It's time for another episode of Silo on Apple TV+. Just every other episode of the second season so far, it's a banger. After Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) was knocked out of action by an infection during last week's episode, she largely sits this one out. Instead, the focus is all on Silo 18, which is creeping ever closer to open rebellion as Mayor Bernard Holland (Tim Robbins) tries to reassert order...by starving the people on the lower floors into submission. It doesn't take.
Read on for our review of "Barricades." There will be SPOILERS.
Silo Episode 206 review: "Barricades"
"Barricades" is a tighter episode of Silo than the past couple, largely due to its focus on a few specific plotlines. At the heart of it all is the titular barricade, which has been erected on floor 130 in order to starve the people below into submitting to Mayor Holland's will. We find this out in the very first scenes, where Knox (Shane McRae) and Shirley (Remmie Milner) discover that the barricade has cut them off from the closest farm on floor 122 — and that what little food they had below has been poisoned from within by a bad actor.
This is all according to Bernard's plan. I don't know how true his proclamation is that it only takes nine missed meals to throw a society into chaos, but it's all compelling enough that I'm not going to think about it too hard. The bottom line is the people in Mechanical are in trouble. Even when someone on the farming floor sneaks them food by dropping it down a trash shoot, Bernard is unphased; he predicted that would happen, and if anything it means the Mechanicals are going to be starved out sooner than expected.
The whole set up with the starvation plotline calls back to the fourth episode, "The Harmonium," when Knox and Shirley discovered a wall deep under the Silo that had the various stages of the previous rebellion etched on them — including a food shortage on the lower floors. I've really enjoyed how Silo has leaned into this idea that human nature is so predictable that it's essentially IT's greatest tool for keeping everyone in check. That just makes it all the more satisfying when the Mechanicals finally wrest things back into their own control during an exhilarating scene where they pull down the barricade and then chase the law enforcers up several flights of stairs, re-establishing a new barricade on 120, which means they now have possession of a farm.
That standoff on the staircase is a highlight of the season so far, featuring one of the most badass lines in the entire show when Knox tells the firearm-equipped enforcers: "You will kill 10 of us. But we will kill all of you." I got chills.
In the background of all of this, Sheriff Billings (Chinaza Uche) finally gets to the bottom of the murder of Judge Meadows (Tanya Moodie). After Billings' wife Kathleen (Caitlin Zoz) manages to convince Doctor Pete Nichols (Iain Glen) to go down to the lower floors and help pull a bullet out of the escaped criminal Patrick Kennedy (Rick Gomez), Billings learns that it was Sims (Common) who put him up to it. Then, Billings finds out that Head of Supply Carla McLain (Clare Perkins) has disappeared out of the legal system following her arrest in "Descent," in order to earn Martha Walker's (Harriet Walter) trust so that she'll give him the truth about Meadows' murder.
Finally, Billings confronts Knox and Shirley, the two accused of the crime (and interrupts a makeout session in the process — I'm a fan of the simmering romance between these two). This was a turning point episode for Billings and the Silo as a whole, as he ultimately decides not to turn in Knox and Shirley, and instead radios Bernard to confront him with the fact that he's pursuing an investigation into Meadows' death. This causes Bernard to cut radio communications throughout the entire Silo, which will surely cause more unrest in the coming weeks.
Uche is solid as Billings, but he doesn't always get the screen time to really shine. "Barricades" fixed that. I loved the scene where he radioed in to confront Bernard, which featured the other best line of the episode, when he tells Knox and Shirley: "I don't stand with the mayor, or the judge, or you. I stand with the law." Billings is a character who just wants to do what's right, and has been prevented from it time and again. And here, we finally start to see the extent of the effect that's had on him.
In his final scene of the episode, Billings finally settles down to have a meal with Kathleen and their baby, all of whom are now trapped on the lower levels. There, Kathleen points out that his shakes from the Syndrome are seemingly gone even though he's forgotten to take his medicine several days in a row. That calls back to an earlier scene where Judge Meadows told Billings she believed that the Syndrome was a natural response of the human body to being put in a situation it wasn't designed for: living underground full time. Essentially, it's an anxiety reaction. The fact that Billings' shakes go away when he finally feels like he's in alignment with his duty is powerful stuff.
There are a lot of powerful moments in this episode, which is a testament to how good the writing, performances, and production on Silo have been this season. Another highlight is the scene where Bernard breaks down over the corpse of Meadows, talking about how much he regretted killing her and how the peace of the Silo is slipping away under his watch. Bernard has made a lot of terrible decisions in this show, but you can't help but feel for him thanks to Tim Robbins' amazing performance.
This episode does feature one very interesting turn for Bernard. After he's met with disaster after disaster, he abruptly decides to name Lukas Kyle (Avi Nash) as his shadow, thanks to the fact that Lukas is slowly managing to decode the hidden messages on the hard drive containing Salvador Quinn's letters. I was as shocked by this turn of events as Lukas was, and it has me really excited to see what happens next. Unlike Meadows or Sims or Bernard, Lukas is a good person who does not seem to want to subjugate those around him into obedience. It's going to be interesting seeing what someone like him does in a position of power.
"Barricades" ends with the sole scene of the episode for Juliette and Solo (Steve Zahn) in Silo 17. We learn that Solo found Juliette after she passed out at the end of "Descent," which he credits to a bad infection in her arm. Fortunately, the antibiotics he has helped her survive. But Solo also reveals that he has hidden Juliette's environment suit and won't give it back until she fixes the broken water pump which is slowly flooding his Silo. Solo may have months before he'd be in danger, while Juliette's friends in Silo 18 have only days, but he doesn't care. Until Juliette helps him, she's trapped.
This was a chilling turn of events. Solo has been fairly sympathetic throughout the season, but between his unhinged outburst at Juliette last episode and his actions in this one, he's starting to feel more and more dangerous. Hopefully we see a lot more of these two next week, when Juliette will have to figure out how to get out of this situation in order to return home and help her friends before the looming rebellion causes a catastrophe.
Silo bullet points
- Shout out to the music that starts playing as the barricade removal plan goes into effect. I love that the percussion is made by metal pipes banging together, which sounds industrial and perfectly fits the setting.
- Sims didn't get a lot of screentime in this episode, but what little he had he spent doing just enough to keep the Mechanicals from taking over the upper floors and endangering his family, but not enough to actually stop them from stopping Bernard's plan.
- I also thought it was interesting to see Camille Sims (Alexandria Riley) back in action as an enforcer helping stop the Mechanicals from progressing higher than floor 120. Camille has felt like the master manipulator this season, pushing Sims to do the things she feels are best for their family. But here we see Sims do the same thing back to her. They have a fascinating dynamic.
- Sims also gets one scene with Lukas where he realizes that Bernard is starting to take him into his confidence. You can bet that Sims is going to lose it when he finds out that Lukas has gotten the coveted position as Bernard's new shadow instead of him.
- Martha Walker had some fun moments in this episode. I like that she pushed around Billings and Hank to try and get information about what happened to Carla, but still cooperates once they actually help her.
- Speaking of Billings, all it takes for him to get the Mechanicals on his side is just being a good, honest cop. The story of Silo is driven by the lies of authority figures being uncovered, as it's become ever clearer that the powers that be in the underground bunker are manipulating the populace for their own ends. So it's refreshing that Billings just wants to follow the law without an agenda, and that suddenly means that everyone decides he's okay. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of him in the coming weeks.
Verdict
"Barricades" is another exciting episode of Silo, complete with moving moments and some exciting action as the Mechanicals upend Mayor Holland's carefully laid plans to starve them into obedience. At this point, it feels like Silo season 2 is incapable of a bad episode. It's just getting better and better as the weeks go by, and now that we're firmly in the back half of the season, the path seems clear for it to deliver a solid climax. No wonder Apple already renewed it for seasons 3 and 4.
Episode grade: A
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