Hell yeah, the game is finally on in Silo

Silo, with its political arcs and totalitarianism-versus-free-thinking themes, is a fascinating, dark thought experiment about human behavior. But the hypothetical that springs to mind most during “Solo” is, unsurprisingly, Schrödinger’s cat. Almost everyone in Juliette’s underground bunker has witnessed her going outside and walking over the hill, with the poisonous air not killing her within minutes as it did the others. Yet, Bernard insists that Juliette could not have survived for much longer than a few minutes. 

A chunk of the population is left to wonder if she is truly alive or dead—and on a larger level, if the land is safe or unsafe for them. Perhaps opening the door and heading above ground is the only way to find out what’s real. I appreciate how Silo realistically depicts the slow rise of a mutiny. Bit by bit, act by act, fear spreads among the citizens. While Juliette’s supporters are scared, they believe in her and mainly cling to the hope she’s unwittingly offered. If there’s even a slim chance of greener pastures outside, why wouldn’t they want to grab it? People do it all the time—uproot their existence to move and take risks without knowing what lies ahead, hoping that life will get better with a leap of faith. Except in Silo, they’re also under political suppression. 

“Solo” sees dissenters voice their opinions against the leadership via rallies and graffiti that says “JL” (Juliette Lives), which leads to curfews and excessive police presence. Just as The Order predicted, Bernard has to brace for an inevitable uprising after Juliette’s failed cleaning. And as shown in this outing, adhering to the book’s rules isn’t going to help him out as cleanly as he intends. If the first two episodes felt more like setting the stage, then the third arrives with both solid action and intriguing answers. Let’s focus on the action-heavy bit to start. 

In her absence, Juliette’s pals and some lower-floor residents have turned her into their hero. With her act of choosing not to clean the window once outside, she’s telling them that there is life above their 140 floors of hell, or so they assume. Before any of this insubordination spreads further, Bernard seeks to curb it. His plan—arresting someone from Mechanical for the graffiti—is to unite everyone else against Mechanical, as per the guidelines of The Order. (As a reminder, that’s the scripture from the founders that he reveres without questioning its methods.) 

It’s a manipulative but silly plan that goes about as well as anyone could’ve predicted: Watching one of them get locked up only riles Juliette’s pals up further. So it’s good Bernard’s got Judge Meadows by his side to guide him—well, not good, but at least she’s wiser. She encourages him to think beyond the scope of these bylaws and apply street smarts to control the crowd. She senses that by sticking to traditional instructions, the rebellion will only get worse. And she’s right. That’s because Bernard and his holy handbook aren’t considering unpredictable factors—factors like icy security head Robert Sims. 

To prove his mettle after feeling abandoned, Robert instigates and bribes a man to disrupt a protest led by Shirley and Knox to free their imprisoned buddy. Unfortunately, as Robert’s plant throws what looks like a Molotov cocktail at the protestors, shit gets real. Cooper—young, sweet Cooper, who was Juliette’s shadow when she was merely an engineer—gets shot in the havoc and dies. R.I.P., guy (we hardly knew ye!), but I’m curious about this move because his death deviates from the books. 

Robert is unreliable. It’s also hard to take him seriously most of the time because Common plays him with an expressionless face. Meanwhile, Meadows is desperate to go out herself. Plus, she realizes that Bernard is a liar, and he hasn’t been honest about how or why Juliette was sent outside. She’s turned off by him, and the very weird way in which he takes the measurements for her suit probably pushed her away further, right? I almost thought he was going to kill her right there in that room. I don’t see him letting Meadows get away; he’s oddly possessive of her. 

While all this unrest brews at home, Juliette is stuck in what we learn is silo number 17. After being absent from last week’s outing, Rebecca Ferguson is a sight for sore eyes. She’s electric and evocative, finally getting a worthy sparring partner in Steve Zahn. The conversations between Juliette and Solo as he reveals his bunker’s history and destruction is a smart way for Silo to tell us that history is bound to repeat itself if Juliette’s friends continue to rebel. (They just don’t know it yet.)  

Solo (who doesn’t share his real first or last name) reveals he’s been living in isolation for years. Despite his initial reluctance, he opens up to Juliette because she’s sympathetic and unpretentious. It’s a treat to witness Ferguson walk the tightrope of caution and curiosity as she deals with this new figure. Solo tells Juliette that there are 50 total silos, and Juliette belongs to either 15, 16, or 18 based on the distance from his. Solo knows this secret info because he was the shadow of his bunker’s IT head, who instructed him to never leave the bunker. And he hasn’t as far as we know. As a result of his actions and his loneliness, Solo is fearful, prone to hallucinations, and just generally jaded. We can’t blame him. We saw in season two’s cold open how the rest of his fellow residents crumbled to death when they charged outside. 

But why did they leave the silo together in the first place? Solo says they were inspired after a man named Ron Tucker was sent outside. Like Juliette, he did not clean the window and crossed the hill. It led them to falsely assume the world was safe to inhabit again and that their higher-ups were lying to them. Silo 17 went through a mutiny, with no one left to tell the tale besides an obedient Solo. It dawns on Juliette she may have unknowingly left her people to a similar fate. 

The look of agony and horror as she figures this out proves what a masterful performer Ferguson is. She allows her character the space to emotionally process this dreadful knowledge and lends her the bravado to jump into action. Juliette is determined to fix her torn suit and get back to her silo. Her only way is to use firefighter gear that is currently underwater, as Solo suggests. Juliette desperately needs his help to get to it, but he refuses to leave his claustrophobic haven. The queen that she is, Juliette understands and doesn’t force him. Even in her most anguished moment, she gives him the courtesy of understanding. And that’s exactly what pushes him to get out. Now that he’s finally made a friend, Solo doesn’t want to lose her. A bearded, wary man emerges from the vault, much to Juliette’s relief, and the two sit quietly together to take it in. 

Stray observations 

• • Juliette’s dad, Dr. Pete Nichols (Iain Glen), is still grieving his daughter and goes on a mini-rebellion of his own. He disregards the reproduction rules he’s followed for years and removes a woman’s birth control during surgery so she has a legitimate shot at pregnancy. 
• • Who else thought the chicken stew that Solo gave Juliette might be poisoned? 
• • I hope Silo explains how there was food, water, a way to shower, and other necessities that Solo might’ve required to live.  
• • We only see Steve Zahn in full in the final scene, but I think he should get an award for acting so well with his eyes and voice in this episode. Despite knowing almost nothing about his character, he made me feel so much empathy. 
• • It’s a good thing Zahn has joined the cast because, I’m sorry to say, most of the ensemble doesn’t hold a candle to Ferguson and Tim Robbins. (Where was Harriet Walter during this hour?) 
• • Whose videos was Judge Meadows watching in her apartment? 
• • At least we know Romeo And Juliet is definitely in the silo’s study.