I’m going to start off by saying that any game in the beloved “Fallout” franchise is decidedly above my pay grade, by which I mean my gaming skills are subpar at best and I wouldn’t make it through two minutes of the gameplay. (I got way too into “Animal Crossing” in March 2020, have asked multiple friends to help me beat tricky “Zelda” bosses, and my favorite game of all time is “Spiritfarer” because you can’t die! You’re already dead!) Still, I loved the “Fallout” TV show when it premiered last year on Amazon Prime Video, despite knowing absolutely nothing about the games beforehand, and you know what? I get it now!

What I mean by that is I always knew “Fallout” was a big deal for gamers, and the first season of the series — overseen by Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet — seemed to delight gamers and non-gamers like me alike. Just as a quick reminder, the world of “Fallout” is sketched out beautifully in the first season, which brought “Westworld” alums Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan on board as directors for a few episodes and introduced newcomers like myself to Lucy McLean, the universe’s heroine played perfectly by Ella Purnell. Though Lucy seems pretty happy in her prescribed, highly regimented life underground in Vault 33 (most folks live underground in various vaults, as it’s now 2077 and there was a nuclear war years prior that destroyed just about everything on the surface), but after her father Hank McLean (an always welcome Kyle MacLachlan) is kidnapped by raiders, Lucy heads to the surface to track him down. On her journey, she meets The Ghoul (Walton Goggins, who scored an Emmy nod for his turn), a man who was once a famous actor named Cooper Howard; now disfigured by radiation, he’s since become a bounty hunter trying to survive in the wasteland.

The first season of “Fallout” did a phenomenal job translating the gaming franchise to the small screen, and it seems to me that we’re in a golden age of sorts when it comes to video game adaptations. Another example? “The Last of Us.”

I know perfectly well that season 2 of “The Last of Us” ruffled some feathers amongst fans of the original video games. Be that as it may, I remain a staunch defender of the HBO series, which was previously overseen by both the games’ creator, Neil Druckmann, and “Chernobyl” showrunner Craig Mazin. (Druckmann has since announced that he won’t return for the show’s third season, as he is prioritizing work at Naughty Dog, his gaming company; presumably, Mazin will continue on solo.) With Pedro Pascal starring as the show’s first protagonist, Joel Miller, and Bella Ramsey playing his ward turned surrogate daughter Ellie, “The Last of Us” became a bonafide sensation when it began it run on HBO at the start of 2023, introducing people unfamiliar with its source material — which also delves into a post-apocalyptic scenario like “Fallout” but focuses on wild, starving zombies created by a cordyceps fungus rather than a nuclear blast — to its world. Plus, it managed to expand said world in unexpectedly touching ways, like delivering what was immediately recognized as one of the series’ standout installments in the form of an episode devoted to the side characters Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett).

Both “Fallout” and “The Last of Us” have incredibly cinematic source material, and creators adapting video games have certainly settled for less. (Yes, I know “A Minecraft Movie” was a major box office success, but to call it creatively bankrupt would be an understatement, right?) Fans of video games and fans of good TV shows don’t have to keep settling, though, thanks to legitimately worthwhile and creatively ambitious adaptations like these two series. Of course, perhaps the most remarkable thing about both of these shows is that they aim to provide the fullest viewing experience possible for both longtime fans of their source material and newcomers, preferring to welcome everyone into the fold rather than alienate anyone unfamiliar with the “Fallout” and “Last of Us” video games.

When I set out to write this article as a fan of the “Fallout” TV show but as someone unfamiliar with the games, I asked a couple of colleagues about the trailer for season 2. To me, it just looks really fun, and I was so pleased to see Justin Theroux in our first glimpse of his character only to learn that said character, Mr. House, is the leader of New Vegas and is a vitally important character in the “Fallout” video games. I think this exact anecdote pinpoints what I’ve enjoyed so much about recent video game adaptations — and here I mean TV shows specifically, as I think they’re often a better option than a movie in that they allow for a longer form of storytelling, similar to a video game. That “Fallout” trailer was exciting for me, and even though I didn’t immediately clock the importance of Theroux’s Mr. House, the fact that his appearance got fans of the video games excited is also really cool! Once again, this is an absolutely perfect way to make all viewers of “Fallout” feel welcome and ready for season 2, as opposed to snidely alienating anyone not already familiar with Mr. House’s existence.

I didn’t necessarily expect to like “Fallout,” and it ended up becoming one of my favorite TV shows of 2024. Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins, two performers who I’ve loved on shows like “Sweetbitter,” “Yellowjackets,” “The Righteous Gemstones,” and “The White Lotus,” are a delight together on-screen, and again, I have to praise how thoroughly and thoughtfully the “Fallout” series builds its central world. (Also, I’m a sucker for a cute dog sidekick. Shoutout to Dogmeat, my favorite gal!) I’m excited for “Fallout” season 2, and I think it’s genuinely awesome that I get to share that excitement with people who know what a Deathclaw is.

“Fallout” season 2 premieres on Amazon Prime Video on December 17, 2025.