Online Series: Fallout (Amazon, April 10, 2024)

[Unholy Diver]

So I watched more during dinner yesterday and I like what I Saw. I finally got around to finishing the first act of Lucy's story, then they go into the Brotherhood dude who apparently tried to sabotage his friend? Then they went back to Lucy.

As dinner finished I stopped watching but not out of lack of interest. I think the show is good so far.

It is also overlapping well with my Fallout 3 experience right now as I've reached the Citadel and am working with the Brotherhood at the moment. For a woman "Lone wanderer" who left the vault in search of her father this seems quite similar so far

are you watching it in like 7 minute increments?

 

[SimGrindcore]

Is that officially happening? Is it going to be thru Prime also?

I know it has gotten overlooked as it is not as serious as some of the other game adaptations, but Twisted Metal was a fun show as well, it has been a good few years for games being adapted into movies/series

Netflix

 

[Osprey]

Only a few episodes in, I'm struck by similarities to what Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy wrote in Westworld. The Ghoul is The Man in Black, a neo-Western gunslinger in a cowboy hat who terrorizes the world, kills in cold blood and seemingly can't die. There are even flashbacks to when he was a much different, kind and loving person, setting up a mystery about how he lost his humanity and transformed. Then, there's Lucy, who's a lot like Dolores, a shockingly naïve young woman who learns about the real world and how cruel it is for the first time and has to adapt and fight back. Her quest to find her father can even be seen as akin to Dolores seeking out her own creator. Finally, Maximus seems to be a bit like Teddy, her innocent, slightly bumbling sidekick who just wants to do what's right and be a hero. It may all go in a different direction (for example, I don't expect Lucy to end up as Dolores did), but it certainly feels like more than coincidence that there are similarities to Nolan and Joy's last major (and majorly successful) show.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Only a few episodes in, I'm struck by similarities to what Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy wrote in Westworld. The Ghoul is The Man in Black, a neo-Western gunslinger in a cowboy hat who terrorizes the world, kills in cold blood and seemingly can't die. There are even flashbacks to when he was a much different, kind and loving person, setting up a mystery about how he lost his humanity and transformed. Then, there's Lucy, who's a lot like Dolores, a shockingly naïve young woman who learns about the real world and how cruel it is for the first time and has to adapt and fight back. Her quest to find her father can even be seen as akin to Dolores seeking out her own creator. Finally, Maximus seems to be a bit like Teddy, her innocent, slightly bumbling sidekick who just wants to do what's right and be a hero. It may all go in a different direction (for example, I don't expect Lucy to end up as Dolores did), but it certainly feels like more than coincidence that there are similarities to Nolan and Joy's last major (and majorly successful) show.

Excellent insight as always, Osprey. I loved Westworld, but this connection never really occurred to me. Everything fits perfectly as you laid it out, it's actually pretty striking. I guess they're fairly common tropes either way, but like you said it's gotta be more than coincidence with Nolan and Joy specifically.

Been meaning to give Westworld another watch through, maybe this was my sign lol.

 

[HanSolo]

Only a few episodes in, I'm struck by similarities to what Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy wrote in Westworld. The Ghoul is The Man in Black, a neo-Western gunslinger in a cowboy hat who terrorizes the world, kills in cold blood and seemingly can't die. There are even flashbacks to when he was a much different, kind and loving person, setting up a mystery about how he lost his humanity and transformed. Then, there's Lucy, who's a lot like Dolores, a shockingly naïve young woman who learns about the real world and how cruel it is for the first time and has to adapt and fight back. Her quest to find her father can even be seen as akin to Dolores seeking out her own creator. Finally, Maximus seems to be a bit like Teddy, her innocent, slightly bumbling sidekick who just wants to do what's right and be a hero. It may all go in a different direction (for example, I don't expect Lucy to end up as Dolores did), but it certainly feels like more than coincidence that there are similarities to Nolan and Joy's last major (and majorly successful) show.

Not that I don't agree that there's some similarity in core elements but Lucy going to find her dad who has a mysterious past is pretty much a direct homage or rip off (depending on how you want to look at it) to the beginning of Fallout 3. And they did something similar in Fallout 4 with the player character going into the Wasteland to get their son back. It's almost a trope for Fallout at this point.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

The season finale really knocked it out of the park.

 

[NyQuil]

Not that I don't agree that there's some similarity in core elements but Lucy going to find her dad who has a mysterious past is pretty much a direct homage or rip off (depending on how you want to look at it) to the beginning of Fallout 3. And they did something similar in Fallout 4 with the player character going into the Wasteland to get their son back. It's almost a trope for Fallout at this point.

 

[beowulf]

Only a few episodes in, I'm struck by similarities to what Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy wrote in Westworld. The Ghoul is The Man in Black, a neo-Western gunslinger in a cowboy hat who terrorizes the world, kills in cold blood and seemingly can't die. There are even flashbacks to when he was a much different, kind and loving person, setting up a mystery about how he lost his humanity and transformed. Then, there's Lucy, who's a lot like Dolores, a shockingly naïve young woman who learns about the real world and how cruel it is for the first time and has to adapt and fight back. Her quest to find her father can even be seen as akin to Dolores seeking out her own creator. Finally, Maximus seems to be a bit like Teddy, her innocent, slightly bumbling sidekick who just wants to do what's right and be a hero. It may all go in a different direction (for example, I don't expect Lucy to end up as Dolores did), but it certainly feels like more than coincidence that there are similarities to Nolan and Joy's last major (and majorly successful) show.

So like Stephen King's Dark Tower series

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. The desert was the apotheosis of all deserts, huge, standing to the sky for what looked like eternity in all directions. It was white and blinding and waterless and without feature save for the faint, cloudy haze of the mountains which sketched themselves on the horizon and the devil-grass which brought sweet dreams, nightmares, death. An occasional tombstone sign pointed the way, for once the drifted track that cut its way through the thick crust of alkali had been a highway. Coaches and buckas had followed it. The world had moved on since then. The world had emptied.”

 

[NyQuil]

So like Stephen King's Dark Tower series

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. The desert was the apotheosis of all deserts, huge, standing to the sky for what looked like eternity in all directions. It was white and blinding and waterless and without feature save for the faint, cloudy haze of the mountains which sketched themselves on the horizon and the devil-grass which brought sweet dreams, nightmares, death. An occasional tombstone sign pointed the way, for once the drifted track that cut its way through the thick crust of alkali had been a highway. Coaches and buckas had followed it. The world had moved on since then. The world had emptied.”

So like Johnny Cash

 

[beowulf]

So like Johnny Cash

Well that song is from 1971 and King started on The Gunslinger in 1970 lol He was inspired by spaghetti westerns and the poem Child Roland to the Dark Tower came.

In the end the Man in Black theme is not uncommon.

 

[Osprey]

So like Stephen King's Dark Tower series

In the end the Man in Black theme is not uncommon.

My point was that the Westworld and Fallout shows were created and written by the same people, so it's probably not a coincidence that they feature similar antagonists. It's like if Stephen King had written another story about a different but similar character. You'd probably figure that he likes writing about that kind of character.

 

[beowulf]

My point was that the Westworld and Fallout shows were created and written by the same people, so it's probably not a coincidence that they feature similar antagonists. It's like if Stephen King had written another story about a different but similar character. You'd probably figure that he likes writing about that kind of character.

He has lol. I was just saying it is a common type of character is all.

 

[John Price]

 

[zombie kopitar]

Just finished it, I am also playing that Fallout 4 for the first time with ps5 upgrade that released. I can see how fans of the game love it, well written with easter eggs (and I am sure I missed well over half).

But, if we are going to compare to The Last of Us, it's like a C rated show. Maybe that's not fair, but , it had no character development and just had slightly subpar acting and fairly generic arcs. They nailed the aesthetics though, that is 10/10, but stripped down to just the writing I found it very average, and generally not caring about what happens to any of them next season except the vault 33 arc, and I guess by that sentiment Lucy as well, though a little less

I just wouldn't agree with 93% on rotten tomatoes

 

[Osprey]

Just finished it, I am also playing that Fallout 4 for the first time with ps5 upgrade that released. I can see how fans of the game love it, well written with easter eggs (and I am sure I missed well over half).

But, if we are going to compare to The Last of Us, it's like a C rated show. Maybe that's not fair, but , it had no character development and just had slightly subpar acting and fairly generic arcs. They nailed the aesthetics though, that is 10/10, but stripped down to just the writing I found it very average, and generally not caring about what happens to any of them next season except the vault 33 arc, and I guess by that sentiment Lucy as well, though a little less

I just wouldn't agree with 93% on rotten tomatoes

I'm only halfway through, but have similar feelings. The aesthetics and dark humor are on point and capture the feel of Fallout, but everything else feels average at best. Despite its unique sense of style, it feels generic in a lot of ways and I've yet to become invested or care about what's happening (a large reason why it's taken me 4 weeks to watch 4 episodes). You mention The Last of Us, and that's an interesting comparison, since both are based on post-apocalyptic games. Both also capture the look and feel of those games. The difference is that The Last of Us had a good story with strong character development and I'm not getting either so far in Fallout. I truly want to love it or even just enjoy it, since I've been a fan of the franchise since 1997, but it's been surprisingly hard.

 

[The Macho King]

I'm only halfway through, but have similar feelings. The aesthetics and dark humor are on point and capture the feel of Fallout, but everything else feels average at best. Despite its unique sense of style, it feels generic in a lot of ways and I've yet to become invested or care about what's happening (a large reason why it's taken me 4 weeks to watch 4 episodes). You mention The Last of Us, and that's an interesting comparison, since both are based on post-apocalyptic games. Both also capture the look and feel of those games. The difference is that The Last of Us had a good story with strong character development and I'm not getting either so far in Fallout. I truly want to love it or even just enjoy it, since I've been a fan of the franchise since 1997, but it's been surprisingly hard.

I mean The Last of Us has a plot it can adapt 1:1. Fallout has never really had that as an option. The games (even the pre-Bethesda games) are sandboxy, and if you try to make one plot of a game "canon", it's just going to get a bunch of nerds all twisted up (hell, it's happening anyway).

That's not to say this is perfect - just that it's very... fine. The setting has to do a lot of the work and they're not targeting the fans (only) with this - to be successful and to justify its budget it has to have wide appeal.

 

[Osprey]

I mean The Last of Us has a plot it can adapt 1:1. Fallout has never really had that as an option. The games (even the pre-Bethesda games) are sandboxy, and if you try to make one plot of a game "canon", it's just going to get a bunch of nerds all twisted up (hell, it's happening anyway).

The plot of The Last of Us was written from scratch for a video game. I don't see any reason why something similarly strong couldn't have been written from scratch for a premium TV series. The fact that the Fallout games aren't known for their stories was an opportunity to use the TV format to tell a better one, not an excuse not to, IMO.

That's not to say this is perfect - just that it's very... fine. The setting has to do a lot of the work and they're not targeting the fans (only) with this - to be successful and to justify its budget it has to have wide appeal.

I think that having the setting do a lot of the work actually limits the appeal to mostly people who already enjoy the setting. Having an engaging story regardless of the setting creates wider appeal (see: Star Wars, LotR, Rocky, etc.).

 

[Osprey]

The PC version of Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition is free to download with your Amazon Prime subscription until June 12th.

Prime Gaming - Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition

 

[HoseEmDown]

I'm only halfway through, but have similar feelings. The aesthetics and dark humor are on point and capture the feel of Fallout, but everything else feels average at best. Despite its unique sense of style, it feels generic in a lot of ways and I've yet to become invested or care about what's happening (a large reason why it's taken me 4 weeks to watch 4 episodes). You mention The Last of Us, and that's an interesting comparison, since both are based on post-apocalyptic games. Both also capture the look and feel of those games. The difference is that The Last of Us had a good story with strong character development and I'm not getting either so far in Fallout. I truly want to love it or even just enjoy it, since I've been a fan of the franchise since 1997, but it's been surprisingly hard.

I didn't play either game so had nothing to go on going in for both shows. For me the last of us started off great but lost me as it went on. I struggled to finish as I wasn't as interested in how the characters and story went on. With Fallout it was the opposite as it started slower but I got more into as the season went on and the characters became more likeable, even Maximus.