What I’m Watching: Silo

Over on “TV” (Apple TV+, Apple now believing they own all proper nouns), an adaptation of Hugh Howey’s Wool (2011) and sequels. Currently S1E01-2 are out, and they’re trickling out more every Friday. That’s how they get you to keep a “TV” subscription.

“We do not know why we are here.
We do not know who built the Silo.
We do not know why everything outside the Silo is as it is.
We do not know when it will be safe to go outside.
We only know that day is not this day.”

And they really try not to know. They live in a bunker after some apocalypse, look at projected screens of a wasteland from a single camera. Climb hundreds of floors of stairs between management and engineering, so really not much has changed.

You know what’s weird? They have wool (sheep? Or something else?), linen, leather. Coffee, beer, bread & cake. We never see (in eps 1-2) any farms, real plants, or animals. Maybe they’re somewhere, but oxygen generation inside doesn’t make sense from what’s shown.

I’ve read the short story and a bit of the first fix-up novel, but I’m a little confused. There’s another series, Jeanne DuPrau’s The City of Ember (2003), which had a really trashy movie starring Bill Murray; the book (and sequels? I didn’t read them but I think I should) was much better. And it addressed their very limited resources immediately and constantly. Short story Wool didn’t cover this, maybe the fix-up and later in the show does?

Anyway. Sheriff Holston (David Oyelowo) & wife (Rashida Jones) have been given breeding permission, which they go at; until her frustrating day job in IT gets her into forbidden knowledge, and we… don’t find out what’s outside. Then we bounce between flashbacks and investigations a couple years later, because no modern writer’s able to stay on one timeline anymore; I shouldn’t complain, Ember’s dumb movie added a giant monster.

The sets are grim industrial awfulness, a little too blatantly greenscreen CGI, where a practical set, model, and matte painting would’ve looked better (The Machine in particular). Most of the people in the first two eps are well-acted, tho I’m not always sure how much the Mayor (Geraldine James) knows; is she in on it? She’s reading old journals, doing all but heresy to understand the Silo, but her reactions don’t always match. She reminds me greatly of “Mom” from Futurama before she dropped her façade.

The premise is great, but having killed & retired a few people right off, there’s only Mom and engineer Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) left. I want to see a lot more development of the background as this goes on, and I suspect it’s going to be more political infighting instead. We’ll see.

Probably worth starting, but you could also wait a bit and binge when it’s further along.