Apple TV+’s latest dystopian venture, Silo, departs for the time being with the Season 1 Finale (Episode 10), leaving us with so many unanswered questions. As Jules is captured by Bernard and his henchmen, it is time for the tough decision of going outside, as suggested by the episode titled “Outside.”
The last episode raises questions about the Judicial’s intentions in monitoring the people of Silo, why they discourage residents from questioning the authorities, and why those who oppose them are banished through the act of “cleaning.” The episode also leaves us questioning whether the outside world is truly dangerous and if those who went out to clean are really dead.
In this article, I have tried to answer as many questions as possible that may have come to your mind as the seasons comes to an end. Please note that the article contains spoilers, so please proceed with caution.
Silo (Season 1 Finale), Episode 10 Recap:
“Outside”
The finale episode picks up right where we saw Jules watching the video on the hard drive along with Patrick and Danny. Jules asks Danny to somehow cast the video to all the personal computers on every level. Danny suggests that they use the signal boosters, which are on every 30th level, and connect the hard drive to them. Realizing that Bernard is clever and would trace them to their location, the three of them escape in the nick of time as the raiders arrive.
The trio gets into the garbage chute and reaches a level that has the signal boosters. They plug the drive into the boosters, and before the people in the surveillance room can trace their exact locations, Patrick destroys one of the cameras on the floor as they proceed with linking the screens. The video from the drive plays on all the screens in the surveillance room, surprising everyone. However, Bernard quickly instructs everyone, including Sims, to close their eyes before he proceeds to shut it down.
Bernard then realizes that Jules is using the trash chute to move around and instructs his people to haul her out. They gather things from recycling and start throwing them down the chute. While Jules manages to dodge a few, when they throw in a big unit, she lets go and falls to the recycling floor.
Next, we see an injured Jules in Martha’s workshop, where Knox had already informed the authorities about Jules’ whereabouts. With little to no time left, Jules asks everyone to leave as she proceeds to reveal something to Martha. Soon, Bernard and Sims arrive at Martha’s place and confiscate the hard drive as Bernard destroys it. Then Bernard instructs Jules to cooperate and not reveal to everyone that she did not choose to go outside. In return, he promises Jules to tell her about George’s death.
Martha then takes her self-made heat tape, barely beats her agoraphobia, and takes it to an old colleague in supply, probably handing it over to her. Meanwhile, Bernard stops Jules on the surveillance room floor (The janitor’s room), uncuffs her, and takes her in.
They proceeded to show her George Wilkins’ file in their system, which clearly showed that while on the stairs, George decided to take his life instead of getting arrested. This revelation gave Jules some kind of closure because she had always assumed that someone had killed him. Next, we see the members of the Judicial taking Jules’ measurements to make the suit as she goes out to clean. Jules’ father, Pete Nichols, pays a visit and gives his regards before she leaves. Meanwhile, Bernard banishes Lucas to the mines for ten years.
Back in the cell, Shirley also brings food for Jules, but the food is just a camouflage for Martha’s message, which says, “You wanted the truth. The truth is, I love you. Have no fear. They’re good in supply.”
On the other hand, Billings is summoned by Sims, who now knows about his Syndrome, but he chooses not to fire him because he will now serve as the sheriff when Jules goes out. Bernard comes to visit Jules, and the two of them discuss why Bernard is doing what he is doing. To make his case, Bernard says that every human life in the Silo has value, and he is just trying to keep the balance. He tells her that she was not supposed to be born in the first place and was just a mistake that affected everything. He tells her that her intrusiveness after becoming the sheriff has disrupted the peace of the people in the Silo, and her going out would reset it.
Jules is not pleased with his analogy and tells him that the death of so many people just to keep the agendas of the founders in place is such a fucked-up thing to do. Finally, Jules directly asks Bernard why he is being such a coward and not letting people know that the display is a lie and that there’s a huge metal door beyond the down below, which people are completely unaware of. Realizing that there’s no end to this discussion, Bernard just tells her that the founding fathers left them with many mysteries that they have to endure. Before he leaves, Jules tells him that she won’t clean, unlike all the others.
Silo (Season 1 Finale) Episode 10 Ending, Explained:
What was Jules’s last request?
Bernard then hands her the sheriff’s badge that Holston had given her, as she had requested it as her last wish. He then calls in the deputy to facilitate Jules’ going-out ceremony. We briefly catch a glimpse of Bernard looking at the broken hard drive as the question arises: Has Jules’ rebellion piqued his curiosity as well?
Meanwhile, people gather in the cafeteria to witness the big event. We see the judicial authorities preparing her suit and packing her in. Martha Walker, after years of staying inside her workshop, reaches the cafeteria to witness the entire event with the largest crowd yet. Bernard reads the cardinal law of the pact that we had heard a couple of times in the initial episodes. Jules listens to the statement, and when asked about her last words, she says, “I am not afraid.”
Is the world outside really as beautiful as the video suggested?
Jules then walks out the door and sees the beauty of the outside world, just like Holston and Allison did. However, we all remember seeing them die as they climb the hill near the tree. Consequently, Jules does something different upon realizing the weight of the sentence, “The display is a lie.” Something comes to her mind, and she goes near the camera that is directly connected to the cafeteria display. She takes the cleaning wool and drops it in front of everyone so that everyone sees that she did not choose to clean.
By doing so, she obviously doesn’t provide Bernard and the others with the chance to manipulate the events that follow.
The next thing she does differently is reach the tree where most of them die. She trips and falls but soon realizes that whatever she is seeing is basically computer-generated imagery.
To trick it, she puts the badge right where she is supposed to.
Bernard realizes that Jules knows something that most of the people who went out didn’t. This makes him furious, and he rushes away. The season finale of Silo ends with Jules standing upright and looking at the heat tape that is wrapped around her wrist. It is possible that everyone else who went outside became unconscious near the tree because the heat tapes they brought from the supply unit weren’t as good as the ones Jules is currently wearing. Martha had taken the tapes that she made to the supply and asked her friend there to replace the ones that the Judicials wanted to use. By doing so, Jules was able to avoid falling prey to the sudden unconsciousness that affected the others.
What does the number 18 keychain do?
Bernard rushes to somewhere in the Judicials and inserts the 18-number keychain, unlocking something. Upon doing so, the beautiful scenery that Jules was looking at suddenly changes into a bleak dystopian wasteland.
A big circular tracking shot shows us that there are multiple stations, like the Silo entrance, as the cliffhanger ending leaves us with more questions than answers.
I will attempt to speculate on some of them here, but please note that these are mere speculations and should be taken as such.
Are there more Silos besides the one we saw in the first season?
Yes! Based on what we saw at the end of Season 1, it’s possible that there are multiple structures like the Silo, each operating with different political agendas and rules. The expansive scope of the ending suggests that we have only been introduced to a portion of the puzzle, and the next season will likely explore the lives of people living in these other structures.
Is it really unsafe to be outside?
From the looks of it, we realize that the world outside is barren and doesn’t hold anything concrete for humans to survive. It is possible that the world has ended, and as a result, a fraction of the population decided to establish the human race in underground structures.
I believe that the greater conflict here wouldn’t be about whether the world is habitable but rather about how the different structures we see at the end operate and interact with each other.
Is everyone who went out to clean dead?
If I may make another wild assumption here, it is possible that everyone who went out to clean, including Holston and Alison, is still alive. Since the glitch in the line display suggests that the bodies we see on the steps near the tree are not real, the display may be using their unconsciousness after the heat tape fails and replacing it with a fake scene of them dying.
I think that both of them might have wandered away from the Silo or, perhaps, they were captured by the Judicials and taken to one of the other structures that possibly have stricter rules and regulations.
What does the number 18 signify?
While initially, I felt that the number 18 was a marker for the hard drive, the ending makes it clearer that the number 18 is significant to the structure in which the season takes place.
It is possible that the neighboring structures we see also have specified numbers, and each one of them is identified by it. #18 is the number of the Silo in which Jules has been living so far, and since she has gone out, the possibility of her exploring the other Silos is highly probable.
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