Silo

“Silo” has echoes of projects like “Blade Runner,” “The Expanse,” and even “The Platform,” but it also has its own confident voice, a complex storytelling tone more reminiscent of literature than traditional streaming dramas. ... One of the best of 2023 so far.

The first episode alone is a grabber, defying our every expectation. Can’t say how. Throughout, the storytelling and world-building maintain the highest standards. And that final episode promises there’s even more yet to come. If you love “Dune,” this is a gimme.

A viewing of the first two episodes of "Silo" shows that it exemplifies the best of what the genre can be.

Wherever the story ends up going next, there is a willingness to take the leap as long as she [Rebecca Ferguson] is there to guide us. For all the ways Silo can begin to get lost in itself, both it and Ferguson still manage to stumble upon something more fascinating, finding a way to march on despite all that is holding it back.

If a hard science-fiction mystery show is what you’ve been looking for, then “Silo” more than fits the bill. Ferguson’s Juliette is the full package, a hard-hitting hero with plenty of range to carry the dramatic parts with equal power. Not to be outdone is a fantastic supporting cast that makes even the briefest of appearances memorable.

Powerfully distinctive dialogue, meaningful themes, and engrossing — but never showy — visuals make Silo’s first episode one of the most gripping premieres of the TV streaming era.

While Silo does occasionally have the (not unwelcome) gait and tone of an old Saturday syndicated show (Deep Space Nine comes to mind), Ferguson—in all her stern command—lends the series a necessary heft.

Jones and Oyelowo carry the first episode of Silo with great performances. But the rest of the cast, as well as the hopeful ending and Yost’s proven storytelling ability, tells us that the show won’t be a typical depressing dystopian drama.

Silo can be read as a lot of things. ... But before all of that, it is a fantastically made story that embraces classic tropes and cliffhanger endings as enthusiastically as it does delicate characterisations and deferred gratifications. Dig in.

The pacing might seem a little slow for some, but in a sci-fi series adapting a rich world, the importance of delving deep into Juliette's backstory, into different realms of the silo, and into the history of the 100-year-old society can't be overstated. It's what makes the final moment of the series – and the very last shot of the drama – so impactful.

Ambitiously staged, with a central mystery that only grows more absorbing as it continues, Silo is another Apple-calyptic hit.

You know the drill. What makes “Silo” so fascinating is the shifting points of view, the intriguing characters on all sides of the moral compass, and the slow and intense build of the storyline.

While there’s some thematic padding and unavoidable repetition in the imagery, tedium isn’t an issue. Yost and the actors always seem aware of how living in this place affects the ways its denizens think. That, along with increasingly gnarly riddles and relationships, keeps the show engaging.

Sometimes the world-building in Silo is superb while its primary storyline flounders, and then sometimes that primary storyline catches fire and the world-building becomes nonsensical. ... But what matters most in shows of this type is how it approaches a destination. The finale of Silo arrived at a place that, while not really mind-blowing, had me curious to spend more time in this world and with some of these people.

It’s an adaptation of Hugh Howey’s novels that plays like a compendium of spare sci-fi parts. Fortunately, though, Ferguson is so magnetic that she helps the material feel, if not wholly fresh, then at least frequently intriguing.

The somewhat tired post-apocalyptic tropes upon which “Silo” is structured are made more palatable by the acting. ... There’s a conclusion to the series after 10 episodes that have mixed adrenaline with ennui.

“Silo” is an unfortunately apt name for a series that feels as if it’s slowly spinning in circles, set in another dystopian future where the lingering remnants of humankind grapple with how they got there and what they do next. Apple TV+ has taken some big sci-fi bets (see “Foundation”), but despite its provocative themes this series inspires a little too much curiosity about when and how to find the exit.

Showrunner Graham Yost greatly overestimates the depth of this paint-by-numbers sci-fi dystopia, adapted from Hugh Howey’s book series.