Apple TV+'s underground sci-fi sensation just ended, but there's good news

As one thing begins, another ends. Apple TV+ just ushered in the return of one of the streaming era's most buzzy shows, in the form of Severance's second season, which has now started. On the very same day, another more underground hit (literally and figuratively) ended its own second season.

Silo has been one of my favourite shows on the platform, with a slow-paced approach to its central mysteries and plenty of time spent on developing its cast of characters. Its second season took a little time to get going, and has some rough edges, but it ended with a bang and some big new questions (which I won't address, for fear of spoilers).

I can't find many examples of this sort of swapover happening previously – a TV network or streamer having one massive sci-fi show end just as another starts. It's a great bit of timing if it's deliberate on Apple TV+'s part, though, and acts as a lovely silver lining for anyone craving resolution on some of the cliffhangers established by Silo's finale.

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There's more good news on that front, though, even if it's actually now a fair few weeks old. Silo has been renewed for not just another season but another two, meaning we're now definitely getting a much longer arc to explain just what's going on in its cramped, subterranean post-apocalyptic world.

As Mike, our Tech Editor, has already commented, this sort of double season renewal is a type of commissioning foresight that is too often lacking in the streaming era. Netflix doesn't like to hand out multi-season deals (and the turmoil surrounding The Witcher perhaps underline why), but that can too often mean that excellent shows don't get more runtime simply because they didn't clear an invisible bar of viewing minutes.

It means that shows like Silo have room to breathe, and to take time in establishing their mysteries rather than having to rush through them with dense plotting and twists that come in too fast a rush to actually land with some impact. I'm thrilled that we're getting more Silo, in effect, even as I'm gutted to know that there's probably at least an 18-month wait from this point. The good news is that we've already got a handy list of three other shows to check out after finishing with Silo – and Severance isn't even on there, as a bonus fourth!