The Fallout TV show features several major Easter eggs and references, but one brings the discourse around a controversial movie back to life.

The Fallout TV show is out now, and one small moment secretly references an incredibly divisive 16-year-old movie scene. Although Fallout is a massive franchise on its own, the video game series’ sense of humor has allowed for all kinds of references to other movies, TV shows, and songs to sneak their way into the games. As it turns out, Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout TV show has managed to hide some sneaky references as well, with one of the show’s most important moments actually reviving the discussion around an incredibly controversial scene from 16 years ago.

Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout TV show is finally here, with the highly anticipated live-action adaptation of the beloved video game franchise of the same name now released in full on the streaming service. The Fallout TV show manages to bring the world of Fallout‘s wasteland to live-action for the first time, with it focusing on three main characters from three different corners of the Fallout universe: Lucy the Vault Dweller, Maximus the Brotherhood of Steel squire, and Cooper Howard the Ghoul. The stories of these three characters constantly intersect, leading to one wild Fallout Easter egg.

Fallout’s Maximus Survives The Bombing Of Shady Sands In A Fridge Like In Indiana Jones 4

It Is Hard To Miss

One clip shown several times throughout the Fallout TV shows Maximus emerging from a fridge, with this moment being a perfect homage to one incredibly controversial scene from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The Fallout TV show reveals that Shady Sands was destroyed by bombs, with many residents of the city dying. Maximus, however, managed to survive, with him hiding from the bombs inside a refrigerator. Maximus emerges from the fridge unscathed after the bombings ended, with him being found by a member of the Brotherhood of Steel.

Maximus surviving a bomb in a fridge directly mirrors a scene from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in which the titular adventurer does the exact same thing. In the film, Indy finds himself in the middle of a nuclear test site. With a bomb about to be dropped, Indy decides to hide in a fridge, with this decision miraculously allowing him to survive. This scene has been the subject of much criticism, with Indy using the fridge to survive the nuke being so notorious that it has made its way into the Fallout TV show.

Fallout’s Fridge Scene Isn’t The Franchise’s First Indiana Jones Reference

The Games Already Did It

Although it may seem odd for the Fallout TV show to contain an Easter egg that references Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it actually isn’t the franchise’s first time doing this. As it turns out, the exact same moment from the fourth Indiana Jones movie is also referenced in the video game Fallout: New Vegas. In the game, a skeleton wearing a fedora can be found by players inside of a fridge, with this being a clear reference to a dark reality in which Indy didn’t survive the fridge being hit by a nuclear bomb.

Fallout and Indiana Jones are two entirely different franchises from entirely different eras, but they keep getting brought together due to their shared interest in nuclear warfare. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull‘s nuclear bomb scene is one of the most famous moments involving a nuke in cinematic history, even if it is notoriously divisive. Thus, a franchise interested in exploring nukes and homaging the 1950s can’t help but tip its hat to Indiana Jones.

Fallout’s Indiana Jones Reference Actually Teases Bethesda’s Next Video Game

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Amazon Prime Video’s decision to include a reference to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is an interesting one, as it actually teases Bethesda’s next video game. Bethesda has been the company behind the Fallout franchise since Fallout 3, but this isn’t the only video game series they have developed. In fact, Bethesda’s next game just so happens to be an Indiana Jones title.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is an upcoming game slated to be released by Bethesda, with it bringing Indiana Jones back to the world of video gaming for an all-new adventure. The game is expected to be released sometime in 2024, meaning that the Fallout TV show’s inclusion of an Indiana Jones Easter egg may help to advertise the upcoming title.