Fallout: The Complete Second Season: A Step in the Right Direction for the Popular Adaptation (4K)

The Show:

When the long-awaited & highly-anticipated adaptation of the popular "Fallout" video game series premiered just two years ago, the result was a somewhat surprising mixed offering that had fantastic production value, but faltered a bit when it came to its writing. That is to say, it seemed to take quite a while to get its various storylines moving, and even when they finally did, it still had a little trouble keeping focus on the ones that were most important.

As we come to the show's sophomore outing, the hope was that the showrunners would learn from their past mistakes and sharpen things up a bit by concentrating on its primary plot, while trimming the fat that really didn't need to be there. With all the gears already moving after the first season, one would assume that this would be somewhat easier, but with an ever-expanding world of material, will they be able to keep it all under control to deliver a more satisfying experience?

As season two begins, we find Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) and The Ghoul (fka Cooper Howard) (Walton Goggins) still trying to track down Lucy's father, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan). They manage to track him to an abandoned vault, where they discover that a secret experiment involving an implanted device was being carried out by Vault-Tec in order to brainwash people into becoming communists. We clearly see that the experiment was not going well, but this doesn't deter Hank, who, upon arrival at a secret facility in New Vegas, begins to experiment with the device once more.

Meanwhile, a potential Civil War is brewing among the factions of The Brotherhood, with Elder Quintus (Michael Cristofer) calling together various leaders to discuss fighting against the powerful Commonwealth with the cold fusion technology, a situation that Knight Maximus (Aaron Moten) inevitably gets drawn into. Other plotlines this season include Norm (Moisés Arias), Lucy's brother, simply trying to survive after discovering the secret of the Vault 31 executives, a water-shortage crisis in Vault 33 that leads to certain revelations about Vault 32's overseer, and the continued backstory of Cooper, who finds himself entangled in Vault-Tec's plot to destroy civilization.

As it was with the previous season, the overall success of the show is going to depend upon how well-balanced & how well-developed the various storylines are. Again, the showrunners (Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet) had a little trouble doing this in season one, with certain storylines dragging the show down, and pretty much all of them taking quite a while to get going, but now that they are, one would have to assume that it's smooth sailing as we come into the second season, right?

Well, on that score, it's not quite as easy as one would hope. We once again find quite a mix of storylines that clearly feature some that are much stronger than others, as well as ones that feel as though they are nothing but a distraction from the far more interesting sections of the overall narrative. One of the biggest problems with the first season was the strange insistence of keeping the vaults in the loop, even though nothing particularly interesting was happening there. Sadly, we find this same problem in this season as well, with subplots about Vault 32's mysterious overseer & Norm digging into the mystery of Vault 31 adding very little to the show, not really getting anywhere while doing it, and ultimately just dragging it down as they did before.

That said, luckily we have three other storylines that are much stronger, including Lucy & The Ghoul's continued pursuit of her father, potential war brewing inside The Brotherhood, and more flashbacks that fill in the missing pieces regarding how things got to where they are. The first of these, which is basically the primary plotline, remains fascinating as we discover that Hank is working on a kind of mind-control device, which presents an intriguing conundrum for Lucy later on.

Meanwhile, The Brotherhood, whose storyline last season had been one of its least-interesting aspects, does a complete 180 and gives us a far more compelling result involving power struggles within the group. Finally, we have the flashback portion of the show, which had been the first season's best section by far. For season two, it wanes here and there, but still provides a rather captivating look at the events that are heading toward the inevitable dropping of the bombs, once more giving us a little bit of relief from the wasteland and a chance to see Walton Goggins shine in human form.

All things considered, this season balances out to a slight recommendation, with the much more substantial & compelling storylines outweighing the two that are mere stragglers. This brings with it the hope that the showrunners will quickly dispense with the latter when it comes to planning the third season, which would help bring better focus to the stronger parts of the show. This latest season certainly marks a step in the right direction, but now it's time to truly focus on what makes the show work as well as it does, for with a few tweaks here & there, and the aforementioned trimming of the fat, the upcoming third season could finally unleash the full potential of what this adaptation could be.

Video/Audio:

"Fallout: The Complete Second Season" comes to 4K in 2.39:1, 2160p Ultra High Definition transfers of marvelous quality. The picture is beautifully sharp & crisp throughout each of the eight episodes, perfectly highlighting the show's various designs & multitude of visual effects. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos-TrueHD audio tracks are outstanding, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in excellent quality. Overall, MGM has done a wonderful job in both areas for the second season's physical debut.

Special Features:

"The Strip" Commentary by Actors Kyle MacLachlan and Aaron Moten

Welcome Back to the Wasteland (2 Minutes): A very brief look at the second season, featuring sound bites from the cast & crew.

New Vegas (3 Minutes): Another very brief featurette that has the cast & crew primarily discussing the production design.

Fallout Fake Talkshow (9 Segments, 22 Minutes): A collection of awkward segments that has members of the cast going on a fake talkshow.

RobCo Animated Series (6 Segments, 8 Minutes): A collection of animated segments about the show's fictional company.

Fallout: The Ghoul Log (90 Minutes): A bizarre inclusion that's a combination of a fake radio program & music, all presented with an arm being used for firewood as the backdrop.

Conclusion:

"Fallout: The Complete Second Season" presents a step in the right direction for a series that had a little trouble getting started with its debut season, with its stronger storylines outweighing the weaker, superfluous subplots, and giving us the same fantastic production value that continues to make the show a remarkable visual marvel. There most definitely remains a lot of room for improvement, but ultimately it's good to see that the showrunners have discovered how intriguing this show can be when its more compelling segments take precedence.

Score: 3.5/5

Available on 4K starting today.

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