To say that Fallout was a surprise hit when it premiered in April of last year feels like an understatement. There was a fair amount of buzz going into the Prime Video show, for sure; the Bethesda video game franchise which inspired it has a huge following, Westworld creator Jonathan Nolan was steering the ship, and beloved character actor Walton Goggins was front and center of the series. But its wackier tone and relatively unknown main cast felt like Fallout was being set up to be a niche hit, at best. Certainly it wouldn’t hold a candle to HBO’s golden child, the prestige TV power player The Last of Us.But, just a few weeks after its release, Fallout was a runaway success. It quickly became one of Amazon’s biggest original hits, and was hailed critically as one of the best video game adaptations ever. By the time the internet had labeled that a “Hot Ghoul Summer” in response to the lusty fervor that Goggins’ tortured Ghoul had inspired in viewers, it was clear that Fallout had ascended to a true phenomenon.With Season 2, the pressure was on. And, thankfully, with a renewed focus on the show’s most electric character dynamics and a dedication to casting character actors to chew up scenery, it lives up to the hype and more.Lucy and the Ghoul’s quest to find Hank MacLean takes them to the hive of villainy that is New Vegas. | Prime VideoFallout Season 2 picks up soon after the events of Season 1, which saw Vault dweller Lucy MacLean learn the true nature of her father, Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan), who was not only a cryogenically-frozen survivor from before the apocalypse, but was also responsible for destroying Shady Sands, a utopian community on the surface where Lucy’s mother had fled when she was young. Reeling from this horrifying revelation, Lucy decides to leave behind her new friend Maximus (Aaron Moten) and team up with the Ghoul (Goggins) to bring her father to justice. Meanwhile, Maximus has returned to the Brotherhood of Steel, where he’s hailed as a hero, but soon finds himself embroiled in an inter-faction conflict that could plunge the world into yet another war. And 200 years in the past, we see Cooper Howard (also Goggins) accompany his Vault-Tec executive wife Barb (Frances Turner) to Las Vegas, where he further investigates Vault-Tec’s plans and its shady dealings with the mysterious billionaire Mr. House (Justin Theroux).From the six episodes that critics received, it’s clear that Season 2 is both more sprawling and more straightforward than season 1 — apart from Lucy and the Ghoul, most of our main ensemble are scattered to the winds. But while there’s no central Maguffin this time around driving the plot (though the looming importance of the cold fusion technology is always there), Fallout maintains a strong, brisk momentum even as its plot threads go in surprising directions.Maximus’ plot takes the show in more complex and high-stakes directions. | Prime VideoAnd that’s not to say there aren’t some tiresome subplots (some of the wackier characters in the Vault start to test the limits of the show’s more comedic inclinations), but the season wisely chooses to zero in on the more engrossing storylines. The second season is more hyper-focused in many ways; now that the cards are all on the table — the identity of the Ghoul, the truth behind Vault-Tec and Hank Mclean, the cold fusion tech — the mystery-box elements are mercifully reduced and we can get to the meat and bones of why Fallout was such a big hit: our Wasteland wanderers. Lucy and the Ghoul, and to a lesser extent, Maximus, are the heart and soul of Fallout, and prove to be even more compelling this season. The twisted buddy-comedy between the sunny Lucy and the world-weary Ghoul is a classic dynamic for a reason, and the show wisely dedicates much of the season to this. And that dynamic continues to evolve in satisfying ways, as Lucy’s good intentions finally start to get under the Ghoul’s skin, and, vice versa, the Ghoul’s cynicism starts to chip away at Lucy. Maximus, a little more seasoned after his stint in the Wasteland, also proves to be a much more interesting and dynamic character, with a plot that sees him navigate increasingly treacherous Brotherhood politics.Cooper Howard’s past unveils even more mysteries to unpack. | Prime VideoSeason 2 does manage to introduce a few more intriguing mysteries: a new technology that Hank is experimenting with, and of course, the enigmatic Mr. House, portrayed in Season 1 by Rafi Silver and in Season 2 by Justin Theroux. Theroux makes a meal out of the wily CEO, and every scene with him and Goggins show just how much of Fallout’s secret sauce is in letting its charismatic character actors go ham. The show is, after all, a comedy first and foremost. But even though the show often flirts with camp — especially with a few of the guest stars like Kumail Nanjiani and Macauley Culkin — Fallout still manages to keep a delicate balance between its comedic and dramatic elements.Fallout doesn’t feel like it needs to be indebted to the games anymore. The show had already wisely set itself apart from the Bethesda franchise by setting its time period years after the events of the games, and Season 2 feels like it’s finally finding its own identity. The games and the rich world-building that come with them still provide the structure and texture to the show, but Fallout is its own thing now. It’s ready to emerge from the safety of the games and into the wild, mercurial Wasteland of appointment TV.Fallout Season 2 premieres on Prime Video on December 16 at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET.