Fallout Season 2’s Most Fun Easter Egg Will Delight Video Game Fans

This article contains Spoilers For the premiere of the second season of “Fallout.”

Season 2 of “Fallout” enters New Vegas in all its violent glory, and fans of the original games will be pleased to find that some of their familiar locations have been repurposed. This season premiere of the post-apocalyptic series on Amazon Prime Video sees Ghouls (Walton Goggins) and Lucy MacLaine (Ella Purnell) get into a brawl with some of Novak’s wasteland dwellers, resulting in the latter firing shots from the mouth of a dinosaur statue. Well, that dinosaur is none other than Dinky the T-Rex, who first appeared in “Fallout: New Vegas.”

In gaming lore, Dinky served as a simple roadside landmark before the outbreak of the Great War. The dinosaur statue then became a outpost for two snipers named Manny Vargas and Craig Boone, who hid in its mouth and took turns protecting Novak from threats. The TV series reaffirms the dinosaur’s usefulness as a sniper fortress, and is the focus of one of the best action sequences in the “Fallout” Season 2 premiere.

Not only that, but the T-Rex’s appearance is similar to how some players wanted to see the landmark used in the show. As one Redditor wrote: “I hope Lucy tries to climb it.” That’s more or less what’s going on here, but she actually made it onto the dinosaur. However, this version of Dinky doesn’t quite look like the version from “New Vegas.” Instead, the show makes some subtle changes to Novak’s most aesthetically pleasing prehistoric attractions, some of which will likely be spotted by eagle-eyed fans.

The Dinky Memorial in Fallout Season 2 is not a recreation of its video game counterpart. “Fallout: New Vegas” shows the T-Rex facing the wasteland, while the version in the Amazon Prime Video series looks into Novac’s interior. It’s not an egregious change by any means, but it’s worth noting that it’s not entirely accurate.

But what’s important is that Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson Durrett’s show uses the “New Vegas” landmark in an entertaining way. The aforementioned scene is a blast and features some of the episode’s funniest dialogue, as Lucy slowly tries to negotiate with the inhabitants of the wastelands while the ghoul’s life literally hangs in the balance as time runs out. Dinky the T-Rex providing the backdrop for the entire exchange adds to its charm.

Furthermore, Wagner and Robertson-Dworet maintained a strong commitment to practical effects in Season 2 of “Fallout.” Like many of the show’s previous notable visuals, Dinky was created from scratch, rather than digitally fabricated. Who can’t appreciate the artistry behind creating a giant dinosaur monument, even if it’s not an exact replica of its video game predecessor?

“Fallout” is streaming on Prime Video.