Fallout’s latest New Vegas teaser hints at a more complicated universe

[Ed. note: The following contains spoilers for Fallout season 1.]

When the credits roll Stand out In the season one finale, evil father Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan) stalks toward a city on the wasteland horizon. It’s not just any city either. It’s New Vegas – an iconic location from the Prime Video show’s video game source material (mainly the aptly named location). Fallout: New Vegas). So it looks like post-apocalyptic casinos and gun battles at the Hoover Dam are coming our way Stand out Season 2.

Both are worth the hype – as are the many other superficial pleasures surrounding New Vegas. But there is another, deeper reason to be happy about it Stand out comes to the strip for the next episodes. If the games serve as a guide, shifting the show’s focus to New Vegas should also open up the underlying moral framework. In fact, the bright neon lights of New Vegas could provide the gray tones of live action Stand out currently missing.

Do not get me wrong: Stand out Season 1 has a lot of moral ambiguity – just on an individual level. Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell), Maximus (Aaron Moten) and even The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) must regularly choose between what’s right, what’s easy, and what’s easy in a callous world that seems to have no preferences. what feels good. The same doesn’t really apply to the handling of Season 1 Stand outHowever, there are different factions.

Sure, the Brotherhood of Steel is a bit of a mixed bag, and the methods of Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury) and her remnant from the Republic of New California are early on… extreme. But in general: Stand out In Season 1, it’s pretty clear who the good guys and bad guys are. Vault Tec? Bad. The NCR? Good. And if we could get rid of the former and leave the latter behind, the Wasteland could be a Shady Sands-esque utopia, complete with streetlights and streetcars powered by cold fusion.

Image: Obsidian Entertainment/Bethesda Softworks

For Stand out For the purposes of the first season, this binary worldview works. It’s not even a huge departure from some faction-centric storytelling such as: Fallout 3 And Fallout 4. But it’s not exactly nuanced either – even in a world with 200-year-old mutant gunfighters. Choosing a side is black and white; Unless you break out on your own, it’s NCR or bust.

But the New Vegas milieu calls bullshit. While the NCR is a better force than most, their record isn’t exactly spotless. It’s a bit of a land grab and has at least one Mojave Wasteland Massacre up its sleeve. Meanwhile, New Vegas’ other major faction, the Roman Empire’s ruthless cosplayers Caesar’s Legion, is bound to make an appearance Stand out Season 2 – deals with slavery. At the same time, it has a surprisingly well-articulated ethos focused on serving the common good, with some pointed criticisms of the NCR’s shortcomings.

And in the middle is Mr. House: the guy who runs New Vegas himself and who (as you’d expect from a Lord of Vegas) doesn’t lose sight of his cards. He describes himself as an autocrat, but also has a bold, progressive vision for the future of New Vegas. Therefore, you have to know whose side you have to be on Fallout: New Vegas is tough (except for the slave traders; you never on the side of the slave traders). Stand out Hopefully season 2 will follow suit.

Regardless of the status quo of New Vegas in the series’ 2296 setting – the games offer no canonical answer to whether the NCR, the Legion or the House of Representatives are currently in charge – our protagonists are about to enter a world When it comes to picking teams has very real tradeoffs. It’s not as easy as taking out Vault-Tec and waving the NCR flag once you reach New Vegas. There are disadvantages to Lucy and Co. joining a faction. Maybe there are no good factions, period.

It’s a sobering scenario – but also one that can take time Stand outSeason 2 takes the storytelling to a whole new level. So what else is there to say other than “Viva New Vegas”?

Stand out Season 1 is now streaming on Prime Video.