Season three of Silo is like a crescendo. It started a little small, but then, slowly and surely, each episode has ramped up the stakes. And, with this week’s ninth and penultimate installment, things got taken to a whole other level entirely.
We’ve finally seen one of the biggest moments in the history of the show, and it left us desperate for answers. Let’s talk about it.
The title of episode nine, “Farewell,” at first feels mostly about Bernard (Tim Robbins). We watch as Bernard admits he’s guilty of several crimes against the silo and is sent out by Camille (Alexandria Riley) to clean. The huge spectacle demands the eyes of the entire silo, which gives our heroes time to blow their way to the failsafe pipe. But, just as that’s happening, we cut to this episode’s much, much more crucial storyline—that of Daniel (Ashley Zukerman) and Helen (Jessica Henwick).
When last we saw the couple we’ve been following all season in the secondary timeline, they had turned down a chance to help create the silos to live their own lives. Helen is now pregnant and, close to her due date, they’re going on one last trip. First they’ll see Daniel’s sister Charlotte (Jessica Brown Findlay), and then they’re attending the massive opening event marking the reveal of the silos. It’s described like getting a Golden Ticket to the chocolate factory, and eventually, we realize that’s almost an understatement.
There’s an odd, undeniable tension to all of this. Dinner with Charlotte and her now-wife, Anna (Morven Christie), whom we remember as Senator Thurman’s (Laura Innes) daughter and aide. The promise of breakfast. And, eventually, their arrival at the field.
Without getting into every single detail, because if you watch it back, there are a lot, Daniel and Helen are each assigned a different silo to tour. Daniel will go to silo one, and Helen will go to silo 18. Right there, red flags should be going off. Silo 18 is the one the main show happens in. This explains how Helen’s Pez dispenser ends up there. And silo one is the mysterious, main silo we know almost nothing about. What is happening here? Why are they being separated?
As Peter Gabriel (randomly) rehearses for the event, the tours begin. A group of carefully hand-selected people all go into their silos to just check them out. Meanwhile, Daniel senses something is wrong. He texts Charlotte, who has been MIA, one of their inside jokes. Her reply doesn’t get it. Something is wrong. It’s not her texting him. Daniel then desperately tries to contact Helen, which he finally does, though they’re pretty far apart from each other. Then, it happens.
A nuclear explosion goes off. Daniel is grabbed and rushed back to silo one. The same, presumably, happens to Helen and her unborn child. And just when we are at our most shocked, the episode ends.
Now, there’s still one episode left, but a few things are heavily implied here. First is that everyone who was building the silos (the trillionaire, the senator, the doctor, etc.) was aware this explosion was happening. The timing of this event and the bomb are too coincidental. Maybe they even set it off. There was also an urgency not just to separate Helen and Daniel, but to get them into their silos. Who set this bomb off? How total was the destruction? Is this the explosion society is still feeling the aftereffects of centuries later? Did this happen everywhere in the world?
Also, if everyone involved in creating the silos knew this was coming, why were they prepping all these speeches and stuff? Who were they fooling with all this preparation that never comes to fruition?
In true Silo fashion, a massive reveal just brings up more and more questions. Something that, we’re sure, will continue into next week’s finale (which Apple revealed is called “Troy”) and the fourth and final season sometime, hopefully, next year.
Basically, though, while “Farewell” can refer to Bernard’s death, it also seemingly refers to humanity as a whole. The normal way of life is gone. Farewell to humans, the present day, a normal way of life. Now it’s just about a mysterious, underground future.
Were you shocked by this latest episode of Silo? What do you think is going on? Let us know below. And we’ll be back next week with a breakdown of the season finale.
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