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) s01e04 – Truth

I spent a while this episode worrying last week’s superior episode was a fluke, but, no, “Silo”’s found some great footing, even with the still wonky future accents—which make even less sense because we flashback to Harriet Walter when Rebecca Ferguson gets down to the engineering department as a kid, and Walter doesn’t have the weird accent. Even with the very real possibility the show is going to kill off a supporting character every episode, which I don’t remember from the Wool comic book adaptation, and means they’re going to need to start introducing more characters real soon….

Even with those potential problems, “Silo”’s great. Well, it’s another great episode. It’s going to take a while for these peaks to prove stable.

But this episode’s got a lot of good gristle for the future. In addition to Ferguson becoming sheriff and working up a mutually reluctant partnership with her deputy, Will Patton (who’s so good, especially as “Silo” becomes a Western this episode), we also find out Patton’s in some weird up-top-copper conspiracy with secret police agent Common. Tim Robbins also gets a bunch more to do, which turns out very well. Until this point, Robbins has been a peculiar stunt cameo. In this episode he gets to do stuff, including have stand-offs with Ferguson; they’re great. As long as neither of them dies too, there should be plenty more good stand-offs.

It takes Ferguson and Patton most of the episode to decide to work together, partially because Patton’s on a self-destruction arc, and Ferguson’s got to prove herself reliable not just for being his boss but for cleaning him up when he’s a mess.

The flashbacks—starring Amelie Child Villiers as young Ferguson—set up Walter and Ferguson’s “down deep” future but also establish Villiers’s relationship with dad Iain Glen. Things in the present are too busy for Ferguson to go say hi to Glen (even though we’ve already met him). The episode opens with a flashback in the flashback, to when Sienna Guillory—as Villiers’s mom and Mrs. Glen—is still alive. Also, there’s a little brother. They die between the first and second flashbacks, which then establish Glen’s not suited for single parenting and Villiers would be much happier anywhere but with him. Luckily, she’s simpatico with Walter, who somehow knew Guillory.

We don’t find out how Guillory or the brother died, we don’t find out if Glen’s thirty-six pounds of de-aging makeup (or is that bad CGI) was a personal appearance fad in the silo or if they didn’t have enough budget (not to mention the possibility of different casting), and we don’t meet the judge yet. So we’ve got one major cast reveal left. I don’t think it will be Susan Sarandon, but it should be Susan Sarandon. Or Susan Dey.

This episode’s also got a different director, David Semel, who is a very experienced television director and not that cinematographer who ended up directing Steven Seagal movies (Dean Semler). Semel does a perfectly reasonable job directing. He knows how to direct the actors, he gets how the show’s straddling multiple genres—they’re not sexist against Ferguson, they’re classist—and it’s precisely what the show needs after Morten Tyldum’s wanting work from the chair. Semel’s sturdy.

“Silo” may stumble and fumble going forward; it may even get stronger, but as long as they can deliver on half their promises… the show’s going to be okay.

Even with those accents. And the often too iffy special effects (no more “young” Glen, pretty please).

Also, it’ll be a problem if they solve the mystery by killing off all the suspects until it’s just Ferguson versus the bad guy. I mean, obviously, that one. Really hope they don’t do that one.

Silo (2023) s01e03 – Machines

Is Machines a great episode, or is it a sign “Silo”’s going to be great? It’s a phenomenal fifty minutes of television (in an hour-plus episode), but the show’s still got all the existing problems. There’s just this one outlier. So far. But the episode, writing credit to Ingrid Escajeda, is fantastic. If director Morten Tyldum, who wouldn’t know if a cinematic shot if it were a hundred-foot-tall steam generator spinning around, ready to slice up the heroes going to replace it so the silo doesn’t lose power forever… well if it weren’t Tyldum, it’d be better. Even with his profoundly banal direction, it’s great.

And the cast can find the energy in the action, even if Tyldum can’t bring it, even if the weird accents continue. They’re intentional. I’m pretty sure. Based on Iain Glen having the same weird, not quite anything, but definitely a very white European-ish accent. Glen hasn’t given this bad of an accent since he was in Resident Evil and has spent his subsequent career showing off his ability with accents and middling directors. So if he’s giving a bad accent now, it’s because they told him to give a bad accent.

Harriet Walter’s back with her weird one too. However, she has some okay scenes. One opposite Geraldine James, who’s walking down the silo to offer Rebecca Ferguson the sheriff job while also getting in some quality time with Will Patton. Halfway through the episode, I turned to my wife and asked her if she thought it was weird Patton has become a soulful, sensual type in his old age. She hasn’t seen H40 so she was very confused.

But it’s fine. I’m here for it. It’s at least not wasting Patton.

And James, with her weird, weird, weird accent, is more likable this episode. This episode should’ve been the first episode, and they should’ve figured out how to get the backstory in later. It’s got an excellent three-act structure for a feature narrative. James needs to decide if she’s hiring Ferguson or if she’s going to kowtow to her rival branch of government (an unnamed female judge, who will be a stunt cast later on) while Ferguson needs to convince boss Shane McRae they’re running out of time to fix the generator.

If they don’t fix it, the silo loses power, and everyone dies. Badly.

Along the way, we finally find out Tim Robbins really is an asshole and doesn’t just seem like one in the flashbacks. And Common threatens James, which is a weird moment, but later on, we find out Common’s just a good dad trying to get by in a bad future. Common works for Judicial; James is the Mayor, so her rival is the Judge.

I wonder if it’s Diane Lane. There’s a somewhat deep cut.

Susan Dey would be baller.

Especially if they make her do an accent.

Anyway, the stuff with the generator is great. It’s not a real-time episode because Tyldum’s bad, but it’s exceptionally tense, with big stakes.

It’s so good it makes up for the cliffhanger resolve being almost entirely toothless.

Ferguson also gets to run a room instead of brood or moon. She does okay. Not great, but successful.

The episode also doesn’t shy away from comparing how worker-class boss McRae supports and values women to how Robbins hates them.

I was reluctant on “Silo.”

Tedious Tyldum or not, I’m much less so now.

Machines is great.

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2017, Paul W.S. Anderson)

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter opens, as usual (I think), with a recap of the previous Resident Evil movies. Star Milla Jovovich narrates; even after six movies, it always seems like Jovovich is just about to have a great scene as an actor in one of these movies and it never comes to pass. It’s not her fault–writer and director Anderson either knowingly trades on his viewer’s self-awareness, ignores it, or isn’t aware of it. Either he’s lazy, mercenary, or unaware, which is why Final Chapter ends up being something of a pleasant surprise.

Sure, Anderson doesn’t turn Jovovich’s Alice character into an action movie legend, but Jovovich does a good job as a lead in a wackily paced, often outrageous action movie. She navigates script weaknesses to keep scenes together. There’s a lot of lame, predictable exposition in Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Stuff you sit and wish Anderson wouldn’t do, just because there has to be something a little less lazy.

Anderson does have a certain functional charm about his work, which is why he seems far more mercenary than anything else. He’s indifferent to his cast, whether they’re series regulars or not. Most of the film is either Jovovich getting into one ultra-violent, special effects sensation or getting out of one. While she’s incredibly successful as far as physicality goes, it’s like both she and Anderson are completely disinterested in character development. So I guess it’s a perfect combination.

Supporting cast is fine. I mean, none of there performances matter and no one really irritates besides Fraser James and William Levy. Ruby Rose is likable and memorable. Ali Larter is fine; she’s back from one of the previous entries and has almost no energy for this one. It’s like, the world’s ending… Resident Evil VI, straight-to-video or straight-to-hell. Only it works for the movie. She’s exhausted with survival.

There are some excellent action set pieces and a couple okay suspense ones and then a truly phenomenal suspense one. It’s a nice surprise–Anderson’s figured out how to make characters just sympathetic enough to get viewer investment without writing them good scenes or dialogue. It’s mercenary. And competently mercenary.

Oh. Iain Glen. It’s his best performance in the series. Except half of it is awful. He can’t do the maniacal villain, so as the story takes the villain through degrees of wackiness, Glen’s performance fluctuates. It’s a pleasant surprise on its own, as he’s usually atrocious in these things.

Good photography from Glen MacPherson, competent editing from Doobie White. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is about as good as anything called Resident Evil: The Final Chapter could be, which is sort of Anderson’s stock in trade. I mean, I’d definitely see this one again. I’ve been horrified at that thought for the last couple of them.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990, Tom Stoppard)

I’d heard of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, of course. I’d probably even meant to see it at one point, probably around the time of Branagh’s Hamlet, which is when I first got big into Shakespeare. But it was only available on VHS and I was already addicted to widescreen. Oddly, this viewing–at the wife’s request–was widescreen. I thought all the DVD releases were pan and scan. So waiting worked out.

More, it worked out because I probably wouldn’t have been able to appreciate the film as much ten years ago as I am able today. The characters trapped in the confines of a narrative, realizing they’re free of agency–well, I’m familiar with it from Breakfast of Champions. But Rosencrantz & Guildenstern goes a little further in discussing the drama as a whole.

It took me a while, I’ll admit, to realize what Stoppard was doing (at the beginning, I just figured they were dead and reliving the experience of Hamlet in some afterlife). Once I did, I appreciated it.

But, honestly, not as much as I appreciated the updating of “Who’s on first?”

Tim Roth and Gary Oldman are both fantastic. It’s stunning to see Oldman in such a well-written role. It’s been a long time since he’s been concerned with acting (kids, swimming pools, et cetera, I imagine).

Stoppard’s direction is excellent. It’s understated and profound.

Richard Dreyfuss is great in a somewhat unexplainable role. Iain Glen and Ian Richardson are good in the Hamlet sections.

4/4 ★★★★

CREDITS

Directed by Tom Stoppard; screenplay by Stoppard, based on his play and a play by William Shakespeare; director of photography, Peter Biziou; edited by Nicolas Gaster; music by Stanley Myers; production designer, Vaughan Edwards; produced by Michael Brandman and Emanuel Azenberg; released by Cinecom Entertainment Group.

Starring Gary Oldman (Rosencrantz), Tim Roth (Guildenstern), Richard Dreyfuss (The Player), Joanna Roth (Ophelia), Iain Glen (Hamlet), Donald Sumpter (Claudius), Joanna Miles (Gertrude), Ljubo Zecevic (Osric), Ian Richardson (Polonius), Sven Medvesek (Laertes), Vili Matula (Horatio) and John Burgess (Ambassador from England).


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Resident Evil: Extinction (2007, Russell Mulcahy)

I wonder how Paul W.S. Anderson writes his screenplays. Does he actually write in all the references–think The Birds here, or a tanker like in The Road Warrior or even the Statue of Liberty shot out of Planet of the Apes–or do they come up later? Resident Evil: Extinction is an amalgam of, I imagine, as many films Anderson could rip from or reference to (it’s never homage) in ninety-five minutes. But, like the earlier ones and for the same basic reasons, Extinction is a success.

The prevalent reason for success is Milla Jovovich. Jovovich is barely in movies anymore, but she’s great as the action hero. Extinction adds another element–along with malicious tentacles, Anderson cribs pyrokinesis (I can’t believe I knew that “word,” since Oxford apparently does not) from Japanese anime–giving Jovovich superpowers and a burden along with them. Anderson also gives her some character stuff, hints at romantic longing, and some comedy moments towards the end. It really works out, since she can switch from a Mad Max Road Warrior impression to vulnerable instantaneously. Every time–and it’s not often since she’s in so little–I see Jovovich, I can’t help but think Woody Allen would be able to do something great with her.

The other reason Extinction works is because Anderson is–as screenwriter and producer–once again completely comfortable making schlock. It’s well-produced schlock, whatever–oh, he steals from Undead too–but it’s absolutely unpretentious. There’s no pretending. It’s just ninety-five minutes gone.

Still, Extinction is a really hurried film. It’s supposedly the last film in the series, which is silly because the setup at the end suggests the next one would be a lot of fun, and that condition hangs over the movie. Starting out where the first film started, ending where the first film started… it’s all very neat in terms of conclusions, but the pace is terrible.

For a lot of the film, Jovovich isn’t even the main character. Instead, Anderson tracks a group of survivors (The Road Warrior rejects) lead by Ali Larter, who is awful. There’s some blah acting in the movie, but Larter’s is the only performance near ruining it. Once Jovovich is the firm center, it’s almost over. Anderson also spends a lot of time with the scientists, setting up the big ending. The script feels rushed, the movie feels rushed….

As far as the other performances go, Oded Fehr is good, Mike Epps is better than last time, and Linden Ashby is wasted as a cowboy.

Russell Mulcahy does an okay job directing. The editing is particularly good, but Extinction is short on action set-pieces, but the big one is worth the wait. The musical score, amusing, borrows a lot from the Terminator theme.

The Resident Evil movies are also of note because they aren’t particularly expensive, so they use CG and special effects in ways to enable storytelling, a trend Extinction continues.