BARRICADES is my least favorite episode of SILO S2 thus far, and yet it is still more captivating than a lot of television. As I’ve written before, season 1 was a slow burn, and this episode feels like that. It’s a bit of an information dump episode, with conversation taking the lead over action. The fallout from the shocking conclusion to E4 still reverberates throughout the silo as citizens from IT and mechanical continue to come to blows.Â
With another cast, this week’s episode would have been a complete bore. Fortunately for us viewers, we get to spend a lot of time with Iain Glen (Dr. Nichols), Tim Robbins (Bernard), and the mechanical engineering folks who want to continue to fight for a better life within the silo. Harriett Walter as Martha is an MVP of supporting television roles the last few years, showing up in TED LASSO, TALKING EVE, as well as playing Juliette’s mother figure here in SILO. Every scene with her is better because of her. Sometimes I get frustrated the longer SILO spends away from Juliette’s storyline, but having Martha onscreen so much makes up for it.Â
The struggle between IT and mechanical evokes familiar emotions of post-apocalyptic class warfare that we’ve seen in THE HUNGER GAMES, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, and especially the great film/good series SNOWPIERCER. And, of course, all of these stories are taken from real-life class struggles. As the richest continue to become richer, everyone else falls to the wayside. When dropped into a limited space like a silo, strong emotions and revolution can seemingly kill everyone instead of making these better. Â
Even with all the good mentioned above, BARRICADES feels more like a filler episode than anything this season. While the information shared is important, it could have been reduced and laced throughout other storylines. I also realize doing this would have cut back significantly on the screen time of so much of the supporting cast; the characters putting in the work for a better future in one place while Juliette and Solo carry it out in another.Â
New episodes of SILO stream on Fridays on Apple TV+. Â