We’ve had enough time to properly watch and absorb everything about the first season of Amazon’s Fallout series. With that, we thought it was worth taking a ranking of all Fallout season 1 episodes to measure the best parts of this massive post-apocalyptic adaptation. This really isn’t a ranking of good to bad, but more like excellent to great.
As you can tell, this will be pretty spoiler-heavy, so proceed at your own risk.
8. Episode 3: The Head
Overall, I appreciated this episode for giving more background on Cooper Howard/The Ghoul, even if it was much less than episode six. Outside of that, though, it kind of feels like the episode where the least important things happen. Not that I mind the whole debacle with the head; it just feels like it doesn’t completely move the plot forward.
However, it does allow for a bit of catharsis with Maximus as he is able to get a little bit of revenge for the way his peers mistreated him. Out of all the characters, this episode ends the worst for Lucy, which is probably partially why I didn’t like it as much as others. It’s hard seeing her fail in the wrong direction purely due to ignorance about some of the more colorful wildlife.
7. Episode 5: The Past
This episode has probably my favorite stomach-drop moment: when everyone gets a look at the magically clean Vault 32. It’s such a solid tension builder, especially after two separate episodes already showed off how utterly wrecked the place was. Watching this episode while knowing the secret behind the Vaults lessens the surprise but still presents a solid mystery.
The other definite highlight is when Maximus and Lucy encounter the two strangers on the bridge, which becomes a weird game of unsteady trust. Ignoring the fact that the other couple broke that trust, I can easily see this being a common occurrence in the wasteland.
6. Episode 4: The Ghouls
After more than one episode that made Lucy look rather hopeless, it was nice to see her finally do something cool. The Mr. Handy that the organ traders use is also perfectly recreated/rendered in the series, and the effects are undeniably cool. Overall, the Fallout franchise has never been direct on what causes a ghoul to go feral, so implementing a special drug is a fun touch.
The meat of this episode is that while Lucy is readily hardened by her experiences, she isn’t losing her compassion. This was certainly a middle-of-the-road episode in terms of plot progression, but the character evolution is well done.
5. Episode 2: The Target
Finally, the show introduces its cutest cast member, and we get to see the origins of CX404/Dogmeat. Though this dog isn’t the same as the one in Fallout 3 or 4, it does at least carry the series’ tradition of being the best companion. The other thing this episode does well is show the appropriate level of gore in the gunfight scene. Nothing says Fallout more than over-the-top grisly wounds!
As for content, this episode was great in only further mysteries and a couple of new dimensions to Lucy. It felt like the whole point of this episode was for Lucy to get a stark look at how different the surface is and start seeing how she’d need to adapt to survive. We also see Maximus start to take his destiny into his own hands as well, by taking over for the abrasive knight he was supposed to serve.
4. Episode 7: The Radio
I honestly consider this episode to be the one with the most setup for season two, even over the finale. Thaddeus getting the mystery concoction to heal himself like Wolverine and that business with Vault 4 are things I fully expect to be front and center when the series returns. Though, we also don’t know who killed some of the raiders.
This episode also features one of my favorite jokes when Norm goes to hack into the Overseer’s terminal, and he gets hit with the hacking minigame. However, I was kind of bummed when he didn’t waste three of four tries and then quit to restart it. I liked the really tense atmosphere of this episode, because you can tell you’re about to learn something earthbreaking.
3. Episode 8: The Beginning
The fact that the terrific finale isn’t even the best episode definitely shows the series’ quality. It does a wonderful job wrapping up confusing threads while leaving new cliffhangers to be solved whenever season two is released. This episode provides a huge turning point for each of our protagonists, and each one is a far cry from where their stories started.
All major reveals saved for this episode hit at such a pleasing pace that I was still infinitely curious and nicely satisfied by the end. Fallout ends in a very specific way that clearly shows a second season was always going to happen. Too many cards are still on the table, from the hint at New Vegas at the end to Norm’s unknown fate.
2. Episode 6: The Trap
After far too many episodes, things finally wrapped back around to more of The Ghoul/Cooper’s origin. Though we got pieces with the start of Fallout 4, this is the most we have ever seen of the world before the bombs dropped. It felt like getting a peek behind the curtain as more of Vault-Tec’s motivations and origins were exposed.
This episode also did a good job of lightening things up after the plot took a pretty heavy turn in the last few episodes. It provides excellent misdirection with the Test Subjects label on the room housing Lucy and Maximus, and the weird mutations of the inhabitants appear to get worse. The series might have ended with Hank McLean heading to New Vegas, but I think what Lucy experienced in Vault 4 will return.
1. Episode 1: The End
Despite how good other parts of the season were, there simply isn’t any way to top the first/pilot episode. After all the hype and waiting, Fallout started off strong by starting when the bombs fell. From there, it was easy to get hooked on the excellent set design that truly felt like a vault come to life.
The slow pace of Lucy’s story felt almost perfectly like the start of Fallout 3, and you get to watch a vault fall apart in real time all over again. Between the shock reveal of the raiders and the gruesome action scenes, the Fallout look and feel were in full swing. This earns top rank as it is the perfect setup episode and easily solidified the tone of the rest of the season. The characters start out so vastly different from where the season goes, but the first episode entirely nails the atmosphere of the franchise.
