‘Silo’ Recap: ‘Barricades’

12/20/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Remmie Milner and Shane McRae as Shirley and Knox in Episode 206 of ‘Silo’ – ‘Barricades’. (Photo Courtesy of Apple.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 206 of ‘Silo’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.

One particular concept that comes up often amongst humans when conflict is involved, is that of domination. Specifically, that one side of the argument absolutely must find a way to dominate the other side so that they are declared the victor and so they will have their way, and this is why we see wars drag on or political grandstanding in our world. Because we truly believe this is the only way forward and that one side always has to be right, and well… deep down we all know that’s nonsense and that nothing gets done when domination comes into play. But we continue along with it, for various reasons that just so happened to be outlined in the next episode of Silo on Apple TV+.

For ‘Barricades’ took the time to explore this scenario, mainly because… Bernard had enough of the unrest in the Silo, and decided the time had come to dominate over Mechanical to quell the rebellion and what he thought of to make that happen, was diabolical. For his plan was simple, barricade Mechanical with brute force and outright barricade and cease and all food shipments from going into the place. The logic being, that eventually, the lack of food would allow for those eager for rebellion, to forget about fighting the good fight and instead… submit and restore order to chaos. And all Bernard needed for this plan to work, was time, and patience and well… that did not work in the slightest.

In part, because Mechanical had allies on every single floor, so it just so happened that food went down the trash chutes, allowing for everyone to eat, and when Bernard found a way to cut that off, Knox and Shirley made a decision of their own. In that, they had to counterpunch and make a big move that informed the mayor they would not back down and push his forces to retreat and give them… domination in conflict, and thanks to infighting and nonsense on the upper levels, they were able to take steps to make that happen. Since they quickly managed to sneak up through the concrete with a saw and take over a level that had a farm. Giving them food, giving them strength and creating a stalemate, one that offered an important lesson to that central theme.

Steve Zahn and Rebecca Ferguson as Solo and Juliette Nichols in Episode 206 of ‘Silo’ – ‘Barricades’. (Photo Courtesy of Apple.)

In that, domination in conflict really doesn’t work right away. It just creates a back and forth, and that stalemate until one side caves in or a weakness is found. But in this situation… there might not be a weakness and there may not be a need for one side to step aside. After all, both sides now have food, shelter and time… and they live in a place that is so delicately balanced that any major move would cause harm to others and oddly… neither side wants that. They want power up top and knowledge deep down and that made for a fascinating episode for certain. One mired in echoes of our world and the political battles and class warfare modern citizens currently face.

But there was more to this story than just a good lesson about how humans work to dominate one another, there were some surprises to be found here. Such as what we learned through Mister Kyle’s journey in this story. Since he made some breakthroughs with the hard drive and in doing so, came to learn he was indeed being tested by Bernard to see what his skill set was and whether he was ready to become Bernard’s shadow, and he did enough here to make that happen and was sworn in as such. Not to mention, we did find out what happened to Juliette, and thankfully, she will make a full recovery. Because Solo found her and made use of some antibiotics to fix her right up from her injuries. But not without a caveat of course.

Since he did expect her to fix the pump to prevent his untimely demise, thus making them even and thus allowing her to leave. Which will take time and well, that’s not a problem anymore. For Silo 18 is indeed at a stalemate, and neither side is budging and that’s good. For it stops the fighting for now, stops the rioting and gives Juliette a chance to handle her mess before returning home and shocking the tiny world her friends all live in. All of which came forth via a fascinating story. One that really did engage us and of course, has us ready for more. Because we have to know what Lukas will learn as Bernard’s shadow and of course… what will become of Silo 18 and its problems when Juliette returns home with newfound knowledge of the truth about the rotten world, they all hide away from. Until next time.

Watch ‘Silo’

0 Comments