When “M*A*S*H” came out, the still-ongoing Vietnam War was a sensitive subject that was difficult to directly critique. But while the 1970 film and subsequent TV show were both set during the Korean War, often referred to as “the forgotten war,” that setting was a kind of Trojan horse for addressing the grim realities of the Vietnam War.
Likewise, the “Fallout” games barely ever mention the Republican or Democrat parties or even many real-life 20th-century figures, and they don’t need to. The games are still very openly talking about contemporary issues, sharply satirizing American consumerism and nationalism — while still featuring shadow organizations and soldiers in mecha suits. In the games, pollution, environmental disruption, and the horrors of capitalism are shown to do more damage than any mutated monster. And the comedy lies in how extreme these rather depressing subjects are taken. Thankfully, it seems both aspects made it to the TV show.
“Graham once summed up [the tone] to me as Tarkovsky with jokes,” Nolan said. This is a nightmarish world where every day is hell itself, where everyone wears a mini-computer with a cartoon boy with a huge smile that tells you when you’re near death, so why not laugh along? At the very least, Walton Goggins’ ghoul character understands this, as Wagner describes the character as being a former “singing cowboy” who becomes “ur-nihilist” in the wasteland.
“Fallout” premieres April 12, 2024, on Prime Video.