Fallout Season 1 episode 1-2 recap: It's the beginning of the end (of the world)

Episodes 1 and 2 of the Fallout Season 1 on Prime Video are a perfect framework to get this new series started. Even viewers who aren’t necessarily big fans of the franchise will be able to easily understand what’s going on.

It will help to know the series or at least a few games, but I don’t think it’s 100% necessary. However, as a long-time fan, I was glad to sit down and watch the full first season ahead of its official launch.

Episode 1 will set up the show’s premise, while episode 2 will give viewers the overall gist of what everyone is fighting for—that’s one thing that never changes in the Fallout series. Something important will affect the waste, and the various factions all strive to acquire the MacGuffin.

Before you dive into the recap, you can check out our Fallout Season 1 review if you are waiting to make up your mind about watching it.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for the first two episodes of Fallout Season 1.

Highlights of episodes 1-2 of Fallout Season 1 on Prime Video

Fallout Season 1 Episodes 1-2 highlights (Image via Fallout)

Episode 1

Glimpses of the pre-war world
Something is amiss/raider attack from Vault 32. The overseer of Vault 33 is kidnapped
Main characters introduced: Lucy (Vault 33), Maximus (Brotherhood of Steel)/The Ghoul
Lucy makes the most important step as a FO Protagonist: Leaves the Vault

Episode 2

The origin story for this series’ Dogmeat
Reveal of the MacGuffin everyone’s chasing - but not what it does
Maximus gains a Knight and a mission
Maximus gains Power Armor
Doctor reveals he knows far too much
The Great Filly shootout
Lucy gets “ahead”

Fallout on Prime Video: Recap of Episodes 1 and 2

Episode 1

“Just so you know, this was the best day of my life” - Monty

The Fallout series kicks off with a bang, that's for sure (Image via Amazon MGM Studios)

It was really interesting to see a pre-Fallout America in the beginning. I’ll avoid the major details, but this was focused around Cooper Howard, the man who would ultimately become the Ghoul. A once-popular film actor, he was reduced to doing birthday parties for reasons that weren’t explored yet.

Somehow, he survived, and with a 219-year fast-forward, we see the main vault of the show: Vault 33. It’s connected to Vaults 32 and 31, and thanks to a “Triennial Trade,” they pass members back and forth to keep communities fresh and avoid too much interbreeding.

Lucy, the main protagonist, would get married via this system. Everything seemed peaceful and calm despite an air of unease. You could see it on people’s faces. Norm, Lucy’s brother, would sneak into Vault 32 - where these people came from - once there was a discussion of a bad wheat crop.

Lucy's original goal in life was to get married in Fallout (Image via Amazon MGM Studios)

It turns out that it was more than just a failed crop. The Vault was deserted, and an unknown force murdered the original residents. It appeared as though raiders had taken over the Vault, but that’s not clear.

Lucy would get married, and Fallout episode 1 moved on. There was even a brief s*x scene between the newlyweds. Suddenly, the newcomers revealed they were raiders, and many were injured or killed.

The violence was pretty intense, including a raider putting a machine gun in someone’s mouth and pulling the trigger, killing the people behind him. In addition, we saw one of Fallout’s popular drugs, Jet, get used by one of the Raiders.

The leader of the raiders, Moldaver, said Lucy “looked just like her mother” as she kidnapped the Overseer—her father. Meanwhile, Maximus, a would-be squire in the Brotherhood of Steel, seethed at seeing a friend become a Squire. Someone put a razorblade in that person’s boot, for which Maximus took the fall.

The interrogation was an unsettling scene during the Fallout series (Image via Amazon MGM Studios)

Back at Vault 33, Lucy wanted to find her father, but no one was interested. People were too busy cleaning up the bodies and storing the captured raiders somewhere secure. Moreover, it is dangerous outside the Vault. Instead, Lucy, with the help of Norm and Chet (her cousin), would get outside of the Vault.

The Fallout show then panned back to Maximus's interrogation, during which he was instead punished and received Dane's (the person who got razor-bladed) spot. Perhaps what changed their minds was his willingness to die for the cause. He was promoted and made Knight Titus’s squire.

“I do this s** t for the love of the game. …us cowpokes, we take it as it comes.” - The Ghoul

The setting is dark, but we can see The Ghoul clearly in the Fallout series (Image via Amazon MGM Studios)

The final scene of the episode introduced The Ghoul. This scene also showed that the Rock-It Launcher—the gun from Fallout 3 that allows users to pop anything into it and shoot it—is alive and well. The Ghoul was buried alive for unknown reasons.

Two bounty hunters dug him out to try and get him to help on “one last score.” The Ghoul is also a bounty hunter, but he doesn’t do it for the same reasons. He swiftly dispatched the two who were after him in an incredibly violent manner.

Ending Song: Crawl out through the fallout by Sheldon Allman

Episode 2

Sometimes, families didn't want to wait for the bomb to drop in the Fallout series (Image via Amazon MGM Studios)

Fallout episode 2 opened up with the background on one of its best characters: Dogmeat! He’s not called this until much later in the game, but that’s who it is, according to The Ghoul. The dog was raised in the lab with the doctor and appeared to be among a group of canines being trained for military purposes. This doctor kept Dogmeat hidden, as he was likely not supposed to keep the dog.

Why is this scientist on the run right now? Because of this scene. He injected something very important behind his ear and closed up the wound before going on the run. At this time, it’s not clear what this substance is, but it’s important.

The Fallout series then cuts to Lucy looking at a truly harrowing scene. It looks like this building may have been closer to the bomb drops. A family of skeletons sits at a table with a curious bottle on it. It’s a Vault-Tec branded item, and we’ll find out what it is at the end of the episode.

“Will you still want the same things, when you’ve become a different animal altogether?” - Siggi Wilzig

Bears are still very much dangerous after the Fallout (Image via Amazon MGM Studios)

Lucy would make the mistake of sleeping with a campfire going, which got a visit by Dogmeat and Siggi Wilzig (the mysterious researcher). He joked about cockroaches surviving the nuclear holocaust but then said they didn’t really survive: they adapted.

The scientist doesn’t stick around - he’s on the run, after all. In the morning, Titus and Maximus descend to the ground early to track him down and came across the man’s campfire. An otherworldly growl came from the distance.

Titus demanded Maximus go in first despite having no power armor. This is because doing acts of heroism earns power armor—that and Knight Titus had shown himself to be an unpleasant person. It wasn’t a Super Mutant that popped out; it was a radioactive bear that mauled Titus instead.

“It is a knight’s duty to better this fallen world. You don’t deserve that armor.” - Maximus

The real Knight Titus is kind of a letdown (Image via Amazon MGM Studios)

Knight Titus swore and railed about Maximus, and how the Fallout protagonist was going to be killed for his lack of action. Maximus just watched Knight Titus die and then claimed his power armor and identity. Bringing the target back himself would be his redemption. It was so cool to see this armor brought to life, which has been in every game, including the MMO.

Later, Maximus would save someone’s life in the desert, but it turned out that person was committing a vile act with another man’s chickens. This was all leading to the town of Filly. Lucy arrived, and the little town was reminiscent of Megaton. The major difference was this town had space shuttle remnants instead of a nuclear device.

“The Vaults were nothin’ but a hole for rich people to hide in, while the rest of the world burned.” - Ma

The Town of Filly (Image via Amazon MGM Studios)

Filly was Mad Max meets the Wild West. At best, Lucy was met with disinterest and, at worst, open aggression. The overworld survivors didn’t really care for the Vault Dwellers, and it showed. In particular, Ma, of Ma’s Rarities, explained to Lucy that the Vault Dwellers weren’t welcome. She wouldn’t speak of Moldaver but did state that the scientist, Siggi, was to be taken somewhere, and she was paid quite a lot of caps to make it happen.

However, The Ghoul strolled into town, conveniently also looking for Siggi. Ma offered 1,000 caps to anyone who defeated The Ghoul, which led to an incredible battle sequence. This one was just wall-to-wall violence. I don’t want to spoil the details of this fight because it simply must be seen.

The Ghoul fought everybody, including Maximus, who also showed up in the power armor. Siggi would get a new foot - since The Ghoul blew his off - and Lucy reluctantly agreed to bring Siggi to Moldaver, even though “she kidnaps dads.”

All we need is the head (Image via Amazon MGM Studios)

After the battle, The Ghoul brought Dogmeat inside and healed him while Lucy and Siggi walked through the desert. He revealed he knew Lucy’s name and that if the future was to be secured, he must get to Moldaver—even if it were just his head. He took a cyanide tablet, so he was dying—Vault Tec brand, banana-flavored. It was the same as the bottle on the table earlier in the episode.

Though reluctantly, the episode ended with Lucy revving up a chainsaw sword to take off Siggi’s head so she could get moving.

Ending Song: I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire by The Ink Spots

Final thoughts

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What an incredible start for the Fallout series! It perfectly set up the three primary characters and everyone’s motivations and also showed the Important Thing that people were going to be scouring the waste for. It featured the hallmarks I expected of a television show set in this universe.

We have the Missing Father, The Mysterious MacGuffin, a series of factions tracking it down, and a character who would ultimately become the Wanderer/Survivor—Lucy. The start of the Fallout show was incredibly strong and did a great deal to show just how ruthless and unpleasant the world was after a nuclear holocaust.

The Fallout series was released on Prime Video on April 10, 2024. It is eight episodes long and is absolutely chock-full of references and easter eggs for fans. You can check out other episodes' recaps here:

Edited by Shreya Das