Apple TV’s catalog includes a long line of compelling sci-fi shows. While some are gripping space operas, others unfold as dystopian thrillers or retro-futuristic corporate satires. When it purely comes to portraying bleak but gripping post-apocalyptic worlds, two Apple TV sci-fi shows remain unmatched. They are not only visually immersive but also manage to make their characters’ struggles feel personal and relatable.
Interestingly, a closer look at both shows reveals that they are similar in more ways than one. However, only one of them rises above the genre’s conventions and promises to be unlike any other post-apocalyptic shows out there.
Silo & Pluribus Are Driven By The Same Dystopian Formula
Silo and Pluribus are easily two of the greatest modern post-apocalyptic shows. In Apple TV’s long catalog of sci-fi series, the two shows are among the most popular dystopian additions. On the surface, Silo and Pluribus are significantly different. From its opening moments itself, Silo jumps ahead to the aftermath of a post-apocalyptic event and focuses on how humanity sustains itself long after a world-ending calamity.
Pluribus, in contrast, walks through the precise events of an apocalypse in its opening chapters before unfolding its main drama.
However, a closer look at both shows suggests they share the same DNA. In both shows, the central dystopia offers a sense of comfort to the characters. While most characters in Silo‘s central underground city choose to stay inside and question the orders from the higher ups to find comfort in the “known,” the ones in Pluribus find comfort in connection and absolution.
In both, the main female leads set out to step out of their comfort zones and refuse to blindly accept the systems that promise safety. Juliette’s search for answers in Silo leads her to another male survivor, Solo, who helps her uncover many new secrets about her world. Similarly, Pluribus‘ Carol eventually meets Manousos, who helps her realize that freedom and individuality are far more important than blind conformity and a false sense of collective harmony.
Many other intriguing parallels can be drawn between the two sci-fi shows on Apple TV, highlighting how their post-apocalyptic narrative foundation is built on similar themes of control and humanity’s uneasy relationship with flawed systems designed to protect it.
Pluribus Finds Creative Ways To Become One Of the Most Distinct Post-Apocalyptic Shows
Apple TV’s Silo, which adapts Hugh Howey’s book trilogy of the same name, has etched a solid identity for itself in the sci-fi genre. However, even though it has a few distinct elements, it does not exactly bend the post-apocalyptic subgenre’s rules and conventions. Almost throughout its runtime, it seems reminiscent of many well-known dystopian dramas, and its primary appeal lies in its performances and mystery-box storytelling.
The same cannot be said about Apple TV’s Pluribus because it cleverly flips many conventions.
Unlike Silo and most other post-apocalyptic shows, Pluribus features a world-ending event in which most humans end up surviving. However, the world, as the protagonist knows it, comes to an end because, after being infected by a strange “happiness virus,” most humans somehow become more emotionally uniform and eerily content.
Silo season 3 is expected to premiere on Apple TV in Summer 2026.
As one of the few immune individuals, Pluribus‘ lead, Carol, refuses to accept the new normal because she sees how the infected people have completely lost their sense of individuality. Interestingly, unlike most heroes in post-apocalyptic shows, Carol is not even all that likable in the series’ early moments.
She is portrayed as the most miserable person on the planet as she tries to hold on to her individuality while the remaining infected humans live in peace.
Instead of rooting for her, you, as a viewer, wonder whether she is doing the right thing by fighting against the infected. Pluribus‘ ability to portray a very distinct kind of apocalypse and an extremely flawed protagonist is what makes it an unconventional addition to the post-apocalyptic genre and Apple TV‘s sci-fi catalog.
