Silo season 2 review: "A commanding performance from Rebecca Ferguson makes it a dystopian future worth staying in"

The thing about setting a series in an underground bunker is that, eventually, the only way to go is up. The risk that comes with that, however, is choosing who goes there. 

That's where things start in Silo season 2, the latest chapter adapted from Hugh Howey's trilogy of books that picks up right after season 1. The remains of a revolution tease what's to come, ending at the feet of Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson), the mechanic-turned-sheriff who is still so rebellious she refuses to use both straps on her backpack. The driving force behind the initial season of the post-apocalyptic series that didn't have Walton Goggins looking like a swollen appendix or Pedro Pascal fighting killer mushrooms, Ferguson is (for the most part) out on her own this time, which is a gamble. 

Season 1 pushed forward thanks to the former Mission: Impossible star's incredible performance that proved while everyone had a job in the silo, her's really was the most important. What happens then when she heads over the hill and takes the star power with her, leaving every other character behind to fend for themselves and daringly consider following in Nichols' footsteps? Well, worry not, because to quote Harriet Walker's Martha Walker, they're good in supply. 

Shifting power dynamics

If season 1 was all about searching for the truth, season 2 is showing what happens when the power dynamic shifts after it's revealed, making space for all of your favorite supporting stars from last year to become even more fleshed out through some truly impressive work. 

While Ferguson's Nichols spends the first episode literally building bridges, Tim Robbins' head IT guy and mayor, Bernard Holland, is burning his after the fallout of last season's events. The man with all the answers refuses to deal with questions on every level, sending Robbins' cool customer into panic mode, and it's a decline to both relish in and be enraged by at times. Meanwhile, his right-hand man, Robert Sims, played by the magnetic Common, is losing his grip in contrast to Chinaza Uche's Paul Billings, who might be regaining his (syndrome or not) after picking up the badge left behind by his predecessor. 

But what of Silo's hero with a flair for fixing? Well, incredibly, in the first half of the show’s second season, Ferguson's curious and hopefully temporary outsider to the silo feels almost like a B-plot in the grand scheme of things. Trudging through the remains of another abandoned refuge shelter to learn what happened, thankfully, she's not alone. In her solo mission to learn what's outside, she meets Solo, played by Steve Zahn, who throws the show's entire tone off kilter in an unexpected way, simply by being a really nice guy. 

In a series where people's last wish is to just clean a window, and schemes are hatched to send some that didn't ask, Zahn's arrival makes for a refreshing but undeniably jarring addition that might be hit and miss for viewers. Channeling his Bad Ape from War for the Planet of the Apes, only considerably hairier, Solo checks all the boxes of the crackpot recluse. 

His often timid but brilliantly timed nature while initially out of place, slowly brings some humor to this season, which for the most part has been dished out in snark by Rick Gomez’s government hating Patrick Kennedy. Solo, on the other hand, breaks the ice in-between Nichols' mission to get back to the home she left behind with an innocence and naivety that earns its place in this world – and what a world it is.

History repeats itself

For a place where taking a giant set of stairs is the only option, it's one of Apple TV+'s best worlds to get lost in. Wielding the same grit and grime that comes with the dystopian realms we've already seen in the likes of Snowpiercer and even Fallout, the biggest challenge of Silo is ensuring that the geography is sound. Rich and poor alike might be together in their confusion regarding Juliette's whereabouts, but the aesthetic of the levels the show lingers in is perfectly arranged. 

From the judge's office to Martha Walker's workshop in the 'Down Deep' that she's finally broken free from, there's life embedded in every dreary wall and every office desk that has an ornamental relic on it. It's a blueprint so well established for the silo we've already spent so long in, that when Nichols is wandering around in another with very little life in it, you might get a bead on where to go before she does. It's just frustrating how much time she spends there.

Gripping as it was, pacing was an undeniable issue with the first season of Silo with key characters needing to be struck off the kill list before Juliette could get on the case. It's a shame then, that even in this brand new but decrepit domain our hero comes across, history repeats itself once more. 

There seems to be even less urgency to get the former law of the land back to her home and report her findings. Sure, it might give ample breathing time for those she left behind to expand their characters (can you ever have too much Iain Glen being the wounded hero?), but not everyone has a story worth sticking with. 

Holland's struggle to stay in control while compelling to start, hits a lull during his attempt at moving pawns around in order to stay in power, or straight up knocking them off the board altogether. It's one of the show's weakest elements that trickles down the levels of the silo leading to other characters suffering because of it, when really getting Nichols back to mix things up is the game-changing moment we’re itching to see.

Rising to the occasion

Thankfully, while the cracks might be showing up top, the talent down below are rising to the occasion in place of their missing leader. Walter's weary engineer effortlessly amplifies every scene she's in while breaking hearts in the show's quieter moments and having a bigger stake in the uprising than anticipated. 

On the other side of the fence, however, Common is continuing to make himself a known presence as Sims that isn't just formidable but fighting with himself and the rebellion that might be starting to build at home. The boogeyman of the silo's steely glare isn't as solid as it once was and it makes him one of the most compelling characters in the entire show. The rapper-turned-actor is once again proving that music icons can have their moments and he has a handful to enjoy. 

Factoring these characters into the various layers of the silo, perhaps then the only way isn't up. Instead, it's dodging and weaving expectations and showing just how well this place can run with organized chaos as Nichols learns more about the world outside her computer-generated window. Credit once again has to go to the show's creator Graham Yost, who handles everything with care as if the end of the world depended on it. 

Clearly biding time for other doors that have yet to be opened and chapters of the silo history that have so much more to tell, you'll be itching to see what’s coming. Do as The Pact says – don’t go outside. Stay indoors and get this back on your watchlist immediately.  

Silo season 2 begins on Apple TV+ on November 15, with a new episode streaming weekly. For more, check out our guide to the best Apple TV shows you need to add to your watchlist.