Spoilers are ahead for the Fallout season 1 finale.

Summary

• The Fallout TV series pays homage to its video game roots with Easter eggs and references that excite dedicated fans of the franchise.
• The show includes references to everything from in-game food items to game-accurate weapons.
• Fallout plays with RPG elements like S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats, beloved characters like Vault Boy, and recognizable in-game items for an immersive experience.

Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout’s timeline stems from the games’; the TV show, unlike other video game-to-TV adaptations, is part of the pre-established Fallout canon. Even so, it wasn’t clear what Prime Video’s series would lose in translation.

Lucy MacLean is a happy-go-lucky Vault Dweller who believes her kind will one day reclaim the surface...

Although Fallout doesn’t adapt any of the franchise’s pre-existing stories, it certainly pays homage by referencing 1997’s Fallout all the way through more recent releases, like Fallout 4. The show’s trio of protagonists includes Lucy MacLean (Yellowjackets’ Ella Purnell), a happy-go-lucky Vault Dweller who believes her kind will one day reclaim the surface; Maximus (Aaron Moten), a squire in the Brotherhood of Steel faction who s Knight Titus on a quest to find Enclave runaway Dr. Siggi Wilzig (Michael Emerson); and The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) — the radiated man once known as Cooper Howard who wanders the Wasteland as a gun-for-fire.

Eventually, the trio’s stories converge. Lucy leaves Vault 33 after apparent raiders infiltrate her would-be wedding and abduct her father, Vault Overseer Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan). Maximus, who attains Fallout’s iconic Power Armor after Titus dies, becomes Lucy’s ally in her quest to find her father. While Lucy plans to use what Dr. Siggi Wilzig’s valuable item as a bargaining chip, The Ghoul tracks the Enclave scientist down because of the bounty on his head. Meanwhile, flashbacks to 2077 — the year the bombs detonated — chronicle Cooper’s time with Vault-Tec, the fallout shelter-making company responsible for nuking the US.

Fallout feels so much like the video games because it’s part of the canon.

Some of Fallout’s would-be Easter eggs or references are just examples of the show's remaining game-accurate. For example, Lucy and the other Vault Dwellers don Fallout’s iconic blue-and-yellow jumpsuits and mutated Fallout monsters roam the Wasteland. And Vault-Tec’s bunkers are still being used as laboratories for unethical social and scientific experimentation. Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout feels so much like the video games because it’s part of the canon. Even so, some remarkable details stand out.

10 Amazon Prime Video's Fallout Provides The Origins Of Vault Boy's Thumbs Up

Bobbleheads Of The Vault-Tec Mascot Are Hidden Throughout The Show

That said, it’s not surprising that Vault Boy, Vault-Tec’s mascot, appears in Fallout. A cartoon character who appears in Vault-Tec promotional material, on Pip Boys and posters, and elsewhere, Vault Boy captures Fallout’s retro-futuristic look with his design. Often seen winking and giving a thumbs up, Vault Boy is key to the video games’ interface as well. If players select perks or encounter a tutorial, Vault Boy illustrations will be part and parcel. However, the Fallout show takes its inclusion of Vault Boy a bit further than posters by giving viewers an origin story for the character’s iconic gesture.

If a nuclear explosion’s mushroom cloud is smaller than her thumb, she should run.

In the very first episode of Fallout season 1, the story opens in 2077. Walton Goggins' pre-Ghoul Cooper Howard, then an actor in Hollywood, is performing cowboy rope tricks at a wealthy kid’s birthday party. Cooper’s daughter, Janey (Teagan Meredith), can’t stop thinking about the imminent nuclear exchange that’s allegedly set to unfold any day. A former soldier, Cooper tells Janey about the thumb trick: if a nuclear explosion’s mushroom cloud is smaller than her thumb, she should run. If it’s bigger, they don’t have a chance.

Vault-Tec bobblehead figures are promotional Vault-Tec items in Fallout 3, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Fallout: Wasteland Warfare.

Other flashbacks chronicle Cooper’s use of thumbs up as a spokesperson in Vault-Tec’s ments. The actor’s involvement with the ill-intentioned company stems in part from his wife, Barb Howard (s Turner), who’s a Vault-Tec executive. Throughout the series, production designers cleverly hid Vault Boy bobbleheads — a keen reference to the game series’ collectibles. Vault 33 even boasts a foosball table with Vault Boy figurines.

9 Fallout's Pilot Episode References Fallout 3's Story

The Completely Original Story Fakes Out Viewers With Its Initial Premise

According to the Fallout game series’ iconic (and oft-repeated) opening line, “War. War never changes.” While that particular reference doesn’t surface until episode 8, Fallout does tease some apparent similarities to the games’ narratives in the pilot. Nolan, who is an outspoken fan of Fallout 3 in particular, pays homage to the entry that revived the post-apocalyptic game series by having Lucy leave the Vault in order to track down her father. At first, the inciting action feels familiar, but the show drastically pivots from any Fallout 3 vibes by making Hank a key antagonist in Fallout season 1’s ending.

Even opening the series at a kids’ birthday party is a subtle reference to Fallout 3...

Other narrative elements from existing Fallout games come into play from time-to-time. For example, the cryogenic freezing plot point — Hank and other devoted Vault-Tec employees were frozen in 2077 so that they could carry out Vault-Tec’s schemes in the future — stems from Fallout 4. In fact, even opening the series at a kids’ birthday party is a subtle reference to Fallout 3’s opening, in which the player character celebrates their 10th birthday.

8 The Fallout TV Show Is Packed With RPG Elements

From S.P.E.C.I.A.L. To Simpacks, Fallout Uses The Games' Mechanics

One of the best parts of Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout is all of its references to the series’ gameplay elements. Instead of ignoring the fact that it’s adapting a game in favor of realistic tech and action, Fallout embraces its source material. When Lucy is first introduced, she’s reviewing her stats for a Vault 33 council. In mentioning her repair, science, and speech abilities, Lucy is making a glib reference to Fallout’s S.P.E.C.I.A.L. ruleset. From hacking challenges and Stimpaks to a sundry shop that boasts, “Salvage, Buy, Sell, or Trade” in reference to Fallout’s item action menu, the series loves its roots.

Lucy uses a Stimpak in Fallout season 1, episode 1 after fighting with a raider.

7 Bethesda's Iconic Grognak the Barbarian Appears In Fallout

Other In-Universe Media & Tech Appear In The Show

Across its 8-episode first season, Fallout also references several in-world pieces of tech and popular media lines. In episode 1, the children are seen watching clips of Grognak the Barbarian — a recurring faux cartoon and comic book series that appears in Bethesda’s games. Later, clips of Cooper Howard can be seen playing on a Radiation King branded television, which crops up in the games. Lucy’s brother, Norm (Moisés Arias), even plays Atomic Command on his Pip Boy, while in-universe literature like Tesla Science Magazine and the Capital Post, are lying in the background of shots.

Atomic Command is a holotape game found in Fallout 4 and Fallout 76.

6 Nat King Cole's "Orange Colored Sky" Becomes A Key Theme In Fallout

The Fallout TV Show Uses Plenty Of Recognizable Music

A key song throughout the Fallout series is "Orange Colored Sky,” as performed by Nat King Cole and the Stan Kenton Orchestra. The rune crops up in episode 1 of Amazon Prime Video’s series, though it was also used in TV ments for several of Bethesda’s games, including Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76. The show’s reliance on music from the 1940s and ‘50s certainly drives home its unique, retro-futuristic setting.

5 Fallout Teases Other Game Characters & Plots

Super Mutants & Assaultron Make Brief Appearances

While season 1 can’t cram every single Fallout reference, plot point, or side quest into its slim 8 episodes, it teases plenty of exciting elements to come in Fallout season 2. For example, in one scene, a gurney flashes past Dr. Wilzig. Although the body is covered in a sheet, a limp arm protrudes from the covering. However, the blink-and-you-miss-it moment features a massive green hand — akin to the series’ Super Mutants. The detail may even reference the existence of the Enclave’s Forced Evolutionary Virus. The series also features a sand-covered RobCo Industries Assaultron and the skull of a Deathclaw.

4 Fallout's Food Easter Eggs Are Everywhere

From Iguana On A Stick To Nuke Cola

Aside from Fallout’s ever-important Nuka-Cola, the TV series features plenty of shots of familiar in-universe brands and food items. Again, these sorts of Easter eggs stem from the show’s insistence on leaning into the games’ RPG elements: in the Fallout series, players consume all sorts of things in order to heal themselves or boost other stats. When it comes to food items, Fallout season 1 has glimpses of Sugar Bombs Cereal, Fancy Lads Snack Cakes, Blamco Mac & Cheese, and even iguana on a stick and mystery jerky. RadAway, Abraxo cleaner, and a Fallout lunchbox also make fleeting appearances.

3 Fallout's Weapons Are (Mostly) Taken From The Games

Fallout 4's Arsenal Makes Many Appearances

Every , Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury) boasts the sleek Laser Pistol in the finale. Even Fallout 4’s Junk Jet crops up in episode 1.

2 Hank's Code Is A Reference To The Original Fallout

Vault Tec's Water Chip Is Also A Plot Point

In the Fallout season 1 finale, Hank MacLean attains the highly sought-after cold fusion reactor by entering a crucial code: 101097. The six-digit code is actually one of the show’s more inventive references: October 10, 1997, was the date the first-ever Fallout title was released. Since the Fallout TV show happens the furthest in the future of all the current titles, it’s not surprising that the bulk of its references relate to Fallout 3 and 4. Still, it’s great to see the show pay homage to where it all began. Earlier in the season, it does so by making the Vault-Tec Water Chip — the MacGuffin that kick-starts the first game’s story — a key plot point.

1 Fallout Teases New Vegas

The Show Also References Mr. House

Played by Rafi Silver, Robert Edwin House — often just referred to as Mr. House — makes a cameo in the final episode of Fallout season 1. The founder of RobCo, Mr. House is linked to one of the franchise's key corporations that Vault-Tec is secretly working with. Eventually, the character becomes the ruler of New Vegas. Clearly, will connect to Fallout season 2 since Hank is trekking toward the city in the Fallout finale. That said, it makes sense that the show would tease Mr. House, though his role remains unclear given Fallout: New Vegas’ multiple potential endings.

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8.9/10

Release Date

April 10, 2024

Showrunner

Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan

Writers

Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan

Cast

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• 
  Ella Purnell

  Lucy MacLean
• 
  Aaron Moten

  Maximus

• 

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Set 200 years after an apocalypse, Fallout follows residents of luxury shelters as they re-enter a post-nuclear world. Confronted with a bizarre and violent landscape, the series explores the stark contrasts between their sheltered existence and the harsh realities of the outside universe.

Franchise(s)

Fallout

Seasons

1

Streaming Service(s)

Prime Video

Main Genre

Sci-Fi

Creator(s)

Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Graham Wagner

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