Silo is one of many high-profile Apple TV originals that have received consistently positive reviews. Based on the Hugh Howey trilogy of novels, Wool, Shift, and Dust, the sci-fi dystopian drama tells the story of a future world where the Earth above is supposedly uninhabitable, and survivors all reside in underground bunkers. As Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson), a lowly engineer, starts to question the motivations of leadership, the death of a friend and romantic partner, and the truth about what’s outside, she gets herself into a position of power to investigate.
The story takes a shocking turn in the second season with Jules making it outside and realizing that it is indeed dangerous and deadly. She meets a quirky man named Solo (Steve Zahn) and makes a shocking discovery. In her final face-to-face with Bernard (Tim Robbins), the power-hungry IT department head of her silo, the results are devastating. Just how devastating, however, we’ll have to wait and see for the upcoming third season.
‘Silo’ Season 3 Is Expected for 2026
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Silo has been confirmed to be a four-season run, which means Season 3 will be the show’s penultimate run. Both seasons were filmed back-to-back, which means we may not have to wait long after Season 3 before we get to Season 4.
Season 3 reportedly wrapped filming in May/June 2025 with plans to start filming for Season 4 right after. Season 2 aired from November 2024 through January 2025. However, there’s still no confirmed premiere date for the season. Season 1 premiered in May 2023 and Season 2 in November 2024, so we can expect Season 3 to arrive in the mid-to-latter half of 2026. What’s almost definitive is that Season 3 will arrive in 2026, barring any unforeseen delays. With both seasons filming back-to-back, this Season 3 is coming out later than expected, but with, as noted, Season 4 following closely behind.
Who Will (And Won’t) Appear in Silo Season 3?
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Season 3 of Silo is expected to see most of the main cast return, albeit with some obvious omissions. With Pete now confirmed dead, the only possibility for his return will be in flashbacks or memories. Judge Meadows (Tanya Moodie) was also poisoned and died, so her only potential for return would be flashbacks as well. Finally, there’s Terry “Coop” Cooper (Matt Gomez Hidaka), a faithful young engineer and Jules’ previous shadow, who was shot and killed by a Raider during the uprising.
Lukas will likely have an expanded role now that he has been graced with knowledge and revealed to Bernard what he knows, arguably becoming one of the most powerful people in the silo. Bernard is so distraught, he hands over the proverbial keys to the kingdom to Sims (Common) and gives him the job of head of IT.
But interestingly, when Sims arrives at the Vault to find out for himself what’s going on, only his wife Camille (Alexandria Riley) is invited in. Both will likely return, Sims wrestling with the fact that he isn’t as important as he thought he was, and Camille balancing her role with that of being a wife and mother, and being more respected than her husband by leadership.
Daniel and Helen will play heavily into the season, with both Henwick and Zuckerman confirmed to be joining the cast. We’ll learn how and why the silos came to be and who was behind them. It has been confirmed that both actors will not only appear but be series regulars.
Zahn may return as Solo/Jimmy, considering he was a standout in Season 2 and his character is the one person on the outside who can and will help Jules. Harriet (Martha Walker) will likely also return as the person on the inside who helps Jules.
Also expected, though not officially confirmed to return, include Claire Perkins as Carla, Chinaza Uche as Paul Billings, Rick Gomez as Patrick Kennedy, Shane McRae as Knox, and Remmie Miller as Shirley. The biggest question is how much of the story inside the silo will be told in Season 3 and how much will wait until Season 4. Nonetheless, with these two final seasons, all questions will be answered.
‘Silo’ Season 3 Will Focus on a Backstory
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There’s no detailed confirmation yet about the story in Season 3, though we know it will focus heavily on exploring the apocalyptic backstory. This was teased with the post-credits flashback scene featuring Daniel (Ashley Zuckerman), a local politician, meeting with Helen (Jessica Henwick), a journalist who asks about a radioactive dirty bomb attack. He clearly has a pivotal role in the existence of the silos, that yellow duck Pez dispenser that was an important relic from the first season, confirmed to have been his.
The show’s creator, Graham Yost, told TVLine back in January 2025 that the third season would take place outdoors (at least in part) and “we will be in the world, and there will be sunshine.” We can naturally infer from this that it will be via flashbacks to before the silos were built. According to People, the story will be based on Shift, the second book in the trilogy, and will primarily take place three centuries prior to the construction of the silos and as the Earth above becomes a wasteland.
It’s also confirmed that the Pez dispenser origins will be explored more, according to Time, as will more details about what actually happened in silo 17, where Solo resides. We’ll learn why everyone decided to go outside, and what truly happened to them from there.
If Daniel is to represent the character Donald from the book, he is one of the key people in the development of the silo system, purportedly designed to save humanity from a nuclear attack by Iran. The season should also explore more details about that dirty bomb and what was happening to lead to the development of the silos in the first place.
Continuing the Story From ‘Silo’ Season 2
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It’s unclear how closely the show Silo will follow Howey’s books. Based on the first two seasons, the series has been following the core story pretty closely, albeit with new characters, the existence of things like relics, and some alterations of key events, along with a slower-burn story. However, with Season 3 sounding like a lot of it, or at least some of it, will be spent telling the story of centuries prior, and will take place in the Earth above, chances are the story involving Jules will be a much slower burn, even still, interspersed with these scenes. But the slow pacing is essential to the show’s success.
At the end of Season 2, Jules finally got a proper enclosed suit thanks to Solo’s help, and she was able to return to her silo. But when she arrived, she found Bernard suited up, ready to leave. He had reached the end of his rope, his cult-like dedication to the silo and its cause reaching a breaking point as he was exposed and called out for his actions by the people, and informed by Lukas (Avi Nash) that he was now privy to disturbing information that clearly shook Bernard to his core. Bernard and Jules got stuck in the airlock together, both in suits, and a fiery blaze erupted.
We don’t expect either of them to perish unless a shocking twist sees Bernard gone as the main antagonist (it’s a certainty that Jules survives). But now that both are aware of the shocking safety procedure, the ability for leaders to pump poison into the silo through a secret pipe, killing everyone inside if they so desire, it’s a lot to unpack. It will also be devastating for Jules as she doesn’t yet know that her father Pete (Iain Glen) is dead, sacrificing himself for her and the others in a final heroic moment.
As for the rebellion inside, chances are things won’t slow down once Jules reveals the truth about this pipe and what she saw on the outside. When others learn what actually happened to Jules, that she was forced out of the silo and didn’t ask to leave, it will spark even more anger.
The question is how much of this story inside the silo will take place in Season 3 and how much will be saved for the final season, once we have all the context and information from the backstory. Overall, Apple confirmed in a press release that Seasons 3 and 4 would conclude the story from the books and offer “an incredibly satisfying conclusion to the many mysteries and unanswered questions contained within the walls of these silos.”
In a dystopian future, men and women reside in a vast underground silo governed by strict regulations, believed to shield them from the hazardous world above. The series delves into the complex social order within the silo and the mysteries surrounding their subterranean existence.
Specifications
Release Date
2023-05-05
Rating
TV-MA
Genres
Sci-Fi (Genre), Drama (Genre)
Showrunner
Graham Yost (Person)
Affiliate Links
AppleTV+
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