Silo is back with a new season, and it’s off to a bangin’ start. Our recap of Season 2 Episode 1, which answers some questions, creates even more, and reveals a big secret.
Showrunner: Graham Yost
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama, Mystery, Dystopian
Number of Season 2 episodes: 10
Episode 1 Release Date: November , 2024
Where to watch Silo: Stream it on Apple TV+
Silo is back with a new season, and it’s off to a bangin’ start if I do say so myself. It’s been a little under 18 months since the Apple TV+ series wowed us with its first season, and its return is highly welcomed after a very long wait. Season 2 Episode 1 answers some questions, creates even more, and even stumbles across a well-hidden secret. We also (finally) get a peek at some of the backstory of our protagonist, Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson, of the Dune franchise).
When Season 1 ended, our skilled mechanical engineer-turned-sheriff Juliette was exiled by her political enemies in her silo and forced to the surface to go outside, where anyone who attempts to do so keels over dead within minutes from allegedly poisoned air. But things went differently for Juliette. Thanks to an extra-secure spacesuit, she was able to keep walking out of the crater where her silo was located and into an open field, where she uncovered the truth behind one of the structure’s biggest secrets: While Earth might have, indeed, been a toxic wasteland, Juliette and the 10,000 residents of her silo were not the only survivors of whatever post-apocalyptic disaster took place. Juliette saw dozens—if not hundreds—of other craters, each with their own silos.
Season 2 Episode 1 picks up right where we left off, mostly. The episode kicks off with a flashback of a previous revolution by the inhabitants of another silo. It didn’t go so well for them, as the second they opened their doors and stepped outside, they all died. Then we switch to Juliette walking up on a tattered flag of said silo’s rebellious inhabitants, followed by a mass graveyard full of their human remains. But that’s not all: She also enters and explores their silo but unlike her silo, this one is not at all operational. It’s pitch dark, quiet, and creepy—its paths marked with bones and skeletons. Will Juliette finally discover here why her silo, in particular, is disconnected from all the other silos? And why has it been drifting away from whatever the original mission was?
As Juliette explores this new silo, it triggers memories of her past, which we get glimpses of in brief flashbacks reaching back to her arrival at the mechanic station at the very bottom of her silo. We learn how difficult this integration was for her, especially as a kid after her mother’s suicide. We’re also exposed to Juliette’s high level of intelligence, as she can fix most anything she gets her hands on. These flashbacks are really cool, because as we explore her ingenuity during childhood, we see it play out in present day as she works cleverly and diligently to safely maneuver through this damaged, crypt-like silo just to follow a sound of metal clanking on metal. Could someone else be in there?
As Juliette makes her way closer to the sound of metal clanking on metal, the oxygen in her spacesuit runs out and she’s at risk of suffocating. Reacting quickly, she smashes in the glass of her helmet and gasps for a breath of air at the last second. Nothing stops Juliette. Nothing can stop Juliette. She will always find the answer and always find a way to fix whatever is broken, and that holds true even when it comes to life’s mysteries.
By the end of Episode 1, Juliette makes a startling surprise: She’s found another survivor. As she makes her way through the silo, she hears old pop music playing in the distance and makes her way closer to the door protecting it. It’s locked. She tries to open it with no luck, but she does manage to wake a sleeping dragon. Much like the survivors of Lost found strange silos in the ground, one of which contained a lone cult survivor, we have the same scenario resonating in Silo. We don’t know who is behind the door or how long he has been there, but we do know one thing: He reeks of danger as he peers through a door slat and stares at Juliette, telling her if she tries to open it again, he’ll kill her.
And then we fade to black.
Episode 1 is full of tension and while it answers our question of whether Juliette survived in the outside world, it creates even more with its revelatory plethora of other craters and silos, their need to be shrouded in secrecy, and our doubt as to who else, if anyone, is alive. And I can’t say enough about Rebecca Ferguson’s performance here. Sure, the story and scenery set the tension up, but it’s Ferguson’s performance that knocks it out the park. Both the actor and her character are brilliant, crafty, and tough as nails … silently smart … inherently smart.
Homerun with the opening of Silo Season 2, Apple TV+. Well done. We’re all watching to see what happens next.
Silo Season 2 Episode 1 is currently streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes drop every Friday through mid-January, so brush up on Season 1 or buckle up for where we’re headed, because it’s clear this we’re headed deeper into more mystery territory with much less introduction like last season.
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