Fallout age rating: Why is the post-apocalyptic TV series rated TV-MA

We’re heading to a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles in Fallout this week. While many will be ready to watch this with the kids, it’s not a family-friendly series.

The new Prime Video show is officially rated TV-MA. There are some good reasons for this. The first is that the video games are rated M for their mature content. The show is set to bring the games to life, and it makes sense to keep the visual and violent elements of the games.

A violent Wasteland needs, well, violence

If there’s one thing that we need to see in this series, it’s violence. I don’t say that because I’m some weirdo who only likes shows that have a lot of gore and fighting in them. It’s because I’m a person who likes things to be a little more realistic when set in a dystopian future.

This is a post-apocalyptic world. Haven’t we seen enough dystopian futures to know that people turn on each other. Fear and the lack of resources will make us do selfish things. We can turn to the likes of Silo, The Society, Yellowjackets, and even The 100 just to get a basic idea of what to expect in a dystopian future. Look at The Last of Us, The Walking Dead, and Z Nation for even more.

Fallout is set in a world where the outside world is known as the Wastelands. And yes, the Wastelands are where some of the most violence and cruel humans—or what’s left of humans—thrive. They do it all through violence. This just can’t be toned down to make this world realistic and to really throw us into the action as we follow Lucy, the Vault Dweller who heads out in the outside world.

Don’t expect the level of The Boys in Fallout

While I’m expecting gore and violence, I’m going to agree with Popverse ,and I'm not expecting anything like The Boys. I think that show is about as bad as it can get for levels of violence—I love it and it’s a good benchmark.

The same applies to the sex and nudity. The Fallout games are about survival. While some survival will include romantic relationships happening, that’s not the focus for the games. I suspect that we’ll get a little bit of nudity but nothing on the level of most other shows that have a TV-MA rating.

It could mean that the games are suitable for older teens with this in mind. I think that if you’re happy with your teenagers playing the video games, they’ll be used to the level of violence in the TV series. I’ll be sure to come back with more when I’ve seen the show for myself.

Fallout drops in full on Prime Video on Thursday, April 11.