One of the video game developers who worked on Fallout: New Vegas has come to the defense of Prime Video’s Fallout TV show over one major criticism from season 2.
After the first Fallout video game in 1997, there have been several sequels and spinoffs, including Fallout: New Vegas, which centers on a courtier who gets caught up in a fight between government entities. That spinoff’s location is at the center of Fallout season 2. However, diehard fans of the video game took issue with some of the changes.
During an interview on the Human Can Opener Podcast, Fallout: New Vegas director Josh Sawyer directly addressed some of the criticism, particularly when it comes to the dinosaur statue Dinky, which faced a different direction on the show than it did in the video game.
While Sawyer understands why fans were upset, he explained that “the scene wouldn’t work at all because it’s about Lucy firing into the thing or whatever, so I understand why they did it.“
In the video game, Dinky’s back is to the motel, while the show has the statue facing the motel. Due to this change, Lucy MacLean is able to hide out inside the dinosaur’s mouth with her sniper rifle as part of her plan to help The Ghoul.
Unlike certain voices on social media, Sawyer wasn’t “bent out of shape” about it, which he acknowledges might make him a “traitor” in the fandom now.
Looking at the TV show overall, Sawyer believes that Fallout is a “good representation” of the “iconic” moments from the video games, and he’s “very interested” to see where the producers and writers take the storyline next.
In fact, the video game developer would go so far as to call Fallout “one of the best adaptations of a video game franchise I’ve seen,” despite the changes that have been made.
He also praised Justin Theroux’s portrayal of Mr. House, despite some online criticism there as well.
“I remember people were really upset that Dinky has turned around, and I’m like, personally — I get why people get upset about that, but also the scene wouldn’t work at all because it’s about Lucy firing into the thing or whatever. So I understand why they did it. I wasn’t personally really bent out of shape about it. Maybe people will say I’m a traitor to Fallout now or something! I thought it was a good representation of a lot of the iconic stuff that you see in it. I am very interested in where it’s going to go. I think it’s probably one of the best adaptations of a video game franchise I’ve seen to TV or film. And I’m looking forward to the next season.
“What’s interesting though is the plot is like, yes, New Vegas was there, but it wasn’t about the plot of New Vegas. It’s their own plot that they’re charting. Location-wise, I don’t know, but it’s clear that they have their own specific story that they’re telling through all of these areas.”
Aside from Theroux, the cast also includes Ella Purnell, Walton Goggins, Aaron Moten, Moisés Arias, Frances Turner and Kyle MacLachlan. Joining them for Fallout season 3 are Aaron Paul, Emily Mortimer, Manny Jacinto and Thomasin McKenzie.
Sawyer went on to admit that there are certain moments when he’s watched Prime Video’s Fallout and thought, “I don’t know if I would have taken the plot in that direction.” But he doesn’t feel like that’s a real criticism since the series has taken its own path.
The Fallout: New Vegas video game had its own story and narrative, and the TV show is charting its own course, which Sawyer seems fine with.
He actually got the chance to visit the set of Fallout when season 2 was in production. “I got to see the vault and I got to see Freeside. They look like the game. They look really, really close,” Sawyer said, even though the layout wasn’t quite the same.
“I think it’s an amazing adaptation. Like, honestly. I know that the bar is not always very high for TV or film adaptations of video games, but I think it’s one of the best that I’ve seen, certainly. I guess I would say that there are sort of critiques or like personal things where I would say, ‘I don’t know if I would have taken the plot in that direction,’ or, ‘I don’t know if I would have done that with that character,’ but that’s like, any writer is going to look at something and be like, ‘I don’t know if I’d do that.’ I don’t think they’re like real criticisms.
“As far as how Mr. House was handled — I didn’t write Mr. House. I didn’t create Mr. House. That was [lead writer] John Gonzalez to be clear — I love Justin Theroux and I just love him in everything, and I think he was a great Mr. House, personally. I am very interested to see where it goes. I did get a chance to actually see the set in season 2. I got to see the vault and I got to see Freeside [a district of New Vegas in the Mojave Wasteland]. They look like the game. They look really, really close. I mean, the layout is not exactly the same. The same thing with Novac.”
After Fallout: New Vegas, Sawyer went on to work on other video games like Pillars of Eternity, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and Pentiment.
Despite some of the diehard video game fans taking issue with certain adaptation choices on screen, Fallout season 2 actually earned higher ratings on Rotten Tomatoes than the first season, with a 96% score from both critics and audiences (compared to 93% and 95%, respectively, for season 1).
- Release Date
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April 10, 2024
- Network
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Amazon Prime Video
- Showrunner
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Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan
- Directors
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Frederick E. O. Toye, Wayne Che Yip, Stephen Williams, Liz Friedlander, Jonathan Nolan, Daniel Gray Longino, Clare Kilner
- Writers
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Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan
