‘Silo’ Episode 1 Review: Apple TV+ show off to great start as Allison Becker is put through the wringer
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: After ‘Hello Tomorrow!’ and ‘Extrapolations,’ Apple TV+ is continuing its journey in the science-fiction realm with ‘Silo,’ and it is off to an enigmatic start. ‘Silo’ is based on a series of books by Hugh Howey, and while adaptations can be a hit or a miss, something tells us that ‘Silo’ is going to fall under the former category. Whether or not you have read the book, the pilot episode of ‘Silo’ will have you hooked from the very beginning.
Rashida Jones plays the titular character, Allison Becker, the wife of Sheriff Holston Becker, a seemingly happy couple who live in Silo. Jones is the star of ‘Silo’ Episode 1 titled ‘Freedom Day.’ While the first episode does a fair amount of world-building, it focuses on two characters in particular, whose lives are a blueprint of the struggle that the citizens of Silo face, and will face.
RELATED ARTICLES
What is 'Silo' about? Plot of the Apple TV+ dystopian sci-fi drama series explained
Popular series 'Dear Edward' axed by Apple TV+ after just one season
Allison Becker is put through the wringer
‘Silo’ Episode 1 focuses largely on Allison and Holston as they navigate through trials and tribulations in the first hour of the entire series. This episode is proof that ‘Silo’ is going to be far from light-hearted, and there will be moments that will make you flinch and look away but that’s the beauty of it. In a dystopian future, Silo presents itself as an underground city stretching to 144 stories. Nobody knows who built it, or how it was built, but people living there are convinced it is safer there than outside, which has been showcased as toxic, deadly, and unkind to human form.
In Silo, one needs access to be able to conceive a child. When Allison and Holston finally get the chance, for the second time, they are ecstatic but also nervous because the first time didn’t work for them. This time, the couple is hopeful and has a window called ‘pregnancy opportunity time,’ in which they must get pregnant. It definitely adds a lot of pressure but once Allison gets her birth control removed, the couple gets to work! ‘Silo’ has done a great job of getting the viewers attached to this couple, which hints that they possibly won’t have a happy ending.
Allison is tired of trying as the days go by and she doesn’t get pregnant, every month she gets her period is another disappointment. Be it the lack of success or a source telling her that the higher-ups in Silo don’t want someone as strong-minded as her to become a mother, it takes a toll on her. In addition, Allison also gets wrapped into a subplot where she finds out that there might be waves crashing, birds chirping, and trees growing outside of Silo.
It doesn’t take long for her to conclude that the very foundation Silo is built on, could be a lie. Her suspicions are confirmed when she uses a knife to cut herself up and remove the birth control, which should have been out, to begin with. Holston barely has the time to process what’s happening when Allisons says the dreaded words in front of everyone, “I want to go out.”
Will Allison die in Episode 1?
After Allison’s announcement, the judicial doesn’t have an option as they lock her up. This part of ‘Silo’ Episode 1 will tug on your heartstrings as Holston and Allison say their goodbyes. Allison promises that she will go outside, find out the truth, and then come back for Holston. However, the start of the episode establishes that isn’t the case. As Allison steps out of Silo, she starts cleaning the filters as the people cheer for her from inside. She stumbles as she takes a step forward, but picks herself up. The suspense in this scene is immaculate as Allison falls down once again, and never gets up. Her body, or a projection of it, lies dead outside Silo. ‘Silo’ Episode 1 ends how it begins, with Holston making the statement, "I want to go out" as he prepares himself to find out what really happened to the love of his life.
You can stream the first two episodes of ‘Silo’ on Apple TV+ from May 5, 2023.
