One of Fallout season 1's most heart-breaking finale scenes was reshot because 'it didn't feel right', star says

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'There were a lot of tears and wailing, and it just didn’t feel right'

Lucy sits by a campfire as dusk sets in during Amazon's Fallout TV show
A hugely significant scene in Fallout's season 1 finale was completely reworked, according to Lucy actor Ella Purnell. (Image credit: JoJo Whilden/Prime Video)

Major spoilers follow for Fallout season 1.

Fallout TV show star Ella Purnell has revealed that a hugely important scene involving her character Lucy MacLean was completely reworked because "it didn't feel right".

Speaking to GQ after the popular Prime Video show's first season was released, Purnell opened up the vital moment that redefines Lucy's sense of identity and shows how much she's evolved over the course of the series' first season .

I'm about to dive into full spoiler territory for Amazon's live-action TV entry in Bethesda's beloved post-apocalyptic video game franchise, so turn back now if you haven't watched all eight episodes yet.

Lucy explores an abandoned, ruined home in Amazon's Fallout TV series

Lucy is forced to put her mom, who was turned into a ghoul, out of her misery in season 1's final episode (Image credit: Prime Video/JoJo Whilden)

The scenario in question sees Lucy kill her mother Rose, who became a ghoul due to radiation poisoning, in the final 10 minutes of 'The Beginning', aka Fallout's eighth episode. Rose was turned into one of Fallout's mutated humans as a result of a nuclear warhead that was dropped on Shady Sands – an iconic location in the Fallout franchise – by Hank (Lucy's dad and Rose's husband), with the subsequent years of lethal radiation slowly turning her into said ghoul.

The reveal is one of many shocking moments in Fallout's season 1 finale that, according to Purnell, forces her "to go through the five stages of grief in such a short amount of time". Indeed, part of that accelerated grieving process leads a rage-filled but still empathetic Lucy to shoot Rose in the head. It's a decision that not only puts Rose out of her misery, but also becomes another difficult experience that, as Purnell exclusively told TechRadar, means she's "forever changed" by her "violent" season 1 journey across the Wasteland. And yet, the heart-wrenching sequence that sees Lucy kill her own mother almost had a different feel to it. 

"We reshot [the scene]," Purnell told GQ. "Originally, we [Purnell and Fallout's writers] had a different idea of how that ending was going to go. We originally shot me killing my mum as a really emotional moment; there were a lot of tears and wailing. And it just didn’t feel right. We felt like, if she’s gonna get up and go into the wasteland, she needs to be a changed woman, and maybe her grief needs to give way to something harder.

"By killing her mom in a mercy kill, she’s doing exactly what the Ghoul did to Roger [in episode 4]. She’s learnt from him. She has turned into him. When she said “'I’ll never be you', maybe that’s not true. And, in that moment, when she shoots her mom, it means so many things. It means, ‘I’m coming with you.’ It means, ‘I’m gonna meet my makers.’ It means, ‘I f*****g hate you, but I have turned into you, you were right.’ It means she’s letting go of her golden center."

How will Lucy's season 1 journey impact her Fallout season 2 arc?

Lucy's mercy killing of Rose is certainly one of the more emotionally impactful moments in the series, which we hailed as "an ambitious, prestige-flavored adaptation that brings one of gaming’s most iconic series to life with a highly satisfying blend of source material devotion and narrative originality" in our Fallout season 1 review. Given the critical acclaim that Prime Video's TV adaptation has been met with since its April 10 release, it was unsurprising to see Amazon renew Fallout for a second season just seven days after its debut on one of the world's best streaming services.

As for what's been planned for next season, director/executive producer Jonathan Nolan exclusively told me that the show's chief creative team has "really cool" ideas for Fallout season 2. It'll be sometime before we find out what those are, though, outside of what's been teased by Nolan and other prominent crew members in various post-season 1 interviews. For a round-up of the most interesting tidbits, check out our Fallout season 2 guide.

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Tom Power
Senior Entertainment Reporter

As TechRadar's senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You'll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as this Moon Knight TV spot.

Away from work, Tom can be found checking out the latest video games, immersing himself in his favorite sporting pastime of football, reading the many unread books on his shelf, staying fit at the gym, and petting every dog he comes across. Got a scoop, interesting story, or an intriguing angle on the latest news in entertainment? Feel free to drop him a line.