The penultimate episode of AppleTV+’s sci-fi series includes some major revelations. Here’s our Silo season 2 episode 9 review.
What I love most about Silo is its ability to leave me completely in awe as well as confused. Season 2 has been full of surprises, but episode 9 might just be the most shocking of them all, at least so far.
Not that last week’s episode was any less unexpected. It turns out that Solo hasn’t been living in silo 17. A group of three youngsters – and as we learn this week, their two kids – have also been sneaking around. They’re not a very friendly bunch either, with Audrey ( Georgina Sandler) shooting Juliette with an arrow.
My biggest complaint has been that Juliette’s story has felt less interesting this season and last week’s episode certainly helped, but episode 9 finally brings it to the forefront. The first moments of the episode follow Audrey and her group as we see them observing Juliette’s arrival and her eventual dive down to the depths of silo 17.
Times are desperate and no one really benefits from Juliette’s death so ultimately a very fragile ceasefire is established and the group agrees to not kill each other for the moment. The group refuses to let Solo go – they’ve got some unfinished business with him – but Juliette might be able to help them get into the vault where food is kept.
We tend to keep these reviews as spoiler-free as possible and you won’t find any major spoilers here, but I must say my jaw was on the floor several times. If you’ve found yourself slightly frustrated at the slow-ish pace of the season and showrunner Graham Yost’s refusal to give us more than mere crumbs of information, episode 9, titled The Safeguard, will be an enormously satisfying experience.
It’s not just Juliette who forms a fragile bond with potential enemies. Back in silo 18, Mechanical and the two sheriffs, Hank and Billings, find common ground and vow to help each other. Hank and especially Billings are both growing increasingly concerned and suspicious of what’s going on and we can’t blame them. Silo 18 is slowly but surely falling apart, despite Mayor Holland’s best efforts to keep it going.
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Speaking of the Mayor, he continues to be a thoroughly horrible human being. Last week’s episode saw him blackmail Walker into having a camera installed into her room that allows the mayor to eavesdrop on Mechanical’s future plans. Harriet Walter has been phenomenal this season and her character has had one of the more interesting arcs.
That being said, season 2 of Silo has been jam packed with plot, characters and twists. I have thoroughly enjoyed this season, but the closer we get to the end, the clearer it is that there’s maybe a tad too much going on. Characters like Sims and his wife and Dr. Nichols feel like dead weight and they come and go as the plot requires rather than become fully fleshed out characters.
The ending of episode 9 is quite something too. With only one more episode to go and two more seasons on the way, I fear we might be looking at another huge cliffhanger but I can’t wait to see how the season concludes next week.
Silo season 2 airs new episodes every Friday on AppleTV+.
