The Beginning

This was the best episode of the series so far! The buildup of the first seven episodes led to an absolutely incredible payoff and a perfect cliffhanger for the next season. It felt like the series did a great job of explaining necessary scenes in earlier episodes yet kept multiple scenes as mysteries. This episode closed nearly all unexplained scenarios and had a perfect blend of past to present action and explanation. I have to give a shoutout to the actor playing Maximus because I wasn't a fan of how reserved his character is, but the actor showed a ton of range in this episode with emotion, and I hope to see that more often in season two. 5/5 stars.

A lot of people would argue that we're living in a Golden Age for video game adaptations, and with the releases of "The Last of Us" and now "Fallout," one could argue that they were right. It's only a few years ago that a new video game adaptation was doomed from the start, but they've proved that a lot can be achieved through solid storytelling. This final episode rounds out a season-long arc and sets the stage for exciting things to happen in the future, and it's one of the more exciting finales that I've seen in a while, because of some insanely fun writing.

In this post-apocalyptic world, it's great to see that the writers are taking such a personal angle to the bigger picture. The episode's big twist could have easily been effective on the merits of what it means, but because of the personal connections between these characters, it takes the big scale of everything and turns it into an intimate discovery of treachery and betrayal that has big impacts on these characters, especially Lucy McLean, who has gone through a huge character journey throughout this show and is spun in a direction that will surely make for an interesting dynamic in future seasons. And the personal angle is featured in all the individual storylines that come to an exciting climax in this episode, but despite some characters ending their arcs in triumph, the episode has a constant somber tone throughout. It's a deliberate choice for sure, and it works wonders, because there's a lot of unfinished business to attend to before this world can have a happy future. The adaptation here has gone beyond a simple adaptation of the games, and have used the intricacies of an incredible world to form their own story and it certainly shows that there's a medium for everything, because as a show, this has the opportunity to do so much. It was a delight following it, but seeing where the finale ended up and how it sets the stage for the future, it's a show that I will definitely have to keep up with when it returns, hopefully very soon.

"The Beginning" certainly feels like the beginning of a new chapter that will jump off of what this episode gave us, which was pretty perfect. The personal angle makes it all work, and despite the fun of the big scales and the action sequences, it's the characters and their struggles that keep us coming back.

If you come to "Fallout," as I did, not knowing the games, you might want to Google the backstory. Otherwise you're sure to be puzzled.

The first scene of the show occurs in the year 2077, however, the furniture, clothing, hair styles and electronics are totally1950s era. The only thing out of place is a fleeting glance at a robot. It says to the lady of the house: "Ready to be of service, madam."

The explanation? We are viewing an American /Earth alternate universe. Apparently the fear of nuclear war, which gripped our America after WW2, was so extreme that it's stunted this America's social & technological growth. In many ways, leaving America style-stuck in the fifties.

The stunted technological growth has prevented the invention of the transistor and circuit boards. That's why radios, TVs and such are all still dependent on Tube Technology.

And so it seems, from the building fear of Nuclear war in the 1950's, up to the first scene of this show, in 2077, America's industry have focused their efforts on building elaborate life-sustaining vaults. These are designed to house Americans underground. Thus keeping an elite segment of the population safe from nuclear war FALLOUT.

That is a clever premise indeed. Making this dystopian universe unlike most others. Frankly I had grown a bit tired of shows exploring apocalyptic and dystopian worlds. Especially the ones which are midnight-dark and depressing. Happily, that's not the case with Fallout. While some scenes are genuinely terrifying, there are more than enough scenes which treat us to intelligent and logically placed comedy.

Another factor which lightens the brooding atmosphere is the (song) music which is appropriate to the action and interspersed throughout each episode. Mostly vocal selections from the 40s and 50s.

The incidental music is composed by Game of Thrones genius Ramin Djawadi. It's excellent. And if you normally skip the end titles, don't. The graphics are different for each ending and they are accompanied by beautuful Djawadi compositions.

While Fallout may not be the greatest science fiction episodic series, it's among the best. It's original enough not to be hackneyed. The acting is solid, the CGI is excellent, the scripts are good and this all provides for some terrific sci-fi entertainment.

Greetings from Lithuania.

As a one who played and really liked every Fallout game (i only haven't played first two), heck even 76 is good now - I wasn't expecting anything from this show. Yet what i saw is arguably not just adaptation of video game series that is out there with the best but as for now - it is the best one yet.

Everything you would hope from final episodes of the season was delivered on highest note. Many things and overall story was revealed here, and it was done excellently. Its the kind of final episode of the season that gives you just enough, but leaves a plenty of opportunities for continuation of the series.

Overall, "Fallout's" first season is my favorite VG adaptation - period. And even as i liked The Last of Us very much, and i'm a bigger fan of TLOU game series then Fallout games, its the adaptation of Fallout that stands head above anything else right now. Its that good.

Not gonna spoil.... 3D print this episode out and make it a blurprint for less worth shows to aspire to when some writers lapse. Kudos to this team and Prime as a whole for keeping their hands off and ensuring this show stays legit. It's a model for other intellectual sci-fi/weirdo content to stay true to the original subject matter. Less said is more, which is that so hard to figure out?

Not gonna spoil.... 3D print this episode out and make it a blurprint for less worth shows to aspire to when some writers lapse. Kudos to this team and Prime as a whole for keeping their hands off and ensuring this show stays legit. It's a model for other intellectual sci-fi/weirdo content to stay true to the original subject matter.