Warning: spoilers for Silo Episode 205 - “Descent” - are in play. If you haven’t caught the latest chapter, you’ve been warned.
Well, readers, we’ve finally reached the halfway point of Silo’s second season run. There are still five episodes to carry us through the 2024 TV schedule and straight on into the 2025 calendar, and that's fantastic. However, this week’s developments have me quite worried when it comes to Steve Zahn’s mysterious character Solo. Even worse, those not-so-joyful feelings come from the fact that this instability could pose a threat to Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson).
Solo’s Breakdown, And What Triggered It
As it turns out, Solo isn’t the real name of the mysterious man in Silo 17. As we learned in “Descent,” this week’s episode of Silo, the mysterious bearded man that poor Juliette is currently in fear of is named Cole Myers. He also appears to be the I.T. shadow of this very location, as the former sheriff of Silo 18 learned through some keen sleuthing.
When confronted with the truth, “Solo” tells a cute little lie about how it was an accidental nickname. However, when further pressed for the truth, he flips.
The evidence that Juliette produces to prove he's hiding his true identity is a photo of the real Solo, along with a woman named Trina Samuels. That was enough to send Cole/Solo into a frenzy, where he screams that he’s both the I.T. shadow and Solo.
Where Silo Season 2 Currently Leaves Juliette, And Why I'm Worried
This sort of threat is bad enough on its own, especially when you consider that the ticking time bomb that is Silo 17 is going to be underwater at some point. But the end of “Descent” sees our hero both finding a blessing and a setback.
The good news is that Rebecca Ferguson’s amateur detective found that pristine suit helmet she was looking for. The bad news is, she has a pretty bad arm wound, and she’s now passed out from some unknown cause.
Picture it: Silo 17 - slowly filling with water, you just want to put together a protection suit to head back home to Silo 18. However, you’re now passed out with an illuminated flashlight, after trying to pull an Irish exit on the madman who was just screaming in your face.
That’s pretty much where Silo leaves Juliette, and for once it feels like there’s a greater threat than a dystopian paternalistic bureaucracy looming over her. So, yeah, I'm very worried...
Admittedly, things aren’t that much better in Silo 18 at this point, as Silo’s shocking fourth episode ending is still being felt by newly minted fugitives Knox (Shane McRae) and Shirley (Remmie Milner). Meanwhile, Sims (Common) has been named a judge by Bernard (Tim Robbins), in order to fill the vacancy of the late Judge Meadows. And to make this chaotic cocktail complete, Sheriff Billings (Chinaza Uche) is asking the right sorts of wrong questions, and Lukas Kyle (Avi Nash) has found some hidden tunnels that lead out of Silo 18.
This is the point where I thank creator/showrunner Graham Yost for nixing Silo’s potential alternating storyline strategy, as I don’t think I’d be able to sit through an entire episode without knowing how Juliette is going to get out of this mess involving Solo. Then again, there might not be a mess to be gotten out of.
We’ll see next Friday when Episode 206 - “Baracades” debuts for those with an Apple TV+ subscription! Until next time, good luck dealing with the suspense…and trying not to hum random Les Miserables show tunes to yourself after learning the next chapter’s title.
