Silo recap, Season 2, Episode 10: “Into the Fire”

There was a moment last week silo An episode that for me embodies everything great about Rebecca Ferguson’s performance this season. It happens when Eater – sorry, I mean “Hope” – tells her sad origin story to Juliet as they search the apartments, looking for clues that might lead them to the code to the Vault door. Juliet is not unsympathetic to Hope’s cruel past, however… she really doesn’t have time for that. Her face – especially her eyes – reflects that. Juliette is in a constant state of anxiety and distraction, even when the other person in the room is pouring out her heart.

This has been the mode in which Ferguson has played Juliet all season, whether the character is managing Jimmy’s erratic behavior or trying to convince the Silo 17 scavengers to let her complete her mission. Some actors tend to act out moments, focusing only on the scene in front of them and not on what happened before it. Not Ferguson. Juliet carries the weight of Season 1 with her into Season 2, and once she hears from Jimmy that Silo 18 is in danger of total social collapse and possible slaughter, Ferguson never stops playing the character’s desperate sense of urgency. she He has To return immediately. She needs everyone at Silo 17 to stop wasting her time.

the silo The finale is an intense, action-packed story, mostly dealing with the kind of chaos that Juliet feared in Silo 18. The episode builds to an unexpected climax and brutal cliffhanger before ending with a “whoa” that seemingly comes out of nowhere. Ferguson deserves a lot of credit for putting some of the smaller, more emotional, more human notes into a heady mix. Sometimes niche TV shows rely too heavily on characters screaming at the audience and expecting us to care. But it’s easy to feel Juliet’s anxiety. She doesn’t need to say much.

Most of Juliet’s scenes in this episode concern her getting ready to leave while also coming to terms with what might await her at Silo 18. Jimmy has a convenient flash of memory about what “protection” is, remembering that his parents found out about it. Learn how to prevent a genocidal gas pipeline from doing what it was designed to do during an insurgency. Jimmy also – kindly – tests the airtightness of Juliet’s flight suit after his father’s suit turns out to be full of holes. The two share an awkward attempt at a hug while she explains that she can’t promise she’ll come back but she will definitely try.

I’d argue that Juliet’s exasperation with Jimmy and the other residents of Silo 17 throughout the season is what makes her kind gesture at the end so touching. She never loses her focus on returning urgently to Silo 18. But she realizes that the people she met in Silo 17 need something from her before she goes, and she tries to give it to them. This is how you get “Eater” to reveal her real name.

This partly inspires a rousing speech, which occurs after Audrey once again blames Hope for something going wrong. Juliet tells everyone that with the Vault open, they will have the resources to live together, while in Silo 18, everyone Juliet loves – including her father – could be on the verge of death, if not already dead. “Look at everything you have,” she says, adding, “Be angry with Each other, no in each other.”

Juliette grows concerned about what’s going on at home when Silo 17 is shaken by a loud bang outside. The source of that sound? A devastating explosion – caused by Juliet’s father, who works for a mechanical company – destroys two entire levels of stairs.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. It’s hard not to, given that so much of what happens in Silo 18 this week consists of seesaw reversals, where what’s happening proves to be part of bigger plans we’re not privy to.

Let’s take the big plot twists and character beats one by one:

Walker: In the first half of the episode, we see the rebels continuing to discuss their plans in Walker’s apartment, where we learn there is a hidden camera broadcasting everything to Bernard. Walker appears to suffer great embarrassment when the entire crew is arrested and she is thanked in front of them (and her ex-wife!) for her service. But then! During his meeting with Bernard, Walker reveals that the people in Mechanic have a sign language that they use to communicate over generator noise. It turns out she’s been secretly keeping Knox informed of what’s going on the whole time.

Invoices: After Bernard told the deputies that the sheriff was responsible for leading the rebellion, they arrested him and built a makeshift prison in a cafeteria, as instructed. But then! The deputies, as they had planned all along, released Billings and the rebels after handing in their badges en masse.

Knox: The rebels, led by Knox, announce their intention to distract the raiders until they can deliver an explosive, which they then detonate, trapping the raiders in the depths and forcing Bernard to negotiate. It’s all going according to plan. But then! Patrick Kennedy convinces a large subset of the rebels that before Juliet left, he saw an image of a green landscape outside. He wants them all to leave the silo, which could trigger the protective measures.

Lucas and Sims: After Lucas learns about the protection from the tunnel’s mysterious voice (identified in the captions as “the algorithm”), he believes everyone in Silo 18 is doomed. He resigns from his shadow and goes to spend his last hours with his mother. But then! Bernard makes Robert Sims the new shadow and gives him the Vault Code, which encourages Lucas Sims to go see him while there is still time. When the Sims enter, the algorithm welcomes them and reassures them when it hears that they want to save Silo 18. But then (again)! The algorithm tells Robert and his son to leave the room so the voice can talk to Camille.

Bernard: Convinced that protection is about to spread, Bernard picks up his secret suit. He sits alone and cooks for a while with a gun in his hand. But then! On the projection screens, everyone sees Juliet entering the hole, where she symbolically cleans the camera before raising this warning sign: “Unsafe, do not exit.”

I don’t want to give the impression that Juliet is responsible for this everyone Emotional and exciting moments in this finale. Her father has a powerful scene, as he hands Deputy Hank his watch to pass it on to Juliet before Dr. Pitt completes his suicide mission and blows up the stairs. The scene where Walker reveals that she cheated on Bernard is also funny, including the moment where she counts down to the explosion… and nothing happens. (The bomb exploded a few seconds later after Bernard quipped, “That was dramatic.”)

But Juliet anchors the episode in the poignant scenes in Silo 17 and in the poignant final moments. Juliette struggles to open the door to Silo 18 with a crowbar, only to see the door unlocked at Bernard’s command…and then sees Bernard waiting at the bottom of the stairs, all dressed and holding his gun. They briefly talk about what a guarantee is, why it can be deployed, and who does it. (Bernard: “I know who, but I don’t know why, and I don’t care.” Juliette: “I think I’ve discovered something.”) Juliette then wrestles them both into the airlock before it closes. The season ends with her facing potential doom from a wall of purging fire in an airlock.

Dramatic, right? The season could have ended there, and silo Fans will still be talking about the fallout throughout the long offseason.

Instead, we get another scene, set in Washington, D.C. (!) in what appears to be close to the present day (!!). There, a new congresswoman from Georgia has an appointment with a Washington Post reporter, which turns into an opportunity for her to grill him about a recent Iranian dirty bomb explosion and whether the United States is planning retaliation. The scene is wonderful, entertaining, and gains resonance when the congressman suddenly leaves after giving the reporter a cheap gift he bought at a convenience store. It’s the rubber duck Pez dispenser that would later become a remnant of Silo 18.

How does a new candy end up in a post-apocalyptic bunker hundreds of years later? That tale will have to wait until season three, unfortunately.

I might be as stressed and preoccupied as Juliet until then.

• How many days passed between the moment Juliet left Silo 18 and the moment she returned? With no sun underground to track the passing of the days, it is difficult to pinpoint them precisely. (And of course, Juliet was knocked unconscious for a while due to an infection.) If I had to guess, I’d say this season covers maybe a week?

• Jimmy’s Vault contains lots of wonders: pop-up books, nature records, and canned pineapples. It’s also important to remember that Juliet has never been in Silo 18’s Vault and has never seen so many relics in one place. Once again, kudos to Rebecca Ferguson, who skillfully conveys the character’s fascination with all of this Things – while also showing how Juliet won’t let it become a distraction.

• This wraps silo Season two, folks! There seems to be a lot more hype around the show this year, which I hope will continue into Season 3 which – based on this episode’s finale – should be wild.