‘Fallout’ Borrows From This Classic Sergio Leone Western

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Prime Video’s Fallout.

A lot about Prime Video’s Fallout series screams Western. It has been so since before it ever came out, as the games themselves already draw a lot from the Wild West theme to establish their stories and overall look. The series, however, takes it a step further, drawing on the typical looks and archetypes of the Western genre to tell its own story. For example, it’s impossible not to think of Walton Goggins‘ Ghoul as the typical rogue gunslinger. But it goes way further than that, really, as the series’ narrative takes a page from one of the most emblematic Westerns around: Sergio Leone‘s The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Fallout

Sci-Fi

Action

Adventure

Drama

In a future, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles brought about by nuclear decimation, citizens must live in underground bunkers to protect themselves from radiation, mutants and bandits.

Release Date

April 11, 2024

Cast

Moises Arias , Johnny Pemberton , Walton Goggins , Kyle MacLachlan

Main Genre

Sci-Fi

Seasons

1

Creator(s)

Graham Wagner , Geneva Robertson-Dworet

Producer

Lisa Joy, Jonathan Nolan

Streaming Service(s)

Prime Video

‘Fallout’s Main Trio Are Based on Sergio Leone’s Classic Western

Three strangers wander the wilderness looking for a common bounty, and their fates become intertwined as they approach their goal. This could be the logline for Prime Video’s Fallout, with Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell), Maximus (Aaron Moten), and the Ghoul (Goggins) all looking for Dr. Siggi Wilzig’s (Michael Emerson) head in the Wasteland, but it also describes the plot of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, one of the Western genre’s greatest movies. In Leone’s classic, Blondie (Clint Eastwood), Angel Eyes (Lee van Cleef), and Tuco (Eli Wallach) are also chasing after a common goal, and are willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead.

One of the most notable traits of the Western genre is how it creates most of its own storytelling tools, from typical narrative structures to character archetypes. Leone’s work was responsible for a lot in this sense, with The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly establishing the archetypes for its characters right in its title. None of the characters in the movie are completely nor inherently good, as Westerns rarely explore this side of human nature, but they all fit into one of the archetypes, and this is even pointed out in the title cards. Blondie is The Good, which here means he is simply not as bad as the others, since he is still a scammer and has no problem with killing for no good reason. Angel Eyes is The Bad because he has no problem owning up to his nature. Finally, Tuco is The Ugly because, out of the three, he is the one who conditions his morals to money above all and is concerned with big scores. But those moral archetypes are also not set in stone.

In Fallout, the idea that each one of the main characters fits one of the archetypes set by The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is just as easily observable. In fact, the series even lays it out in clearer terms, since The Good is actually good. Lucy MacLean may be a privileged person who grew up in a Vault and never had to fend for herself, but has a strong sense of morals and is genuinely good-hearted. It’s with the other two that it gets trickier. Based on Season 1, the Ghoul is the best candidate to be The Bad, since he owns up to being bad to the bone until the finale, despite being the best candidate for The Ugly in terms of physical appearance. However, though, Maximus is the one who has more fluid morals, his only clear goal being to not be bullied anymore. He may be a good person deep down, but in Season 1 he cheats and lies depending on how the situation may benefit him.

‘Fallout’ Adds Its Own Twist to the Format Established by ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’

This storytelling format with three main characters has become a staple of the Western genre since The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly came, and it even went beyond it. What’s interesting about other genres dabbling with it is that they always bring new takes, and that’s what Fallout, an essentially twisted sci-fi story, does by adding the element of a post-apocalyptic nuclear dystopia to the fold. This way, the very setting of the series becomes a character in itself.

In an interview with THR, Fallout series creators Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner spoke about how The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly influenced their work, and how their interpretation of the Sergio Leone classic was incorporated into the series. Wagner’s view of the movie’s plot is that, as one spends one’s life wandering the Wild West, one can start out as Blondie — not necessarily good, but strong and determined — and end up as Tuco, with the sole intention of getting ahead of everyone else without having to fight for it. The biggest effect the wilderness has on a person is the decay of the moral compass, with one being prone to falling from being The Good, to becoming The Bad, and, finally, sinking all the way down into becoming The Ugly.

The twist in Wagner’s view is that the wilderness itself has a transformative power over the characters. This may be a personal interpretation of his regarding The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, but it’s visibly true in Fallout — and it’s still occurring. In the finale, for example, the Ghoul, who spends the whole season as The Bad, slowly begins to have a change of heart by offering a partnership to Lucy. Maximus, on the other hand, is left behind (even if not with bad intentions on Lucy’s part) and hailed as a Knight of the Brotherhood of Steel. He is already prone to lying and can be swayed by the promise of an easy life. On the other hand, while the Ghoul may also have personal interests, his interactions with Lucy mean his nature can also shift toward The Ugly, even if only in a more literal sense.

‘Fallout’ Also Draws on Visual Elements From ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’

More than simply taking inspiration from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly to build its story, Fallout also borrows a lot from Sergio Leone’s Western from a visual standpoint. Some key scenes in the series are nods to the movie while showing how fluid the moral archetypes are when it comes to The Bad and The Ugly. In Episode 3, “The Head,” the Ghoul keeps Lucy on a leash and seems to revel in her dilemma between drinking radioactive water or remaining desperately thirsty. In the movie, Tuco shows the same kind of cruel enjoyment when it’s him keeping Blondie in similar conditions. In Episode 7, “The Radio,” another scene with the Ghoul references the classic Western when he invades a family home in the Wasteland to gather information on Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury), similar to Angel Eyes’ introduction in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Those nods work perfectly for Fallout, as they make it clear that, even though the archetypes are a guideline of sorts, they are not set in stone. Now that the series has been renewed for a second season, it’s unclear how each of these characters might shift in their morals — and essentially change from the archetypes they started this story under in the first place.

Fallout is streaming exclusively on Prime Video in the U.S.

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