The showrunner behind Amazon Prime Video's Fallout confirmed how VATS will slow down time in Season 2. VATS (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) has been a mainstay of the Fallout franchise. The in-game ability allows players to bring time to a halt and line up multiple shots on an incoming foe. The video gamey mechanic has not yet made its way into the streaming series, but that is about to change.
Speaking as part of the December issue of Empire Magazine, Fallout Season 2 showrunner revealed Graham Wagner described a moment in the new episodes in which Ella Purnell's Lucy takes "her first VATS shot, where time freezes:"
"In this moment, we are giving Lucy her first V.A.T.S. shot, where time freezes. We keep pushing her as she gradually acclimatises to the wild, wild west of the Wasteland."
According to the article, this moment will come as Lucy and her irradiated companion, The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), take down a group of mutant Elvis impersonators known as the Kings faction at the gates of New Vegas.
The first use of the franchise's helpful auto-targeting will come with Lucy killing the last one of these mutant Elvises, with the camera slowing down time only to travel with the bullet from her rifle into the head of her oncoming target.
There was a tease of VATS in the first Fallout Season 2 trailer, but this is the closest to a full technical breakdown of how it will enter the world audiences have gotten to this point.
VATS marks just the latest staple from the games to make its way into the Fallout show. Another key piece of the Fallout universe set to debut in Season 2 is the unwildly desert metropolis known as New Vegas. New Vegas was a key location in Fallout: New Vegas, serving as a refuge for the worst kind of survivors, situated deep in the Nevada desert.
Fallout Season 2 is set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video on December 17, running weekly through February 4, 2026. The hit video game adaptation follows a group of survivors, led by Purnell's Lucy, contending with the various threats of a post-nuclear apocalypse America. Season 2 is set to take the action from the California coast to the lawless streets of New Vegas and its surrounding area, as Lucy looks for her father following the events of Season 1.
How Will VATS Make Sense in Fallout Season 2?
Heading into Fallout Season 2, the action will need to be leveled up, and an easy way to do that in the beloved apocalyptic universe is by introducing VATS.
The VATS system makes for plenty of badass moments in the game, as it allows players to freeze time and carefully select where they will attack an oncoming threat, and then sit back and watch as the bullets fly. However, it is inherently video gamey, making it one of the toughest things to adapt for live-action.
Questions could easily arise about why characters do not simply use the VATS tech anytime they get into a shootout. Hopefully, the TV show will not overdo it and stay as close to the in-game lore as possible.
In the games, VATS has a resource associated with it, which players can only access after a short recharge time. When they do pull it up, depending on their strength, they can only place a limited number of shots.
Lucy's use of VATS is a sign of her 'leveling up' like players do in the Fallout games. As she becomes more acclimatized to the horrors of the wasteland, why wouldn't she get new abilities? Perhaps in this first use of the auto-targeting system, she will only be able to get one or two shots off, while later in the season (or maybe even Season 3), she will become even stronger, upping that count as time goes on.
