TV Review: "Silo" (Season 2)
While it lags in places, the second season of Apple TV's sci-fi/postapocalyptic drama nevertheless continues to take big swings and ask big questions, anchored by terrific performances.
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Warning: This review contains full spoilers for the second season of Silo.
Well, we’ve now come to the end of the second season of the hit Apple TV series Silo. Though I found myself a little more frustrated with this second season than I was with the first, I still give this show a lot of credit for doing some interesting things with the sci-fi and postapocalpytic genres. Moreover, as with the first season, what really allows this series to sing are its performances, both from its major cast members and some of its secondary ones, who at last are given their chance to shine.
The first season ended with quite a revelation, as Juliette Nichols, having ventured outside the Silo to clean, realizes that their own silo is but one of many. As this season unfolds she explores a nearby silo, where she encounters a strange survivor named Solo (Steve Zahn), as well as several others. Meanwhile, back at her old home things continue to grow more unsettled as Bernard (Tim Robbins) tightens his hold, while those in Mechanical, as well as Sheriff Paul Billings (Chinaza Uche), begin to forge an unlikely alliance.
As she did in the first season, Rebecca Ferguson gives a truly terrific and electrifying performance as Juliet. There’s an intensity to her every scene that elevates it, even when the writing doesn’t always do her any favors. If it weren’t for Ferguson, in fact, I’m not sure I would have been able to sit through most of the Juliet-focused parts of the story this season. It’s not that these moments are boring, exactly, but there are a few pacing problems, as others have noted. When it comes right down to it, I’m not sure I needed to see so many of her scenes trying to put a new suit back together, and it’s not until the last few episodes that her storyline starts to actually get some genuine momentum.
Tim Robbins, likewise, continues to be a truly terrifying presence as Bernard. I read recently that Robbins seems to think that Holland is inspired by pro-lockdown politicians (which makes sense, since Robbins is well-known for his libertarian sensilities). To me, though, Bernard is far more of a totalitarian than anything else, very much in the mold of the men who are leading this country as I write these words. He yearns for order and stability above all other things and, as such, views them as a good in and of themselves. As a result, he sees all human life as expendable, even that of Judge Meadows, with whom he seems to share a history. And yet, this is Robbins, and his boyish features make Bernarnd’s actions all the more unsettling.
It’s precisely Bernard’s adherence to the Pact that makes him such a terrifying villain because, say what you will about him, there’s no question that he possesses the courage of his convictions. Just as importantly, he also knows far more than anyone else about the stakes of the conflicts shaking the silo which means that, while you can’t help but hate him, you also sort of see where he’s coming from and understand, at least a little, why he does what he does.
For me, the most remarkable, terrifying, and memorable episode of the entire season is the one in which he poisons Judge Meadows because she poses too much of a threat. By this point we’ve come to realize that these two have a lot of history and that they once meant a lot to each other. At the same time, we’re also very well aware that Bernard has a keen understanding of poison–he was the one who poisoned Mayor Jahns, after all–and that he’s very willing to destroy anyone who’s a threat to him, and through him, to the Pact and the silo (in his mind the three are essentially synonymous). The fact that he goes to such lengths to make her last moments pleasant ones–allowing her to see glimpses of the dead world–just makes his deed even more reprehensible.
More conflicted is Chinaza Uche’s Paul Billings who, once throughout the season, finds his own faith put to the test when it clashes with the reality that he sees in front of him everyday. Like Bernard, he’s a true believer in the Pact but, unlike the Mayor, he doesn’t always believe that it has to be maintained at the point of a gun or with bloodshed. I’ve always appreciated Uche’s understated performance as Billings, and he really gets a chance to shine this season. Like so many other characters, he finds his own assumptions and understandings of the world and his place in it repeatedly shattered.
This season wisely gives Harriet Walter more time to come into her own, as Martha finds herself pulled in competing directions by Bernard on the one hand and by the other members of the growing resistance on the other. This reaches its climax when the former blackmails her into doing his bidding in order to save her ex-wife near-certain torture. Walter perfectly captures Martha’s anguish as she has to choose between the love of her life–who she has already thrown aside once–and the needs of the greater resistance. As she’s done before, though, Martha shows herself a far subtler thinker and strategist than Bernard gives her credit for being.
I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention Steve Zahn. Bless him, this man has really carved a niche out for himself playing odd little guys. Even though his Solo is very quirky and strange, there’s still an edge of danger to him, too, as Juliette learns to her regret. Avi Nash, Shane McRae, and Remmie Milner are all superb as Lukas Kyle, Knox, and Shirle Campbell. I’ve loved these characters since the beginning, and it’s nice to get to see more of them.
While Common isn’t quite as mind-numbingly bad as he was in the first season, he’s still not great. Fortunately, there’s far less for his character to do in this season, as he is increasingly sidelined by Bernard, who (wisely) comes to see him as a threat and as an unreliable ally. We’ll see what he ends up doing in the third.
Just as we saw in the first season, Silo contends with some of the biggest questions facing humanity in the present. To what degree should we be willing to give up our freedoms and liberties in order to keep our society from collapsing? For that matter, who should get to control history and how the past is disseminated and understood (or not) by the masses? More pressingly (and sinisterly), might it be the case that the entire edifice upon which we’ve all built our lives–our expectations, our dreams, our understanding of ourselves as people–is instead nothing more than a lie constructed to keep us unquestioning and compliant? This is a question that only grows more urgent with every passing day, now that Trump is once again in the White House and it becomes distressingly obvious that far too many of our fellow citizens have drunk the MAGA Kool-Aid (or are at least willing to go along with the worst tendencies of this movement, so long as it brings about economic prosperity). Like the best of science fiction, Silo manages to tap into the zeitgeist in ways that make it a chilling and exhilarating viewing experience.
Anchoring all of these questions is a season with lots of action and plot twists, revolutions and attempts to crush them. While it might lag in places, there are still many rewarding sequences in this season, and the finale in particular is as propulsive and exciting as one could wish. There’s much that still hangs in the balance and, as the flashback near the ending reveals, the show is going to give us more insight into the world that brought the silos into being in the first place.
I know one thing. I’ll be tuning in for season three.