Silo (2023) s01e10 – Outside

“Silo” ends its first season on a massive cliffhanger. Massive in terms of physical scale. In many ways, it’s a soft cliffhanger. People may be in immediate danger, but it’s unclear how much they know about it. The show also manages to low-key tie into the Apple Vision Pro, which is kind of cool, though the future tech is decidedly non-Apple. The first scene has Rebecca Ferguson still hanging out with hacker Will Merrick and ne’er-do-well Rick Gomez and they’re watching stuff on square monitors. Merrick and Gomez quickly disappear from the episode, which then becomes all about how Ferguson’s going to reveal what happened to Rashida Jones and David Oyelowo.

Except not really. I mean, we do find out what happened to them, but Ferguson doesn’t. We, the audience, have a better handle on some of the reveals than she can because, well, her understanding of reality is minimal. We do find out how some of the more active deceptions are taking place; it’s a great episode for Tim Robbins. “Silo” has had a full cast with folks who never really got to shine—Gomez, for instance, has been regular in most of the opening titles and hasn’t had squat. Avi Nash seems to have been red herring. At least Chinaza Uche gets some more to do—with promises for next season—but he’s left mostly unresolved. The episode juggles perspectives—Ferguson, Uche, Robbins—before settling on Ferguson and Robbins.

Harriet Walter and Ferguson’s original supporting cast shows up for a bit. They get some okay character arcs for the episode, with Walter getting a huge arc but not actually much to do onscreen because it’s got to all be about the final reveals. There’s a really nice small part for Clare Perkins as one of Walter’s old pals; hopefully, they get to do more next season, but at this point… it’s impossible to know. Next season can go all of the ways.

Iain Glen shows up for a scene, and while it’s nice he and Ferguson get to play reunited dad and daughter, he’s still got that terrible accent.

Common has an okay episode, though all of last episode’s character development implications get paused here. Even when he’s interacting with Uche, separate from pursuing Ferguson, we’re not getting the character stuff.

There’s just too much going on and not a lot of time to do it. Outside runs around forty-five minutes, so short even for a “Silo,” and the last five to ten are all about the reveals and next season hints. There are numerous chase sequences through the episode and full-on action set pieces—director Adam Bernstein does a fine job; I was thrilled to see his credit in the titles. He’s got an unfair advantage in being the most recent director, but he’s “Silo”’s all-around strongest director. He gets Ferguson not to fall into accent hijinks when Glen and Walter tempt her.

Ferguson gets a fairly nice arc for the season, too, especially considering she didn’t take over the show until episode three, and even then, there was major sharing for a while.

“Silo” has worked out. The overall structure could be better (those first two episodes centering on other characters never paid off long-term)–especially since Bernstein approaches it as a noir, where they could’ve done a flashback thing throughout better–but it’s definitely worked out. And the stakes have been reset for next time, so the wait for season two’s should be bearable.

Silo (2023) s01e09 – The Getaway

Did they somehow convince Rick Gomez he would have a more significant part in “Silo,” or did his agent just do an excellent job getting him into most of the episodes even though he really doesn’t have anything to do. He’s the guy with the beard who owes Rebecca Ferguson a favor from episode three (or four). Or maybe it all happened off-screen. At this point, he’s just a familiar face (not name, partially because his character’s name is so bland it’s immediately forgettable), even though he’s now figuring into the conspiracy plot.

Tangentially, of course. He’s a function of “Silo,” not a supporting player.

The episode opens with a rather lackluster resolution to the previous episode’s high-tension cliffhanger. I think it’s one of those cliffhanger resolutions where there wouldn’t have been a cliffhanger if they’d shown the characters’ points of view last episode.

But, as usual for two or three episodes now, everyone is after Ferguson as she’s trying to figure out the secrets of the “Silo,” specifically the ones on a mysterious hard drive. The hard drive’s been around since the first episode since it was—temporarily—Rashida Jones’s show. Now we find out the hard drive’s got even more history, with hacker Will Merrick now involved. He’s not just the only one who can hack it for Ferguson—though most of the episode’s about her hacking it on her own—he’s also the one who sold it to Ferdinand Kingsley (who shows up for a brief flashback cameo) sometime before the first episode. It’s all connected.

Most of the episode’s actually about Common and Chinaza Uche. They’re not working together—Common blames Uche for letting Ferguson escape (while she was just taking advantage of his debilitating illness)—but they’re both trying to find Ferguson. Common’s arc is more about his work-life balance, specifically Tim Robbins thinking he cares too much about his family to be a good villain–outstanding performance from Alexandria Riley as Common’s wife this episode. Pretty much everyone still alive gets something to do this episode, whether it’s Harriet Walter reminding everyone she’s still around, Avi Nash sucking up to Robbins when confronted about his friendship with Ferguson, or Common ominously interrogating Iain Glen.

Caitlin Zoz has one heck of a scene. She’s Uche’s supportive wife, who ceases to be supportive and starts berating him, specifically about his mysterious impairment—“The Syndrome,” which I’ll bet doesn’t get covered until season two—and it’s a wildly different scene for Zoz. Until this point, she’s been Uche’s cheerleader, which was one-note, but at least she wasn’t a one-note harpy. Many of the people “Silo” has introduced over the season—other than most of those they’ve killed off—turn out to be very disappointing human beings. If no one dies next episode, it might even become the series’s new trope.

But it’s a good episode. Ferguson gets a decent arc, though there’s some iffy accent work—not iffier than usual, it’s just a big scene, and I was hoping she’d nail the accent. i.e., drive a nail through its heart and bury it somewhere. But, no. There are still some bad accents.

I wish I could remember more about the Wool adaptation to know if they’re wrapping up the first book or if they’re dividing it between seasons. There are some potentially big reveals coming next episode, but I’m not sure they will be very good. “Silo” will handle them perfectly well—unless something goes very wrong. I think the show’s on solid enough footing these days; nothing can derail its momentum.

Knock on wood.

Silo (2023) s01e08 – Hanna

This episode, “Silo” assumes a conspiracy thriller mode. Sheriff Rebecca Ferguson starts the episode on the run, only to pull one over on Common and his goons again so there can be an episode. She’s also going to find out who and who she can’t trust—despite some solid direction from Adam Bernstein, he totally whiffs the Hitchcockian reveal, which hurts the third act a bit. The show gets it back for the cliffhanger—“Silo” just got officially renewed, though supposedly AppleTV+ usually orders two seasons and then does the “renewal” notice when the timing’s right.

I remembered more details from this episode—I think they seem familiar from that Wool comic adaptation—but I’m still real hazy.

This episode toggles between Ferguson flashing back to the story of her mom, played again by Sienna Guillory, who died when Ferguson was young and played by Amelie Child Villiers. Iain Glen, of course, plays his character both young and old, managing to look older in the younger makeup than as an old guy. He just aged real well.

And his accent’s a little better. At least good enough it doesn’t set Ferguson down any poor accent choices—hope she doesn’t forget how not to do the bad “Silo” accent between filming seasons one and two.

Most of the episode is Ferguson trying to stay one step ahead of Common while remembering mom Guillory’s last days, while also trying to undercover the conspiracy around her. There are two levels of conspiracies, of course. The more immediate murder conspiracy, but also the conspiracy where they’re keeping the nature of reality from the citizens. This episode raises more questions than it answers, and I’m very curious about what’ll get pushed to next season and what’ll be revealed in the final two episodes of the season.

There are just two to go, and the show’s still not done revealing the stakes.

Good acting from Uche and Tim Robbins in particular. It’s probably Ferguson’s best episode, but it also doesn’t ask her to do much more than run around in an action movie while vulnerable. Maybe it’s the vulnerable part. Though they still don’t seem to know what to do with Avi Nash. If he and Ferguson are supposed to have sincere chemistry together… hope they work on it before next season.

Bernstein will probably be back for the next episode—do all hour-longs now just do two episode blocks for each director or directing team—which is fine. This episode’s for bridging; it only runs forty minutes and gets Ferguson from A to B with some new knowledge to get her to C next. We’ll probably see C next episode. Though this episode suggests at least two more characters deserve point-of-view focuses.

“Silo”’s almost entirely managed to climb after a rocky start. But they’re running out of time to make that somewhat disconnected prologue mean something. The show’s more than proven it can do compelling, but it hasn’t proven it can retroactively make the less compelling stuff meaningful.

But for now, real good.

Silo (2023) s01e07 – The Flamekeepers

Iain Glen’s back this episode, and, wow, I had forgotten his lousy accent. I think it activates Rebecca Ferguson’s worse accent instincts and suddenly she’s slipping.

Though it’s a great episode for Ferguson in terms of performance. Returning directors Bert & Bertie (thank goodness) put her through the paces without emphasizing it. Ferguson’s basically having a panic attack throughout the entire episode, visibly shaking (which sadly can’t cover the accent stuff). Her reunion with dad Glen starts awkward and then goes terribly, terribly wrong because it turns out Glen’s got a history with returning guest star Sophie Thompson, who Ferguson wants to interview.

Thompson was in the first episode—a hippie doula who consoled Rashida Jones right before Jones committed suicide—and I thought she had another appearance, maybe in the second episode, but otherwise, she’s been absent because she was arrested.

This episode, we find out she’s been in the “Silo” version of an old folks’ home, albeit one where they keep everyone doped up (why they don’t just kill people instead of giving them tranquilizers goes unaddressed). What’s particularly strange about the episode is the timing—it aired right around the time Apple announced their “don’t-call-it-VR” headset, and Thompson imagines she’s on a beach, and it looks like she’s seeing it fill out like in the headset. The images populate before her eyes.

It’s a terrible scene. Necessary because it will give Ferguson and Thompson a significant touchstone with the beach imagery, but it’s a hammering blow; the rest of the episode’s relatively muted, even the Glen reveals—which are substantial—and action-packed finale, the opening is still a little much. Visualizing drug-induced hallucinations will have to improve in the age of spatial computing.

In addition to Ferguson’s rocky bonding with Glen, then weathering all of Thompson’s truth bombs—not just about dad Glen, but also Ferguson’s mom, the actual way life works in the silo, on and on. But in the end, Ferguson figures something out—something the show didn’t do a great job establishing—and it’s a great scene. Perfect culmination for Ferguson in the episode, too, because she visits mayor Tim Robbins and judge Tanya Moodie, who clue her in on things she never knew about as far as the quid pro quo of success.

It’s really good stuff.

Less good stuff is Ferguson’s shoehorned romance with stargazer Avi Nash. Nash is charming enough, but—even with female authority figure characters and a woman credited with the script—it’s traditional boy pursues girl romance. It comes off weird, even with B&B directing—the arc removes agency from Ferguson and gives it to Nash, who doesn’t have anything to do with it.

Except get kissy.

Hopefully, they’ll figure out something to do with Nash, but whatever’s happening next—there are three more episodes—we’re probably in the final arc of the season and prepping for the big season finale cliffhanger.

Other than the Nash stumbles, excellent writing—credit to Jessica Blaire—including three or four big exposition dumps. Nice work from Robbins and Moodie, though it seems like they’re way more supporting than the show initially implied.

Thompson’s good, even though her wig’s distractingly bad.

And then Chinaza Uche. He’s great again, though again, mostly playing second fiddle to Ferguson. At least he’s still alive.

Though… three more episodes… “Silo” can get rid of six characters in three episodes, easy.

Can’t wait to see.

Silo (2023) s01e06 – The Relic

No one dies this episode of “Silo,” which be more of an improvement if the first quarter of the episode didn’t seem like a retread of last episode. New sheriff Rebecca Ferguson goes to see judge Tanya Moodie, who’s not feeling well, and lets Common do most of the talking at the meeting. Also going with Ferguson is her new (unwanted) deputy, Chinaza Uche, who was Common’s pick to be sheriff, but instead it’s Ferguson.

Uche gives Ferguson some tips for going to see Moodie, which makes no sense since she went to see Moodie at the end of the last episode. Something just feels off about it.

Not the direction—Bert & Bertie are hands down the best directors “Silo” has had, and they’re able to give Ferguson’s flashbacks with dead boyfriend Ferdinand Kingsley a level of gravitas “Silo” usually can’t reach. They still can’t get Ferguson’s accent in line (though Harriet Walter’s is gone now), and the weird accents make even less sense after the episode has a big reveal of where the silo is located on Earth.

Ferguson had the bright idea to plant evidence on Common’s dead colleague—who killed at least two of five (ish) dead people on the show—and let Uche uncover it. Despite Common wanting Uche for sheriff, Uche’s more than willing to back Ferguson up, but she doesn’t trust him enough to let him. Uche’s really good. I hope he lasts the season.

The investigation into the planted evidence leads Ferguson to guest star Sonita Henry (who’s also really good), a mystery woman from Kingsley’s past. Ferguson had no idea her dead boyfriend had an ex, much less an ex at the top of the silo, not to mention he apparently came from a (relatively) wealthy family. All the revelations make Ferguson rethink her recent decisions, which is the… second episode in a row she does so? Third? Fourth? The only thing more common than Ferguson thinking she should quit and hand the series over to someone else is that someone else getting murdered.

The bumpiness seems to be coming off the script, credit to Aric Avelino. It feels like it’s either supposed to be coming up after hiatus, or Avelino just didn’t see the last episode. Or maybe they changed how they were going to be edited.

It’s a solid episode—certainly better than the lows–, but it’s burned through the flashback goodwill (if it ever had any). It’d also be nice to have some more Tim Robbins. He pops in for a scene, has some fun, pops out. No one else gets to have any fun.

They’ve only four more episodes (to the season; presumably, the show is getting another), and they still haven’t sorted the stakes. How a show set in an underground silo has room to meander is beyond me, but they do.

Fingers crossed Bert & Bertie are back next time, and—no offense—Kingsley finally isn’t.

Silo (2023) s01e05 – The Janitor’s Boy

“Silo” threads a tiny eye of the needle and manages to kill off yet another character, fully introduce the conspiracy behind their murder, introduce two potential patsies and one killer, resolve that murder arc, and do an action sequence. All with a script credit show creator Graham Yost, who hasn’t had his name on the good episodes to this point. Maybe it’s director David Semel once again delivering the goods.

He also appears to have told the cast to knock it off with the silly accents. Rebecca Ferguson doesn’t get many lines—she’s the terse film noir detective only in a Western, only in a sci-fi—but when she does have them, the down deep accent is missing. It’s far more obvious when Harriet Walter shows up and barely has that weird eighties kids’ fantasy movie accent thing going. “Silo”’s been excelling despite a lot, but it’d be awesome if the accent thing got sorted.

This episode has new sheriff Ferguson (on her second or third day on the job, at most) investigating another homicide before the last body’s even cold. She’s got to work with her new deputy, played by Chinaza Uche. He was supposed to be the new sheriff if secret police agent Common got his way, and Common is the one who gives Uche the job, taking advantage of Ferguson not knowing the rules. It’s possible Uche and Ferguson are going to become amusing buddy cops, but so far, it’s not even implied.

Because even though we’re now halfway through the season, “Silo” still hasn’t established what the norm’s going to be. This episode ends with Ferguson starting the second act of the season (“Silo”’s on a delay since the first two episodes featured protagonists who die in their episode), and it’s entirely possible they could introduce a new supporting cast for the rest of the season.

But this episode—which does have to trick the audience to succeed (Yost’s going to Yost)—is still a major success. “Silo” can be about its bullshit but still excel. Ferguson’s got a swift murder investigation to run, which involves Common conspiring against her—but how far—and Tim Robbins being fun and kooky as the mayor (as opposed to low-key sexist). We also meet the Judge, played by an apparently uncredited Tanya Moodie, who is not the stunt cast I was expecting but is quite good. In her nothing scene.

Based on how the investigation wraps up, it’s unclear whether she’ll be important going forward. It’s wild how “Silo” mixes narrative shenanigans with prestige streaming so well. Maybe it helps the narrative shenanigans are from the source material (“Silo” has yet to Westworld, for instance); the approach does let the audience in on some secrets, but they’re not great secrets. It’s not even character development since the show’s managed to kill off almost every major character it’s introduced. And Ferguson barely knows most of the victims (if at all).

And they’re making it work, which is delightful.

“Silo”’s on pretty dang solid footing now.

I wonder who dies next week?