'Silo' Season 3 Review: Apple's Most Underrated Sci-Fi Show Is Only Getting Better

Apple TV has long been the go-to home of innovative sci-fi TV shows, but there’s far more to the streamer than just Severance and Pluribus. Since 2023, Apple Tv’s undersung sci-fi saga Silo has told a fascinating story of revolution and dystopia based on Hugh Howey’s Silo Saga. Rebecca Ferguson plays Juliette, a lowly engineer who finds herself thrust into the role of Sheriff of her Silo, a self-sustaining bunker where people have lived for longer than they remember. “We do not know when it will be safe to go outside,” the residents dutifully recite. “We only know that day is not this day.”

But go outside is just what Juliette did in Season 2, and she lived to tell the tale. She visited a neighboring Silo and met with its remaining survivors, but after returning, she’s lost much of her memory. In Season 3, memory becomes a core theme, especially as the audience learns what Juliette and the other residents do not know: why the Silos were built in the first place. It’s a big swing for the show, but it just serves as further proof of why this is one of the greatest sci-fi series currently airing.

Juliette has to piece together her identity before she can start pushing back against those controlling her.

The last time we saw Juliette, she was burning alive alongside former Mayor Bernard (Tim Robbins). She survived, but carries scars both physical (along her neck) and mental (her amnesia). She’s trying to carry on as the new mayor and folk hero of the Silo, but flashes of memory keep coming to her. Working in secret with her allies, she must try to figure out who is really in control and what they are doing to her.

Alone, that would be a great storyline for a season of Silo. Ferguson’s complex performance has always carried this show, and that’s no different even when Juliette doesn’t remember who she is. But Season 3 is a little different. As teased in the shocking Season 2 finale, Season 3 is split between the Silo and the “Before Times,” and this quickly becomes the season’s biggest strength.

Rebecca Ferguson once again anchors the ambitious sci-fi show.

This storyline is technically a flashback, but it’s still set in a dystopian future. Young congressman Daniel Keene (Ashley Zukerman) meets up with his sister Charlotte (Jessica Brown Findlay), a Navy pilot with concerns about her next mission. What follows is a mystery on par with any one found in the Silo, spanning years and including some shocking cameos (including a real-life celebrity playing himself). Daniel and journalist Helen (Jessica Henwick) try to figure out just what is happening underneath everyone’s noses, and what could possibly require bunkers where people could live for centuries.

If this premise sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because there are echoes to another bunker-based sci-fi drama: Fallout. Showrunner Graham Yost is aware of the similarities — he’s best known for Justified, which starred Fallout’s Walton Goggins — but Silo’s version of the best is much different. There’s no kitschy period setting or neo-futuristic elements, making it often feel more akin to prestige genre shows like Watchmen or The Night Agent.

Silo Season 3 makes a big swing by splitting the narrative between the Silo and the Before Times.

Silo isn’t beholden to a massive IP. Instead, it’s crafting its sci-fi world from scratch, using Hugh Howey’s books as a north star more than a blueprint. Because of this, you never quite know where it’s going next, especially as this season reaches its final few episodes. If Season 2’s surprise flashback finale was a shocker, then Season 3’s finale will be mind-blowing. It’s no understatement that Silo has earned its place alongside Dollhouse and Dark in terms of expertly crafted season finales.

But perhaps this season’s secret weapon is something that so many TV shows don’t have the luxury of: an endpoint. Season 4 will be the final season, and that looms large over every episode. This is a show that has always been in control of its story, and that’s what allows it to go above and beyond at every turn.

Silo may still have plenty of mysteries left to solve. In fact, an argument could be made that Season 3 ends with more questions than answers. But if this is how the show intends to continue, then we are in safe hands and on track for an all-timer of a series finale.