Silo Season 3, Episode 2 Included A Hidden Reference Book Fans Will Love

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

There's something to be said for television shows and movies that are 100% faithful to their respective source material in both story and tone, but expecting a direct, 1:1 adaptation of "Silo" has always been little more than wishful thinking. The various books (and short stories) by novelist Hugh Howey obviously were impressive enough to get the attention of series creator Graham Yost, but changes were always in the cards. These have taken the form of both major and minor deviations, some of which are more understandable than others. One in particular would have to be considered as insignificant as it gets ... but the creative team used this to sneak in a hidden reference to the books in a neat way.

Similar to the addition of Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) and her biggest problem in the Season 2 premiere, one other alteration has to do with the storyline set in the distant past involving Daniel Keene (Ashley Zukerman). The second book "Shift" lives up to its title by abruptly shifting perspectives, pausing the ongoing plot in Silo 18 to focus exclusively on what led up to the creation of the Silos. Obviously, the show couldn't quite pull off a similar trick and sideline so many stars for so long. But book readers haven't failed to spot a much smaller detail: in the books, the politician is known as Donald Keene, whereas he's named Daniel in the show.

While not the end of the world, this noticeable change gets a little shout-out early on in Episode 2 — in a way that makes the emotional hook this week hit much harder.

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What's in a name? "Silo" knows the answer to this question better than most, especially as Season 3 focuses so heavily on the nature of memory through Juliette Nichols and how fragile one's identity truly is. But that's also a recurring element in the season's B-plot, as Daniel Keene must come to grips with losing his sister Charlotte (Jessica Brown Findlay) — not necessarily her life, but certainly her mind. After narrowly surviving a military operation gone awry, in which her squadron is attacked by what certainly looks like a nanotech swarm, the surviving pilot is laid up in a hospital bed and rendered without memory whatsoever. This life-saving treatment by Doctor Victor Crnkovich (Matt Craven) is meant to spare her of such trauma ... but it only exacerbates Daniel's grief when she mistakenly calls her brother "Donald."

Now, this throwaway line serves two functions. On one hand, it wryly hangs a lampshade on a change that some purists might consider unnecessary. (For his part, creator Graham Yost has addressed this in an interview with Radio Times, pointing out how that particular name for an American politician would draw unwelcome comparisons.) On another, this passing mistake goes a long way towards dramatizing what's been lost in this crucial relationship. The early premiere scene on a park bench with the Keene siblings ruffling each other's feathers is a brief glimpse into their rich dynamic. Now, it's been rendered a shell of itself. It's no wonder Daniel spends the rest of the hour digging deeper into this memory treatment and, eventually, Charlotte's suspicious mission into Iran.

As far as book references go, that's as pivotal as it gets. New episodes of "Silo" stream on Apple TV every Friday.