Apple TV+ Silo (2023) (1 Viewer)

[jayembee]

The pot is boiling!

My suspicion about the "watchers" wasn't correct. However,

Spoiler

unless Judge Meadows is just a puppet of the "janitors", it might be that there is another group of people who secretly run the Silo.

Curiouser and curiouser.

By the way, I've seen a complete list of the episode titles. The season finale is titled (behind a tag, because it is a spoiler)

Spoiler

"Outside"

.

 

[jayembee]

It could be like The Expanse where the first season was about 40% of the first book, but then some stuff from later books.

The Expanse was a weird situation. There were some things introduced into the first season that weren't in the first book, simply because they wanted Avarsarala to be a regular right from the git-go (she didn't appear until the second book). They also introduced Bobbie Draper earlier than she appears in the books. And they also adapted the novella "The Butcher of Anderson Station" along the way.

Anyway, they didn't have the space to get the entire first book adapted in 10 episodes, so it ran over into the first three eps of season 2. Then the adaptation of book two ran into the beginning of season 3. They caught up so that season 3 finished the adaptation of book 3, which is a good thing, since Syfy cancelled the show. When it moved to Amazon Prime, they managed to compress the books down to fewer episodes, so the next three seasons adapted one book each.

 

[Jason Goodmanson]

Hey @jayembee - have you read the book (at least Wool) or is the show your first exposure to this world? I'm just curious.

 

[jayembee]

Hey @jayembee - have you read the book (at least Wool) or is the show your first exposure to this world? I'm just curious.

I haven't read any of the books. Never even heard of them until the show came out.

 

[DaveF]

Haven’t been able to discuss the show. But we’re watching and keeping up with it. What’s great is my wife is into it. I knew I watched to watch having enjoyed the books (hence, I started this thread originally). But it’s good enough drama with some great performers and my wife is totally into it to.

And every episode I’m reminded that I don’t remember any details from the books. Just some broad strokes details. And those are kinda smushed together from the trilogy, forgetting what’s specific to the first book.

 

[DaveF]

We just finished the seventh episode tonight - I didn't realize we'd catch up so quickly.

Really appreciating this adaptation - it's the story from the books that I'm familiar with, but yet it's its own version of the story. Feel like it's walking that line very well of not using the book as a script, and also being it's own thing but shares nothing from the source material.

Really curious to see how this season ends because I know how the book ended, and I'm not sure they have enough time to get there. It could be like The Expanse where the first season was about 40% of the first book, but then some stuff from later books.

Feels like this is not covering the whole of the first book. But, as noted, I might mis-remember what all was revealed in the first book.

I wasn’t sure this series would make a good TV adaptation. This isn’t Foundation. This isn’t even The Expanse. They were solid but not exceptional books.

But the cast is so good. And the writing supports them. The show might turn out to be better than the source material.

 

[jayembee]

Episode 8 ("Hanna") is something of an odd duck. In one respect, it seems like not much is happening as it happens, but by the time you get to the end, it's "Holy shit!!!". Everything is coming to a head.

Spoiler

(1) Bernard shows his true colors.
(2) Jules is on the outs... definitely figuratively, and possibly literally.
(3) It's unclear what's going to happen with Billings.
(4) Lukas may turn out to be a savior. Or not.
(5) It's still unclear who's really in charge. Sims does seem to be subordinate to Bernard, but does Bernard answer to someone(s) else?

Two episodes to go!

And Season 2 has been officially announced. There had been a mention in Wikipedia's page for the show that S2 had started filming in mid-April. But the Variety article linked to doesn't mention that.

 

[Jason Goodmanson]

And every episode I’m reminded that I don’t remember any details from the books. Just some broad strokes details. And those are kinda smushed together from the trilogy, forgetting what’s specific to the first book.

I've read Wool a few times, but I couldn't tell you exactly what happened page by page.

Saying that though, I can see elements of what I remember (and a few "oh yeah, I forgot about that" moments as well) but I'm also familiar enough to realize when something new was added.

However, I barely remember Dust and Shift (only read those once) so some of these new moments could be from those later books.

I used The Expanse as an example since the first season didn't cover the full book, but yet the showrunners brought elements into that first season from later books. That's why I loved that adaptation and this one since it's similar enough to the books, but is something new entirely. And I think that level of adaptation is difficult (or least hard to pull off.)

Really hope more seasons are produced, but don't over do it.

 

[Greg.K]

It’s been a slow burn of a show, but has kept my interest. I’m curious about the outside (and what’s over the hill), moreso than the political maneuverings of the Silo. This latest episode seems to be moving the story into high gear, and really made me want to see the next one immediately!

 

[DaveF]

I’m listening to a collection of Hugh Howey’s short stories, and just finished a novella-length triplet of Silo stories. It helped remind me of a couple of major details I’d gotten hazy on. But it also added to the intrigue because I’m unsure how these characters relate to the main books or TV show. And his author’s note says they’re major characters.

So, with Season 2 approved, hopefully it will do well and we’ll get a complete story over 3-5 seasons.

 

[jayembee]

Episode 9 (one to go!): Once again, lots of stuff happening.

Spoiler

(1) The hard drive is apparently Bernard's. And he's unraveling.
(2) Sims is skating on thin ice (if he even knows what ice is...or skating... )
(3) The secret is out (so to speak), at least it's now known by Juliette, Patrick, and an IT guy. And Billings has found The Exciting Adventures of Georgia.

It's going to be tough wait for the season finale...

 

[Jason Goodmanson]

Little late to the season finale due to our going to the Denver Fan Expo this weekend, but we watched the it last night.

No spoilers, but I think it ended well. There was a small slap in the face reminder about something from earlier that felt a little heavy handed to me (but that could be because I knew what was happening). My mother-in-law kept yelling at the characters to do things because she had an idea of what happening, or would happen, or she could just be senile.

Over all I was pleased with the show as a hole. My biggest gripe is the the sense of scale, or lack thereof. For something that is supposed to have about 10,000 people living there, it never felt like you saw more than 50 at most.

Interested in seeing how the second season goes. There is still a ton of material to adapt.

Related, I just finished my re-read of Shift (the second book in the Silo series.) I had forgotten SOOOOO MUCH about this entry in the series. It did confirm my thought that most of the new stuff was added for TV and didn't come from this book (perhaps Dust - it's been quite a while since I read that one).

 

[spshultz]

My wife and I both enjoyed this show and are looking forward to Season 2. Having never read the books I have absolutely no clue what direction S2 will go but I hope they give some indication as to why the

Spoiler

Silos

came to be.

 

[DaveF]

I vaguely remembered from the books, as we started watching, that it was something key about the suit and visor, and I kinda thought it was the visor that had a synthetic image of the outdoors. Except that didn't make sense, forgetting the details, and wasn't really sure anymore the final reveal.

Well, that was the final reveal. And my wife reacted kinda like I did when I read the book: this is a weird twist but the logic is a bit of an ouroboros, and maybe a little too clever as its internal logic is a bit convoluted. I also remember that when the trilogy explained the history of the siloes and the wasteland, I was less enthused.

But as with the books, while not my favorite story, I enjoyed it, and any weaknesses with the plot per se is made up for with the great writing, acting, and production. My wife and I are looking forward to the eventual second season.

 

[Greg.K]

The repeating pattern of the flying birds in the video was something I caught onto pretty early (they were in the visor views of the previous people to go outside, as well as the video from the hard drive), so I thought it might be the case that the visor image was the fake. Glad to see that pay off.

 

[Sean Bryan]

I just finished this last night. Started late and was only doing one episode per week, but I watched the last 3 episodes in one go.

I was completely sucked in from the end of the first episode to end of the last. Great storytelling! Really looking forward to seeing where this goes.

 

[Sean Bryan]

My biggest gripe is the the sense of scale, or lack thereof. For something that is supposed to have about 10,000 people living there, it never felt like you saw more than 50 at most.

The nature of the layout of the Silo would make it very difficult to show the large number of inhabitants all at once. But I thought the scale was portrayed well with the central stairs, the number of levels discussed, and the amount of time it takes to walk. And it was shown visually in pretty much the only way it could be shown.