Review: Silo, “The Engineer” | Season 2, Episode 1
An excellent premiere introduces a new world via one limited perspective
Welcome to Episodic Medium’s coverage of Apple TV+’s claustrophobic dystopia drama Silo, which returns for its second season. As always, this first review is free for all, but subsequent reviews will only be for paid subscribers. To learn more about what we’re covering in the coming months, see our recent schedule update.
There’s a certain feeling that comes with starting the second season of a mythology-rich puzzle box show like Silo. I first remember sensing it during the second-season premiere of Lost, particularly the famous opening set to “Make Your Own Kind of Music.” (I was in fifth grade at the time.1 Thank God my parents let me watch, or I might not be writing this today.) But it comes back from time to time: for example, returning to that cabin in the woods at the beginning of Yellowjackets season two after a brief flashforward to a third timeline we’ve never seen before. I’m sure I’ll feel it again when Severance returns this January.
It’s a feeling of wonder, of joy, of discovery. It’s the feeling of waiting so long with a cliffhanger, dying to know what happens next, and then after months—or a year or two years or sometimes many years—you’re actually watching the show again, and it feels so good. It’s watching a sci-fi show from the beginning, and then seeing it expand its premise by the end of that solid inaugural season, and then finally getting to see what exactly that expansion looks like.
Silo has never been quite on the same level as those previously mentioned shows for me, and I don’t totally expect it to start now. It’s too early to say whether season two will represent a significant step up from an enjoyable but flawed season one. But “The Engineer” does feel bigger and bolder than the average Silo episode, holding my attention for the whole time (almost). That’s impressive, considering this premiere doesn’t offer many answers for viewers curious about the dozens of Silos glimpsed last episode, or about the higher authority Bernard reports to, or about the history of this whole system. A rebellion is brewing in the Silo where we spent the entire first season, but there’s not a single present-day glimpse inside.
Yet the choice to limit the episode to Juliette’s perspective ends up being a smart one: we’re trapped with her, immersed in her headspace as she explores this strange new world and focuses above all on survival. As a protagonist, Juliette is one of this show’s biggest assets, just as she was in Hugh Howey’s original novel Wool; her engineer background sets her apart, and it’s fascinating to just watch her work. That continues in this aptly named episode, which is specifically about watching Juliette work—first making sure she’s sealed in the Silo without danger of losing oxygen or dying of radiation poisoning, then getting the lay of the land to make sure she really is alone here.
Some of the same issues do persist. Michael Dinner directs this episode well, but everything is still way too dark in the wrong places, even if this second Silo is supposed to be very low on power considering the flooded generator. It sometimes makes it difficult to feel the full gravity of a new discovery: this Silo seems to directly mirror the one Juliette knows, down to the layout of the cafeteria and staircase, which should be pretty mind-blowing. But the episode doesn’t spend much time lingering on the eerie similarities. The most effective moments are the ones where we know exactly what’s going on—for example, the zoom out to show a crater completely littered with bodies in full daylight, extending into the long dimming corridor at the center.
And then there’s the flashbacks. Look, I’ve never been a huge fan of the flashbacks on this show, so it should come as no surprise that these scenes are my least favorite parts of the episode. Most of them don’t convey much new information: yes, Juliette has always been a bit of a loner, especially after losing her mom, and she has always loved fixing things. And in an episode otherwise effective for its straightforward narrative and lack of dialogue, they do feel a little disruptive.
But they’re not as useless as some of the others, and there is some value in showing the birth of Juliette’s friendships with Walker and Shirley in Mechanical. In one instance—Shirley’s story about slowly, calmly escaping the pitch-dark hideout she woke up to—the anecdote provides some insight into Juliette’s own patience and ingenuity in problem-solving. And on a character level, it makes sense that Juliette would be homesick right now. On a very literal level, she’s more alone than she’s ever been.
There’s a lot of tension throughout “The Engineer,” especially when it comes to the survival element. It’s almost hard to watch Juliette bash her helmet until the glass breaks, risking taking her eye out in her desperate gasping for oxygen. The episode doesn’t ever dispense with much exposition about what exactly Juliette is doing while she’s at work, but I really respect that choice by writer Graham Yost. Her actions mostly speak for themselves, and Rebecca Ferguson’s expressive acting helps make it clear what she’s thinking throughout this adventure.
The primary source of suspense, of course, is the “am I alone?” question. The chopped rope is an early hint that there’s another human threat somewhere here, but is it just the one guy we glimpse at the end, or could other scavengers be hiding out? The episode feels like a case study: “what’s the worst that could happen to a Silo?” In the opening flashback, we see a resistance group headed by a sheriff—not far off from what we’ve seen with Juliette and her friends—break out and meet their early deaths. Is this what could happen to the other Silo? Could it become a shell of itself like the one Juliette’s exploring now? Is this what the founders were afraid of when they put these repressive systems in place, or is there more to the story?
It’s fun to think about these questions, and pretty thrilling to watch the answers start to come together. To some viewers, this episode will be frustratingly low on plot or closure, and I do think dropping the first two at once might’ve been better. But when I look at most of my gripes here, they pale compared to that excitement of poking around the new corners of this ever-expanding world. Watching a mysterious, seemingly amusing, possibly dangerous new character announce himself in the final scene, I found myself grinning; it really does feel like a Lost moment, and there’s no better compliment than that.
Stray observations
Everything with the makeshift bridge was pretty cool, and I really felt those dark depths beneath Juliette as she fell, even knowing there was water down there.
The nametag repeatedly banging on the fan was a nice detail; it does sound very human from far away.
Welcome back to Silo coverage. We had some great conversation in my season one rewatch over the summer, and I’m excited to pick that up here. For those who weren’t following, I have read the books, and so I will be doing some (light) book spoiler conversations following the strays. [Ed. We’ll try to remember to put an image between them so you can avoid more easily.]
Book spoiler observations
I did miss the soup decontamination from the book, which was such a visceral detail; you could really smell it throughout that ordeal.
Solo is introduced completely differently than in the book, where he seemed pretty harmless immediately (though the lead-up to Juliette’s discovery is equally tense). But I don’t mind this at all, and I can tell Steve Zahn will be perfect in this role.
Not much setup for Shift to report here, and with the deliberate pacing, I’m unsure we’ll get much from that book at all this season. As I said in one of my earlier reviews, the most likely bit I can see is the Solo backstory, which could easily take up a whole episode.
Myles here—I don’t believe in censoring my writers, but I nearly redacted Ben’s age. Just an outright attack on our core demos. The gall.
Listen, Myles, Gen-Z-cusp writers need representation at Episodic Medium too.
I don't want to venture into spoilers territory, but I interpreted the flashbacks as exploring, in part, what it might be like to be *really* alone - addressed in a couple of different ways. It's just that they came too early, maybe, to really mean anything respective to our new character.
Random Q. Was Juliette floundering in the water because temperature shock? Not knowing how to swim? The latter makes absolutely the most sense but I don't remember if she ever went into the water in S1.
Anyway, I liked it but then again, I really liked the sometimes very long segments of the books that was basically just Juliette *doing* things. The lore is incredible but so is just Juliette's determined competence. Some comparisons with The Martian to be drawn there.
I do wonder how non-book readers are keeping up with the details. My wife saw season one when it came out and she was trying to remember things. She had a bunch of questions about why things had happened and even I had to eventually be like "uhh I'd hate to ruin anything!" As if I even could fully explain everything lol.