Silo’ Season 2, Episode 4 Review
In episode four of AppleTV+’s sci-fi show ‘Silo’, things get tense in Silo 18, as Holland makes some cold decisions to try and maintain control. Meanwhile, Juliette is trying to find a way back, so she can prevent a disastrous rebellion from happening.
One thing this season has done is look more closely at how the silos are run, now that we know there are a small number of shadowy figures who exercise all the real power. There does seem to be a few problems with the approach taken by Bernard, as spelt out in The Order, essentially an instruction manual written by the Founders.
It says that every problem should be pinned on mechanical whenever there’s unrest, no matter where it starts, but is this really a good idea? Maybe it makes some sense now, considering it’s where Juliette came from, but it’s also a dangerous game, to antagonise the people who control the generator, and are willing to turn it off to get what they want, as shown in this episode.
It seems that Meadows actually had a much better idea for dealing with them, by trying to come to some agreement, and avert a crisis and prevent a rebellion, rather than just making them even angrier. Now that she’s dead, that particular road has been closed, though it does raise the question of what she knows about the before times, and where she disappeared for four days.
One thing that still doesn’t make sense is why the people in control are so unwilling to let them see what it’s really like outside? They already see it on the monitors, so why not let a few out to see for real, and report back that it is, in fact, all true?
Over at the other silo, Juliette has worked out a way to pump air to her underwater, using a harmonium that Solo found, so she can find a firefighter suit, and hopefully figure out a way to make it work so she can get back before a rebellion breaks out.
There is a big question raised now, though, as Solo appeared to suggest he was just a kid when the rebellion happened. So how long has he been locked in the vault? Or did he lie about some of the things that happened to him, like why there are bodies outside the door?
As usual, this episode is a slow burn, twisting up the tension to breaking point. Given the way that Bernard dealt with Knox and the others, pinning Meadows’ murder on them, now he can’t back down and release them, but if he doesn’t they might just shut down the generator again, putting everyone’s lives at risk. It doesn’t look like a revolt can be avoided without Juliette’s return. Unless the situation can be defused, Silo 18 could be headed for war.