Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0
4
The best scene in all of Silo Season 2 Episode 3 is the opening.
Rebecca Ferguson plays the flustered, confused, processing mind to a T. It’s difficult to sit down and contemplate what life would be like to know so little.
Everything is a staggering revelation, and watching Juliette struggle to understand simple concepts, like the number of Silos and the notion of a Sun. Judge Meadows sums it up the best, only a few scenes later:
“I’m not saying it’ll be easy. It might be like trying to think of a color that you’ve never seen.”
In fact, that sums up nearly everyone in the Silo, even Bernard Holland, to a degree and, by extension, the audience. Shows like this make it difficult for consumers of Hugh Howey’s work, like myself, to bite their tongues.
At the same time, Steve Zahn (Solo) turns in a respectable performance as a man who has spent decades entirely alone. It’s not Tom Hanks Cast Away level, but it’s convincing nonetheless.
We’re only 3 episodes into a 9-episode season, and Silo is becoming an interesting perspective on politics. Episode 3 kicks things off with the massive “Lies” appellation smeared across the cafeteria viewport.
Everything that follows is a revelation of sorts, from Rebecca Ferguson’s fantastic portrayal of information overload to Judge Meadows learning the truth about the claims that Juliette asked to go outside.
Stepping outside the vault is an assault on Solo’s senses, while the death of an entire Silo timeline is news to Judge Meadows.
Lies build upon lies. Silo cuts to the heart of consequence. Can a government placate an angry citizenry with handouts? What happens when careful checks and balances fail or are never there to begin with?
How long will people tolerate restrictions on speech, movement, and what they see and hear? The true political and governing power in the Silo rests with IT. In many ways, this represents a technocracy.
Surprising, considering Silo is a product of Apple. In the meantime, the Lower Levels are reaching a boiling point, with Shirley leading the way. Shirley is the one sore spot in Silo’s second season.
On the one hand, she’s understandably had enough of IT’s oppressive tactics. On the other, she’s the most unlikable character in the field, with a perpetual scowl that precedes her in every scene.
A raging, headstrong, highly emotional character is one thing. But Shirley never deviates from this persona, regardless of the scenario. It ultimately reduces the impact of several scenes throughout the episode.
It’s difficult to feel sympathy, empathize, celebrate a minor accomplishment, or mourn the dead when that enduring sneer is front and center.
The opposite is Judge Meadows, one of the highlights of this episode. She’s quirky, serious, and funny all at once — a difficult concoction to brew, but one that she pulls off with an inner glee that’s fascinating to watch.
She conveys an almost telepathic thinking process. You can almost see the gears moving upstairs as she transmits them across the screen, impacting whomever she’s interacting with.
The way she dominates Bernard Holland conjures a sense of restrained happiness — happy to see Bernard getting his due but restrained because of the entirety of the situation.
“You got all the measurements that you need? Well, then you can leave now. Don’t come back without my suit.”
It’s quite obvious that a more than an amiable relationship existed between these two at some point in the Silo’s history.
At the same time, Judge Meadows just wants to go outside, and scenes where she is alone are some of the most dramatic and impactful in the series.
As always, the cinematography is fantastic, even if there’s not much to look at inside the Silo. Every scene is laced with a feeling of oppressive dread, from the grungy, dirty levels below to the cleaner but overwhelmingly encased upper levels.
In Silo 17, add to that a haunting feeling of abysmal loneliness that goes on and on, echoing across an empty, yawning cavern of darkness and distant, dripping water.
My initial reservations about Silo Season 2 remain. Though quite a lot happened in this episode, the plot doesn’t feel like it’s advancing.
All of the characters remain right where they began. Juliette spends the entirety of the episode in various dialogue scenes with Solo, coaxing him to come out.
Shirley is raging around the bottom of the Silo while Knox is preaching restraint. Judge Meadows still doesn’t have her suit, and Bernard is no closer to or further from ignorantly fomenting a rebellion.
Three episodes in, and not a single character is any closer to their goal. This could be due to having read Hugh Howey’s series.
We’re approaching the middle of the second season, and Juliette is roughly 60% of the way through the first book. And, I might add, the first book is a very, very thin read.
The series includes three books: Wool, Shift, and Dust. The second book, Shift, is almost entirely separate from Juliette’s timeframe. That leaves two books to tell a relatively short story.
It’s easy to see why Apple wants to stretch things out a bit. Unfortunately, that also means a lot of filler material. It’s a fine line to walk. Too much filler material becomes redundant and boring.
Going off on new tangents that don’t exist in the original story risks alienating some of the fan base. There’s still plenty of time for Season 2 to get rolling, and I’m hopeful that Apple will find a happy medium.
For those who haven’t read the books, there are some exciting and very unexpected characters waiting in the wings. On its own, in a world without the preceding books, Episode 3 is a solid chapter in the Silo saga.
It offers some interesting examinations of government on a smaller scale, fascinating character interactions, and effectively deepens the mystery of the Silo while revealing the existence of as many as 49 more.
Silo continues to push sci-fi in new directions. It’s not always about outer space and time, you know? Despite the slow crawl to a distant finish line, I’m still on board.
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