It has taken 20 episodes, countless flights of stairs and more mysteries than most science-fiction dramas dare attempt, but Silo is finally leaving the bunker behind.Well, partly.The third season of the Apple TV series opens in a parallel timeline known as “the Before Times”, in a pre-apocalyptic Washington, swapping the rusting steel, dimly lit corridors and claustrophobic stairwells of the underground bunker for bustling streets, government offices and a world blissfully unaware of the catastrophe to come.It is a bold expansion of the series that slowly begins answering the question that has lingered since the first episode: who built the silos, and why?Those answers remain frustratingly out of reach after the opening episode, but the foundations have been laid for what promises to be another gripping season.▶Based on Hugh Howey's bestselling trilogy of novels, Silo is set in a future where the last 10,000 people on Earth believe they are living in humanity's only refuge: a vast underground bunker stretching 144 levels beneath a toxic wasteland. Generations have grown up accepting strict rules designed to keep the peace, but as engineer-turned-sheriff Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) begins investigating a series of suspicious deaths, she uncovers a conspiracy that suggests almost everything the silo's residents have been taught about their world is a lie.Season one ends with Nichols being sentenced to “cleaning” – the punishment for anyone who asks to leave the silo. Instead of dying outside like those before her, however, she discovers her home is just one of many giant silos stretching across the landscape. By the season two finale, she makes it back to Silo 18 carrying information that could change everything.Rebecca Ferguson in Silo season three. Photo: Apple TVInfoBut season three opens with an intriguing twist: Nichols has lost her memory. She cannot remember who she is, why she returned or the vital information she risked everything to uncover. It quickly becomes apparent that her amnesia is no accident. Someone is actively suppressing her memories, turning the woman who has spent two seasons uncovering hidden truths into the series' most unreliable witness.Ferguson is still as engaging as ever, portraying Nichols' growing confusion without losing the quiet determination that has made her such a compelling lead. Even stripped of her memories, her instinct to question authority and search for answers remains intact.The first episode's biggest surprise, however, lies above ground.The Washington storyline provides the series' biggest shift in tone. At the centre is Congressman Daniel (Ashley Zukerman) and his sister Charlotte (Jessica Brown Findlay) a US Navy officer, whose lives unfold against a rapidly escalating geopolitical crisis involving Iran.Alexandria Riley plays plays Camille Sims in Silo season three. Photo: Apple TVInfoAlthough written and filmed well before the latest tensions in the Middle East, the story's depiction of political brinkmanship, military escalation and governments scrambling to prevent a wider conflict feels strikingly prescient. Visually, Silo remains one of Apple TV's most accomplished productions. The contrast between the claustrophobic industrial interiors and the bright openness of Washington gives season three a new visual language, while composer Atli Orvarsson's haunting score continues to amplify the ever-present feeling that something is deeply wrong.But Silo asks viewers to exercise patience once again. Even with an additional timeline, it remains committed to revealing its secrets one carefully placed piece at a time. That restraint has always been one of the show's greatest strengths. Rather than rushing towards answers, Silo confidently expands its world while proving there is still plenty of mystery left to uncover.New episodes of Silo season three drop every Friday on Apple TV