The best Fallout TV Easter eggs from episodes one and two

From Castlevania to Arcane, Halo to The Last of Us, we’ve been treated to plenty of video game TV adaptations over the past few years – and it’s always interesting to see how their worlds translate into another medium.

Now, we have Amazon’s Fallout adaptation, from Westworld’s Jonathan Nolan and Bethesda itself – and we’ve already been watching.

You can find Eurogamer’s Fallout TV series review online already if you want to know whether the show is worth your time – but for fans, we wanted to call out a few particular moments and Fallout Easter eggs worthy of a bit more discussion from the first two episodes. Please note, there will be Fallout spoilers ahead.

Yellow and blue/Mr Handy/Groknak the Barbarian

The first episode of Fallout begins with The End. Actually. Those are the words that flash up on the screen. But before the end of the end, we are taken to a kids birthday party, where Walton Goggins’ Cooper Howard is on the back of a horse performing some tricks with a lasso. He is wearing blue and yellow – a ironic nod to the Vault Dwellers’ suits to come, as Goggins’ character does not make it into the vault. Also, this family has their own Mr Handy – like Codsworth from Fallout 4, as an example – although we only get to see it very briefly in the background.

My favourite little Easter egg from this scene, however, is Groknak the Barbarian. When the kids settle down to watch a cartoon with their cake, what do they watch? Well, of course Groknak, Fallout’s own parody of Conan the Barbarian. In the games, Groknak the Barbarian is a comic book series. I wonder if the characters will collect them as the show continues?

Fallout’s SPECIAL system

In the Fallout games, your character’s abilities and skills are based on the SPECIAL system. This stands for: Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. We get a little nod to this system when we are introduced to vault dweller Lucy, played by Ella Purnell, in the first episode.

When Lucy is stating why she should take part in the Triennial Trade with Vault 32 to Vault 33’s council, she lists out her various attributes. She is a gymnast (so, agile), teaches American History (which could cover intelligence/charisma) and she is physically very fit (endurance). She hasn’t been so blessed with love, however, but we’d guess this is a nod to her Luck.

Also, of course there are Vault Boy bobbleheads, and plenty of other yellow and blue memorabilia scattered around. I mean, this is Fallout.

Atomic bomb throwback

This one is not so much an Easter egg, as it was a moment I just appreciated. When Lucy and her fellow vault dwellers are besieged by raiders (a staple from the Fallout series), a projector within the vault is destroyed. This projector had been creating the impression of a lush, wide-open corn field within Vault 33, but as it is destroyed, the footage is melted away in a bright, burning orange atomic glow.

Vault 33’s demise mirrors that of the nuclear apocalypse 219 years prior.

Stimpaks

Stimpaks, or stimulation delivery packages, are used in the Fallout series to heal, and Lucy turns to one of these syringes when she is stabbed in the abdomen. To the casual viewer, her recovery may seem extraordinary (she is soon able to run around the vault and fight off several raiders despite the fact she really should be at death’s door. In fact, she should be well through the door, really).

However, the TV series’ Stimpaks are the same as their handy in-game counterparts, whose remarkable properties provide fast healing. After all, as the Fallout games say: “For fast, effective healing of both overall health and every injured body part, nothing beats a Stimpak.”

Dogmeat

It’s impossible to talk about Fallout without discussing the very good pupper that is Dogmeat. A recurring canine character in Fallout, Dogmeat is one of the best video game companions around.

While we don’t get to meet any dog companions in the first episode (though one four-legged friend is seen trotting across the foreground in one scene), we get a hint there may be some in the future. When the Brotherhood of Steel make their exit from the military organisation’s training base, they are given some targets to track down. The image of a man, and a companion. That companion? Well, it only ruddy looks like Dogmeat from Fallout 4 (a German Shepherd).

The second episode starts with a very dog-centric scene, and we meet the dog in question. And, while it isn’t Dogmeat in name, it is still a very good pup indeed. (Also, a vendor later in the second episode is actually selling dog meat, as well as ‘fresh’ iguana).

Creatures

The second Fallout episode gave us a little look at Amazon’s take on Radroaches. These giant, mutated versions of the pre-War species are a common Fallout pest.

Another creature we got a brief look at in episode two was a Brahmin. These two-headed cows (again, mutation) pop up in several of Fallout’s post-nuclear economies. You could say, they are real moo-vers and shakers. And, of course, there was a yao guai, a mutated descendant of the American black bear. As you would expect, he was quite the grizzly customer.

VATS and Junk Jet

Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, or VATS, is a feature in the Fallout series that allows players to slow down time and target specific enemy body parts. We get a little homage to this feature in the second episode of Fallout, when The Ghoul is fighting off advancing would-be bounty hunters.

As The Ghoul fires off one devastating round after another, time slows down for a more cinematic, game-like experience.

Additionally, if you look closely during this ongoing gunfight, you will notice a Junk Jet hanging on a shop’s walls. Junk Jets are heavy ballistic weapons in Fallout that pretty much do what they say on the tin. They jetterson any junk items loaded into the hopper.

This particular Junk Jet is going for 285 caps (with caps being a form of currency throughout the Fallout series).

Jim’s Limbs

Now, this one may be a stretch, but towards the end of the second episode, the character of Wilzig loses a foot and lower leg during that shootout with The Ghoul. However, it is soon replaced by Ma June. She has a box labelled Jim’s Limbs, from which she produces a metal foot before attaching it to Wilzig’s remaining leg (as you do).

When I saw this box, my first thought was of Big Jim, a pipe wrench found in Fallout 4. This particular weapon can be used to cripple a target’s leg.

So, what did you think of the first couple of episodes? Will you be watching the rest of the series as well? Let us know in the comments below.

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