TV Series Review: Fallout – Season 2 (2025)

Continuing to be one of the best examples of a video game being turned into a live action TV show, Fallout returned at the end of 2025 and rolled into 2026 with its second season. A second season filled with thrills, twists, comedy, action, and even some horror. A second season that nails the three ‘Bs’ of a sequel. Bigger, bolder, and better, and all because it is a season with constant forward motion and it is a season that expands the world, not just the characters.

I thought it was an excellent season that left me excited to see what season 3 will hold (already renewed by Amazon). Not just as a fan of the post-apocalyptic Fallout game series, but as a fan of the first season. I said it in that review, and I will repeat it here, Fallout’s success (as many video game adaptions do) hinged on its appeal to a mainstream audience unfamiliar with the game series as well as those who are love the Fallout world. Rarely are the two sides balanced, but Fallout: Season 1 did an excellent job of it.

Now, I don’t actually think Fallout: Season 2 is quite as balanced, being a bit more ‘game’ orientated, but thanks to the world building and character work done in season 1, it’s not likely to put off anyone who hasn’t wandered the wasteland.

One of the major reasons why it is more game orientated is that this season introduces New Vegas. Which is a location all Fallout game fans will be familiar with (yes, I do think New Vegas is the best game too) and features many plot points, areas, and characters from that game. One of which is Robert House, played by Justin Theroux.

His character is a major part of season 2’s overarching story which sees returning characters Lucy the Vault Dweller (Ella Purnell) and Cooper Howard the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) journeying to New Vegas together. The former, to capture her father Hank (Kyle MacLachlan) and bring him to justice, and the latter, to hopefully find his wife, Barb (Frances Turner) and daughter in a top-secret vault.

Elsewhere, Maximus (Aaron Moten) continues to find himself torn between his morals and sense of duty to the Brotherhood of Steel. Norm, Lucy’s brother (Moisés Arias) is finding out just how deep the vault conspiracy goes, and a ton of returning characters (and new ones) help shape a very entertaining world.

It might all sound too much, but the individual stories of the major characters are well balanced, and no-one seems to get more screen time than most. Aside from Walton Goggins’ Cooper Howard, who gets to spend a significant portion of the show out of the Ghoul makeup. Thanks to an expanding backstory that brings Robert House to the table and shows just how broken the system was way before the wasteland was ever a thing. One of my favourite parts of season 2 was the deepening lore of the world pre-bomb. The character of Cooper Howard and Walton Goggins was on incredible form here. Not just as the pre-bomb character, but as the post-bomb Ghoul and all because his character grows.

This is how you do it. If you want us to stay invested, your characters must grow and happily, he isn’t alone. Lucy, played with vigour and lovable heart by a brilliant Ella Purnell, is so much stronger this season and all because the Wasteland has changed her. She is surviving, having to make tough decisions, while ensuring her moral compass always points in the right direction. The aspects of her personality that many didn’t like in the first season (overly peppy) is still present, but not as obnoxious and she’s far more capable of holding her own alongside the Ghoul while on a mission to stop her father. All the characters grow and change over the season, but her development might be the most significant.

Whereas Maximus begins the season stalling as a character, by the end, his starts to feel like one of the most important. Expanding (there’s that word again) beyond the Brotherhood of Steel and finding a new, more important path to take. Aaron Moten is a great dramatic actor capable of doing some cool action scenes, but when paired with Johnny Pemberton’s Thaddeus, he can be quite funny too. Keep these two together, regardless of what happens with the latter’s limbs.

I could go on and on about the characters, and how even minor ones like Lacerta Legate (Macaulay Culkin) of Caesar’s Legion (yes, they’re in it – amongst many other factions) are memorable. That’s how strong the writing is overall, meaning even when the road trip storyline and Vegas aspects stutter occasionally, the characters keep you invested.

Rarely did I find myself uninvested though as even slow moments are filled with a treasure trove of video game references. It’s constantly so much fun to be pointing out all the nods to the Fallout gaming universe. It’s also a ton of fun to sit back, unchain the brain, and just enjoy some of the action the show has to offer. There’s plenty to enjoy, some of which is humans being the worst, as per usual, but there’s also plenty of other kinds of action. Some of which extends into the horror-verse. Such as the Radroach slaughter and the arrival of Deathclaws. The latter is part of a thrilling action sequence with Maximus and while it is brief, I was very pleased to see that Super mutants are coming into the show.

Over the eight-episodes of the show, I was never bored and by time the final scenes played out, and that iconic music rung out, I found myself craving the next season, but not thinking about firing up Fallout: New Vegas. That’s the sign of a good show and a sign that it’s going beyond the gaming aspect for me. I’m not just enjoying Fallout because I like the Fallout world, I’m enjoying Fallout because it is a well-made show. Great stories, great characters, great visuals, great sound, and great growth. Roll on season 3.