TV Review – Silo Season One

Silo Season One (Apple TV+)
Written by Graham Yost, Jessica Blaire, Cassie Pappas, Ingrid Escajeda, Remi Aubuchon, Aric Avelino, Jeffery Wang, Lekethia Dalcoe, and Fred Golan
Directed by Morten Tyldum, David Semel, Bert & Bertie, and Adam Bernstein

J.J. Abrams changed television as a producer of Lost along with Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse. Abrams’ “mystery box” philosophy inspired dozens of subsequent shows that sought to tell serialized stories on television that slowly spun out mysteries. While I enjoyed Lost for what it was, I don’t feel a strong urge to revisit it anytime soon; the heirs have never come close to capturing the excitement of that series. Lost’s strength was not relying entirely on its mysterious aspects and delivering character-focused solid stories. The flashbacks and what we learned about each person made Lost all the better. Silo is a new show from Apple TV+ and wants to be something like Lost. However, it was a slog for me to get through.

At an unrevealed point in the future, a community goes about its lives in a giant silo that descends hundreds of stories into the earth. Around 10,000 people dwell there, watched over by the strict powers of Judicial, a type of secret police. Everyone believes that outside the silo is nothing but a barren, toxic landscape, that’s what the screens in the cafeterias show. If someone ever says, “I want to go out,” they must be suited up and sent out of the silo. The rest of the people watch as they try to make it to the crest of a hill and inevitably collapse dead. Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) is one of the top workers in Engineering who is suddenly called up to serve as sheriff when the current badge holder goes out and dies. She uses the position to investigate the mysterious death of a friend and discovers the leaders in the silo have been keeping secrets about what is out there.

Silo kicks off with some interesting ideas. The show focuses on different characters, and the world is a bit unique. There are some influences from other science fiction, but the physical structure of the environment is pretty engaging; it is essentially people living inside a tower. Every episode manages to reveal some teasing clues about the true nature of this place, yet those only come in the final few minutes. The rest of the 50 minutes ends up being plodding & monotonous, sadly. 

Despite having a reasonably decent cast (Ferguson, Tim Robbins, David Oyelowo, etc.), they are provided material that is below their level of performance. So many scenes feature actors delivering lines in the most tired, unemotional manner. The worst is Common, who plays Robert Sims, one of the top Judicial leaders. Common shows that while he may be a talented rapper, he needs to improve his acting. I was shocked at how embarrassingly stiff and unnatural his line deliveries were. He gives a monologue right before killing another character that was excruciating to sit through.

After the initial two episodes, Silo settles into a monotony. Episodes pick up from the exciting tease of the previous one, with the newly introduced information put on a back burner. Then, another piece is added to the mystery in the last two minutes. As I said above, they were able to make that work with Lost by doing two things: interweaving the mystery of the Island with the lives of the castaways & writing the characters in a way that made them matter to the audience. After spending ten episodes with Juliette Nichols, I do not care what happens to her next. Every episode that tried to reveal information was running in circles, restating things we already knew.

Much like its spiral staircase, Silo’s characters spend this whole season running in circles. If you’ve watched any serialized television, then earlier on, you know the show will have Juliette go outside at some point. By the time we got to the season finale, I could tell that wouldn’t happen until the last five minutes and leave us on an unsatisfying cliffhanger. And what do you know? It did precisely that. Meanwhile, in earlier episodes, someone spends 45 minutes looking for a piece of paper that doesn’t even tell us much. 

A hard drive is introduced in the first episode, and the audience is made aware of what is on it. This becomes something Juliette stumbles across, and she doesn’t know what’s on it. I was not too fond of this because the answer had already been revealed to the audience. It is not satisfying to watch Juliette puzzle over it because we aren’t with her in awe over the mystery. We know what’s on it and are just killing time until someone figures out how to hook it up.

I was surprised at how many positive reviews there are of this. It’s certainly not the worst show I’ve ever watched, but it is one of the blandest & least exciting I’ve seen in years. I struggled to get through every episode and was so happy when episode ten’s credits rolled. I was free! The science of the show is fantastical; the plot is paper thin. I suppose if you enjoy it, more power to you, but I will not be returning for a second season.