Commentary: ‘Silo’ Presents A Series Of Mysteries
by Frank Martin
It’s no surprise that mystery is a big factor in storytelling. Often, a singular mystery will be at the heart of the tale, building up to an inevitable climax when all is revealed. Other times, a television series will present a different mystery every episode in a serialized format. Very rarely do stories try to mix these two styles. For instance, Lost was a show with a big mystery surrounding its setting. Over the course of its many seasons, it slowly unraveled this mystery in a steady pace, but every episode funneled into the main one. Silo does the same, but it creates a layer of mystery along the way each episode must focus on. It’s a strange way to present a narrative, and other shows rarely attempt it.
The first mystery surrounds the sheriff (Jeffrey Wright) and his wife (Rashida Jones). She becomes paranoid when she is unable to have a child, which ultimately leads to her wanting to leave the silo — a decision that results in certain death for all who attempt it. This mystery is never quite explained, but it is quickly followed up by a murder mystery surrounding George (Ferdinand Kingsley), a man whom the sheriff’s wife contacted. After that mystery has run its course, the show focuses on a mechanic named Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson), who has to figure out a third mystery involving the sheriff himself wanting to go outside.
All these mysteries are the center of individual episodes, but they all funnel into the larger one surrounding the silo and its history. Very little is uncovered in terms of the grand mystery at the heart of the show, but all of these different puzzles involving murder investigations and characters making bizarre choices serve as drivers for each discrete installment of the series. It allows the story to uncover things at the periphery of the main plot without giving too much away. So far, Silo’s first season has been entertaining as it focuses on these smaller cases on the way to uncovering the big one. But it’s really all a matter of whether or not the main mystery sticks the landing in the end. Otherwise, the smaller ones don’t matter.
Silo is now streaming on Apple+.
