Each week Joe and Terry discuss the most recent episodes of Apple TV’s Silo, alternating between our respective sites.

Missed a review? 1.01-1.02 / 1.03 / 1.04 / 1.05 / 1.06

Spoilers follow for episode 3, “Machines”.

Episode 3 “Machines”: In her hunt for a new sheriff Mayor Jahns clashes with Bernard. Juliette strikes a deal to keep the generator running.

JOE

Well don’t I feel silly, Terry? Apparently one week and a new episode is all it takes to turn my opinions around because Silo’s third “Machines” made me walk back all of my doubts. This is easily the best episode of the series to date that offers us disaster, political intrigue, and even a little murder, to boot! It’s just an incredibly captivating, affecting, and tense hour of TV.

After two episodes of non-linear storytelling, Silo settles into a relatively straightforward story: Mayor Jahns (Geraldine James) and Deputy Marnes (Will Patton) make the long trek to the Below decks to offer Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) the role of Sheriff.

Not only do we get to watch their super adorable romance blossom over the course of the trip, we get a sense of the forces lining up against them: first, when they fail to stop at Judicial and meet with Judge Meadows, then when they’re threatened with a strawberry tart by Mr. Sims (Common), and, finally, by Allison’s old boss Bernard (Tim Robbins), who does *not* approve of Juliette as Holston’s successor.

If the whole episode were just this, it would be on par with the previous two (good world building, political machinations, and questions about the Silo’s hierarchy, but a little too familiar). But then “Machines” throws in a disaster element as the generator begins to fail, prompting Jules to negotiate a big demand before she accepts the Mayor’s offer: turn the generator off for eight hours, leave the Silo in the dark (with auxiliary power) for the first time EVER, and hope that Mechanical will have the time and skills to fix the problem before the population freaks out.

These kinds of pressure cooker episodes aren’t new, but writer Ingrid Escajed and returning director Morten Tyldum know just how and when to ratchet up the tension. It’s clear that something will go wrong - from the super tight timeline offered by Jules’ bestie (?) to the obvious anxiousness in Jules’ successor Cooper (Matt Gomez Hidaka) to the threats that Marnes will need guns if the lights don’t come back on - the audience is primed for a disaster.

What I loved about “Machines” is that it unfolds exactly the way we expect…and in ways we don’t. The scenes of Mechanical trying to fix the generator are exceptionally tense (the editing is chef’s kiss as Jules nearly drowns trying to keep the pressure out of the red line as Cooper waits for the repaired blade to be delivered)...but it all comes together in the end.

And then we get the death we were anticipating, though not for the person we anticipated. Well…maybe. As soon as Jahns talked about retirement and she kissed Marnes in the dark, Silo might as well have flashed RIP above her head.

So yeah the Mayor is dead and the power vacuum that was meant to be closed when Jules agreed to become Sheriff is renewed.

Over to you, Terry: did events play out as you expected? Do you think we’ll see Jules’ hubba-hubba boss Knox (Shane McRae) again? Were you happy to see Jules’ fear of water from the opening of the episode come back into play? And how much closer to rebellion are we now that the 10K residents saw that flash of the outside world in the cafeteria when the generator restarted?

TERRY

After last week’s brisk 48 minute episode, I did a double take when “Machines” was revealed to be 63 minutes…but boy did that time fly by, Joe. Before we dig in, I do have a complaint specific to Silo but to television in general right now. Screenwriters, listen up: give us character names! Just, like, throw in a “hey X” into the conversation or something to clue us in so that we’re not writing “the one woman” or “Jules’ bestie” in our descriptions.

We are three episodes in and not only do I not know the name of Juliette’s friend who takes care of her after she got wasted and vomited everywhere, but I have been confused as to what to call the Sheriff this entire time! I would have sworn I’ve heard him referred to as Becker, Teddy and, now, Holston. I didn’t even realize “Holston’s Pick” from episode 2 was in reference to him until “Machines.” It isn’t exactly making it easy on us.

Segue aside, you’re absolutely right that this is the best episode so far and suggests that Silo is moving in the right direction as a remix of dystopian futures that’s focused more on the minutiae. Did we need a 30 minute exercise in tension building? Before I saw this episode, I would have said probably not. But after seeing the way the episode unfolded and came together, “Machines” is what I want for the series going forward because it gave us a bit of everything.

You mentioned the way the generator disaster was edited and that was a note I made, too. It was a perfect blend of action, editing, acting and music that created a rising crescendo where, even though I knew Juliette wasn’t going to die, it still made me believe it. You asked if the events played out as I expected and, yes, the overarching resolution where “Juliette and her team of engineers save the day” was exactly what I expected.

But I’ll be honest, I thought Cooper was going to bite the big one. When hunky Knox yelled “Cooper, get that blade off, it’s gonna blow!” I expected him to basically give his life to save the day and prove he belonged as Juliette’s shadow. The entire team completely sold the possibility of death and the script kept ratcheting up the tension with complications that didn’t feel cheap.

What made this disaster work, too, is the way it also told us a lot about the Silo and what life is like there. I loved Jahns and Marnes’ slowburn descent into the depths of the silo and how it focused on how grueling it would be. The constant pauses for water allowed us to slowly see their relationship unfold outside of their professional relationship, but it also stressed the exhaustion of making that trip.

We’ve seen couriers with huge baskets/backpacks running up and down the stairs in each episode (and I’m expecting these are Chekovian and might end up giving us some info/tie into the story later) and the juxtaposition of the fit runners mixed with average people making the trek sold the immensity of the silo.

On the more exciting, plot-specific side, I had to rewatch the scene of the lights turning on a number of times, Joe, because I completely missed the very brief snapshot of life outside the silo. There’s a brief second where the image looks somewhat distorted and dark before shifting to the usual image that’s broadcasted in the cafeterias.

Am I to understand that the image that’s being shown to everyone is, in fact, created by someone and not what’s really outside? Is that the confirmation we’re getting from this brief snippet? If so, then it also adds a very nice plot-specific beat to the disaster that helps us understand how the world does (or doesn’t) work.

Going back to the beginning of the episode, I didn’t completely understand Juliette’s immediate fear as she was dangling over the water until her conversation with Martha (Harriet Walter) where she mentions “it was more water than I’ve ever seen!” It makes perfect sense, then, that she’d be wary of it. She’s not used to oceans or lakes or anything where water is more than something to drink. The way “Machines” contrasts these two moments, showing water as something dangerous, worked well and I’m wondering if Juliette’s brush with watery death will further push her into the bowels of the silo.

I want to know what’s down there, Joe!

So, back to you, Joe. We also get some side character beats in this episode. Did the nonchalant way Martha’s sexuality is dropped into conversation work for you? And what do you make of Mr. Sims’ threatening persona mixed with his “pet the dog” moment with his son? We’re pretty sure Bernard knows what’s really going on, yeah? And finally…can you imagine what it must smell like in the silo?

JOE

Oof - let us never consider the smell. I’m actually surprised that they’re so liberal with the food rationing and water, though I guess this is a self-sustaining system that was engineered to carry on by repurposing the waste, etc, of its 10K citizens.

As for Martha: Lol, Terry, this is how you know we’re big old homos, because, yes, my notes LITERALLY read “OMG Martha is a lesbian!” I know that we’re living in a day and age when we want more than a casual acknowledgement that queerness exists, but the reality is that the mere mention of a queer character still fills me with delight. Even in the dystopian hell hole of the silo, queer people exist (and thrive! Martha, you rock!)

As for Sims, I’m definitely intrigued by the dual sides of this character. He’s appeared so briefly and we know so little about Judicial (apart from the fact that they’re essentially the punitive/executioner branch of the silo) that the man is more than a mystery. Common’s casting suggests that the character will have a much larger role to play in future episodes, though, especially since both Judicial and IT have resisted Juliette’s promotion in favour of the unseen Mr. Billings.

Yes, I appreciated that we met his son and see this very humane moment from the character. It’s clear that the silo isn’t some simplistic nefarious totalitarian regime; when Jahns mentions community as she and Marnes make their way down, it’s clear that they mean it. The silo only works because of this established order - from the engineers in Mechanical all the way to the Mayor - everyone has a part to play. But they’re still human beings: with children, with secret affairs, with dreams of starting a family.

That’s important for Silo, the series, to keep bringing up: this closed system that seems awful to audiences is the only way of life these characters have ever known. So when someone threatens to upend that balance, to risk the safety of everyone to expose the truth…in the eyes of most of these characters, that’s not heroic. It risks the lives of everyone who lives here.

So even though we don’t know much about characters like Sims, or Bernard, we do understand what’s driving them. These aren’t evil people, per se (at least not as we know them currently). they’re just desperate folks who feel threatened.

What they do when their health and happiness is threatened, however, will define them. And now that Jahns is gone, we’re going to see more of what people are made of.

Terry, I’m curious: do you think Martha, Knox and the other Deep Down folks still have a large role to play? Who is going to give Jules the hardest time when she takes over as Sheriff? And how long will it take Jules to return to the depths of the silo to find out what’s under the water?

TERRY

I’m glad you mentioned that this is the only life these characters have known because it just clicked with me why I’m enjoying this show, even though it’s absolutely rife with dystopian tropes, Joe. And that’s because it feels authentic. The silo has been painstakingly created to feel like a real place that even the sometimes iffy CG/green screened locations don’t necessarily bother me.

It has a sense of place and an authenticity to it that makes the silo feel real and lived-in. And aside from the very obviously secretive-probably-bad Bernard, no one feels truly one-note right now. I joked about the “pet the dog” scene with Sims, but it didn’t feel too egregious because, as you said, we’re seeing a closed off society that seems genuinely concerned that their future could be over in an instant.

I’m not completely ruling out that Mayor Jahns is dead…I mean, she probably is, but until we get proof in the next episode, I’m still holding out hope because I grew to like her over the last three episodes. But if she is dead (and let’s face it, you’re right in suggesting that the end of the episode was a drawn-out “exit stage left” moment), the power vacuum left by her death and the sheriff’s ostracism/potential death will be immense.

I reinforce this because I do think Martha, Knox and the Below Deckers will have more parts to play. They are the only friends Juliette has in a world that’s going to be coming for her head, not to mention the increasingly perilous fear and paranoia that has already started to show up among the populace. At this point, I would not be surprised if lines are drawn in the sand and we begin to see the inklings of another “rebel” uprising.

I’m guessing we’re going to see Jules’ new role (if she’s even still allowed it, given her one supporter is now probably dead) will involve her butting heads with Judicial, Bernard and the very real problems that come with trying to lead a paranoid population. My biggest hope, Joe, is that we will see more of that watery driller graveyard and uncover more of the secrets hidden deeper underground.

We’ll find out when we go back to Queer.Horror.Movies next week!