Silo’ Season 2, Episode 9 Review

With episode nine, we’ve come to the penultimate episode of ‘Silo’, as we approach the finale of this great show’s second season.

In the silo, things are just as tense as ever, with the various factions refusing to give an inch as their standoff on the stairs continues. While Bernard uses all of the tools given to him by the Founders to try and put down the rebellion, his shadow takes a very different approach,

The mayor’s belief is that the different levels should be pitted against each other, and that if he can bring out enough animosity towards mechanical and the lower levels, he’ll be able to crush them. This isn’t going as well as he’s hoped, but he does have one secret weapon, which is proving quite effective, his manipulation of Walker. Using the threat of Carla being harmed, he’s managed to force her into providing all the information he needs on the rebels and their plans, and so far, it’s working.

But his new shadow isn’t like him, and is taking a far more pragmatic approach. Lukas Kyle has done what very few other people have, going down into the deepest part of the silo, where yet another mystery is waiting, in the form of a door and a disembodied voice.

What do they mean? Is there a system of tunnels connecting all the silos? Bernard mentioned that there were actually fifty one silos, not fifty, but it didn’t look like Kyle knew about the extra one, so could this be it? Is this where the Founders live, or some higher authority that controls them all, similar to what was shown in ‘Fallout’? It certainly seems to have been unknown to Lukas, despite all the information available in the vault, so could it be something even the heads of IT don’t know about? And what is the “safeguard” he was threatened with?

Meanwhile, in the other silo, we get some answers about what happened there. The strangers who attacked Juliette have been living there all their lives, and weren’t even born when the rebellion happened and the outer door was opened. It turns out that as suspected Solo isn’t actually the head of IT’s shadow, but actually his son, and his father locked him inside the vault to keep him safe when fighting broke out.

After getting Juliette to find a way into the vault, they all seem to have reached some kind of mutual agreement, which means it might finally be possible for her to get back to her own silo before it’s too late.

It’s hard to say which of these two story threads is the best. At the start of the season, the one following Juliette was the more interesting. She was the main character from the first season, and seeing her having to fight to survive in such a hard environment was really compelling. But since then, the other storyline has developed nicely, with characters like Billings and Sims taking on more prominent roles. Both are tense and gripping, with so much hanging in the balance for all of these characters.

This second season of ‘Silo’ will come to an end next week, but there are two more already in the works, so there’s not likely to be a big climax. It’s probably going to end on a cliffhanger or big revelation, similar to season one, to keep people hooked. Regardless, I’m eager to see how this chapter ends, and what new stories are opened up for season three.