Silo Season 3: What Is The Algorithm?

Warning: This article contains spoilers for "Silo" Season 3, Episode 2, "It's All Good."

The idea that Big Brother might be watching us and keeping tabs on everything we do isn't exactly a new one. But what if this all-seeing watcher was a disembodied voice in a tightly-controlled silo with a preternatural ability to crunch the numbers and predict every outcome imaginable? "Silo" has spent three seasons playing up the Orwellian dystopia vibes of this futuristic hellhole, but it wasn't until recently that we were given a proper villain to match. That's no slight to antagonists like IT head Bernard (Tim Robbins) or his former second-in-command Robert Sims (Common), but they're simply flesh and blood. What this apparent Algorithm seems to represent is something altogether different — and frightening to the extreme.

Not that it's clear what this entity actually is, mind you. Season 2 of the Apple TV series ended with a series of reveals, the most important of which involved what Lukas Kyle (Avi Nash) found at the end of that tunnel on the lowest level of the Silo. Expecting to receive the answers that the late George Wilkins (Ferdinand Kingsley) spent his entire life searching for, Lukas gets more than he bargained for when a cold, calculating voice greets him and fills him in on the details of the Safeguard Procedure. Those expecting more insights coming into Season 3 were likely pleased to see how the premiere began ... to an extent. We got more scenes with this mysterious Algorithm (identified as such only through the subtitles) as it instructs the new Head of IT Camille Sims (Alexandria Riley), but beyond that? Questions abound.

Yet, for the observant viewer, there are several clues to be parsed that may get us closer to understanding this Algorithm's role.

For the entirety of "Silo," we've been plagued by the mysteries deeply embedded within this supposed safe haven. It's literally the first words we hear in the series premiere, after all, and repeated several times since: "We do not know why we are here. We do not know who built the Silo. We do not know why everything outside the Silo is as it is. We do not know when it will be safe to go outside. We only know that day is not this day." Fortunately, the hunt for the truth spearheaded by Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) has resulted in a handful of answers. The Founders built this Silo to withstand a global cataclysm, the outside world isn't safe at all, and there are dozens of other Silos in the immediate vicinity.

But what about the Algorithm that's apparently calling all the shots? As with other departures from the books in Season 3, this is another show-only invention that leaves us all in the dark. We do get some insights, however, through the Algorithm's conversations with Camille. Although the Silo residents believe her to be the one in charge, we find out in the premiere that Juliette's drug-fueled memory problems were part of a plan ordered by the Algorithm. Unbeknownst to anyone else, the Silo rests on the edge of a tipping point — Episode 2 confirms that, should Juliette divulge what she discovered about the Safeguard during her jaunt inside Silo 17 with Jimmy (Steve Zahn), she would officially outlive her usefulness.

So, we can infer that the Algorithm was left behind by the Founders, it's a ruthlessly malevolent force, and it will have to be dealt with sooner or later.

Of course, just because we haven't been explicitly told anything about the Algorithm yet doesn't mean we don't know anything. "Silo" has always rewarded viewers for putting their phones down and really paying attention to the details as they're presented. (Seriously, go back and watch the first 10 minutes of the Season 1 premiere. Knowing what we know now, you may be shocked to see how many important breadcrumbs are hidden in plain sight so early.) And those following closely are likely connecting the dots between the ongoing story set inside the Silo and the past storyline exploring the origins of the Silo.

Maybe we'll find our answers through two newcomers: Congressman Daniel Keene (Ashley Zukerman) and reporter Helen Drew (Jessica Henwick). Their subplot set in the distant past has already teased some connections with the rest of the show, namely that PEZ dispenser that Daniel gives Helen in the Season 2 finale that goes on to become a "relic" possessed by Juliette hundreds of years later. But, well, viewers can't have missed the overt references to some sort of artificial intelligence and nano-based technology that's responsible for taking down the fighter jet squadron tasked with attacking Iran — the same mission that Daniel's sister Charlotte (Jessica Brown Findlay) happens to be a part of as a pilot. It doesn't take a master's degree to suggest that this could be a prototype or some other forerunner to the Algorithm ... assuming that it is, in fact, what it appears to be.

Expect all to be revealed in the coming weeks. Whether we like those answers is another matter entirely. New episodes of "Silo" Season 3 premiere on Apple TV every Friday.