The Emmy-nominated Prime Video series Fallout has returned for a second season that retains the show’s unique tone that made the first season such a fun and enjoyable watch, but sadly ends up stumbling 

due to its inconsistent quality and execution. While the cast of the show continue to turn in good performances and are bolstered by new additions this season, the writing for the season is surprisingly uneven. Season 2 certainly proves ambitious in scope and delivers on some fronts, like introducing interesting new additions to the world and shining the spotlight on characters who were previously more in the background in Season 1. But at the same time, the uneven writing ends up resulting in an inconsistent season with a slow and slightly unengaging start, a strong middle stretch of episodes that retain the spirit of the first season and a finale which is rather underwhelming and feels more focused on setting up Season 3 and providing fanservice for game fans rather than delivering a satisfying conclusion for the season of television that preceded it. 

Season 2 picks up shortly after the events of Season 1 and follows Lucy (Ella Purnell) and The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) as they wind up in New Vegas in pursuit of Lucy’s father Hank (Kyle Maclachlan). All the while, Maximus (Aaron Moten) deals with his status as a newly elevated Knight in the Brotherhood of Steel. The journeys that these characters go on are brought to life by a show which continues to remain top-notch in terms of production value and quality, with the emphasis on practical assets like the sets, costumes and props bringing the heightened post-apocalyptic world of the show to screen in an impressive manner. The New Vegas setting is particularly well-realised, and the show continues to expand its exciting word by introducing new factions and creatures in Season 2 such as the Legion, the New California Republic and Deathclaws. Season 2 also continues the stylised action sequences that have proven to be a calling card for the show, delivering spectacularly violent setpieces set to a hugely fun soundtrack across the whole season.

Another aspect of the show which remains strong would be the performances, with the cast being bolstered by new additions in Season 2. There are a number of higher profile guest stars like Macaulay Culkin and Kumail Nanjiani, who both pop in for fun roles, but the most impactful addition would easily be Justin Theroux as a mysterious, initially unnamed businessman and futurist. Theroux embodies his character perfectly and imbues him with an air of unctuousness, oily arrogance and intelligence, instantly making him a delightful presence in an already strong cast. Speaking of which, Season 2 also gives previously underutilised cast members a platform to shine by spotlighting their characters, with Frances Turner as Barbara and Annabel O’Hagan as Stephanie turning in great work in the later episodes of the season as their characters receive more shading and dimension. However, the biggest beneficiary of this aspect of Season 2 is Kyle MacLachlan, who nails Hank’s sincere belief in the necessity of the extreme actions that he takes. MacLachlan seems to have run with the adage that “every villain is the hero of their own story” and delivers a great portrayal of Hank as a man who genuinely believes in the kindness of his evil, with his performance breathing life into the extremes of Hank as both a kind, loving father and as a cold, ruthless strategist. He turns in some exceptional and layered work in the last few episodes of the season, with a particularly affecting moment in the finale.

As for the performers playing the main trio of Fallout, Moten draws the short straw this season; he is entirely missing for 2 of the 8 episodes but still delivers solid work with what he has been given, ably playing Maximus’s continuing journey of disillusionment and resolve to do better. Walton Goggins fares much better in comparison, getting consistently meaty material across the season as both the Ghoul and Cooper Howard. As the former, his chemistry with Purnell continues to sparkle and makes for a lot of fun, and it proves rewarding to see how his continued interactions with Lucy end up affecting him as the season goes on. Goggins continues to play the Ghoul with a charismatic swagger and confidence which is enjoyable to watch, but this season also pushes the character to his limits. Goggins is an actor that thrives on extremes, whether it is playing actual fear or a deep regret, and this season he manages to deliver a truly impactful performance often with his eyes alone. As Cooper Howard, he also does great work this season, with the flashback material this season allowing him to portray a good man struggling with a difficult moral quandary and dealing with betrayal.

For my money, though, Ella Purnell is the performer from the main trio who shines the most this season. Despite being rather disappointingly benched for the opening few episodes, with the show clearly suffering as a result, Purnell still proves to be the show’s MVP as she delivers astoundingly varied and layered work across the season. The delightful optimism that she brings to Lucy continues to be a rich source of comedy, while in episodes 4 and 5, she gets to play a completely new dimension to the character. Purnell is finally able to flex her comedy chops, stealing the show with killer tics and line deliveries which are absolutely delightful. But beyond that, she also pulls off great emotional work in the latter half of the season, really managing to convey and make the audience feel the tragedy of the situation that Lucy faces with Hank. There is an especially stellar turn in a finale scene that is the lynchpin of Lucy’s emotional arc this season. In season 2, Purnell portrays Lucy as a somewhat wiser figure given all that she has experienced from the first season’s events, ensuring the weight of her adventures is apparent while still retaining the lightness and optimism that made her such a delightful character to be introduced to this world with. When tasked with playing the heavier emotional beats of anger, betrayal, regret and sadness that Lucy experiences over the course of the season, Purnell proves herself as a bona fide star in a truly complex performance that is worthy of praise.

Despite all these positive aspects, Fallout Season 2 is ultimately hampered by inconsistent writing which excels in some areas while falling short in others. On a positive note, the show continues to excel in its use of flashbacks, with especially excellent ones involving Maximus in episode 2 and Stephanie in episode 7 that manage to tell hugely compelling stories in a limited time. The material between Cooper, Barbara and Theroux’s character in the flashbacks also proves to be very engaging. The stretch from Episodes 4 to 7 also offers up genuinely good television with the show pushing characters and the relationships between them in fresh and interesting ways, while also injecting narrative propulsion into a season that had been somewhat slow up to that point. 

This however points out the biggest issue of Season 2 of Fallout, which is that an 8-episode season with 4 genuinely good episodes just is not enough to make for a compelling or satisfying season of television. Episode 1 is a solid set up for the season, but the next two episodes retread narrative ground for characters like Maximus and Lucy. The latter feels especially sidelined in those 2 episodes, resulting in an opening stretch of episodes that just feels slow and misses a certain spark. While the subsequent episodes then prove to be a hugely welcome jolt in the arm and return to form, the finale puts a dampener on all that good work, serving as a setup for Season 3 and bringing in fanservice from the games instead of working as a good conclusion for the story that Season 2 was telling in the preceding episodes. The season abruptly halts several storylines without providing a satisfying conclusion to them, most glaringly spending Episodes 2-4 setting up a conflict which never gets brought up again until the end credits scene in the finale. The finale also features a reunion between characters that ends up feeling lacking in emotional power because only one of them expressed any form of desire for a reunion over the course of the season. It was the first time that the show felt actively unfriendly towards viewers who had never played the games before, as it features a significant amount of game fanservice that displacrd the work done by the show on its own. Furthermore, while the finale manages to put most of the show’s characters in interesting emotional places for Season 3, the stakes that it sets up for the world end up feeling only vaguely ominous. This was likely to give the writers wiggle room to change their plans, but it has the unfortunate effect of not very compelling, instead of being clearly defined and engaging.

Overall, Fallout Season 2 proves unable to escape the dreaded sophomore slump. While it still retains its unique tone, excellent production value and stellar ensemble—with standout turns from Walton Goggins, Kyle MacLachlan and especially Ella Purnell—the season ultimately proves to be hampered by uneven writing. A strong middle stretch of episodes proves unable to make up for a slow start and a disappointing finale which ends up making Season 2 feel like an incomplete meal.

6/10