The big picture: After the well-received first season of Fallout, the series adapted from the video game of the same name, fans were ecstatic when they found out that Season 2 had been greenlit. But after checking out the trailer, we may have been too hasty. The trailer is solid, looks great, and even stands up to repeated viewings, so it’s not that the trailer was bad. It’s just that the world of Fallout, as depicted in this show, seems rather one-note.
The paradox: We’ve already seen these beats in the first season. Same bleak landscapes, same mission quest to carry out some vague plan. Same gross-out zombies and unexpected radiation monsters. But this time it’s no longer a surprise, we’ve already been here. And while most viewers love the pairing of Walton Goggins and perma-wide-eyed innocent Ella Purnell, the trailer doesn’t seem to be giving them much new to do.
The bottom line: Most of the newness seems to come from the new cast members: Macaulay Culkin and Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley, Marvel’s Eternals), along with more screen time for Season 1 veteran Zach Cherry (Severance). The new faces are great, but they primarily serve as quirky add-ons. None of them appear to significantly raise the stakes or add a new color to the series.
If you’re going to add known actors to the cast, why not go big and really get us invested beyond our existing interest? They’re all great actors, but this doesn’t feel like “enough” to put Fallout Season 2 on the calendar as a must-watch when it drops on December 17.
