‘Silo’ Season 2, Episode 6 Review

In episode six of ‘Silo’ on AppleTV+, things begin to fall apart for the mayor, as tensions rise and the unrest in the lower levels builds up to an all out conflict.

At this point, I don’t think war can be avoided between the levels in Silo 18. In some ways, it could already have begun. The engineers have started to make weapons and armor, and the raiders have responded by breaking out the big guns. Supplies are being restricted in an attempt to starve the lower levels into submission, leading to a struggle to capture territory and gain control of resources.

There’s no way out of it now, unless Bernard is willing to make some sort of compromise to get peace, which seems unlikely. He’s got a lot riding on his plan to blame mechanical for all the problems. Any attempt to clear their names would likely lead back to his own actions, including the murder of Judge Meadows.

If only he had taken her advice, things might never have gotten so bad, but now it looks like an impossible situation. He’s lost the support of the sheriff, Sims is against him and working for his own ends, and his new “shadow” Lukas Kyle, isn’t really the man for such a position. With the way things are going, it’s likely even the average citizens will start to get fed up with the increasing totalitarianism, the rebels occupying their levels, and the lack of security as the power can be turned off anytime. If only Holland wasn’t so dogmatic to what the Founders wrote. Sure, they might have thought they had all the answers, but after people have lived underground for a few centuries, they must start to change.

It’s a really packed episode this week, with hardly a moment to breathe. One criticism you’ll often hear about ‘Silo’, even from people who enjoy the show, is that it can move along at too slow a pace. It’s something I can understand, but this episode is a perfect example of the show at its best. There are moments of action dotted throughout, with the Raiders, and the like, but there’s also a great story being given time to unfold in a natural way, giving us the perspectives from all of these characters as things fall down around them, or else they take a sledgehammer to it themselves. 

It kicks into overdrive with all of the twists, revelations, and new plotlines revealed this week. Now Dr. Nicholls is involved with what could be considered subversive activity, and Sheriff Billings has learnt that the outside world is really green and alive, or at least that’s what the footage showed. This has already led to two sheriffs going out to clean, will he be the third?

I would probably have cut the final scene where we see Juliette has recovered, to keep the tension going for the next episode. Though even this is used to make another new twist, as Solo has stolen her suit and won’t give it back until she’s fixed the water pump to prevent the levels from flooding.He certainly seems more manipulative and assertive than before, raising more questions about how much he can be trusted.

In all, this was a great episode, one of the best of the season, and leaves plenty to be explored as we continue into the second half of this season.