‘Silo’ Recap: ‘Truth’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘Silo’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Over the course of the past few weeks, a fascinating pattern from a storytelling perspective, is making itself apparent in the new Apple TV+ series, Silo. In that, the series is eager to offer up fascinating balance with the stories it tells. For every single episode to date, takes the time to explore what humanity could and would lose by having what makes it enriching, removed from our daily lives, all while exploring the world of the Silo and the strange events and darkness that seems to be surrounding the last vestiges of humanity and that has made for some fascinating storytelling. The kind that prompts us to cherish what we have while captivating us, and the series won’t be deviating from that anytime soon… as evidenced by this week’s episode.
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For ‘Truth’ took the time to focus on Juliette’s first days as Sheriff of the Silo, and in doing so… allowed for us to explore her backstory and come to understand why she’s so big on cherishing life and saving lives and all of it relates to a tale as old as humanity itself. In that, she herself has suffered through great loss. For when she was young, she lost her brother and her mother and that left just her and dear old dad to function and move forward and that… dug into the exploration of what we would lose in a society under this kind of control. Because all that her father cared about, was getting stuff out of the house as quickly as possible for the good of the Silo, and he was also eager to make sure that what was left of this family unit, just moved on. Because that was the mantra in this place hidden within the Earth itself and Juliette struggled with that.

Because in essence… she was unable to grieve. She was just told to suck it up and get back to everyday life. Which is something that perhaps… humanity didn’t completely lose in this universe since we tend to view grief in that negative light in our modern world. But we must grieve and regardless of what anyone says, we must do it on our own time and our own terms and to be denied that… brings trouble. For it pushed a divide between father and daughter and motivated her to head down into the mechanical levels, wherein she buried her grief and never dealt with it, and instead used it to fuel a push to keep people safe and bring justice to the dead when no one would grieve for them. Which does indeed explain her motivations and offered up a stark understanding of how much humanity we would lose in a world where restrictions upon our spirit exist. 

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But of course, there was mention that the story in present day advanced as well and that too was quite fascinating and engaging. Because the new Sheriff was treated as a pariah in her own world when she arrived. For her assistant was downright rude and felt the need to lecture and sass over helping in the slightest. Plus, the executive branch, primarily led by Bernard, the now de facto mayor, also expressed his disdain over having her wear the shield. In fact, the resistance to her new title was so strong that it led to one powerfully terrifying moment in this story. Wherein we came to learn that Bernard has a dark side and a temper, as evidenced by his intimidation tactics regarding a transgression between Mechanical and IT back in the day. But shockingly, Juliette handled such problems with grace and went to work on solving the murder of a lover and of the former mayor.
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Which went… pretty badly. Simply because getting hold of George’s file was an impossible task. For it no longer existed, adding great suspicion to Juliette’s mind and soul, and… solving the mayor’s murder was also an impossible task. In part because of the lack of clues, but also because… Marnes was emotionally compromised because of her passing. To the point where he decided to forgo decorum and investigation procedure to handle interrogations and clues with drunken might and drunken fists. Which made no one willing to talk to the police and kept possible real suspects at bay. Making it clear that the situation in the Silo was precarious and delicate and that Juliette has her work cut out for her. But her investigations weren’t a total loss. Since Holston did leave her a gift in her new quarters. Specifically… George’s file.

If anything, this was just… an engaging episode through and through. One that sought to accomplish balance and succeeded in doing so. For we really did get the right mix of commentary/observations on what a controlled society loses all while the story advanced the plot and the chaos that is seemingly brewing within the barren walls of the Silo and of course… such matters engaged us all the way. Since we learned so much about Juliette and care about her even more, now that we know she is someone that is desperately trying to heal and of course… our curiosity about the Silo only grew here. Because clearly, something is very off about this place and there is a dark undercurrent beneath the pomp and circumstance, and it will be fascinating to learn what that is… as this incredible series continues along. Until next time.

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