Silo Review – Complex, Dark Labyrinth of Secrets, Lies, and Drama
Air Date: Friday, May 5, 2023 on Apple TV+ (Two episode premiere)
Reviewer Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
“I want to go out!” – Allison
Silo is adapted from Hugh Howey’s New York Times bestselling trilogy of dystopian novels, The Silo Series. The extraordinary cast delivers stellar performances, giving life to a complex and dark labyrinth of secrets, lies, and drama. Each episode is more captivating than the next as the stories flow in and out between the past and the present. With each layer revealed, some questions are answered that lead to even more perilous queries. No one knows much about the past and everything about “the before times” is considered a taboo subject.
Silo reminds me a bit of Snowpiercer (TV series and film), The Village (film) with a touch of Mortal Engines as it navigates a dystopian post-apocalyptic world with little knowledge provided about what happened to the planet. The silo is a vertical subterranean structure that houses over 10,000 citizens governed by a set of rules known as “The Pact.” The silo is complete with a Mayor, a Sheriffs’ department with deputies spread throughout the various levels of the silo, a Judicial department with a Judge who presides over the Enforcers and Raiders, and then there is IT. Like with everything, you need a good IT department to keep things running. While the folks in “Mechanical” down below think they are keeping the silo operational, it seems IT has a bigger hand in making sure things run…smoothly, so to speak.
There are so many peculiar things about the silo. The stairs are massive yet there aren’t any automated lifts/elevators to go up or down between levels. The creation of such mechanical devices is considered going against “The Pact.” Magnifying glasses are only go to a certain strength for a specific reason. And several of the citizens like to turn on the faucets when speaking of certain things deemed unlawful. Who’s listening and how?
Created by Graham Yost (Falling Skies, Justified, Speed), who is also showrunner, and the first three episodes directed by Morten Tyldum (Defending Jacob, Passengers), the visual effect of the series pulls you into a subdue color palette of browns, beige, rust, and gray for the most part, with bits of color strategically shown for effect. I’d love to know more about the set design as well; it’s so intricate and detailed – what’s actually there and what’s CGI?
Again, the casting is phenomenal and led by Rebecca Ferguson (Dune, White Queen), along with Common (The Chi), David Oyelowo (Selma), Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation), Will Patton (Falling Skies, Armageddon), Geraldine James (Downton Abbey, Calendar Girls), and Tim Robbins (Shawshank Redemption, Castle Rock).
With each episode, you fall deeper into the mystery of how the silo came to be and why “relics” from the past are mostly forbidden to have. In the two-episode premiere, starting with “Freedom Day,” we learn that 140 years prior, there was a rebellion in the silo and “Freedom Day” celebrates the end of that rebellion. The fact that these people have lived in the silo for over a century is profound. We also learn about population control; you must be chosen from a lottery to have a child. Allison (Rashida Jones) and her husband, Sheriff Holston (David Oyelowo) are given their third and final chance to have a baby.
When Allison posts a question on how to retrieve old files from their antiquated computer systems, the head of IT, Bernard (Tim Robbins) deletes the post which leads her down a path that will change the lives of many. When Allison and “Computer George” (Ferdinand Kingsley) discover some startling records on an old illegal relic – a hard drive, Allison does something completely out of character that leads to the one thing that is punishable by death – saying “I want to go out.”
In episode two, “Holston’s Pick,” the irrevocable events that transpire in “Freedom Day,” lead to more catastrophic incidents and reveal political conspiracies. Though the synopsis of the series says the silo is a mile-deep, folks who travel say it takes a day to get down to the lower levels where Mechanical is – the “down deep.” The people in the lower levels keep to themselves but when Mayor Ruth Jahns (Geraldine James) and Deputy Marnes (Will Patton) pay a visit to Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson), an engineer with a curious nature, things start to unravel in more ways than one. The fact that Holston chooses Juliette to be his replacement as Sheriff causes an uproar with Judicial leading to devastating consequences over the course of the season.
By the end of the season, you’ll question everything you just watched, possibly be a little perturbed, upset even, and be going down rabbit holes searching for answers in Howey’s books.
Despite all that, Silo is an enticing mystery with more than enough subplots to sink your teeth into. You’ll be anxiously waiting for Fridays until the very end. Let’s just hope Apple TV+ renews for at least two more seasons to give us answers.
Tune in to SILO each week on Fridays at Apple TV+
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Judy Manning
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