Fallout season two

“War. War never changes,” utters Ron Perlman in his stentorian voice at the beginning of each Fallout game since 1997. However, what actually changes are TV shows, especially the new ones, the successful ones, the popular ones, and the award-winning ones, as each of them sooner or later confronts the ultimate challenge – the highly anticipated second season.

Follow-up instalments aren’t, in most cases, as exciting as the original productions. Perhaps there are some recent exceptions – from Peacemaker to Landman and The White Lotus – but still, we can easily count them on the fingers of one hand. So, what’s up with the new Fallout? In the second season, the old crew is back, ready for even more chaos to ensue. Throughout the new episodes, once again, we go back to the past to learn more about The Ghoul’s (Walton Goggins) horrific origins, follow young Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) in her pursuit of doing good and only good, and root for taciturn Maximus (Aaron Moten), who fights for his position in the Brotherhood of Steel. 

There is a feeling that all of that could have been either reduced to a micro scale (in the first season, we only had three main narratives) or slightly abridged. From time to time, new episodes lose their well-balanced tempo, which has been one of the show’s best elements so far, due to the grand scheme of things. Lucy’s brother, Norm (Moises Arias), becomes a crucial part of the entire series, while Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan) gets much more screen time (a result of the recent turn of events in the show’s finale). But we trust the writers, as we sense, somewhere deep down in our bones, that they know where they are going with all of this. We just have to be patient. 

And it’s not that simple, as Fallout slowly and deliberately reveals its most intriguing secrets. Using the city of New Vegas and the entire lore around it – coming straight from the critically acclaimed game from 2010 – seems like a decoy for the showrunners to keep us all in uncertainty and suspense. During the first episodes, we finally meet Mr House (Justin Theroux superbly imitates the version we know from the game), only to see him during the flashbacks. The creators don’t want to tell us if he is still alive or which ending from New Vegas is canon. 

So we wait, entertained by Fallout’s classic black humour, witty exchanges between the characters, even more action-packed sequences (this time, truly echoing the games), and various character rotations. Mojave Wasteland is still as dangerous as it was 15 years ago. But, it’s great to be back – we players have missed this place more than one can imagine.

Jan Tracz

Fallout season two is released on Prime Video on 17^th December 2025.

Watch the trailer for Fallout season two here: