I finished Silo on Apple TV Plus and it is a good show. If you like sci-fi, dystopia, etc, you should watch. Without talking about plot, some commentary about the overall show.
Excellent production values, excellent actors, generally good writing and intriguing mystery/hook.
That being said, it isnt perfect, and many of the flaws remind me of Severance, also on Apple.
Both have incredible starts. The first two episodes of Silo are fantastic.
But then you start to notice that it's a 10 episode season, and the last episode is going to end EXACTLY where you think it will end. In both shows, there's a twist/mystery/theory and you know youre going to get part of an answer to it about 30 seconds before the last episode ends. And you know its going to be one of two things.
That means episodes 3-9 have pacing issues in which they're half filler and every episode needs to end with a hook even though maybe narratively the hook would have been better earlier on. And oddly theres no B story to fall back on. We constantly meet new people but focus on the same 4 or 5. If they wanted to pad, it would have been better to get more of a glimpse at life on other floors and such.
Severance is similar. We get extended scenes of the main character doing boring things instead of switching up to someone else.
The thing is, even though its on streaming and there are zero constraints to length, the episodes dont vary much in length so again, it feels like theres some padding. Ie, episode X SHOULD have been 30 minutes and episode Y SHOULD have been 90 minutes but instead theyre both 45ish.
It doesnt kill the show, but it's a little frustrating that there's clearly an Apple TV formula theyre forced to follow.
To add to that, there is zero sex* on either show. Like I cant even remember if there was a kiss.
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Severance has a scene that is sex if you know it but a 10 year old wouldnt
Im not saying this is bad. In fact its great to recommend to your mom. Im just pointing out that theres a clear rule coming from above on what it and isnt allowed.
Some plot specific issues I had
spoiler (click to show/hide)
I think they did a bad job with the size of the Silo. We are told it's 10k people and that's their entire universe. And yet characters are CONSTANTLY meeting new people. I get you won't be on a first name basis with everyone, but considering everyone is basically a cousin, it seems like if you dont know a person youd know their parent/kid/partner
Also everyone is always moody. Again, small universe, life isnt actually that bad. Everyone has food, work isnt that hard. And yet every person Julie meets is a complete asshole. Always "wtf do you want" and never "congrats on the job good to meet you". It seems like cheap writing because it is constantly pushing the dystopian theme.
The also screw up the size in the last two episodes. The start of the show makes the size very clear. Its 6+ hours to get from top to bottom. You need to rest. People at the bottom dont really see the people at the top.
And then in the last two episodes Common and the Mayor are basically teleporting back and forth constantly. Julie takes a shortcut to the very bottom and 10 minutes later theyre both there.
Just some ranting because I could be a better TV writer.
Now hurry up and give me Season 2 you cowards
