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The post-apocalyptic TV series is back to its platform, and it's safe to say that viewers were delightfully shocked by the quality of its first season. By depicting the atomic-age, post-apocalyptic United States through the eyes of three distinct characters, it succeeded in capturing various facets of the gamer's adventure.

We followed vault-dweller Lucy, striving to uphold her morals and learning that the barren landscape made that incredibly hard; Brotherhood initiate Max, the militant faction new recruit, who begins to question his organization's authority and creates a lot of havoc in powered exoskeleton; and the Ghoul, a breakout character who has entirely abandoned any ethical bearings out in the radioactive wastes.

Building Anticipation for the Second Season

The debut season's finale disclosed a major secret about those responsible for the nuclear war that sealed a group of people in bomb-proof bunkers for hundreds of years. It also left plenty of questions open for the next installment – and, now, anticipations are considerably elevated.

“We’ll take ‘not terrible’ – let’s get that on a poster,” quips the show's co-creator.

“Starting the initial season, people were like, ‘Just get it right’,” adds a key figure from the games. “We’re over the moon with the feedback to the show, so this time people are coming in with more enthusiasm and different expectations.”

The Mojave Beckons for the Next Installment

The upcoming season is located in the neon-lit city, the location of the beloved game Fallout: New Vegas, which is widely regarded for having the best writing and characters in the series, despite the fact that it was a bit broken at launch.

“It embodies a arid atmosphere, a Southwestern essence, that’s so essential to that game,” notes the co-creator. “That parched, blasted-out iconic highway vibe of the game is so much fun to translate into the show.”

In the show's timeline, a significant amount of time has elapsed since the events of the New Vegas game by the time the characters arrive there. Nevertheless, the creators suggest that it acknowledges the gamer's experience.

The Importance of Physical Sets

The Fallout TV series is distinguished by its physical authenticity – its makers insisted on real props and locations were built, reflecting the makeshift nature of the towns in the games.

“As a sci-fi fan, so many shows I watch, I’m aware that they’re all standing in front of a digital backdrop,” says co-creator Geneva Robertson-Dworet. “The key objective of an adaptation, particularly of a video game, is to seem like it’s authentic.”

In fact, virtually each creature you see on-screen is physical, including the notoriously frightening radioactive creatures known as Deathclaws. In the show, they are brought to life with animatronics, and were by all accounts quite terrifying up close.

A Labor of Love

The Fallout series succeeds because it is developed by talented film-makers who are also passionate gamers, alongside the visionaries behind the video games. This common understanding for the universe is apparent in the finished show.

The second season is launching on a weekly basis rather than as a all-at-once release, offering a different experience from the initial release. This schedule will allow for a different audience reaction, something the showrunners themselves are eager to engage with.

“It has more depth, it’s larger in scale, it’s wittier, it has a lot of revelations,” teases Howard. “I can't wait to seeing what people think.”