Warning: Full spoilers follow for Season 1 of Silo.
Season 2 of Silo (review), the dystopian science fiction series about a community of humans living inside an underground cylinder after the apocalypse, is now upon us. The season premiere drops on November 15, with the series airing weekly after that. The Rebecca Ferguson-led drama prides itself on its mystery-based storytelling, finding ways to recontextualize the scenario in nearly every episode. It’s one among many examples of Apple TV+ being the place for genre television.
Still, there are some questions we have not just about how things played out in Season 1, but also regarding what we’ll learn in this new 10-episode season. Let’s dive deep!
What Will Happen to Juliette Now That She’s Outside the Silo?
Season 1 ended with Juliette Nichols (Ferguson) leaving the silo and learning the truth: The world actually is a wasteland like the windows inside suggest, and the visor display showing it as a paradise for people who leave is the lie. Luckily for her, Walker (Harriet Walter) arranged for Juliette’s suit to be made from high quality materials, so she isn’t immediately killed by the environment like every other person who previously left. This allows Juliette to ascend the hill and see that there are many other silos nearby. We’ll have to see how this cliffhanger plays out, but where will Juliette go now that she’s left her community? Presumably to another silo, but which one, and how different will it be from the silo she knows? Will she ever be able to return? Hopefully the season premiere clues us in.
How Many Silos Are There, and How Does the Silo Network Function?
We don’t know yet if Season 2 will follow the books it is based on exactly (where it is revealed how many silos there are), but whatever the case, we do want to know how many silos exist and how this whole operation functions. Bernard Holland (Tim Robbins) presumably gets his orders from someone, so what kind of communications are available between silos that everyday citizens don’t know about? What are the other silos like? Do they all have a Bernard-alike who keeps things under wraps, or is there more going on here? Learning the rationale for all of the silos’ rules is one of our biggest hopes for the new season.
How Long Has the Silo Operated?
In the first season, we learned that it’s been 140 years since “the rebellion,” a nebulously defined event where what passes for the silo’s history begins. All records and knowledge from before the rebellion are not just lost, but actively suppressed because of the Pact (the book of regulations for life in the silo). This is why “relics,” items from before the rebellion, are almost uniformly outlawed. However, “before the rebellion” and “before the silo” seem to be two different time periods, at least according to how they’re used in conversation. So how many years has the silo operated before the rebellion that was apparently so bad that it’s now illegal to research what came before it? We hope Juliette discovers the answer sooner rather than later.
Why Are Elevators and Magnifiers Outlawed?
Beyond relics, certain other technologies are also outlawed in the silo. In Season 1, we learn that elevators, pulleys and magnifiers are all no-gos, and that trying to invent those technologies will get you in trouble with Judicial. This is part of Juliette’s backstory, because her mother builds a magnifier, which leads to a raider team breaking into their apartment and destroying it. It also means that you have to “walk the silo” via the central spiral staircase if you need to get to another floor, and the only other way up or down the silo seems to be the garbage chute (Juliette uses this late in the season to evade detection). But why are these technologies not allowed? Nobody gives a reason, but maybe we’ll learn why soon.
Why Did the Window Display Show a Fake Green World If It's Supposed to Be for the Helmet Display?
As mentioned earlier, Juliette learns that the visor display in the helmets of people who leave the silo shows a fake image of a green world, presumably to trick them into cleaning the window display before they die. However, if that’s the only reason it exists, then how come when the window display malfunctions for a moment (when Juliette shuts down power to the silo so she can repair the generator) it briefly shows the fake green world on the window display? A bunch of civilians see it flash, and it seems that it might be a plot point for later, but it doesn’t really pay off. Even then, it seems weird that the window display is even capable of that, because it serves no purpose for Bernard beyond possibly inciting rebellion if people were to think the outside might be safe. Was this an oversight on IT’s part? Or was this part of a plan they haven’t enacted yet?
What Is the Syndrome and Is It Related to Being Born Underground?
One of the other recurring plot points that doesn’t get much payoff in the first season is the Syndrome, a condition we don’t really learn all that much about. Paul Billings (Chinaza Uche), who came from Judicial and becomes Juliette’s chief deputy during her time as sheriff, has the condition, which is apparently supposed to preclude someone from certain positions of power. His hands shake and he becomes disoriented from time to time, but beyond those symptoms, we don’t learn anything else about it. How prevalent is the Syndrome? Is it actually a real world condition that the society of the silo has long since lost the medical term for? Or is it something new that developed in people who were born and raised underground? Perhaps we’ll encounter other characters with the Syndrome and learn more about it in Season 2.
Will We Learn More About the Flamekeepers? Are There Similar Organizations in Other Silos?
Later in Season 1, Juliette’s investigation leads her to Gloria Hildebrant (Sophie Thompson), a woman that Judicial is keeping forcibly sedated in the hospital. She was previously a fertility counselor, but after weaning her off the drugs, Juliette learns that Gloria was targeted by Judicial because she was a Flamekeeper, a subversive group dedicated to researching the past in secret. Juliette’s mother was also associated with the organization. This seems to be a huge revelation, but we don’t learn much more about the Flamekeepers or their membership besides the fact that Judicial tried to suppress or assassinate them whenever they could because of the possibility of the Flamekeepers inciting rebellion. We wonder if there are similar groups in the other silos, or even if it’s possible that they could find a way to communicate and organize against the silo leadership.
What Happened to George’s Secret Door That He Found Beneath the Silo?
In the second episode of Season 1, Juliette takes the previous sheriff, Holston Becker (David Oyelowo), to the lowest level of Mechanical. Through a secret passage, she shows him a massive chamber beneath the silo where the digger vehicle that created the hole the silo was built in was left. Given Becker’s reaction, it seems that silo leadership has no idea this chamber exists. But more pressingly, George Wilkins (Ferdinand Kingsley), Juliette’s lover who commits suicide to escape Judicial questioning, had discovered a secret underwater door at the bottom of this chamber that led to another passage, but he didn’t get to see where it went before his death. Could this passage lead to another silo? Has there been a way to travel between silos this whole time that nobody knew about? Given how many times the secret door is talked about (Juliette even attempts to get to it at one point but fails because of her fear of the water), we would be shocked if it’s not an important element of Season 2.
What questions do you have going into Silo Season 2? Let’s discuss in the comments!
Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Twitter.
