Recap of Season 2 Episode 7 of ‘Silo’: Waterworld

In this episode of Silo, everyone sets off on a side quest. But don’t worry, this is actually a good thing! Any avid gamer will agree that the meandering and exploratory parts of an open-world game provide some of the most enjoyable moments. The true essence of video game bliss is when you realize you could head straight to the final boss, but instead, you find yourself immersed in solving puzzles, facing challenges, aiding villagers in finding their lost belongings, and various other engaging activities that make you reluctant to put the controller down.

We can’t say for sure if this was the specific directive for this week’s script penned by writer Katherine DiSavino, but as a concept, it fits seamlessly. Almost all of our main and supporting characters are embroiled in their own side quests in this episode. While it may seem like a pause in the main storyline — quite literally in Juliette’s situation — these side quests offer the show an opportunity to delve deeper into character development and narrative expansion.

One compelling narrative arc to explore is that of Lukas Kyle, a former convict turned co-conspirator. In the previous episode, Mayor Bernard Holland unexpectedly appointed Lukas as his right-hand man, setting the stage for the revelation in this episode. Lukas is introduced to The Legacy, a repository of pre-Silo wisdom that only a select few are granted access to in each generation. Bernard grants Lukas entry into this opulent, gilded library and entrusts him with a tablet that appears to contain a wealth of information from the Internet. Despite uncovering that the Silo was constructed 352 years ago, Bernard remains baffled about its purpose and the reason behind their subterranean existence.

But that’s not the task he puts before Lukas — rather, he wants him to use the Legacy’s library of cryptology info to crack the code of Silo founder Salvador Quinn. Lukas eventually puts together that the code refers to words on a certain page of a certain pre-Silo book…and Bernard suspects it’s his own copy of The Wizard of Oz. Seriously, this is like something out of Myst, especially because (as Lukas notes) it points to an even bigger threat to the Silo than the nascent rebellion in Mechanical.

Speaking of which, the Down Deepers have their own side quests to keep them busy. Knox and Shirley, who have not yet come to terms with whatever their feelings are for each other — they cutely spar over who kissed whom — build a gunpowder-fueled rocket to launch propaganda leaflets to the top of the Silo, papering every level with their message: What happened to Juliette? Who really killed Judge Meadows? And what is I.T. hiding? The Mechanicals then shut off the power…revealing that IT has an independent power source of its own, as the only part of the Silo still illuminated. The rebels remain one step ahead of old Bernard.

Sheriff Billings and Deputy Hank spend the episode hunting down the double agent who poisoned the Mechanicals’ food supply prior to their acquisition of their own farm last episode. They calm the mob that tracks the woman down before they can, coax out the truth — she was forced to do it out of fear for her mother’s life on a higher level — and give her over to Knox and Shirley for rehabilitative, not punitive, justice. It’s a new world in the Down Deep, baby.

But not for Walker. The eccentric technician is fixated on communicating with her captive ex-wife Carla McLain, who’s being held in “Judicial seclusion” and is unlikely to survive. Walker resorts to repairing and switching on her own surveillance camera for a second or two out of desperation before pulling the plug — but not before Bernard and his chief goon Amundsen look deeper into her relationship with Carla and realize they still have feelings for each other, feelings that can be exploited.

Even now, though, the pair are being undermined by Sims and his wife Camille, who pushes him to play hardball with Bernard. But that’s really a smokescreen: She just didn’t want the two of them talking, because then Bernard would reveal her role in Knox and Shirley’s escape. Sims is furious, as Bernard expected, but demands that from here on out, Camille keep him in the loop on all her schemes and vice versa, even if they feel it’s for their family’s greater good. 

As for Juliette, she has the most side-questy side quest of all. For her, this week’s action consists solely of dummying up a diving device so she can swim eight levels underwater and switch on an outflow pump, then swimming back to the surface again. Easier said than done, of course: Something goes wrong with Solo, who’s MIA by the time she gets back, and she has to frantically race to the surface to survive her severed air line. The bloody remnants of a fight are all that greet her. So that’s not good.

How effective this episode is for you will depend on two things. First, your tolerance for side quests. Is it high? Then you’re in luck. Second, your screen. Simply put, this episode was all but unwatchably murky and dark on my big screen — but clear and dreamily lit on my laptop. So depending on your setup, Juliette’s watery descent and ascent are either gripping and haunting or completely illegible. I don’t know whose fault that is, but I know it’s not yours or mine.

Either way, this episode is classic Silo: a proprietary blend of simple, physical labor to solve a problem and incremental advancement of the central mystery of the Silos themselves. That’s it, that’s all there is to it. It’s not mind-bending, it’s not going to inspire dissertations, and it’s all the better for it.

Sean T. Collins (@theseantcollins) writes about TV for Rolling Stone, Vulture, The New York Times, and anyplace that will have him, really. He and his family live on Long Island.