The Fallout TV Show Hid a Deep Cut to the Games It Never Expected to Be Noticed
The crew of Fallout's TV adaptation clearly had as much fun making it as its viewers did watching it - which probably influenced its success.
- Fallout's TV adaptation had a lot to like for fans of the franchise and newbies alike.
- The show's head of makeup ignored Nolan's order to not create exact replicas of in-game elements, managing to sneak in a reference to an obscure character.
- While he believed he had gotten away with it with the show's crew, viewers caught on to his stunt almost immediately.
Bethesda’s Fallout franchise has enjoyed an immense following over the years considering how each game’s narrative and mechanics allowed players to experience a dystopian world full of danger and nuanced characters that they remembered long after rolling the credits on each title.
Prime Video’s adaptation of the games was praised for capturing their essence while putting its own creative spin on a live-action version of the Fallout universe that had fans of the games beaming with delight at how well the show managed to bring some of its best story beats to life.
Bringing the Best of Fallout to TV Screens
While Jonathan Nolan managed to avoid the pitfalls of attempting to make an adaptation that was not true to its source material – a challenge that Halo’s foray into live-action television failed to overcome – a member of his team did manage to defy his insistence to not “carbon copy anything” from the games.
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The Fallout crew member in question is none other than Michael Harvey, head of makeup on the show who simply could not resist sneaking in a reference to the games that managed to escape the eagle-eyed scrutiny of the producer who was a massive fan of the games as well. His recreation of an obscure character from Fallout 4 may have gone unnoticed if not for fans of the franchise who immediately spotted his little trick.
Fallout Fans Are a Force to Be Reckoned With
Speaking to PCGamer, Harvey described how his costume designer Amy Wescott dressed up an actor to resemble Cricket from Fallout 4. While the more casual Fallout fan could be forgiven for not remembering Cricket, a wandering merchant found outside Diamond City and Vault 81, Harvey expressed surprise at how easily fans of the franchise caught on to his reference.
Speaking about how Fallout fans took to Reddit to point out the reference, Harvey expressed his astonishment at the fact that he was so easily called out on his stunt despite the reference passing under the noses of the entire adaptationś crew, stating that:
“[Nolan] didn’t catch it. The writers didn’t catch it. But boy, Reddit caught it, and they went wild for it. They went nuts over it, and they’re like, ‘We know exactly who that character is. We can tell you what game, what map, and what that person was.’“
While the character was named Rink on the show and appeared in a tense scene with Lucy and Max as they attempt to pass her and her partner by without having to resort to violence (things certainly do not go the way Lucy wants), her likeness to Cricket is nigh unmistakeable once the two characters are compared.
Harvey and Wescott even managed to recreate Cricket’s distinctive make-up, which makes it all the more fascinating that they managed to pull off such a feat right under Nolan’s nose.
It was a clever move by Prime Video to select a crew that had so much knowledge and love for the games that inspired its show – which allowed it to shine where other adaptations have tried and failed.
