TV Review: "Silo" (Season 1)
Anchored by an electrifying performance from Rebecca Ferguson, the Apple TV+ series is sci-fi television storytelling at its best.
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Warning: This review contains full spoilers for the first season of Silo.
Silo is one of those series that I’ve been meaning to watch for some time, but as is so often the case I just couldn’t find the time. From the moment I started watching it, however, I was immediately hooked, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that the first season is truly a remarkable piece of sci-fi television, containing everything that I love about the genre: a thought-provoking premise, fantastic character work from the likes of Rebecca Ferguson and Tim Robbins, and enough twists and turns to keep you engaged from the first episode to the last.
Set in the Silo of the title–a giant underground silo that contains everything that its residents need to survive–the first season is a neat blend of science fiction, postapocalyptic drama, and mystery. Ferguson stars as Juliette Nichols, an engineer who is recruited by David Oyelowo’s Sheriff Holston Becker to help in the investigation of her lover’s death. After Becker goes outside to clean–a death sentence in this strange milieu in which all of humanity lives in a Silo and never goes out into the deadly and inhospitable world–Juliette becomes the new sheriff. Soon, however, she discovers that the Silo is not at all what she thought and that, in fact, there are many secrets that those in power will definitely kill to keep hidden.
The first season spends a lot of time focusing on Juliette as she unravels the mysteries surrounding both her lover’s death and the truth of what the Silo is and the lies that are being told to keep the population docile. Unsurprisingly, Ferguson is truly electric when it comes to her performance. Her Juliette is someone who has never been content to just follow the rules, whether it’s those laid down by her father–a doctor who is quite scrupulous about following the rules laid down by the Silo, no matter how much doing so hurts his family–or Tim Robbins’ Bernard Holland, the head of the powerful IT Department. And, like many other sci-fi heroes, she also has her fair share of demons and burdens, and it’s not long before her past and her present are colliding in new and increasingly volatile ways. Ferguson shows again why she is one of the most formidable actresses working in sci-fi today, and there’s more than a little of Lady Jessica Atreides in Juliette.
While Ferguson is obviously the series’ center of gravity, I also give a lot of credit to Tim Robbins, whose boyish face and calm demeanor hides a truly ruthless character. Bernard is one of the best villains to have emerged from science fiction in quite a while, and it’s really quite marvelous to watch him slowly reveal just how far he will go in the pursuit of what he believes is the right thing. Like all of the best villains, he’s more than just an antagonist. Instead, he really does seem to be a true believer in the Silo and its purposes. For all that he’s capable of murdering those who stand in his way–whether through poison or through manipulation–he’s also someone who has a subtle understanding of how power works. It’s precisely his gentle demeanor and his zealous belief in his own rightness that make him such a terrifying and compelling villain.
Lurking in the background of all of this are the many mysteries surrounding the Silo: who founded it, how long it’s been going on, and what happened to the world outside to turn it into the desolate wasteland that everyone can clearly see through the screen and which is so inimical to any kind of life. Silo excels at immersing us in this strange yet utterly understandable world. It doles out just enough information and context about the Silo so that we feel as if we’re at home there, while also enticing us with bits and pieces of a history that is as sinister as anything that the characters encounter in the present.
If there’s one element of this show that really doesn’t land, it’s the performance from Common as Robert Sims, an enforcer whose job is essentially to maintain order no matter the cost. Common is just fine as a musician, but believe me when I tell you that he sticks out like a sore thumb in this show. He seems to think that glowering and being “stoic” constitutes good acting. Unfortunately, that’s very far from the truth, and there were a lot of times that I found him borderline unwatchable.
The first season of Silo was as strong an offering as I’d thought it would be. I loved almost everything about it, particularly the way that it balanced meticulous and finely-crafted world-building with superior character work and a plot that is never boring. And, unlike many other networks, Apple is wise enough to give the show the sort of length that it needs to really succeed, and they have likewise shown some real forward-looking acumen when it comes to the show’s future, having renewed it for another two seasons.
Perhaps more importantly, Silo is also one of those sci-fi series that, like all great entries in the genre, uses its narrative and its characters to grapple with the big questions. Given the tremendous pressures facing our own world–from political unrest, social fragmentation and, of course, climate change–these issues are things that we are all going to have to reckon with sooner or later. Silo forces us to consider the question: just how far should our leaders go to maintain order and stability? What is the amount of freedom that can be sacrificed so that everyone has the best chances of survival in a world that seems so resolutely opposed to sustaining life at all?
Silo is one of those series that manages to be satisfying as a season while also laying the groundwork for more action to come. Juliette might have escaped from her claustrophobic world, but it’s clear that nothing is ever going to be the same, neither for her nor for those left behind in the Silo. One thing’s for sure. Now that Juliette has ventured beyond the Silo and has not, in fact, perished, it’s certain that nothing is ever going to be the same, for good or for ill.