Post-apocalyptic shows are seemingly endless. However, only a few of them can hit the mark when it comes to capturing the audience’s attention.
The Last of Us did that flawlessly. Even though Silo on Apple TV+ hasn’t been able to gather that same audience reception or number, it’s still an endlessly fascinating watch.
The series is about people who stay in mega underground Silos because the outside world is toxic. The air isn’t safe to breathe, and staying outside can lead to immediate death. But is that really so, or is there something else going on? The series has effectively commented on various themes like powerplay, corruption, human greed, etc.
The execution of the show has been flawless, and it just ended its first season. While it gave plenty of answers, the season finale also raised some head-scratching questions. Episode 10 of the show explored Juliette Nichols finally getting the Jane Carmody video which depicted the outside world as green and lush. But the ending showed that everything is not as it seems.
In the finale of the first season of Silo, Juliette Nichols ventures out in a heat tape-sealed hazmat suit to find that there are multiple other silos, like the one where her colleagues stay in. She also realizes that the world outside is barren, lifeless, and uninhabitable. Another thing the protagonist uncovers is that she’s in silo number 18. In the books, she will head next to silo 17, where she will find the sole survivor of an uprising.
Ending of Silo Explained
Episode 10, the finale of the first season of Silo, was titled Outside, and viewers did get an answer to the question that was bothering all from episode one itself- what is on the outside of the Silo? In the initial episodes, volunteers like Allison Becker tried to go outside because they had been led to believe that the world was green and lush, but as everyone got to know in the finale, it actually isn’t.
Initially, Juliette puts on the hazmat suit and discovers that the world is beautiful and green and not barren deserts. She almost steps out but finds that those visuals are being sent to her helmet and are a lie. Juliette later sees the actual world- the dusty, barren world with nothing in it- not even animals or plants. But Allison died when she went outside due to a suit malfunction.
So does Juliette live? Yes, it seems like she does because of the heat tape that her colleagues were able to find and steal for her hazmat suit. This sealed her suit and prevented any leakages in it. Without it, the outside trip would quickly turn toxic for the human inside the suit. But is there life in the outside world? When Juliette walks further, we see a fallen cityscape in the distance.
It could be a long-vacant metropolis on land that’s lifeless and filled with sandstorms. However, what’s interesting is the dozens of other circular craters representing different silos in the ground. So this means there are dozens of underground silos similar to the ones she lives in. Also, they look like they are pretty close to each other. So maybe in season 2, Juliette will find a way into one of them.
The finale hints at the fact that Juliette knows she’s in Silo 18, and it is Holland who has access to some control board full of various numbered locks. This indicates that the other silos might be controlled or monitored from here. With a second season confirmed it will be interesting to know what happened to the outside world. The popular theories currently hint at climate change or some human-caused devastation.
Silo’s Last Episode Explained
Episode 10 of Silo is titled Outside, and it begins with protagonist Juliette Nichols trying to show everyone in Silo the video of the outside world that shows it as a lush, green, and prosperous landscape. So she asks Patrick, an IT guy, to help her with this. Juliette does succeed, but Bernard interferes and stops the screening.
Juliette tries to flee when the authorities come after her, and she does succeed, but only because her colleagues reach in the nick of time to save her when she falls to the bottom of the vertical tunnels. But she isn’t safe for long as, ultimately, she gets captured by Sims and Bernard. So Juliette gets sent outside. She walks outside the silo to find that the world outside is beautiful and green.
However, something isn’t right in the video. To Juliette, it looks too perfect, like a simulation. That’s when the protagonist realizes that the lush world is just an image getting displayed on her suit’s visor. Knowing this, she terminates the visual by touching the ground. Then she walks ahead to find a world that’s literally empty and lifeless.
Since Holston and Allison died from inhaling the toxic air outside, it proves that the above world is completely uninhabitable. But why didn’t Juliette die even though she wore the same kind of hazmat suit that Allison and Holston wore? It’s because hers was sealed with heat tape, preventing the toxic air outside from getting in.
When Juliette ventured out further, she saw more underground silos right next to each other. By this point, she knew that she was from Silo 18, which is what the number 18 implied throughout the show. Also, the dozens of silos mean there are more people, and the world of the show just got thrown wide open.
Silo Book Series Ending Explained
Silo has been renewed for a second season, and fans of the show are excited to know what the new season will bring, mainly because the first one ended with a bombastic revelation. Viewers now know that there are more Silos and that the world outside is barren and uninhabitable. However, many don’t know that they don’t need to wait long to find the answers to their questions.
After all, the show is adapted from Hugh Howey’s three Silo novels. So if the show continues to follow the books, we can expect her to go to Silo 17 (hers is 18) and meet Solo- the only survivor of the uprising there. But what happens at the very end of the book series? It’s revealed that the outside world is barren because of a nuclear disaster/ war.
At the end of the Silo book novels, the food supply dwindles fast, and Juliette feels the pressure as everyone prepares to exit the silo. Valves, cleaning suits, welding kits, and more are ready for the outdoor expedition. They ultimately leave their lives inside and head outside to find a colorful and beautiful world awaiting them. They even remove their suits and breathe in fresh air.
Then they see a concrete tower in the distance, which might be where they can all begin anew. Do they move forward to forge a new beginning and hope to find sustenance and water? Yes, they do. The book’s ending and the conclusion of the show’s first season are in sharp contrast to each other. But multiple things happen in the book, leading to the outside being habitable again. What are those things? Keep watching Silo for that, or read the books.
The first season of Silo is available on Apple TV+.
So what are your thoughts on the first episode of Silo?
Was it satisfactory enough to bring you back for a second season? Or would you have liked some things more fleshed out? Are the makers of the show going to follow the source books perfectly?
Let us know in the comments below.
