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Editor's note: The below recap contains spoilers for Silo Season 2 Episode 5.
The halfway point in Silo Season 2's journey has arrived, and after last week's intense cliffhanger, writer Jenny DeArmitt-Stran and director Amber Templemore's "Descent" is less action-packed than we might have anticipated. However, that doesn't mean either Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) or her loved ones are in any less dire straits. As Juliette wards off a fresh set of problems, Shirley (Remmie Milner), Knox (Shane McRae), Martha (Harriet Walter), and Carla (Clare Perkins) are on the run — and they know they can't avoid their angry pursuers forever. Short on options, Carla uses her connections with the Porters to gain a temporary hiding spot. She also has her eyes on their illegally-obtained descender rig, a powered winch-and-cable system.
Just when it feels like they've secured a much-needed win, Knox spots a group of raiders zeroing in on their current location — the Porters turned in our Down Deep quartet in exchange for the considerable bounty on their heads. Carla, concerned that her health conditions place the others in unnecessary jeopardy, insists that everyone go their separate ways. Knox and Shirley flee, as does Martha, despite her intentions to stay by her ex-wife's side. Mechanical needs Martha more than ever, Carla advises, and in the fight against Judicial, Martha has the benefit of anonymity on her side — unlike Carla, whose capture is inevitable. Knowing they might never see each other again, Martha seizes Carla in a remorse-filled kiss.
Sims Gets a New Job in 'Silo' Season 2 Episode 5
In the safety of their quarters, Robert Sims (Common) and Camille (Alexandria Riley) wonder if it's possible to retroactively conceal Robert's involvement in the impeachment campaign against the late Judge Meadows (Tanya Moodie). Their quarters, however, aren't that safe after all. Following a worried exclamation from their son, the Sims discover Bernard Holland (Tim Robbins) making coffee in their kitchen. During the tense conversation that follows, Holland tries to gauge the extent of Camille's role in the impeachment; whether he sees through her obfuscation isn't clear, but it doesn't feel promising. Once the artificial pleasantries are dispensed with, Holland fires Sims from his post as head of Judicial Security and destroys any hope Robert had of becoming the Mayor's successor. But Robert is too valuable to entirely get rid of, and Meadows' death left a vacancy — so, just like that, we have Judge Sims.
Down in the sheriff's station, Paul Billings (Chinaza Uche) and deputy Hank (Billy Postlethwaite) both feel torn between their personal and professional lives. For Hank, it's the tension between believing in Knox, Shirley, Martha, and Carla's innocence despite Judicial labeling them murderers and fugitives. Billings responds to Hank's honesty with his own vulnerability; he reveals his Syndrome diagnosis, a disease forbidden by the same laws Billings vows to uphold. Together, the duo suss out Patrick Kennedy's (Rick Gomez) location; he's sitting in a dark, dreary tunnel, bleeding from the bullet he sustained from tossing the firebomb in Episode 3. Kennedy isn't interested in helping Billings' quest for answers — until Paul hands him the poster of the Blue Ridge Mountains that Billings found in Juliette's apartment. Kennedy promises the truth in exchange for a doctor.
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Speaking of doctors — Pete Nichols (Iain Glen) and Kathleen Billings (Caitlin Zoz) exchange introductions after they clock the other tending to wounded citizens outside Judicial HQ. It's a brief conversation, since two raiders zip Pete over to Holland's office. The Mayor gives Pete his daughter's sheriff's badge and other personal affects; under normal circumstances, Holland explains, they would go back into circulation, but having them out in the open might encourage Mechanical's rebellious sentiments. Pete takes Juliette's things, but makes it crystal clear he's doing so because he's a grieving father, not because he fears the consequences if he disobeyed. After losing his entire family to the Silo's machinations and pretending to remove dozens of birth control implants over the years, he has nothing left to lose. Holland glares after Pete with such wild-eyed ferocity, his face almost twitches.
The Rebellion Lives To Fight Another Day in 'Silo' Season 2 Episode 5
Image via Apple TV+ Meanwhile, an incensed group of civilians halts Shirley and Knox's sprint down the stairs. A rough scuffle quickly breaks out, but Camille's timely intervention ends the altercation just as fast. She pretends to arrest Knox and Shirley, citing her authority as an ex-raider, before stashing them inside a Janitorial closet where they can lie low for a few hours. She also tips them off about the barricade on level 130, but refuses to explain why she's suddenly helping the rebellion. Said rebellion's leaders rest for a few hours, then pull a fast one on the new head of security, Rick Amundsen (Christian Ochoa Lavernia) — they retrace their steps back up the stairs and steal the descender rig from the Porters. Shirley and Knox secure one side of the rig's cable to the stair railing, tie themselves to the other end, and leap straight down the main chute while holding hands. The cable is just long enough to drop them past the barricade and into friendly territory. Thanks to some Down-Deepers hauling them back over the railing, they emerge relatively unscathed — prompting Holland, who's watching everything from inside his camera room, to drop the best delivery of "F***!" that I've heard in a while.
That said, not every power play Holland makes in this episode blows up in his face. Bernard retrieves a perplexed Lukas Kyle (Avi Nash) from the mines and tasks him with fixing the hard drive Juliette discovered last season. True to Holland's last words with Meadows before her death, he had indeed smashed the drive — but now that he knows it contains a coded note from Salvador Quinn, a controversial figure from the last rebellion, he's in a pickle. If Kyle can put his pattern-recognizing brain to good use, then he might just prove himself valuable enough to earn his five-year sentence a permanent reprieve.
Juliette Makes a Discovery in 'Silo' Season 2 Episode 5
After Juliette and Solo's (Steve Zahn) reconciliation last week, history is repeating itself: their agendas are too different, and their tentative alliance too unstable as a result. By Solo's calculations, he has 10 months before the water from the flooded generator reaches the IT level and compromises whatever he's protecting inside the vault. He wants Juliette to fix the Silo's broken pump, citing her engineering expertise. Juliette vehemently disagrees — saving the 10,000 vulnerable lives in her Silo is more time-sensitive than his vault. Their dispute doesn't preclude Solo from racing to grab Juliette some food when she doubles over from a nasty pain in her side.
Nor does Juliette's discomfort keep her from shuffling through closed storage drawers in a nearby room. She finds a personnel directory as well as a note about a stolen helmet — the very thing she needs to finish assembling her new environmental suit. Looking for this helmet means exploring the apartment of Trina Samuels, where Juliette makes an unpleasant discovery: a framed photo of Tina and her boyfriend, Solo, who bears no resemblance to the man Juliette knows. When "Solo" returns with food, she confronts him about his lies. He erupts into a screaming session so intense ("I am the real IT shadow!"), Juliette shies away from him before booking it down the hallway. A different room produces the helmet, and not a moment too soon — sweating and groaning, her arm wound turning black from an infection, Juliette falls unconscious on the floor.
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Silo
Juliette makes a disturbing find in Silo Season 2 Episode 5.
Pros
- Season 2 continues to balance character and plot without compromising the series' pacing.
- The cracks in Bernard's facade keep showing, and Mechanical's triumphs feel intelligent and earned.
- The Solo revelation follows up on his inconsistent statements and increases the stakes for Juliette.
In a dystopian future, men and women reside in a vast underground silo governed by strict regulations, believed to shield them from the hazardous world above. The series delves into the complex social order within the silo and the mysteries surrounding their subterranean existence.
Release Date May 5, 2023
Creator
Seasons 2
Studio
Story By Hugh Howey
Showrunner Graham Yost
New episodes of Silo Season 2 premiere weekly on Fridays and are available to stream on Apple TV+.
English (US) ·