Fallout TV Show Trailer Breakdown: All The Easter Eggs, Game References, And More – GameSpot

By Chris E. Hayner on December 2, 2023 at 1:46PM PST
Hot off the heels of sharing the first images from the Fallout TV show, Amazon has now released the first trailer for the upcoming live-action adaptation of the popular video game franchise. The teaser showcases post-apocalyptic California and the ghoulish, irradiated mutations that can be found within it.
It also introduces the main characters of the series, transfers viewers into a distinctly Fallout-flavored world, and more or less brings the game to life. While the series, from showrunner Jonathan Nolan (Westworld), is not based on any specific game, it is an original and canonical story in Fallout lore.
Still, while we aren’t visiting locations from the games (don’t expect them to wind up at the Washington Monument as we know it from Fallout 3, for instance), there are plenty of nods to the games. From the general aesthetic, the music, the types of characters and creatures and so much more, it’s clear this is aiming to be a faithful take on the world of Fallout.
We put on our superfan hats to document all of the nods, Easter eggs, and more to the gaming franchise. Take a look and sound off in the comments to tell us what we missed!
Fallout premieres April 24 on Prime Video.
A key element that sets Fallout apart from other post-apocalyptic media are the Vaults; underground bunkers scattered across the United States to save what little of humanity they can, each conducting a different social experiment on its inhabitants. For example, Vault 101 in Fallout 3 was designed to prevent its inhabitants from ever leaving. This trailer heavily showcases Vault 33. We are still unsure of the Vault’s unique experiment, and there is also a possibility that other Vaults will be featured in the show.
The player character leaving the Vault is an iconic moment in any of the Fallout games, and the show seems to be replicating that as its protagonist Lucy (Ella Purnell) takes her first steps into an irradiated Los Angeles. It seems at least one of her fellow Vault dwellers isn’t too happy with her leaving, as they call out for her to stop as she exits.
The Fallout games have been set in some of America’s largest cities; Fallout 3 in Washington D.C., Fallout 4 in Boston. As previously mentioned, the Fallout show will take place on the west coast in the city of Los Angeles. In this shot, we see what remains of the Santa Monica pier. Yes, we still want to ride the ferris wheel.
While you fight many human factions in the Fallout games, you also have to face off against mutations that have been irradiated by the fallout of nuclear war. None of them are as abundant, or annoying, as the radroach, and this shot confirms the show will be featuring these pesky critters as well.
Our first look at a character played by Michael Emerson, best known for playing iconic TV show villain Ben Linus from Lost. We don’t know who Emerson will be playing, but at this moment, they are warning Lucy to return back to Vault 33, and are concerned that she is unprepared for life on the surface.
In the Fallout games, the player can bring along companions that they meet on their journey to help face the horrors of the Wasteland. One of the most beloved is Dogmeat, the name of the dog companion that can travel alongside you. In Fallout 4, the Dogmeat’s breed is german shepherd, which is the same breed as the dog featured here munching on a radroach.
The vertibird is a gunship utilized by the Brotherhood of Steel, a zealous faction in the Fallout World that we see plenty more of later in the trailer. The music that starts playing in this shot, I Don’t Want To See Tomorrow by Nat King Cole, is indicative of the iconic design of Fallout’s world. While the games are predominantly set in the late 2200s, and even armageddon occurs in the future in 2077, the culture and technology of that time was frozen in the mid 20th century. That is primarily because in the Fallout universe, the transistor is never invented, so the world is perpetually stuck in the atomic era.
Here we see Aaron Moten’s Maximus. Maximus is a squire in the aforementioned Brotherhood of Steel which, as his position suggests, is heavily rooted in a medieval mentality. Maximus then turns to look at a Brotherhood soldier wearing power armor, another iconic element of Fallout. There are several iterations of power armor, but all the sets we see in the trailer are the T60 model.
It seems as if all hell is set to break loose in Vault 33. Whether this is before or after Lucy leaves the Vault, or how connected this is to the vault’s social experiment, is unclear, but it does seem that we’re going to see a lot of the Vault itself and its residents.
Lucy steps into a human outpost on the surface, cobbled together with scraps, including the hull of an airplane. It then cuts to the ground level of that same outpost, and we get our first look at The Ghoul (Walton Goggins). Ghouls in Fallout are mutated humans that have retained their humanity, but what’s interesting is that Goggins’ character doesn’t have a proper name yet. Whether this is a Mandalorian-type situation, or Goggins’ character’s identity is being purposefully hidden, is unknown at this point. We do know a bit about his life before the bombs, which you can read about below.
This doesn’t look like Overseer Hank (Kyle MacLachlan). Whoever it is, though only has one eye. Was he exposed to radiation? Is this part of the Vault’s social experiment? Is this actually a different Vault? Clearly, something is going on. But we’re going to have to wait to see what is happening.
A robot wheels Lucy on a gurney as she passes an advertisement for Dairy Fresh ice cream. In Fallout, these floating robots are known as Mister Handy, a couple of which can become companions in Fallout 4.
Here we see Overseer Hank, the leader of Vault 33. This shot has, “I’m trapped in a room that’s about to flood with radiation and I can’t get out lest you get irradiated too,” all over it. Classic.
The Brotherhood of Steel is under attack, and a mutated bear, known in Fallout as a Yao guai, gets its claws on a downed soldier.
This isn’t a Super Mario Bros. Piranha Plant. This seems to be an updated design to the mutant creature known as the wanamingo. And yes, the mouth does look like it’s filled with fingers for some reason.
Brotherhood of Steel members look up at a flight of vertibirds and a bigger airship. Considering that the show takes place 9 years after the events of Fallout 4, this could potentially be the Prydwen, the Brotherhood’s airship featured in that game and what is understood to be the last pre-war airship in existence.
A pre-ghoulified Walton Goggins is shown here. We know that before the boms fell, his name was Cooper Howard. But we don’t know much about it. Still, it’s clear that the show is going to flash back to when the nuclear bombs fall, as you can see downtown Los Angeles crumbling in the background.

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