Episode 1 of Silo Season 2 takes us right back where we left off with Juliette after that jaw dropping ending of Season 1 where we find out there was more than one silo dotted all over the place. The Engineer is the name of the first episode, probably in reference to Juliette life on how she started her engineering career, we also see Juliette enter one of these enigmatic neighboring Silo, there are many, each with what seems an entire population at the end with similar struggle and while it does offer some nice revelations, it spends far too much time going in circles on things we already know or probably suspect, things that are too evident. On the more positive side show doesn’t waste a second jumping in to the action, since the ending of Season 1 the main question was Who is out there?. T starting with a fascinating look into this new silo’s past, including a rebellion that actually opened the doors to the outside world a similar situation to what was starting at Juliette original Silo, to an extend they were not lying its not safe out there and she have finally seen it, an entire revolution died on the toxic environment.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28077708/
- Platform: AppleTV+
The episode begins with Juliette as a kid when she started at the recycling ribbon, side by side the "second" Silo in fact Silo number 17 pops up with a scene where a sheriff gets a message about flooding the generator in 15 minutes, big fight between the rebels and the administration of the Silo that ended in everyone going out as they demand freedom only to find out how toxic was outside killing everyone who dare to go up the stairs. The dangerous atmosphere is set up as Juliette makes her way through this decaying structure, which is basically a mirror image of her own home Silo, its like she is been witness of what happens when people without knowing wants out of the Silo, this place has fallen into disrepair over time is really something that really sells the story, with flooding in the lower levels and corpses scattered everywhere acting as silent witness. Even though this are very dark scenes that most people wont enjoy watching in 1080p, I have to mention that the production design team for building such a believable almost holocaust environment, abandoned space that speaks to its own story through the visual details alone.
The thing that really got my attention was how the environment of the episode builds tension by creating the abandoned Silo as a character itself, its how on this episode is Juliette vs the abandoned Silo, all the destruction and flooding she has on her way to first safe her life and second make this her temporary or even permanent home, she knows she cant go out there. The episode is particularly effective to show how Juliette now has to constantly fight to survive, from the moment she is outside and start feeling the harsh environment having to watch the thousands of dead people who for some reason keep coming out of the Silo, if you are at the door and watching others die or have a hard time then why not going back?. There is also other factors that describe how hard it was for her to survive like the moment she had to break her helmet to keep breathing, well that right there says you are not going back out again, although she might find the same gear inside Silo 17, the entire episode is a hole combination of obstacles that just want to kill her one after another.
I love how the show still builds its world, and that these Silos were all exact copies of each other, the same social structure, same security measures, but I was frustrated by the time spent with Juliette’s early days in mechanical and her relationship with Walker, this is old news for anyone who saw season one. These scenes don’t really bring anything new to the table with how we already knew of her character from Season 1, and that time could have been used to explore the history of this new Silo and its failed rebellion. While the flashbacks do help to bring back Juliette’s resiliency and adaptability, but they feel a little redundant, during most of the episode I was constantly asking "when to the point??".
The episodes becomes interesting when Juliette tries to cross a broken walkway, first trying to use old ropes that I knew were going to snap, having her falling into the void but lucky the Silo is heavily flooded and not just the generator chamber, it goes all the way up to very high levels.
The ending features an interesting new character we hear but don’t see, who plays the song "Moon River" on repeat behind a locked door, at first it was not certain if she was alone, there is this interesting dynamic created now between Juliette and a man behind a door she can't open, this mysterious men threatening to kill Juliette next time she tries to break in, who has a connection to the past rebellion of the Silo. The blue eye and his very looking unstable mental state, suggest some exposure to whatever is really going on outside, turns the ending into a big cliff hanger, the ones that make you think "really you lost all that time telling the same story again?".
While it doesn't advance the story as much I'd have hoped, this episode is a good foundation to look at the bigger picture and what to expect during season two, the fact that there have been successful rebellions before and that they inevitably fail because the outside world is something no one was prepared for, only makes Juliette choice to be free plausible but without any rewards since they can't survive the outside world, at least not without her head inside a helmet, I’m curious to see how she’ll use this knowledge moving forward.
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