2024 really was the year that people became horribly aware of the perils of getting into a streaming TV show. With viewing figures obfuscated or entirely hidden, and streamers’ mercurial decisions rarely explained, a new favorite show—that seems to be unanimously popular—can just get canceled out of the blue. But worry not, Silo fans: the superb adaptation of Hugh Howey’s novels has been officially confirmed for a full four-season run.
First self-published in 2011, Hugh Howey’s short story “Wool” became a word-of-mouth phenomenon. Eventually spawning three novels known as the Silo series, these are the basis for Apple’s Silo, the story of a post-apocalyptic society living in a colossal underground—well—silo. Written by Justified’s Graham Yost, and starring Rebecca Ferguson (Dune), David Oyelowo and Tim Robbins, its second season is currently being released weekly on Apple TV+, and damn, it’s so good.
While the timing might seem a little awkward given the similarity of Silo’s setting to Fallout’s post-disaster underground societies, the two shows play out very differently. While Amazon’s Fallout adaptation has certainly given more attention to bunker life than the games usually do, Silo doesn’t afford anyone the option to go outside. Any who try are seen falling dead only moments after committing the heinous heresy of leaving the silo.
The result is utterly compelling, the complex nature of the hierarchical systems of the silo existing in conflict with the mysteries that lie behind its walls (and mirrors), all oriented around Ferguson’s Juliette Nichols. She’s a mechanic, born high up but living down low, unable to escape the consequences of her parents’ actions, and unafraid of the blasphemy rules around owning “old tech,” essentially anything with a CPU.
I love it. Having read the short story so long ago, the show has offered the most extraordinary realization of the scenario, with stunning performances, beautiful direction, and the most incredible set design. Given recent trends, I’d normally know better than to get attached to such an excellent sci-fi show!
It’s tough to be sci-fi
It’s been a brutal couple of years for fantasy and sci-fi fans. Netflix cancelled Shadow and Bone, Welcome to Eden, 1899, and Kaos, while Disney+ snuffed out The Acolyte, and Apple TV+ barely gave the adored Time Bandits a chance to shine, as well as killing off Constellation. Let alone What We Do in the Shadows, Superman & Lois, Andor, Arcane, The Boys, and The Umbrella Academy all coming to intended ends either now or next season. It’s becoming a real issue that people just aren’t watching new streaming shows because the chances of them getting canceled are so high, it’s not worth the emotional investment.
So it’s a real joy to learn that Apple has renewed Silo, not just for a third season but for a fourth as well, with the intention that the show wrap up at that point. After all, by then it’ll have run out of books and short stories to adapt.
In Apple’s press release, the company quotes series creator Graham Yost explaining, “With the final two chapters of Silo, we can’t wait to give fans of the show an incredibly satisfying conclusion to the many mysteries and unanswered questions contained within the walls of these silos.” Which is another enormous relief, given how this isn’t a Lost or a From—not getting answers here, when they’re tangibly available to those in the know, would be agony. (Or you could read the books, I suppose.)
Ferguson, who not only does the vast amount of the show’s heavy lifting through her astonishing performance, is also a hands-on executive producer on the program. She adds, in rather unfortunate press-release-ese, “I have always felt passionately about telling the entire story contained within Hugh Howey’s books, so I couldn’t be happier that audiences around the world have enthusiastically embraced the show. I cannot wait to dive into these final two thought-provoking seasons that will beautifully conclude this dystopian tale.”
If you’ve access to the catacombs of Apple TV+, definitely give Silo a watch. It’s worth noting that as of the last month, Apple’s stuff can now be accessed via Amazon Prime in the U.S. and UK, making it a far less arcane streamer to find.
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