Every story in the history of the Fallout universe has begun in a Vault. Whether it’s Vault 101 from Fallout 3 or Vault 76 from Fallout 76, the player-character leaving the confines of a vault is a classic Fallout trope that, of course, made its way into the new Fallout TV series on Amazon Prime Video.
It wouldn’t be a Fallout show if the vaults weren’t featured in some respect, and one of the main story beats of the series is the protagonist Lucy’s journey out of her home vault, Vault 33, into the open world around her. Throughout the show, Lucy discovers more about the pre-war world, as well as the location surrounding Vault 33: The state once known as California.
Fallout TV series: Vault 33 location
It’s confirmed relatively early-on in the Fallout series that Vault 33 is located in southern California.
In the second episode of the series, when Lucy first leaves Vault 33, a wide shot of the greater Los Angeles area can be seen, and the famous Santa Monica Pier (or what’s left of it) is shown on-screen.
Much of the first season takes place in California, with references to pre-war locations like Santa Monica Boulevard and Downtown L.A. being made during the course of the show. In-universe references to factions like the New California Republic (NCR)—who Fallout New Vegas players should be extensively familiar with—are also made in the series.
The Fallout universe is known for its reimagining of what well-known American cities and regions would look like in a post-apocalyptic setting. In past games, famous landmarks like Washington D.C.’s National Mall, the Las Vegas Strip, and Fenway Park in Boston were given cryptic overhauls to fit the series’ theming, and in the TV show, all of Los Angeles and California have been re-imagined in the Fallout aesthetic.
