Fallout: one of the 'most faithful – and best – video game adaptations'
This 'genre-bending' new Amazon series is set in a post-apocalyptic wilderness where survivors shelter below ground

The apocalyptic setting of Amazon's new TV adaptation of the video game "Fallout" makes comparisons to 2023's mega hit "The Last of Us" inevitable.
But not only are the "two shows tonally distinct from each other, they're also very differently structured", said The Independent. The new series from "Westworld" showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner "picks and chooses its iconography, characters and plot from across the game series".
And "rather than follow the source material to the letter", said The Verge, "it feels more important to strike the right tone", so it's the "jokes, rather than its plot, that make it one of the most faithful – and best – video game adaptations".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There is also no need for viewers to be "au fait" with the original, said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. "This intelligent, drily witty, immaculately constructed series set in the 'Fallout' universe fully captivates and entertains on its own terms."
It's set amid "the blighted landscape of a nuclear-scoured California and the sickly sweet sterility of living in an underground bunker engineered to resemble a 1950s infomercial", said The Verge.
The plot spans "several threads primarily anchored by three characters", said Vulture. Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) is a "doe-eyed vault dweller" who ventures to the surface after her father (Kyle MacLachlan) is kidnapped. There's Maximus (Aaron Clifton Moten), a sweet young man who aspires to join the Brotherhood of Steel, a "militaristic religious order". And then there's the Ghoul, a noseless mutant of a "bounty hunter".
Walton Goggins is "wonderful" as both former TV star Cooper Howard and the Ghoul, said Mangan, Moten brings such "nuance to what could easily be a one-note role" and Purnell "performs Lucy's fall from innocence brilliantly".
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Amazon has "spared no expense" to make this "genre-bending series", said The New York Times. The result is "satirical and self-aware, rich with ironic detail" and its "sets and costumes lovingly blend B-movie conventions from multiple genres, including Westerns, horror and Atomic Age sci-fi".
Ultimately, "however fans respond to 'Fallout', no one can doubt the creators' commitment".
Adrienne Wyper has been a freelance sub-editor and writer for The Week's website and magazine since 2015. As a travel and lifestyle journalist, she has also written and edited for other titles including BBC Countryfile, British Travel Journal, Coast, Country Living, Country Walking, Good Housekeeping, The Independent, The Lady and Woman’s Own.
-
Film reviews: Roofman and Kiss of the Spider Woman
Feature An escaped felon’s heart threatens to give him away and a prisoner escapes into daydreams of J.Lo.
-
Broadway actors and musicians are on the brink of a strike
The explainer The show, it turns out, may not go on
-
Pentagon reporters turn in badges after refusing rules
Speed Read They refused to sign a restrictive new press policy imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
-
9 inviting bookstores ready for you to attack their shelves
The Week Recommends Your new favorite book awaits
-
Tim Robinson falls out of a chair, chefs compete for Michelin stars and Martin Scorsese gets the documentary treatment in October TV
the week recommends This month's new television releases include ‘The Chair Company,’ ‘Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars’ and ‘Mr. Scorsese’
-
Frankenstein comes to life, the Alabama prison system is exposed and Rose Byrne goes full Crazy Mom in October movies
the week recommends This month’s new releases include ‘Frankenstein,’ ‘The Alabama Solution’ and ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’
-
Choose your own wellness adventure in Greater Palm Springs
The Week Recommends Hit the spa, try a sound bath or take a hike
-
A Taylor Swift analysis, the digital-addiction solution plus what it means to be a gay Black artist — all in October books
The Week Recommends This month's new releases include ‘Taylor’s Version’ by Stephanie Burt, ‘Enshittification’ by Cory Doctorow and ‘Minor Black Figures’ by Brandon Taylor
-
8 of the best ‘cozy crime’ series of all time
The Week Recommends Murder mysteries don’t necessarily have to make us miserable, and these shows have perfected a feel-good crime formula
-
One great cookbook: ‘The Woks of Life’
The Week Recommends A family’s opinionated, reliable take on all kinds of Chinese cooking
-
The 5 best mob movies of all time
The Week Recommends If you don’t like a good gangster flick, just fuhgeddaboudit