Mechanical and Juliette need to carry out their own missions in the Silo season 2 finale. Let’s take a look at how the episode held up against the others.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for the Silo season 2 finale
All season long, we’ve seen Juliette focus on getting back to her own silo. However, the previous episode showed that she stuck around for Solo. She couldn’t just leave him behind, but now she needs everyone in that silo to work together. She needs to get back to her own.
In her own silo, chaos is everywhere. It’s time for a rebellion, but what happens when people in Mechanical was two different things? Will it all go to hell because some people think the outside is safe?
A push to get outside in the Silo season 2 finale
While Knox and Shirley have had their plan and their people, they seem to have forgotten about what “Juliette Lives” means to a lot of others. It means the world outside is safe, right? That’s what a lot of people believe.
Remember the video that Juliette shared just before she ended up outside. Bernard was able to shut the screens down, but people saw a world that looked beautiful. This is the problem with hiding so much of the past from people. It’s the problem with having a video of a beautiful world on the viewing screens. If others learned about it, they would want to go outside because they wouldn’t know the truth—they want to see for themselves.
That all came up in the previous episode, and it continues in the Silo season 2 finale. Led by Kennedy, there’s a group that threatens the safety of the entire silo by wanting to get outside. And I can’t blame them for a second for believing in this. If I was trapped in that silo and wasn’t in with Knox and the others, I’d probably follow Kennedy as well in the hope that there was something better outside.
Knox’s plan works but not quite as expected
I just knew that Knox had figured it all out, but for a while, the Silo season 2 finale had me going. If anyone should play poker, it’s Knox! He kept it all going while inside the cell—Shirley was good as well, as I do believe from the look she gave Walker, she knew what Knox knew as well.
I’m so glad that Walker had time to explain to Bernard everything. We needed that “aha moment” against him, and we needed to understand how Knox and Walker communicated. You see, I thought Knox had just forced Walker to lead them into a trap without her knowing, but instead, Walker was in on it all as well.
It’s all to do with hand signals. It’s funny how things can be forgotten, but they never quite disappear. Walker explains that people in Mechanical used signals with one hand to have a conversation, a lot like ASL. That’s what Walker and Knox were doing, and Bernard couldn’t see anything with Knox’s back to the camera, so he couldn’t even question what was going on.
The way Knox was speaking, I just knew that he understood why Walker did it all. But I knew that he wanted to give her a chance to do the right thing. That’s exactly what she did.
Only, the plan didn’t quite work out. There was never the plan to link the bomb to the generator. That would be suicide, and Knox and Shirley would never allow that. Instead, the plan was to bomb the stairs and make it almost impossible to get between the levels. Sure, eventually, they’ll be able to figure something out in the way that Juliette did in Silo 17, but they had time.
Only, there wasn’t a timer for the bomb. Seeing Juliette’s dad make the sacrifice and hand Juliette’s watch to Hank was heartbreaking. I didn’t see that coming until it had to happen. We needed a major death in the episode, but I honestly thought it was going to be Hank. To see this play out adds another layer of grief for Juliette when she gets back. He died knowing his daughter was alive, though, and that’s what matters.
Bernard gives it all up in the Silo season 2 finale
With the explosion on the stairs, everything changed in Bernard. He realized that he was facing a losing battle. Rather than go out at the hands of the people around him, he decided to go outside. He grabbed the suit that we know all Heads of IT in the silos have, and he made his way to the door. While people questioned him, nobody really stopped him. I think it shows that people never really cared for him in that silo.
He knows the world is toxic. He knows that he can’t survive for long. So, why would he go outside? Well, I think it shows the type of coward that he is. He doesn’t want to face the people with what he’s done, and he doesn’t want to face whatever punishment whoever that voice belongs to has in mind. He wants to go out on his own terms.
I do feel a little for Bernard, though. He acted in an attempt to save the silo, because he knows the bigger picture. However, it’s the problem with a communist regime. It leads to ruling with an iron fist, and that means people at the bottom are going to fight back. We see it all the time in shows like The Society and even The 100. People eventually fight against the top because they feel like they’re being lied to.
Things don’t go Bernard’s way, though. The ending is similar to the book, but I prefer this way for Bernard to go out because of how confident and calm he was up to the end. He would always have followers because he had a way with words.
Juliette finds her way back to Silo 18
Of course, we had to see the Silo season 2 finale end with Juliette getting back. It wasn’t all that easy, as there were still a lot of questions about Silo 17 and the rebellion that happened. Of course, the suit for the Head of IT was full of holes. So, in all of the rebellion, the moths still lived!
Solo went back to his old home, and we learned a little more about his parents. There was a chance to learn how he ended up inside the vault, and why he wasn’t allowed to leave.
Being so young and the fact that so much time had passed, it wasn’t surprising that Solo didn’t remember everything about the lead-up to the rebellion. It’s not even like as a teen or maybe even tween he would have been paying much attention to what his parents were talking about. However, certain words stood out.
What is The Safeguard? Well, with some thinking and remembering of the last day with his parents, he realized that it was to do with the pipes. Juliette has to be able to act fast if she wants to save her silo. It doesn’t matter about the rebellion and overthrowing Bernard while the pipes are still intact. That voice can control gas that will be pushed into the silo to kill everyone.
Solo’s mom had managed to take down the Safeguard in Silo 17, which is how some people survived. He knows where to go, and with all silos being built the same, there is hope for Juliette.
Her speech to the kids was excellent. She thought everything I did. Stop arguing and blaming each other and start blaming the real reason this situation happened: whoever created the silos. There is a much bigger issue at hand. And this speaks volumes to the world now. We like to argue against each other because we’re on a different political side, but issues are so much bigger than Right and Left. It’s time to stop arguing and look at the bigger issue.
With that, Juliette is able to leave. She doesn’t promise to make it back, but it’s clear that she would like to if she can. I think this is a clear sign that we’ll see Solo and the kids again, but first, Juliette needs to survive.
You see, she managed to get back into her silo, but only because Bernard was coming out. Bernard is initially going to shoot her, but it’s clear that he doesn’t want to do that. He just feels desperate. He wants to escape. He won’t get that chance, though. As Juliette sees the door to the silo closing, she rushes in and Bernard ends up back in that room trying to stop her.
He warns her that she’ll burn to death, but now they’re both trapped inside as the fire goes off. See, there is far more to the set-up than anyone is being left to believe.
Camille Sims is becoming the next Head of IT
It looks like Camille Sims may soon learn everything. As her husband took her and their son to the vault and got in, the voice made it clear that only Camille was welcome.
This came off the back of Lukas seemingly giving up on everything after learning about the tunnel at the bottom of the silos. The voice has power. That part’s clear. We have to wait until the third season to learn more about this.
This part is changing from the books. Camille and the Sims family were part of Hugh Howey’s story that I can remember, so it’ll be exciting to see how Camille reacts as she learns everything. Will she remain on the side of the rebellion, or will she become more like Bernard as she tries to create order?
I guess this could depend on Juliette getting back inside. Has she survived the flames?
The ending sets up Book 2’s storyline for Silo season 3
Something I wondered when seeing that the Wool trilogy was being adapted was wondering how the second book would be adapted. The second book doesn’t cover much of Silo 18 or Juliette’s story. It focuses on the past—the creation of the silos.
It’s clear from the end of the Silo season 2 finale that we’ll see some of that storyline. There are hints of an alternate history, where there didn’t seem to be a Watergate scandal, and where there was some sort of radioactive bomb that went off in New Orleans. People are being checked for signs of radioactivity as they walk into bars and restaurants.
If you wondered what that PEZ holder was all about, it comes up in the final moments. The senator handed it to the reporter at the end. So, how did it end up in Silo 18? That’s a big question for Silo season 3, along with how much of Shift we’ll get to see play out.
I enjoyed this ending, as it makes it clear there is more planned. We know there will be two more seasons, and the writers were clearly banking on at least one of them. We need answers about this silo situation, and they need to be shown to us and not told, so having it all play out will be interesting.
Silo is available to stream on Apple TV+.