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Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Fallout season 2, episode 4.
The cold open of Fallout season 2, episode 4, flashes back to Cooper Howard’s service in the Sino-American War, and it would make an awesome prequel show. The latest episode of Fallout finally brings Lucy and the Ghoul to the outskirts of New Vegas, where they instantly face some trouble from a horde of zombified Elvis impersonators.
But one of the most exciting parts of the episode has nothing to do with that. Fallout season 2 has been going back to fill in more of Cooper’s backstory. Previous episodes have looked at his early interactions with Robert House, the show’s new big bad, but this one goes back to his time fighting on the Alaskan Front — and it would make a great spinoff.
A Fallout Prequel Series Set During The Sino-American War Would Be Awesome
Fallout season 2, episode 4, “The Demon in the Snow,” gets off to a thrilling start in its flashback cold open. This opening sequence goes back to the Sino-American War, where a power-armored Cooper is ambushed and defeated by Chinese soldiers in Alaska. But before they can kill him, they’re massacred by a Deathclaw.
It’s an incredible action set-piece — one of the greatest action scenes in the show to date — and it’s oozing with spinoff potential. This cold open only gave us a glimpse at the war, but it’s a juicy enough piece of Fallout lore to sustain its own series, like the history of the Targaryens in House of the Dragon or the formation of the Rebel Alliance in Andor.
Fallout’s latest combat-heavy cold open just gave us a taste of the action-packed spectacle we could expect from a spinoff set during this tumultuous time. But a Sino-American War prequel wouldn’t just be a springboard for spectacle; it’s an untapped well of political satire, too.
A Sino-American War Show Could Be Fallout's Answer To Starship Troopers
A series about the Sino-American War could be Fallout’s answer to the seminal sci-fi satire of Starship Troopers. Telling a story about a made-up future war involving monsters and mutants is the best vehicle to satirize warfare itself, because the audience doesn’t come into it with any preconceived attachments to either side of the conflict; you can highlight the absurdity of war itself.
When you’re telling a war story about humans fighting humans, it can be tough to separate the satire from your emotional attachment to the people on-screen. But if you throw a couple of Deathclaws in there, suddenly it becomes easier to separate from your own real-world feelings. A Fallout prequel, much like Starship Troopers, could use speculative sci-fi to poke fun at contemporary conflicts and propaganda.
English (US) ·