Apple TV’s Silo returns for S03. After a disappointing second season, can the Graham Yost-created series get back on track?

Spoilers follow for Silo S03E01…

Catch up on Season 1: 1.01-1.02 / 1.03 / 1.04 / 1.05 / 1.06 / 1.07 / 1.08 / 1.09 / 1.10
Catch up on Season 2: 2.01 / 2.02 / 2.03 / 2.04 / 2.05 / 2.06 / 2.07 / 2.08 / 2.09 / 2.10
Catch up on Season 3: 3.01 /

Spoilers follow for Silo S03E02 “It’s All Good”: Billings investigates a disappearance. Daniel Keene has a run-in with a reporter.

TERRY

Last week, I asked if you thought the past timeline would turn into a political thriller and this week seems to confirm it, Joe. In fact, in a surprising turn of events for me, I’m actually enjoying the past plot more than the present. Silo worked best in the first season when it was focused on a mystery. While the show is absolutely science fiction, it was also structured as a neo noir, where the mystery goes straight to the top!

That same sense of mystery and thrills continues in the past, as we potentially learn about how the silos started.

But first, “It’s All Good” begins where the premiere ended, with Jules (Rebecca Ferguson) in the process of burning the note. She unfortunately gets interrupted when Camille (Alexandria Riley) stops by. If there’s any question whether cameras captured Jules’ in the act, it gets quickly answered with Camille talking to the Algorithm.

The AI system tells Camille that the note isn’t of consequence, but the fact that Jules lied about it is worrisome. We get some bits of knowledge, like the fact the silo has been in operation for 352 years and that the Algorithm has that many years of data propelling its decisions. The biggest narrative beat that becomes very important to this episode’s overall theme is when the Algorithm tells Camille that she needs to become the “narrator she has to trust.”

In the past, Congressman Daniel Keene (Ashley Zuckerman) attempts to be that narrator for his amnesiac sister Charlotte (Jessica Brown Findlay) by filling in their family history. Weirdly, she calls him Donald and I don’t know if that was a misspoke line or what’s going on because apparently Congressman Keene is named Donald in the book but Daniel here. The fact the name isn’t even referenced again is weird, yeah?

Memory gets at the heart of what this episode, and to some extent maybe this series, is about as Doctor Victor Crnkovich (Matt Craven) is introduced. He tells Daniel that humans are a collection of stories; memories we tell ourselves and pass down. Victor even says we take data and weave stories from it, which sounds like what the Algorithm basically tells Camille, 352 years later.

Side note: but is the Algorithm’s voice the same as Victor? I’m not sure who it belongs to, but it sounds so familiar.

Moving on, Victor tells Daniel that the reason Charlotte remembers nothing is because of the drug he has her on, which is obviously the same drug being used in the silo. He talks about how they can remove specific memories and strengthen others. He tries to spin it as a good thing, helping war veterans get rid of traumatic memories, but let’s be honest, it’s curating a life Victor wants for his patients.

I think my biggest complaint about this episode was how on-the-nose the dialogue becomes. When Daniel asks if they can implant lies in Charlotte’s memories, I rolled my eyes. It came across as the way in which Netflix allegedly requires plot discussion for those not paying attention instead of the way that Apple TV shows are typically more subtle.

There’s so much more to discuss here, though, Joe. So I want to hand it over to you. Did you enjoy this episode as much as I did? We need to talk about Jules’ situation…I’m curious if her journey for truth works for you or if it’s revisiting the same old terrain? You weren’t happy with Martha (Harriet Walter)’s character arc last season, but were you happy to see her return? And did the barrels of Vitamin D+ worry you?

JOE

Let’s start with Martha because I absolutely was psyched to see her, especially since the character lobotomy the writers gave her appears to be MIA. She’s back to her usual sarcastic, tough love self, pointedly accusing Juliette that she’s not trying hard enough to recover her memories. It’s a little cruel, but it’s better than, say, Knox covering for Shirley while she cries.

As for Jules’ journey so far, I’m hesitant to pass too much judgement since we’re only in episode two, but I will confess that it feels like the show is spinning its wheels a little. Perhaps it’s because I (personally) find it less interesting to know more than characters in media, so seeing Juliette be gaslit into taking pills and wandering around not recognizing folks isn’t super compelling to me.

With that said, it’s only been two hours and - as we mentioned last episode - the show has basically done a soft reset, so I’m willing to be patient. Especially if this turns into something more. (Do I wish that Juliette was just pretending in order to plan some kind of coup instead? Absolutely yes)

While I’m not sure there’s as much mystery in the Before Times storyline, I am intrigued by Dr. Victor’s agenda. What does he stand to gain from lying and keeping high value patients in the dark? There’s definitely an opportunity for Silo to break into paranoid political conspiracy thriller territory with this storyline, particularly now that reporter Helen (Jessica Henwick) is back in the mix.

Sidebar: I love how easily she disarmed Daniel in order to acquire the information she needed, then high tailed it to Heidi Stensen Clinic.

I also like that Helen apparently doesn’t mean Charlotte any harm: she immediately comes clean to the amnesiac woman that she’s being lied to and that she, Helen, is a journalist. Even more importantly, we see that Helen and Charlotte already had a relationship that began with Charlotte seeking her out.

But back to our Silo and the threat/timeline laid out by the Algorithm. No surprise that Jules is only being kept alive as long as she boosts morale among the Silo’s citizens and that she’ll be snuffed out as soon as that wanes (there’s a good visual here involving criss-crossing lines). Add to this the fact that Camille needs to keep the Mayor in the dark until the barrels of memory forgetting juice get dumped into the water supply. I guess that’s what happened in those six resets the Algorithm mentioned that happened in the past!

Back to you Terry: what did you think of Juliette’s clandestine meeting with the rebels, headed up by Patrick Kennedy (Rick Gomez), red headed hacker Danny (Will Merrick), and Sandy (Chipo Chung), Jules’ former Sheriff assistant? Are you surprised that Orla Kent, our Shadow to Supply, is simply missing? Where has Lukas Kyle been for 92 days? And were you surprised that the mystery rebel who got her wrist whacked in the premiere is revealed to be Paul Billings’ wife, Kat (Caitlin Zoz)?

TERRY

It’s funny you bring up Kat and her hurt wrist because before that reveal, I immediately assumed it was Orla and that was how they were going to shoehorn her more specifically into the narrative. So when it was revealed that not only was Kat involved in the newer rebellion but that Paul knows she’s involved and is working to keep it secret, I was both surprised and not surprised. I shouldn’t have been surprised because it feels inevitable for Kat, based on last season. “This feels right,” was what I wrote in my notes.

Side note: when she whistled to alert the rebels that the police were onto her, I completely didn’t recognize her. I guess that’s what happens after long breaks and a previous season I wasn’t completely sold on.

What your final paragraph did highlight for me, though, was the fantastic way Silo handles its characters on a macro level. Patrick Kennedy could have been a MacGuffin in a lesser series. He initially seemed like a character that was introduced in order to get the relics into the narrative and after getting placed in Judicial jail, he could have easily vanished; never to be seen again. Yet here he is, in season three, more involved than ever. Even when the writers make character decisions that seem completely out of character for them, Silo does a fantastic job of consistently giving even its smallest characters big moments.

The same goes for Lukas, who was whisked away to a mining colony where, again, he could have exited stage left. Instead he not only came back four episodes into Season 2, but he is the reason we know that the Algorithm exists at all. We left him quite despondent at the end of Season 2, though, as he kept telling everyone who asked, “it does not matter.” If anything, every time we leave him, it’s in a worse place than before. I have no idea where he could be, though. Did he go deeper into the silo or discover more historical exposition? Will he appear four episodes into this season to drop some twists?

Who knows, but it feels good to be intrigued with Silo again. Hopefully we’ll learn more when we go back to Queer.Horror.Movies for episode 3, “A Dark Web.”