Silo Season 3 is adapting the second book in Hugh Howey‘s series, Shift, though it is taking more creative liberties than ever. Changes are nothing new for this series, though the show’s interpretation of Rep. Keene (Ashley Zukerman) is considerably different from the book. The latest episode, “Gray Goo,” changed things up even more, and some fans are frustrated to see the story drifting away from the source material. Howey himself hopped into a Facebook fan group to defend Keene’s new arc, simultaneously acknowledging how different it is. With two more episodes to go in this season and another season on the way, it’s too soon to draw any major conclusions just yet. However, right now it looks like this version of Keene is better suited for the TV show than an exact copy of the book character would have been.
Howey’s novel introduces us to Rep. Donald Keene, though the show changed his first name to Daniel to avoid any comparisons to real-life political figures. In Season 3, we’ve seen Daniel slowly uncover the secretive project to build the silos that will eventually become doomsday shelters for Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) and everyone else we know in the series. At the end of Episode 8, Daniel actually rejects an offer to join the project, which is not how it played out in the book. There, Donald was pretty quick to sign on — even if he didn’t fully understand what he was in for. Having Daniel refuse this call reframes the rest of the story in some ways, but it’s ultimately good for his arc and for the overarching mystery of the series as well.
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‘Silo’ Makes Daniel More Likable Than Donald
Image via Apple TV
Responding to fans online this week, Howey wrote: “It’s an improvement over the books. We didn’t want Daniel to be a WILLING contributor to a large part of the project. You’ll start to see why in the next two episodes. It’s critical to his arc.” Howey’s commentary actually highlights some nuance in this change — while Daniel didn’t refuse to work on the Silo project in the books, he had even less of an idea of what he was getting into. The show has simply streamlined his story so that information can be revealed to him and the audience at a smoother pace.
In Shift, Donald Keene is a freshman Congressman who already knows Senator Thurman (Laura Innes) as an old family friend. Since they both represent the people of Georgia, Donald is happy to work with Thurman in any way — both as part of his responsibilities and to raise his political notoriety. Thurman introduces him to this construction project under false pretenses. Thurman claims it is an underground storage facility for nuclear waste, with just one silo-style shelter on campus to house the staff in case of an emergency.
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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
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Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
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🚀Star Wars
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01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
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02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
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03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
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04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
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05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
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06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
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07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
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08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
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Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
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The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
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The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
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Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
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Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
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A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
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Donald does find it odd when Thurman asks him to design the shelter himself, but he has a background in architecture and he dreads saying no to the senior legislator. Throughout the book, Donald does wish he could abandon the project as it causes him stress and strains his relationships, but he persists for the sake of his career. He does not learn what he was actually designing until a nuclear attack drives him inside. Even then, he doesn’t learn the truth about the nanoweapon swarms until later.
It’s easier and more natural for the show’s version of Daniel to refuse Thurman since he has no personal history with her. In fact, the show hasn’t changed Daniel’s characterization so much as the circumstances under which he learns about the silo project. Since he knows about the nanoweapons and other conspiratorial aspects of this plot from the start, he has a chance to come off as more heroic and noble by refusing this offer. It gives Daniel time to believe he has agency before the full scope of the coercion at play is revealed.
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Thurman’s Plot is Even More Horrifying on TV
Image via Apple TV
If Apple TV‘s version of this plot makes Keene more likable, it makes Thurman even more villainous. As mentioned above, these changes make a lot of sense for the pacing of a TV show — they help draw out the suspense and tension and make it harder for viewers to guess where the story is headed. This is likely a good call, though we’ll see if the show can stick the landing for Season 3 in a couple of weeks. As it is, Keene’s storyline has been more exciting at the cost of his overall screen time compared to the books.
It makes sense that fans feel like the TV show is letting Keene off the hook in a way. Rather than reckoning with the consequences of his own actions, he will now have the comfort of knowing he refused to join the project when given the chance. However, in either case the whole plot came down to unbelievable manipulation by Thurman. In the end, giving Daniel the heroic moment that Donald never got will look like a small trade for the much-needed injection of Hollywood pacing in this story. It doesn’t hurt that the masterminds of this plot will look all the worse in the process.
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So far, showrunner Graham Yost and the rest of the cast and crew have given us no reason to doubt they can pull all these strands together and bring this story to a satisfying close. Until then, fans can read ahead in Howey’s Silo trilogy, available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats. Silo Season 3 has two more episodes to go, airing on Fridays on Apple TV. Season 4 has been greenlit and is slated for release next year.
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Release Date
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May 5, 2023
Network
Apple TV
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Showrunner
Graham Yost
Directors
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Morten Tyldum, David Semel, Michael Dinner, Aric Avelino
Writers
Graham Yost, Hugh Howey, Jeffery Wang, Lekethia Dalcoe
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