[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Silo Season 3.]

Summary

Collider’s Steven Weintraub talks with Silo stars Ashley Zukerman and Jessica Henwick.

The pair discuss Season 3’s explosive finale and their experiences since joining the hit Apple TV series.

They also tease what fans can expect from Silo Season 4.

It’s hard to believe that the penultimate season of Apple TV’s beloved sci-fi, Silo, has finally concluded its 10-episode run. While we’re still reeling from the explosive Season 3 finale, fans can take solace in the fact that creator and showrunner Graham Yost and the ensemble cast, led by Dune star Rebecca Ferguson, have already wrapped filming on the fourth and final season, which means the on-screen end of Hugh Howey’s book series is fast-approaching. For Silo stars Ashley Zukerman, who plays Daniel Keene in the show, and Jessica Henwick, who plays Helen Drew, even having just joined the show in Season 2, the pair knew their characters’ arcs were building towards something big — but Episode 10 left even them “genuinely shook.” While talking with Collider’s Steven Weintraub, Zukerman and Henwick take a moment to reflect on their first-ever scene together, and the most memorable moments of coming aboard Silo’s speeding train. They discuss what it’s like being part of one of Apple TV’s most successful series and look ahead to Season 4, teasing what fans can expect from their characters’ final moments — good or bad.
Ashley Zukerman Was Blindsided by ‘Silo’ Season 3’s Finale

“I was genuinely shook.”

COLLIDER: Silo Season 3 is awesome. All I want to do is curse about how much I loved the finale. For the two of you, what was it like reading that script? Jessica, I know you don’t have much to do in that one, but the episode is unbelievable, the way it ties the whole season together. Ashley, can you talk a little bit about your reaction to the script and what you would be asked to do? ASHLEY ZUKERMAN: Firstly, I had no idea. When Graham [Yost] first told me the story, Daniel’s story, he only told me Daniel’s story, and I was hooked. I was in. It was only when the 10 scripts were sent to us a couple of weeks before shooting that I read Episode 10, and I was genuinely shook, not just because of the privilege of getting to play that story, but then also of just what happens to Daniel, the tragedy of that character. JESSICA HENWICK: I was blown away, and I found it really heartbreaking. The ending of [Episode] 9–10 and into Season 4, it’s just really tragic. ZUKERMAN: And you’re right that it does make sense of everything that you’ve seen up until then. Like, this is a show about memory, the dangers of losing a memory as an individual and as a society, and what can be filled up if someone has an absence of memory. They can be filled with dangerous ideas. So you’re right, that last episode really does hammer home everything that’s been talked about in Season 3 and then really delivers also on Seasons 1 and 2. The other thing about Episode 10 is that it really pulls back the curtain, and you learn so much about Silo 1 and the fact that you’ve been, not brainwashed, but given the forgetful juice, and the cryopods. There’s so much in there to unpack.
There’s More Tragedy to Come in ‘Silo’ Season 4

“It’s some of the hardest material I’ve ever had to work with.”

Ashley Zukerman as Daniel Keene and Jessica Henwick as Helen Drew in Silo Season 3.Image via Apple TV

One of the advantages of the junket today is I know you’ve already shot Season 4. That’s already been wrapped. For fans who have finished Season 3, what do you guys want to tease people about Season 4? HENWICK: That’s really hard. I’ll say I only read my parts of Season 3 and Season 4. ZUKERMAN: What can we tease? HENWICK: More tragedy. Honestly, a lot more tragedy. ZUKERMAN: I think every character in the show is dealing with this question inside them about when do they need to stand up and do something about the situation that they’re in, and I think every character gets pushed even further and gets put under more pressure right through Season 4. I think that’s what perpetuates a lot of the action that happens. That’s not a good tease. [Laughs] Listen, I know. The problem with doing this junket today is that it’s impossible to talk about. We can talk about Season 3 because everyone has now seen it. ZUKERMAN: Well, I’ll say this: We’re not ending a show. It’s not like they’re writing the show and then having to come up with, “Oh, how do we end this?” Like any of the great TV shows, what’s that last episode going to look like is a question, because it feels like they’re writing it on the go. They have an idea of how to finish it, but they sort of have to figure out how to end it. This is a 40-episode story, so the ending, I think, when people read it, is very satisfying because it’s the end of a novel. You obviously know how this is all going to come together. How satisfied were you with your character’s ultimate journey? I have not read the books. Were you really satisfied? HENWICK: I’ll say as an actor, I was incredibly satisfied in that I don’t think I’ve ever been as creatively challenged as I have been on this show. Specifically, Season 4. It’s some of the hardest material I’ve ever had to work with, and it was asking so much of me in a really short space of time. So, hugely satisfying. As someone who is in love with Helen, is it the ending that I wanted for her? No. But, you know, you make do. [Laughs] You make do. And I think it’s probably the more honest ending. ZUKERMAN: You know what? I’m just going to say the same to all of that. I think Daniel and Helen’s ending is in parallel. So, same. Do you want to tease anything about a Pez dispenser, or should I move on to another question? HENWICK: [Laughs] I wonder what has happened to the sales of Pez dispensers since the show came out. ZUKERMAN: Wonderful question. [Laughs]

Related

What Does That PEZ Dispenser in ‘Silo’ Really Mean? We Have Theories

Isn’t it kind of like a miniature silo for candy?

The Duo Reflect on Their Favorite ‘Silo’ Scenes

Zukerman and Henwick also react to all the love from fans.

I love this show, but I’m curious, when did you both realize people really love this show? You’ve only been in a little bit from Season 2. HENWICK: I hadn’t told anyone that I was going to be in that scene, the last scene of Season 2, and I was really surprised at the range amongst my friends, who then messaged me, male, female, old, young people who I knew watched sci-fi, people who I know don’t watch sci-fi. I was really surprised by how many people the show speaks to.

ZUKERMAN: Yeah, I was the same. Everyone is so contained in their own little world right now that it feels like we don’t often talk about what we are watching, and I was quite surprised how many people who I know dearly have revealed to me since that they’ve been watching the show and loved the show from the beginning. I find it very exciting. You guys have some great scenes in Season 3. When you think back on the making of Season 3, which episode or scene did you just love? What do you want to tell about things that you will always remember? HENWICK: Oh, you’re going to talk about our first scene? ZUKERMAN: Yeah. Well, the truth is, my favorite scene is still that first scene we did in Season 2. We haven’t really had a chance to talk about that, but that’s been my favorite scene to shoot because we didn’t know each other, and we saw very quickly that things were happening here, and we could understand how we could do this big thing together. We knew what we were going to have to do together, so the stakes were really high for that scene. That was it. But then I just have to say, every day was pretty difficult for all the right reasons, but pretty special on Season 3, to the point that I don’t know when I’ll end up watching the show because I’m a little scared of making 10 months into 10 episodes, which I think would happen if I watched the show. It was just a very, very, very special, profound experience. All eight members of the cast that we were in and out of, that lead our storyline, everyone was just really special. We all really wanted to tell this story well, and we did, I think. HENWICK: Getting to have the time jump and see where Helen and Daniel had ended up, and getting that small taste of happiness before it’s ripped away from them, that was really fun to film, and just go, “Okay, where have our relationships gone? Where have we been? What have we decided to do with our lives?” I love all of that filling out of character. ZUKERMAN: I think that was actually very confusing at the time, as well, because we’d done eight episodes of this Three Days of the Condor, political thriller, slash romantic thriller, and then we did this jump forward, and suddenly these people were just living their lives. It was confusing to see what the story was, but the underlying tension really pays off, as we know. Silo Season 3 is available to stream on Apple TV.

Release Date

May 5, 2023

Network

Apple TV

Showrunner

Graham Yost

Directors

Morten Tyldum, David Semel, Michael Dinner, Aric Avelino

Writers

Graham Yost, Hugh Howey, Jeffery Wang, Lekethia Dalcoe