Prime’s sophomore season of Fallout has now concluded! Unlike the previous season, this second entry opted for a weekly release schedule, which I thought was for the best for this trek across the Wasteland. It’s a solid season overall that’s consistent with what’s come before, while also feeling a bit more meandering at times.

The second season of Fallout picks up shortly after the events of the first season and sees our main characters embarking on their own quests within the world. Lucy is now paired up with the Ghoul and is on route to Vegas to bring her father, Hank, to justice for his crimes. At the same time, Maximus finds himself in a pretty precarious situation within the Brotherhood as they teeter on the edge of a civil war after the fallout (heh) of the last season.

Season two does take a bit of time to start, mainly because it feels like it keeps the characters relatively static at the start. The Ghoul is Lucy’s travelling companion and more restrained emotionally than we’ve seen him before, less of a sadist, which does make him feel less unique and memorable, despite showing signs of growth as a character. Things do pick up with him as the show goes on, especially once it really dives into the flashbacks again and fleshes out Cooper Howard’s backstory before the bombs dropped. But we do have to wait a bit to get to the good stuff, which can make the first few episodes feel a bit meandering, especially when taking into account how passive the world feels. Likewise, it doesn’t feel like there’s any closure for his arc this season (and others, to be honest), as he doesn’t end up finding his family, nor does he have any sort of reconciliation, hateful or positive, with Lucy in the end, who did leave him to die in Vegas earlier on in the show. He just bails and leaves her and Maximus to contend with the incoming horde of soldiers making their way to Vegas. Considering he did just save her, it feels weird that he didn’t say some sort of parting message, considering all they went through together. Instead, we got a nice moment between Lucy and Maximus, who were parted for the whole season. But considering Lucy and Coop spent the season together, and his humanity is returning, it felt jarring to me.

For every great moment this season had, it did feel like there were aspects of the story that faded into the background. Norm, in particular, felt inconsequential this time around, which is a shame, as his investigation into the vaults in season one was one of the highlights for me. Maximus is far more stoic and serious this time around, and while he ends the show on a high note, shedding his armour and facing down Deathclaws unprotected, his arc with the Brotherhood’s civil war felt largely forgotten by the time it got started. It was only when the after-credits scene rolled that I was like, “Oh yeah, that subplot”. This happens a lot throughout season two, where plot points feel either inconsequential or end up feeling forgotten. Remember Ron Perlman showing up as a Super Mutant? I didn’t until I started writing this, because the show seemingly forgot about it, too.

But there were some great arcs and characterizations this season. I particularly liked the conflict between Lucy and her father, and how that ended, with him essentially memory wiping himself and reverting to the father she knew, one before the project. Is it real? Probably not, but it’s what she’s been searching for all this time, in some way, shape or form. Cooper’s flashbacks are always great, which deal with the origins of Cold Fusion and Mr. Robert Houses’ schemes and plots. The show also continues to excel at balancing dark and grim realities with laugh-out-loud quirky humour that shouldn’t work, but due to the absurdity of the Wasteland, does. Couple that with the franchise’s love of old-timey needle drops, outstanding set and costume design, and you have a show that’s great to look at, with solid acting across the board, and interesting characters.

But much of this season felt like it was largely there to set up season three. So season two ended up feeling a bit unfulfilling as a result of having plots simply vanish or feeling meandering or inconsequential, and that resulted in a much more uneven season of television when compared to the first season, which was laser-focused. With so many plot points left open-ended, I do worry how season three will handle so many threads, as having too much going on this time around seemed to be what hurt the show the most. But it’s not like season two was bad. It was good, and for fans of Fallout, it was quite fun. But it does feel a bit too bloated now and less focused than it was, and that’s something that needs to be addressed going forward. Let’s hope they can get back on track.