Silo is based on a trilogy of sci-fi books by Hugh Howey. As such, there's always going to be an element of, for lack of a better word, originality. Published between 2011 and 2013, it took roughly a decade for the saga to make the leap to the small screen via Apple TV in 2023. During that time, the sci-fi genre has continued to grow as it always has. So, through no fault of its own, Silo appears to have borrowed some of the best sci-fi twists I've witnessed since Howey concluded his literary saga.
That being said, even the two twists I'm talking about are already pretty similar to one another. Furthermore, Silo's take on the combination of these iconic sci-fi plot developments still manages to feel fresh. Having not read the Silo series, I was unable to predict how season 3 would end, and so it caught me off-guard. Besides, I'm seeing a lot of discourse about Apple TV making several big changes to the source material, so maybe I'd have been left guessing either way. Still, the similarities of the worldbuilding in the season 3 finale, “Troy,” to two of Silo's small-screen predecessors can't be ignored.
FULL SPOILERS ahead for Silo season 3 episode 10, "Troy."
Silo season 3's finale reminded me of both Fallout & Wayward Pines
I've long been aware of Silo's parallels to Fallout. Although the Prime Video series (and the Bethesda games before it) adopts a far more lighthearted tone than Silo most of the time, the general premise of a main character leaving the safety of a nuclear bunker to explore the world outside is present in both projects. However, the fact that Per Stenson's (Colin Hanks) operation has now been all but confirmed as the one that intentionally started a nuclear war to send humanity underground and start anew makes Silo come across as even more of a Fallout homage.
Interestingly, the twist that Vault-Tec were the ones who dropped the first nuke in the Fallout universe is actually quite recent. It was added to the lore when season 1 premiered in 2024, and wasn't part of the broader canon until then. So, even though the Fallout franchise dates back to the 1990s, it wasn't until the 21st century that this Silo-esque development was made known. Hugh Howey actually got there first.
On the topic of Fallout, the Prime Video series also makes use of the well-worn cryostasis trope, so it could be said that this is another thematic connection with Silo that "Troy" reveals. I actually think the way Silo uses the sci-fi hallmark is far more similar to Wayward Pines, though. Adapted into a two-season TV series between 2015 and 2016, Blake Crouch's book trilogy debuted in 2012 and concluded in 2014—pretty much exactly when the Silo trilogy was published.
Set around 2,000 years in the future, Wayward Pines takes place in a quaint U.S. town that's surrounded by an electrified fence. Although initially presented as a 21st-century settlement, it's eventually revealed that humanity is all but wiped out, but the town itself has been preserved by a megalomaniac scientist called Dr. Pilcher. He has preserved what he deems humanity's best and pulls them out of stasis when they have a skill set required by the town. That sounds an awful lot like how Silo 1 treats its employees, doesn't it? So, take Fallout's friendly-fire nuke twist, and pair it with how Dr. Pilcher keeps humanity alive in Wayward Pines, and we basically get Silo's season 3 finale.
How "Troy" still manages to feel fresh
Even though the influence of other apocalyptic sci-fi shows is evident during the Silo season 3 finale, it never feels like a shameless rip-off. There are plenty of elements left to enjoy that don't rely on worldbuilding borrowed from other stories. For example, the idea of Daniel (Ashley Zukerman) being manipulated into losing his memory and forced to do something his old self would have been disgusted by is not something that happens in either Fallout or Wayward Pines. He also wouldn't be put in and out of stasis so routinely in either of the other two shows.
Similarly, the idea that the flashback characters like Daniel and Helen (Jessica Henwick) would ever come into direct contact with the core Silo 18 residents like Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) isn't something that ever occurred to me. I thought the flashbacks were just an origin story, and at best, the characters who have been involved from the start of the show would be distant descendants of Daniel and company. I really enjoyed this all being gradually unveiled, and the feeling of familiarity from seeing similar sci-fi shows continues to make Silo a richer experience for me.
All episodes of Silo are streaming now in Apple TV. Season 4 will arrive on July 9, 2027.
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