Fallout racked up critical and commercial acclaim when it premiered earlier this year, and that led to it scoring a whopping 16 nominations for the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series and Lead Actor for Walton Goggins. That might not be in the same league as The Bear or Shogun, but it still shows that Fallout is a great show in addition to being a great video game series. Yet I can’t help but wonder why Ella Purnell was shut out in the Lead Actress category, especially given that her performance as Lucy McLean is pivotal to the entire series. Goggins’ turn as the Ghoul might be full of scene-stealing moments, and the production design does stay true to the insanity of its video game inspiration. But it would all fall apart without Purnell’s Lucy, and here’s why.

Ella Purnell Delivers an Evolving Performance Throughout ‘Fallout’

Purnell’s performance as Lucy is one of the best things in Fallout because her character is constantly evolving. Lucy grew up in Vault 33, 200 years after the world was ravaged by nuclear war. She ends up leaving her vault when a group of raiders kidnap her father Hank (Kyle MacLachlan), and traveling the irradiated wasteland – encountering the Ghoul and the Brotherhood of Steel’s Maximus (Aaron Moten) in the process. Having spent the majority of her life underground, Lucy is unprepared for the horrors of the Wasteland and quickly has to adapt, which is reflected in Purnell’s performance and appearance. She starts out fairly chipper, attempting to reason with the Ghoul and the Wasteland’s other inhabitants. But soon, Lucy has to adapt to more lethal methods of survival; when the Ghoul sells her to a group of organ harvesters in “The Ghouls”, she has to kill a feral Ghoul — emerging with a thousand-yard stare and bloodied jumpsuit. Purnell doesn’t even have to say a word for the audience to know that the act of taking a life weighs heavily on Lucy.

But Lucy also has a code she sticks to: the “Golden Rule”. Put simply, the “Golden Rule” has the Vault Dwellers attempt to treat others with kindness, which the Wastelanders laugh at. “The Ghouls” ends with Lucy walking up to the Ghoul, who is slowly dying without the chems needed to keep him alive, and leaving a handful of chem vials near him. As she departs, she says, “Golden rule, motherfucker.” This shows that even though the Wastelands are chipping away at her innocence, Lucy refuses to throw away the morals that defined her life. Plus, the way she delivers the line is nothing short of amazing.

Lucy’s Presence Drives the Entire Plot of ‘Fallout’

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Lucy isn’t just a well-rounded character, thanks to Purnell. She’s also the driving force behind the plot, as she winds up connected to nearly every major character through her father. Hank, as it turns out, was an employee of Vault-Tec — the massive conglomerate that built the vaults Lucy and her family grew up in. To test the vaults, Vault-Tec wound up dropping nuclear bombs and creating the Wasteland. When Hank’s wife Rose found out, she took Lucy and her brother Norm (Moises Arias) and fled to Shady Sands…until Hank destroyed it with a nuclear device. This ends up impacting the lives of Fallout‘s main characters: Hank was assistant to Vault-Tec executive Barb Howard, and her husband Cooper wound up becoming the Ghoul, while Maximus grew up in Shady Sands before it was annihilated. Lucy once again has her worldview shattered as she learns that her father was responsible for so much death and destruction, and she is forced to kill her mother as Rose was transformed into a feral ghoul.

Lucy also winds up bucking a trend in video game adaptations by being a compelling audience surrogate. Most video game adapatations often create a character from whole cloth to ease audiences, specifically those who haven’t played the video games, into the world of said game. But most of the time these characters tend to lack a personality or a character journey; see Lewis Tan‘s Cole Young in Mortal Kombat. Lucy, thanks to Purnell’s amazing performance, is a character who both fitsw into the world of Fallout and serves as a gateway to the game’s concepts through her adventure. That’s looking to continue into Season 2, as the Season 1 finale “The Beginning” hints that the events of Fallout: New Vegas will come into play.

Ella Purnell’s Star Continues To Rise With Upcoming Projects

Image Via STARZ

Even if Ella Purnell wasn’t nominated this year for Fallout, she’ll have plenty of chances with her upcoming television projects. In addition to Season 2 of Fallout, Purnell will be taking the leading role in Sweetpea. The “coming of rage” drama stars Purnell as Rhiannon Lewis. a young woman who is driven to commit some dark deeds following a pileup of assorted misfortunes. Not only will Sweetpea see Purnell return to STARZ, where she had one of her first and very best roles in the shortlived Sweetbitter, but it will also give her even more chances to show off her dramatic chops — and perhaps earn her a nomination for an Emmy. Purnell has constantly brought her A-Game to every project she’s been a part of, and the Emmys missed out on recognizing her talent.