Silo
Apple TV+/Amazon Prime

THERE are plenty of post-apocalyptic TV shows, all designed to act as a cautionary tale to the stupidity of war. What is so compelling about Silo (Apple+) are the allegories around the real-world class struggle, and the strategies of establishment division used against us. If sci-fi is done well, it should allow us to examine the real human condition through a removed, almost triangulated story — like a social thought experiment. This series does just that.

Rebecca Ferguson (Dune) and Tim Robbins (Shawshank Redemption, War of the Worlds) bring their characters to life with the kind of skill you would expect. That said, no-one seemed badly cast, which is a necessity when trying to build immersion for this kind of ambitious and gripping storytelling.

Due to a present-day catastrophic event, there are 10,000 people living in a self-sustaining underground silo in the year 2049. The general consensus is that there is some kind of poison outside of the silo, and that if people go outside, they will die. It’s initially left to our imagination what this poison is, but the insinuation is that it is the result of a human made extinction weapon of war. 

In the silo there are three pieces of state apparatus — the elected mayor's office, the quasi-religious judiciary, and the police. The official edict of oppression is an alleged political “pact”, which has become a dogmatic and authoritarian religious set of oppressive laws. 

We soon find out that there have been ancient rebellions in the silo, which have been quashed by the state. The Establishment blame the previous rebellion for erasing their history, yet also make it illegal to keep artefacts or books from the “before times” — a contradiction which rouses constant suspicion, and gives rise to a fierce psychological need for people to connect with their history to understand their collective identity. 

There's plenty of scope for political intrigue too, as we see many strategies deployed against civilians in the silo by the Establishment — counter-revolution, historical revisionism, framing, coups, assassinations, agent provocateurs, and class collaborators. 

It all paints a dystopian picture very quickly, but the darkest part is the Establishment imposed mental straight-jacket of the ever-watching police state. Add to this some underground conspiracy theories about whether the silo is really needed, or just a system of oppression, and it starts to paint a symbol itself of people waking up from their class oppression in real life.

Nearly every strategy used by the Establishment in real life is referenced in this show, and for just this reason it is worth watching. However, the well-written human relationships in the story, as well as the intrigue about what has happened to the Earth, keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. It also brought to my mind that every victory for people is paved by the inquisitive, and the brave sacrifices of many generations of those that resist oppression. 

A must watch for all sci-fi fans.

Available now on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime