Spoilers are ahead for Fallout season 1.
In Fallout season 1, the flashbacks to 2077 are just as revealing as the moments set in the post-apocalyptic Wasteland of 2296. Given that Walton Goggins’ mutated bounty hunter, The Ghoul, is the former Hollywood star Cooper Howard, the character’s story, in particular, unfolds across both of Fallout‘s timelines. During the first season, viewers learn that the actor was a Marine long before his wife, Barb (Frances Turner), encouraged him to be Vault-Tec’s ambassador. As Cooper Howard explores what happened to his family, Barb and their daughter, Janey (Teagan Meredith), keep him going — even in the present.
In many ways, Cooper Howard’s life intersects with some of the franchise’s biggest moments, from Fallout‘s Battle of Anchorage to the very moment that Vault-Tec drops the first bombs on the United States in 2077, thus creating the signature world of Fallout. But the greater meaning layered in Cooper Howard’s past can even be mined from the small details. For example, the disillusioned Vault-Tec ambassador mentions to Barb that he wants to quit acting and move his family to a quiet ranch in Bakersfield, California, just north of Los Angeles, and that line holds a lot of meaning.
There’s no doubt that Cooper Howard is an amalgamation of actors and producers who populated Hollywood during the 1950s. The star of Westerns, even Cooper Howard’s movies boast references to Fallout‘s inspirations. At first, his mention of Bakersfield might seem like a throwaway detail. It wasn’t uncommon for Hollywood’s elite to have second or third homes outside of Los Angeles, and many horse-owning Hollywood big-shots, like Walt Disney, even had ranches. However, it’s clear that Fallout is incredibly intentional, and no detail is thrown in without thought — and that includes Cooper’s Bakersfield dream.
In the larger Fallout franchise, the former location of the city of Bakersfield is home to the Wasteland’s Necropolis. Known as “The City of the Dead,” Necropolis itself is home to Vault 12. Instead of boasting scientists, breeding pools, or another wild Vault-Tec experiment, like the many other Fallout vaults, Vault 12 is a Ghoul settlement. Considering that Cooper Howard — who himself becomes a ghoul — has explicitly mentioned Bakersfield, it seems logical that future seasons of the show will pick up on this small detail and explore Necropolis and Vault 12.
While Fallout season 2 is headed to New Vegas, that doesn’t mean that future installments of the show won’t see The Ghoul and his companions venturing into the former Bakersfield area. Since Fallout: New Vegas has become a fan-favorite game, the sophomore outing’s iconic setting stirs up a lot of excitement. That said, Fallout season 3 will need to raise the stakes again. Necropolis holds the ideas of Cooper Howard’s dreams as well as The Ghoul’s present circumstances. It’s possible he’ll still be drawn to Necropolis/Bakersfield, and find a new sense of belonging in Vault 12.