Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 1 of Silo.
Wow! Where do we even begin with the cliffhanger ending of Season 1 ofSilo? The reviews are in, and the mind-bending AppleTV+ science fiction show has delivered and then some. With an outstanding ensemble cast led byRebecca Ferguson,Tim Robbins, andCommon, the series managed to take a familiar plot device and reinvent it into something we have never seen before. We’ve seen Orwellian dystopia before in the adaptation of1984and other countless shows and movies, butSilohas managed to put a new twist on what it means to be kept in the dark by a small group of leaders who have no interest in their subjects finding out the truth. But what is the truth surrounding the 10,000 people living in a subterranean dwelling without any answers as to why they are there, or even who built it? Season 1 wrapped up with our protagonistJuliette Nichols (Ferguson) being sent out of the silo to “clean.” But she refuses and continues on her journey to find out the truth behind hundreds of years of being forced underground. We also have other questions heading into what looks to be a riveting Season 2 of the show and wanted to address some of the unanswered questions from the maiden season ofSilo.
Where Is the Silo Located?
At the end of the Season 1 finale, we see Juliette go beyond where anyone who has been forced out of the silo has gone before. When she gets to the point where those before her have collapsed, she is able to make a discovery that raises more questions than it answers. Yes, it appears that the lush green field and single tree at the crest of a hill is a manufactured electronic image used to further control the citizens of the silo. But if it is, why? We see Juliette go beyond the fake imagery only to find that she is alone on the surface of a desolate planet or moon that is a vast wasteland. What we thought was a grassy knoll turns out to be the ridge of a cratered hole on the environment’s surface, and it is just one of many. So where in the hell are they exactly,and why would The Judicialand Mayor Bernard Holland (Robbins) want to make such a barren surface seem like an inviting place with skeins of birds flying about? It seems like that would entice other silo residents curious to tempt fate to find out if there is indeed something out better there. Is it simply for the morale of the citizenry and if it is, why does that outweigh showing what is really out there (or what isn’t) be a more effective tool in keeping them under his thumb? And did you notice the outline of a skyline that dots the far-off horizon? Is it a post-apocalyptic environment or a life-bearing civilization?
RELATED:Rebecca Ferguson Confirms ‘Silo’ Season 2 Has Begun Filming
What Does Mayor Holland Mean When He Says, “She Knows”?
Once outside, Juliette leans down and places the badge at the spot where bothAllison (Rashida Jones)and her husband Sheriff Holston Becker (David Oleyowo) fell before her in the show’s first two episodes. She reaches out to place the badge and realizes that the images are synthetic, but she doesn’t turn around. At that point, Mayor Bernard is surprised and reacts by telling Rob Sims (Common), “She knows!” What does she know exactly? Even his right-hand man Sims doesn’t seem to know what he’s talking about. Does he mean that the images are fake and that they are in fact stranded on a barren cratered-out planet? Does he mean that she knows something far deeper and more jeopardizing than that? She has already gotten much farther on her walk than he anticipated, and he becomes desperate. Holland races back to the control room where he throws a switch that dissolves the fake imagery and presents the reality of a barren wasteland marked only with craters.
What Do All the Other Craters Mean?
Are there other silos beneath those craters with separate civilizations? When Juliette emerges to a surface full of areas similar to the one she emerged from, you have to wonder if there are other dwellings within them. We know the silo goes directly downward, so anything that sprawls wide of the silo might hold something else. Again, the key line from the finale is Mayor Holland saying, “She knows!” What does she know exactly (aside from the fact that the inviting outside view is fake) and just how much more does he know about the history of the silo and maybe even “The Founders”? And if it is just a vast nothingness, then where did all the relics come from, like the book about the state of Georgia and the PEZ dispenser? So many major questions that willhopefully be addressed in Season 2.
What Happens to Juliette’s Father and Other Accomplices Still in the Silo?
You may recognize Juliette’s father, Dr. Pete Nichols, played byIain Glenfrom his terrific turn as Sir Jorah Mormont inGame of Thrones. Along withHarriet Walter,who also hits a home run coming off of her role inSuccession, as Martha Walker, both of whom break protocol and take their chances with the Judicial by doing whatever they can to help Juliette get to the bottom of the puzzle within the silo. When Season 2 starts, what will Holland and Sims do with them? Will there be repercussions for aiding Juliette? We saw what happens to systems analyst Lukas Kyle (Avi Nash) for aiding and abetting Juliette. He was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in the iron ore mines deep within the bowels of the silo. We’d hate to see anything happen to Martha after overcoming her 25-year-long battle with agoraphobia to support her adopted daughter. And that role became even more important as it is revealed that she was never supposed to have been born, according to the strict guidelines on reproduction.
Finally, Where Will Juliette Go in Season 2 of ‘Silo’?
Okay, so Juliette has made it farther than anyone ever to leave the silo to “clean.” So what’s next? She is faced with a world that appears to be at best inhospitable and mysterious while at worst could be completely uninhabitable. Where will she go? We can only guess whether there are friendlies somewhere out there who will take her in, but we have absolutely no idea what awaits the truth seeker. The first thing that has to be addressed in Season 2 will obviously be what becomes of our most courageous former generator boss turned intrepid sheriff turned unpredictable rebel. Ifshow creator Graham Yost (Justified)manages to adapt a second batch of episodes fromHugh Howey’s trilogy source material of novels that is anywhere near as compelling as the first, then we are all in for another gripping sci-fi ride.
