Lies and their deployment as weapons of deceit is explored in “That Thing He Does,” the third episode in the second season of Apple TV+’s dystopian sci-fi series, “Silo.”
While the first two chapters of creator and showrunner Graham Yost’s (“Speed,” “Justified”) post-apocalyptic Apple TV+ show split their minutes between Juliette seeing the graveyard of bodies and exploring Silo 17’s tomb-like interior before discovering a lone survivor, and the repercussions of Silo 18’s citizens witnessing Juliette strolling over the hill to germinate seeds of rebellion, this episode shifts back and forth equally in a strange sort of mirroring of events both past and present.
Catching up? Here’s our rundown of “Silo” Season 2 episode 1 and episode 2.
But let’s begin in the haunted halls and submerged levels of Silo 17, where Juliette obtains much more info about the site’s tragedy from the mystery man in the vault, who finally says his name is Solo, because he’s in there all by himself.
She’s told that there are fifty silos total. The rebellion kicked off after their former IT Head, Ron Tucker, walked outside and refused to clean the sensors, instead writing the word “LIES” in bold letters in the dirt. Residents rose up thinking the toxic wasteland they believed was real, was untrue, and that it was safe to go outside since nobody actually ever saw Tucker die.
He recalls that it was a nice day when they all voluntarily left, the sun was shining, people were smiling, and then the “dust started to blow again” before they all died.
Solo was the shadow of another IT Chief named Russell and it was him that forced Solo to stay locked in the vault all these years. Russell was accidentally killed by the sheriff when the old rebellion sparked. Sensing the similarities mirroring her and Tucker, Juliette shudders at the thought that this same scenario will possibly play out in Silo 18 since many believe that she’s still alive.
The only way to stop a second uprising from repeating is to head back to her home silo, but she first needs a working survival suit of some sort. Solo reveals she might find fire safety materials in Engineering but that section is now underwater. She needs his help to make this mission work but Solo refuses to leave the vault and doesn’t trust Juliette. As she ventures down to those lower levels, we see “Ron Tucker Lives” graffiti splashed on the walls, just like the “Juliette Lives” graffiti popping up in Silo 18, which only deepens Juliette’s resolve.
Hopping over to Silo 18, Sims’ (Common) Judicial Security raiders arrest anyone and everyone they think might be responsible for the “JL” graffiti. Per Bernard’s official Founders’ manual, “The Order,” graffiti incites rebellion and support the person who refused to clean. Protocol are clear. The folks in Mechanical, Juliette’s former clan, are targeted heavily to make a swift example.
Feeling that things are quickly spinning out of control, Bernard consults with the burnt out Judge Meadows (Tanya Moodie) inside the server room on how to deal with the situation. Meadows asks whether or not Juliette truly asked to go outside and Bernard sticks with the lie, but she’s not buying it. To extract the truth, she asks Sheriff Paul Billings (Chinaza Uche) to secretly investigate the arrest further and to interview those present. Although most of the raiders back up Bernard’s story, one of them is unsure, confirming Meadows and Billings’ suspicions that Juliette would never have voluntarily asked to leave Silo 18. Bernard reveals he knew Silo 17 had been dead a long time, teasing that there might be communication between silos.
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Meanwhile, Shirley (Remmie Milner) and her angry rebels gear up to break their people out of police custody, but all goes to hell as a Molotov cocktail is hurled and raiders open fire when a brutal riot ignites, killing two Mechanical residents.
Meadows is done with her silo life and remains adamant about going outside to see the truth, telling Bernard to build her a survival suit with good tape so she can see for herself and taste the freedom Juliette experienced. There’s a slightly-creepy intimate scene here with Bernard measuring her body for the suit that hints at their relationship once being more than just close co-workers. However, with Bernard basically admitting Juliette never asked to leave, those bonds are irrevocably broken.
To facilitate her wishes, Bernard agrees to shut off the main cafeteria view screen for her to sneak outside, but he’s an untrustworthy snake, and since he’s in charge of getting her suit crafted, he might use this opportunity to slip the crappy sealant tape on the suit and use her death to realign Silo 18’s misinformed notions and snuff out the brewing rebellion. We sense a possible turning point for Tim Robbins’ character!
Then we switch back to Silo 17 as Juliette tells Solo that she’s leaving and will trying to reach the intended level to make her safety suit with or without his assistance. With this being Solo’s only human contact in who knows how many years, he’s fearful and musters the courage to emerge from the vault. We see a haggard shell of a grizzled man perfectly played by the great Steve Zahn with equal measures of innocence, trauma, and curiosity seeing the silo’s decrepit state.
Will Billings mirror what happened with the sheriff’s rebellion in Silo 17? Will Meadows become Bernard’s sacrificial lamb to quell an uprising? Will Juliette and Solo work together to make a new survival suit so she can make it back to Silo 18 in time before they all stage a mass exodus? And what’s Solo’s real identity?
Drop back in next week where we’ll return to this nightmarish survival saga!