wasteland back into oblivion.
  • The situation of the NCR as a Vestigial Empire/rump state also has similarities to the NCR that would have been featured in Van Buren, where it was also in rather moribund shape, though the circumstances were much different, with the NCR in Van Buren being a Lost Colony centered around Hoover Dam that had lost all contact with the core region, with the fate of the NCR proper being unknown.
• Play-Along Meme: Ever since the Vault 4 Overseer mistakenly referred to Lucy as “Goosey”, due to a misunderstanding from reading her name (and failing to correct himself afterwards), fans have gone along with the misnaming and pretended that Goosey really was Lucy’s actual name.
• Portmanteau Couple Name: Those who ship the Lucy with the Ghoul have taken to calling them "Ghoulcy".
• Special Effects Failure: The de-aging effect used to make Hank look like a young Kyle MacLachlan during the flashback in "The Beginning" is not convincing. His head looks poorly pasted onto his body, and his mouth sports some very conspicuous CG.
• Spiritual Successor:
  • Already the show has gotten a lot of comparisons to The Last of Us. Both are TV adaptations of popular video game franchises, both have a post-apocalyptic setting, and both star a plucky brunette young woman and a more jaded survivor of the apocalypse. The comparison is even stronger when Season 1 ends with them becoming reluctant travel companions.
  • Many also see the series as the official canon version of Fallout: Nuka Break.
  • One of the storylines involving conflict between NCR and Brotherhood of Steel made it a somewhat official adaptation of unreleased Van Buren version of what became Fallout 3.
  • With the ending revealing that Vault-Tec was the mastermind behind the Great War, this is the closest we will get to seeing the cancelled Fallout movie pitch be shown on-screen.
  • With the last shot of New Vegas seemingly lying in ruins, with its gates blown open and signs of combat, this may be as close as Fallout: Dust gets to being made canon.
• Unexpected Character: The Season 1 finale includes a scene in the pre-War era with Vault-Tec hosting a meeting with the leaders of various high-powered corporations in America, which features not only Frederick Sinclair as the rep for Big MT; Leon Von Felden, the creator of the FEV, as rep for West-Tek, and Julia Masters, a higher-up from REPCONN mentioned in New Vegas but perhaps more notably, Robert House himself as rep for RobCo.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: For a lot of viewers, Lee Moldaver's reveal as Good All Along doesn't remotely justify her actions in the first episode and she has crossed the Moral Event Horizon as much as Hank MacLean did. This is especially true if you note her use of a wedding to cover her attack explicitly sets up Lucy to be sexually assaulted and murdered by deception despite being the daughter of her close friend.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The T-60c Power Armor in the show are entirely practically designed suits (four fully functional suits of them in total according to the production designer) that are completely faithful to the games depiction of them, and while definitely cumbersome due to the reality of wearing such a bulky suit in real life, they are depicted incredibly well with both menace and awe every time they show up in the series. All the more impressive is how they are later said to be weighing over 160lbs each, and yet the performers can even breakdance in them rather seamlessly.
• The Woobie:
  • Lucy has it rough. Her father gets kidnapped, and after she got out of her vault to rescue him, she ends up learning how very unprepared she was for how rough life is within the Wasteland. Not to mention that she finds out in the finale that her father was Evil All Along, and pretty much someone she shouldn't have tried to save in the first place.
  • Even before we know his backstory, Maximus is abused frequently as a Brotherhood aspirant, with his opening scene showing him getting beaten up. After his only friend is sabotaged by an unknown attacker, all of the leadership assumes Maximus did it, nearly getting him executed. Then, when he does get a chance to squire, his Knight is an absolute asshole who takes every opportunity to abuse him, even trying to give him radiation poisoning at one point. His Knight then blames him for a Yao Guai attack that wasn't his fault and threatens his life while also demanding a stimpak. It's really no wonder Maximus lets the Knight die and then takes his power armor.
  • Chet. The poor guy was born into a small community where the only person he could have a relationship with is his own cousin, and as a result of them experimenting, he fell in love with her. He then has to watch her get married to a stranger, watches multiple friends get murdered, and then loses his job for helping Lucy leave the Vault. He even remarks at one point that he "doesn't know who he is anymore", showing a clear identity crisis. He then gets cajoled into a quasi-marriage with Stephanie, where she essentially pretends that he's a different man: her deceased husband, Bert. In any other story, this guy would be really weird for loving Lucy, but under the circumstances Chet was put in, it's downright tragic.

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