Dramas set in a post-apocalyptic setting, where the characters are locked in from the perils of the outside world, tend to come with the caveat they will move at a slow pace.
Silo Season 1 Episode 4 continued to solidify the fact that this Apple TV+ drama is the exception to that rule, delivering another intriguing hour that left us with more questions than answers.
Often, it’s challenging to get on board with these settings, but Silo’s strength is that it utilizes a smaller batch of characters, allowing for more nuanced storytelling.
It was evident Juliette and Sam would have to work together at some point, but I didn’t expect it to be this soon.
Even at that, though, it’s hard to tell what’s going on with Sam because he’s driven by the death of Mayor Jahns — another obvious development.
Silo Season 1 has killed off most of the characters we’ve been introduced to thus far, but it adds to the cutthroat nature of what’s happening inside this supposed safe haven.
Sims: Sam, I hear what you’re saying. I do.
Bernard: We’re just asking for a little discretion.
Marnes: Discretion?
Sims: Bernard’s not wrong here. It’ll be bad enough when word gets out she’s dead. Add murder to that and the situation might become unmanageable. Bernard: People of the Silo need comfort.
Marnes: You know, if it’s… if it’s comfort that you want, you can get me a focused Judicial list of every criminal who’s ever crossed my path 25 levels either side of the Mids deputy station.
The flashbacks to Juliette’s younger years and the deep dive into her fraught relationship with her father were needed to illustrate why returning to Central was such a big deal for Juliette.
Had her father not hidden from his grief about the deaths of his wife and son, he might have been able to carve out more of a bond with his daughter.
There is a symmetry between Juliette and Pete in how they both use their work to prevent them from thinking about what they’ve lost and maybe they’ll be able to recognize that in one another.
Unfortunately, Juliette will never be able to lose the resentment toward her father because, when he should have been there for her, he was immersing himself in work as a coping mechanism.
People deal with grief differently, but it’s sad that Pete could have made some different decisions to maintain a lasting connection with his daughter.
It must have killed him when he learned of her whereabouts and her forging the letter to say that she was allowed to live and work so far away from home.
It makes you wonder whether there is any repairing this father-daughter bond, but maybe when we delve deeper into the mysteries of the Silo, we’ll be able to dig away at that.
Juliette was always going to face adversity in her quest to become the rightful Sheriff of the Silo. With all of the recent uncertainty and the untimely passing of Jahns, any more changes could have caused even more tension in the dwelling.
Bernard: Miss Nichols.
Marnes: What the fսck are you doing here?
Bernard: I had a porter retrieve Miss Nichols, as she’s soon to be our sheriff. Sims: She’s not.
Marnes: Well, she ain’t gonna be sheriff till she’s been sworn in.
Bernard: I’m well aware of that, Deputy. But considering the urgency of the situation, I thought it best that she join us.
Marnes: Like you would know what the fսck to do here anyway.
Bernard: Miss Nichols, I’m Bernard Holland, the head of IT.
Juliette: Oh, I know who you are.
For now, Juliette should have this job because she can make decisions from a different viewpoint than her predecessors.
That being said, I have to imagine that Bernard and whoever opposes her will be watching her like a hawk to make a mistake and steal her position of power for Billings.
For someone who everyone wants to be Sheriff, there’s been a severe lack of Billings in the flesh. Will that change as we reach the halfway point?
Hopefully, it does because it would begin giving more concrete answers about what’s happening.
The show desperately wants us to think Robert is responsible for poisoning the water, but my best theory is that Martha could be behind it.
We’ve heard countless times that she doesn’t leave her workstation, but there was a particular emphasis on Knox doing as she told her in the flashbacks.
Jahns and even Marnes were paying close attention to the insanity below, leading me to believe that Knox could have somehow intercepted the water, thus, leading to the death of Jahns.
People in a position of power in the Silo don’t instill much hope for the future, but Jahns had a warmth about her. Any successor will face an uphill battle to match.
She was one of the few good ones, and it’s a shame her rule was cut short so soon.
The common occurrence is that everyone who opposes Billings taking over as Sheriff winds up dead, and if Marnes survives his brush with death, he’ll have a big old target on his back.
With the weekly release, Silo is giving us a lot to ponder between episodes, and Sam’s fate is one of the biggest things I’ll be thinking about until Silo Season 1 Episode 5.
Sam has been a sucker for the rules for much of his life, and now, just when it seemed like he was going against the status quo, it would suck if he was dead.
My best guess is that he’ll be kidnapped or go missing, with his fate to be revealed down the line. The search for Sam would be an excellent distraction for Juliette, who is trying to get her feet wet in her new role.
The hatred between Juliette and Sam was played well by Rebecca Ferguson and Will Patton.
I hope they both realize they have a common goal and work together to unravel the truth.
I didn’t expect Sandy to be hostile to Juliette, but it’s clear her passion for her job is fading after seeing the brief glimpse of the great outdoors when the generator went down.
Sandy: Are you Nichols?
Juliette: Yeah.
Sandy: Keys are yours. One opens the main door, the other this office. The third, Holston’s apartment. If you know your measurements and shoe size, write ’em down, and I’ll get you at least one uniform by tomorrow. You bleed or sweat through that one, you’ll be wearing it all week, so try not to get it filthy. Juliette: Yeah.
Sandy: That’s Holston’s.
Juliette: Yeah.
Sandy: Oh, you can give it to me. You’ll get yours after you’re sworn in.
Juliette: No, I’ll keep it. Is there any food?
Sandy: The cafeteria will open at 5:00.
Juliette: Anything now?
Sandy: We just, uh, grab-and-go three levels down. I was told to stock the fridge in the apartment, but I have no idea what you people eat down deep.
Juliette: Children mostly. Sometimes each other. Um, what’s in this?
Sandy: Firearms. Restricted items.
Juliette: Files?
Sandy: Some.
Juliette: And the combination?
Sandy: After you’re sworn in.
Juliette: Right, listen. I don’t know if your issue is with me or just with anybody from the bottom 50, but I’m finding this…
Sandy: What are the files you want?
Juliette: Huh?
Sandy: You were asking about files.
Juliette: Just one. Uh, George Wilkins. Mechanical.
Sandy: Look, I get a note from the mayor that says, “Clean out Holston’s office. Nichols is coming.” I don’t know who you are, or why you’re here…
Juliette: You haven’t asked.
Sandy: I don’t give a damn! The only way I’ve survived this week is by following instructions, and I don’t need… I
Juliette: I’m Holston’s replacement, which I’m guessing makes me your boss? Yeah, I’m from the Down Deep. I eat the same shit you eat. Maybe with a little bit more salt. Are we done with that? Great. Now, can you please get me Wilkins’s file?
I anticipate these two will join forces once Juliette inevitably comments on how things are in the Silo.
The beauty of a character like Juliette is that she tends to say what she’s thinking, which helped bring Sandy down to her level when she was spewing hostility about Juliette’s new job.
Juliette would be wise to build a roster of friends or, at the very least, acquaintances. With the danger level rising by the episode, there truly is no telling what someone will try next.
The good news is that Juliette is beginning to realize she has a bigger purpose in this job than initially expected. She has the clearance to look into files she wouldn’t usually be privy to.
The caveat there is that she’ll struggle to go to the location of the machine that dug the Silo because people will be watching her every move.
Surely, she knows after her mission to cool down the generator that she and everyone else in the Silo have been lied to about the physics of water.
We need answers about what’s behind that pesky door, and soon.
That’s all I got, Silo Fanatics.
What are your thoughts on the mystery so far?
Are you digging it?
Hit the comments.
Catch new episodes on Fridays on Apple TV+.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.