It is with great irony that Fallout, a television show based on a series of video games about the apocalyptic horrors that linger after megacorporations and consumerism go wildly unchecked, premieres this week on Prime Video, a streaming service operated by one of the most powerful tech and retail companies of the twenty-first century. 

And okay, maybe “that’s the joke,” but the joke is made all the much more cruel by the fact that Fallout is good, y’all. Based on the first two episodes presented at a special screening at Shangri-La Plaza’s Red Carpet Cinema, showrunners Geneva Roberston-Dworet and Graham Wagner haven’t just cracked the code on what makes for a compelling post-apocalyptic drama, they’ve done it while paying tribute to nearly three decades of video games.

This isn’t to say that Fallout is a show made exclusively for video game diehards. While series steward Bethesda Game Studios has transformed this plucky CRPG series from the late 90s into a multi-million dollar franchise with a signature aesthetic, the folks at Prime Video and Kilter Films have created an intriguing sci-fi mystery drama set amidst the blasted landscape of a post-nuclear America. It’s for anyone and everyone who loves big-budget TV.

Here are eight reasons why Fallout will most certainly be a hit when all eight episodes drop on April 11, 9:00 AM Philippine time. 

1. A familiar setting but with fresh novel ideas that add to the world

In the lead-up to the show’s premiere, there’s but one remark from Bethesda Game Studios creative director Todd Howard (who also serves as an executive producer on the series) that has stayed with me. A bemused Howard told Vanity Fair, “I sort of looked at [the show] like, ‘Ah, why didn’t we do that?” And it’s clear now from what I’ve seen that Fallout will bring surprises that’ll have fans wondering why they’ve never happened before.

This isn’t necessarily a slight against Bethesda or Howard – okay, maybe a little – but what I’m trying to say is that despite the been-there-seen-that nature of Fallout’s apocalyptic setting and the decades of stories that have been told with it, Robertson-Dworet and Wagner have found a way to throw me up from my seat going, “That’s never happened before, and by god, they’re doing it! Yes!”

2. Get used to Ella Purnell saying “okey dokey” a lot

While there’re inarguably three leads carrying the entirety of Fallout’s inaugural season, its Lucy MacLean who indubitably anchors the whole affair. A “good citizen” of Vault 33, Lucy greets the wasteland with earnest optimism and an unshakable belief in kindness. It’s a personality that could come off as grating over time, but Purnell wears it well thanks to her very precise line delivery and a charm that’s sweet but not saccharine.

Lucy’s catchphrase is “okey dokey,” and it’s no mere quaint affectation but indicative of her resolve to preserve the plucky can-do spirit she brings from her subterranean home to a hostile surface. A pivotal character wonders out loud how the wasteland might change Lucy, but the real question is how her values (and the values instilled in her by Vault-Tec society) endure?

3. A pitch-perfect capture of the franchise’s unique tone and themes

Capturing sunny optimism perfectly for Lucy isn’t trivial, though. One of the things that sets Fallout apart from other apocalyptic settings is its tone. Beyond the retrofuturistic aesthetic of the games is the notion that “America” is a charade of fake smiles and unearned optimism put together by some of the worst forces of society, undone by the atomic fire that extinguishes it all.

And in the post-nuke wasteland, there’s the surreal humor that pairs easily with the madness of survival and, of course, the hushed reverence for the bygone world and the charred remains of that world’s unshakeable belief in an endless tomorrow. Fallout lets viewers know that the powers that be were responsible for the descent into apocalypse and that they doomed future generations to follow to a future of desolation. Hmm, topical!

4. Witness the full control Aaron Moten has over his facial muscles

Perhaps the hardest nut to crack as far as Fallout writing goes is the Brotherhood of Steel, represented here by Maximus, one of its would-be Knights. The Brotherhood of Steel is one of the series’ more iconic factions, identified by the clunky Power Armor worn by its most elite soldiers. They seek to obtain and preserve the relics of the old world, and it’s a creed that Maximus learns can be as silly as it is righteous.

Moten is tasked with the unenviable challenge of communicating Maximus’ initial conviction to the Brotherhood mission while portraying the doubt, insecurity it encounters in the reality of the wastelands before succumbing to ethical compromise. In many ways, he and Lucy overlap in their experience of the wasteland as it is and how it conflicts with their (differing) beliefs in what should be.

5. Yes, there are Easter eggs, and they’re all a natural part of the show

The gleeful shine of Vault-Tec propaganda, the brand iconography of Nuka-Cola, the wearable computers known as Pip Boys, and the reliable Stim Paks are just a few of the many artifacts that appear in the series as references to staples of the game world. But instead of being simply just a-ha moments for you to Leonardo DiCaprio point at the screen to, they exist to ground the series in the same pillars of worldbuilding that the games are built on.

6. You’ll believe Walton Goggins can get the tar beaten out of him

As The Ghoul, veteran character actor Walton Goggins easily gets most of the fun that comes with the world of Fallout. He’s played this kind of character before with aplomb, spitting all sorts of folksy tough guy aphorisms about the world before being thrown around like a limp rag doll and taking the kind of physical abuse that would fell softer folk.

With convincing prosthetics, Goggins gets to bring to life a mutated bounty hunter who doesn’t just kick ass and take names but also gets to play Cooper Howard, a Hollywood washout who’s doing children’s parties before he gets recruited for the Vault-Tec agenda.

7. Tribute is paid to the VATS combat system of the current games

If there’s one cheap thrill that the Fallout TV show isn’t embarrassed about, it’s the extreme violence that’s been a key feature of every game. When you can take a perk called ‘Bloody Mess’ that guarantees every successful combat kill is the most violent one, then it’s no surprise the show sends the viscera flying. And it goes further by replicating the famed slo-mo kills of Bethesda’s games right down to the camera work and sound design.

8. It brings back the pulp horror energy and bleak terror of the original games

If there’s one thing OG fans likely miss from the original late ’90s installments of Fallout, it’s the pervasive sense of dread and anxiety that linger over your travels in the world. The Fallout TV series revisits that. The power armor looks terrifying once more in spite of its clunkiness, and monstrous mutated creatures hide in every corner. Even Ramin Djawadi (who composed music for Game of Thrones and Westworld) who despite crafting an original score for the show, evokes some of the howling terror and fear from the Fallout 1 and 2 music developed by Mark Morgan.