For All Mankind imagines an alternate history where the Soviet Union won the Space Race. Foundation brings Isaac Asimov’s magnum opus to life. Invasion gives us a multilingual perspective of humanity’s first contact with alien life in real time. There’s no shortage of great science fiction on Apple TV; the executives at that streamer really know what they’re doing in the sci-fi field.
Silo is one of the best (and most underrated) sci-fi shows in the Apple library, and it’s only going to get better and better. Based on the book series of the same name by Hugh Howey, and created by Justified’s Graham Yost, Silo takes place in a dystopian future where the remnants of the human race live in a massive 144-level underground silo.
Silo Is The Perfect Replacement Show For Fallout Fans
Fallout recently wrapped up its second season, with the door left open for a third. Lucy finally caught up to her dad and the Ghoul got some fresh information on where his family might be, so the story is far from over. But we might have to wait a couple of years before Fallout season 3 arrives and continues the saga.
In the meantime, Silo is the perfect replacement. It takes place in a very similar dystopian world to Fallout. In Fallout, after nuclear annihilation has made the surface world uninhabitable, the survivors have been relocated to various bunkers (or “vaults”) to keep them safe. Each vault is under the thumb of bureaucratic leadership, and the inhabitants eventually revolt.
Silo similarly explores a microcosm of society’s problems through a community forced to cohabitate underground in a post-apocalyptic world. The people begin to suspect that their dear leaders are lying to them, and set out to find some answers. Silo doesn’t have any Deathclaws or Power Armor smackdowns, but it has a lot in common with Fallout.
Silo Will Have A Proper Ending
So far, Silo has aired two seasons. But Apple has already renewed it for two more seasons to wrap up the series. Silo will end with season 4, and the producers of the show have been given the breathing room to plan both seasons 3 and 4 around that end point. This kind of creative security is extremely rare in the modern TV industry.
Going back to the invention of television, the M.O. for networks has always been to keep shows on the air for as long as they’re profitable, then ruthlessly canceling them when the profits stop rolling in. Back in the day, it was rare that TV shows got a proper series finale at all; they just ended when they stopped making money.
In the age of streaming, that kind of ruthlessness is making a comeback. Netflix gave their original shows a chance to find an audience in the first couple of years, but now, they’re the worst for canceling promising shows before their time. Apple has been better at letting their shows grow, and Silo is reaping the rewards of that confidence.
Now that the writers are working toward an endgame, Silo’s third and fourth seasons will be singularly focused on that goal. The ending won’t feel rushed, because they have half the series’ entire run to build up to it. Silo is already confirmed to run for twice as long as it has, so the writers have plenty of time to figure out the perfect way to end the series.