The End

Never quite catched eye with the Fallout franchise until I heard about the existence of this show and managing to properly watch it was the best way to fortified my investment with the franchise and its story. I was pretty impressed, as an outsider from the games, how well established the world of Fallout is, from the atomic nukes, to the wacky aspects of this universe that I still hope to see more of, speaking about the episode itself, such a raw experience for just a first episode, it's edgy enough to not make me bored during its development, so many cool uses of practical effects, likeable characters, well directed set designs.

We're certainly entering a new era of video game adaptations finding a home on television. A lot of years have gone by with adaptations on the big screen and most of them have been quite poor, which resulted in a popular expectation that they would all just fail if they were adapted. However, "The Last of Us" came out and surprised everyone with its quality, and now, it's up to "Fallout" to continue that goodwill and show us that it wasn't just a one-time fluke. And if the first episode is to be taken by its word, it seems like we might continue the streak.

The episode opens with a powerful depiction of the end of the world. It's a big and gutsy way of opening your show, and it sets up the world beautifully for people who don't have any prior knowledge of the games (like me). Afterwards, the show goes into the overall expansion of the world, cutting between three different stories that are meant to set up different aspects of the world. The three things work very separately, but it makes for some clunky editing choices throughout the episode and it feels a little disjointed at times. However, the information is conveyed with the precision that it needs to be and it keeps the audience along with the show and its mythology. The design of the episode is very beautiful and it feels like the kind of world that would remind a post-apocalyptic society of a better time. I've also been told that the design is very reminiscent of the game, so the fact that they keep it real for the fans of the games is also very special and commendable. Jonathan Nolan directs this episode and he is a very versatile director, because the look of this doesn't resemble that of "Westworld" at all, but the style is definitely the same, so his ability to adapt himself to the environment that he's in is very interesting, and he certainly works his butt of in this episode. The performances are also very good, but I'll need a bit more time to get into the characters for real.

"The End" is a good way to start this show off and it immediately tells the non-video game fans what they need to know. It sets up the world in three interesting, although disjointed segments that sell the world and the environment very well, and sets up a very interesting show to follow along with.

The visual story-telling in this show, encompassing all eight episodes, is exceptional.

One of examples in this episode is introduction to Brotherhood of Steel training base, where we can see a small group of soldiers beating up a fellow soldier, also other soldiers doing daily and regular duties, an officer arriving (stopped the beating), bringing order, and inspecting..

Entire time, we can, other than by the type of daily duties, also by position of the sun, determine approx time of a day, and gain some geographic awareness, and during the class, the sun "tells" us, that the airship arrived from the East (approx)..

Airship's name (The Prydwen) is visible on its fore starboard side from "kids smoking" perspective, which is shown before airship arrival as part of introduction, again for purpose of story-telling. And all that, because in this case, name of the airship and where it came from, is of high, if not crucial importance throughout entire series, not just this episode or season..

So much of this approach to telling the story is "the way of telling the story" throughout entire season, while "The End" points to several of many examples..

All in all, regarding the particular episode, it is very well done..

The first episode delivers a strong and captivating start. The post-apocalyptic world is introduced with detailed environments that perfectly convey the harsh atmosphere of that era. Characters are well-established, each with their own inner world clearly shown. The natural dialogues and steady pacing hooked me from the very beginning.

This episode excels at world-building and effectively transmits the loneliness and cruelty of a post-disaster world. Precise directing and fitting background music make entering this universe exciting. Also, the way the story kicks off gives enough motivation to keep watching.amirhosseinahg.

I'm a huge fan of video game series so I was a bit nervous about the quality this show was going to be but so far, it's been fantastic. This episode did a great job incorporating staples in the Fallout game series but also created a brand-new story in the universe. The opening scene setting the background story about how this world came to be was a great touch and a great introduction to new fans. I really like Purnell as Lucy and feel like she was perfectly cast to play the lead. Moten as Maximus is undecided for me since it didn't go too deep into his story, but I like what I see so far. Goggins as the Ghoul is another fantastic casting choice. The setting, visuals, etc. Are exactly what I would look for in a show based on the series and I can't wait to continue watching. 4/5 stars.