In the bowels of the Silo: the creator presents season 2 to us

Everything has changed in the world of Silo. It's almost a new series that begins today with season 2 of the successful sci-fi series. We decipher it all with Graham Yost.

PREMIERE: The first season of Silo was an unexpected success. How did you experience it?
Graham Yost : I'm lucky, because I work on Apple TV+, so I don't even know the audiences for the series! All I know is that I was asked to do a new season. Being able to do the sequel is all that matters to me. That and that Hugh Howey (who wrote the books) loves the series. I don't really read reviews in general, otherwise you have to be able to accept the good ones as well as the bad ones. And one bad review can ruin the 10 good reviews you've read before… For the rest, no one stops me in the street to ask for my autograph (laughs). I'm just an author with an old white beard.

But what makes Silo thus resonated with the public?
I believe it is this quest for truth. During season 1, Juliette wants to know what happened to George and his silo. In season 2, it is Shirley who inherits this quest while Juliette seeks to find out the truth of silo 17… In the book, there is this sentence that I love: “Lies won’t kill you, but the truth will!” I love it. It shows that there is a certain complexity behind the simple truth.

And then there is the social struggle, very vertical, which exists in this Silo and which holds up a mirror to our society…
Yes obviously. The public very quickly understood this analogy with the people at the bottom of the silo who feel left behind and those at the top of the silo who look down on those at the bottom. But in season 2, we will discover that all this social setting is not the result of chance. It was programmed, orchestrated, and Bernard (Tim Robbins) will encourage this distrust between the top and the bottom. Knox, among the mechanics, knows that they have control of the current, the energy that powers the silo. So they can cut everything. But as he says at one point in Season 2, they can only use this card once. Because at the second outage, the people at the top will send all their armed might to regain control at the bottom.

The concept has evolved a lot since the start of season 1. There is less of a surprise effect. We are no longer in the discovery of Silo. Season 2 is almost a new series starting, right?
Yes absolutely. There's a bit of that. Because we have this huge revelation at the end of season 1 and as a result, we have a better understanding of what is happening outside, in this world in general. Obviously, this also raises new questions: if we can go out and survive outside, what does that mean?

The first episode of season 2, almost without a word and entirely devoted to Juliette, is very strong…
It's quite crazy to see an actress so inhabited by her role that she manages to convey the story to us, even without dialogue. Everything happens in his eyes, through his gestures. And via the choices of the director, Michael Dinner. We had already worked together on Justified (another series created by Graham Yost, Editor's note) and I knew he was capable of pulling that off. I remember after a few days of filming this episode, he came to me and said about Rebecca (Ferguson): holy crap, she's a golden actress! She really pops the screen!

Ultimately, what does this first episode of the world of Silo ?
It says that we're opening up this world, that the whole story is expanding in season 2. From now on, we're thinking about the other silos. What's going on inside. This raises a whole bunch of questions. Were there 50 silos built? It's huge! Can you imagine the work that required? But what happened outside to get there? I hope we can answer all of this…

There are flashbacks in Howey's books that take us back to the past. Do you plan to do that in the series as well?
I will only answer you with a little enigmatic smile (he smiles). We have a plan and we hope to be able to bring it to fruition. It will not be exactly the one deployed by Hugh (Howey) in his books. But we will be very close in the general story.

Is it scary for you, the idea of ​​getting to the end of the story and delivering the answers to the public? Because often, in this type of series, people are disappointed when the time comes for the final reveal…
No, because what made me want to do this series, initially, was precisely the resolutions brought by Hugh in his novels. It's definitely worth it. It's true that sometimes we read a mystery book and when we reach the end, we say to ourselves: is this the resolution? OK… Why not… But there Hugh really found an ending that resonates with you. And I really hope we can get there.

The first season didn't quite adapt the entirety of Woolthe first volume in the Hugh Howey saga. What does season 2 cover?
In fact, the first two seasons are an adaptation of Wool. The moment where Juliette is sent outside to clean up comes about halfway through the book and I knew that's where I had to end season 1. It really was the perfect moment. There was no need to go beyond that. And season 2 ends with the big reveal that concludes the book. And there's a little something at the end of the (season 2) finale that gives a hint of where we'd like to go next…

Silo, season 2, to watch from November 15, 2024 on Apple TV+ and also in France on Canal +