Spoilers for the Fallout Season 2 premiere, “The Innovator,” lie ahead, so read on accordingly.
It’s been well over a year since the first season of Fallout ended and, at long last, the hit video game adaptation has finally returned amid the 2025 TV schedule! As a result, viewers can be reacquainted with Lucy MacLean, Maximus, The Ghoul and more. The series didn’t waste any time pulling fans back into the action either. Early on, in the season premiere, there’s a wild scene involving Lucy and The Ghoul. CinemaBlend spoke about that particular scene with cast member Walton Goggins, who raved about filming it.
“The Innovator” kicks off with a bloody scene that’s set in the distant past and involves the enigmatic Mr. Church (Justin Theroux). Yet the action then shifts to the post-apocalyptic present, where Ghoul (formerly known as Cooper Howard) is about to be hanged by a group of raiders. However, his capture is part of a plan to steal money from the raiders, as Lucy is waiting in a giant replica of a dinosaur nearby with a sniper rifle, with which she’s supposed to shoot the rope and free her partner.
Nothing goes as planned due to Lucy’s futile attempt to bargain with the raiders but, eventually, she frees the suffocating Ghoul, who proceeds to kill the raiders in a gory blaze of glory. While speaking with CinemaBlend, Goggins (who plays the mutant bounty hunter) expressed excitement over filming the bloody battle. The icing on the cake for him, though, was that he was simultaneously able to pay homage to his favorite feature film:
Obviously, it was referencing my favorite movie, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which was omnipresent in the first season as well. But, to be there with Blondie and Tuco, I was the Tuco and, somehow I winded up as Tuco in this scenario. But yeah, it was thrilling and being back in the state of California, filming with a California crew, it was heaven for me to be back to this city that I love so dearly, working with all the artists that live here.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is one of director Sergio Leone’s best westerns and arguably one of the most referenced films of all time. Case in point, Fallout’s season premiere perfectly emulates a scene in which Clint Eastwood’s Blondie saves Eli Wallach’s Tuco by shooting the rope with which he’s to be hanged. Raiders and exploding body parts aside, the show's sweet homage emulates the classic scene almost beat for beat . What’s also sweet is that Goggins appreciates filming with Ella Purnell and co. in California.
Quite frankly, it’s just great to see Purnell and Goggins playing their fan-favorite roles again, and the pair don’t miss a beat during the premiere. At the end of Season 1, Lucy and Ghoul agreed to work together in order to find the former’s murderous father, Hank, and to locate the latter’s wife and daughter. The characters, however, still have an uneasy alliance, given their differing ways of handling business. Still, they’re going to need each other if they want to survive and stop Hank, who – at the end of the episode – is revealed to be getting Vault-Tec back up and running in Las Vegas.
This premiere episode sets the stage for what should be a very exciting season filled with action, drama, social commentary and of course, plenty of blood. Ella Purnell told us that there are some exciting reunions on the horizon. I’m excited to see where the story goes and if further installments include further tributes to other iconic movies.
New episodes of Fallout drop weekly on Wednesdays at 3 a.m. ET/12 am. PT and are available for Prime Video subscription holders.
