Fallout Season 2 Review: The Wild, Wild Wasteland

Bleak, bold and devilishly fun, Fallout Season 2 continues the video game adaptation’s success with more thrills, more comedy, and more exploding heads.

This mean, lean amalgamation of warming nostalgia and refreshing uniqueness ensures its another wild ride through the American wasteland.

The first season ended with multiple cliffhangers: Lucy (Ella Purnell, Sweetpea) set out with The Ghoul (Walton Goggins, The White Lotus) to track down her father, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan, Blue Velvet); Maximus (Aaron Moten, Disjointed) awoke from a serious injury suffered whilst serving the Brotherhood of Steel; vault-dweller-turned-detective Norm (Moises Arias, Monos) found himself imprisoned in a large chamber by a weird brain sitting in a glass machine. Season 2 of Fallout answers many of these questions whilst also positing new ones, constantly one-upping itself with a barrage of mysteries and betrayals. It can be a lot—in particular, the first episode feels scattered—but on the whole, every component of this whacky world is woven together impressively. 

Part of why these many elements coalesce so well is because of how Fallout embraces the weirdness of the video games. Starting in 1997 with Fallout, the post-apocalyptic franchise has grown into a mammoth series, surging in popularity further in 2010 with Fallout: New Vegas and 2015 with Fallout 4. All of the games are set across different parts of the USA, but each one retains that whacky core that is so explicitly important to its continued success. Season 2 of Fallout continues to revel in the unique retrofuturistic setting of 1950s USA, with every element, from Howard Cumming’s (Westworld) production design to Dayna Pink’s (Lovecraft Country) costume work, adding to the immaculate on-screen worldbuilding. 

It is a dream made in heaven for any fans of the video games; so many little details pepper the screen at various points that you might find yourself rewinding to bathe in the referential comfort of it all. But Fallout also excels at welcoming those who are fans solely of the TV show—it is by no means a requisite for enjoyment to have played even one of the Fallout games. That’s because, aside from the show’s tremendous eye for detail, it is just an absolute blast with some top-of-the-range acting performances and incredibly amusing writing.

Fallout’s script is witty and quick, delivered with aplomb by this vast array of main and supporting characters, extending from series leads such as Goggins to smaller characters like Thaddeus (Johnny Pemberton, Son of Zorn). Goggins is the outstanding performer here as The Ghoul and his pre-nuclear counterpart Cooper Howard, but everyone from Purnell to Moten to MacLachlan is so incredibly compelling. Moten expands on his slightly awkward character of Maximus further in this season, adding more humanity to the character. Newcomers such as Justin Theroux (The Leftovers) as Robert House also shine. Everything in Season 2 of Fallout is delivered with a sparkle in the eye and one (or two, or three) sly winks. The show knows its uniquely silly trappings, and rolls with them.

Some of it can be a bit too outlandish. A sideplot involving Caesar’s Legion is underwhelming, a slight misstep compounded by weaker costume design and lore-building surrounding the infamous faction. Ultimately, Fallout operates smoothly and clicks through its ghoulish, outlandish gears seamlessly. It is never clear where each episode is going to go next. Perhaps most impressively considering the over-the-top nature of so much of its world, we care deeply about or deeply despise each character. Where episodes 7 and 8 take us is anyone’s guess, but it’s sure to be very weird and very wonderful.

The Season 2 Premiere of Fallout will be available to stream globally on Prime Video from December 17, 2025, followed by weekly episodes on Wednesdays with the Finale on February 4.