S01.E10: Outside

[wembley]

Wait. So why did Jules steal the shitty tape way back when if she knew it was shitty?

[jacehan]

On 6/30/2023 at 2:49 PM, Catfi9ht said:

Now I want to read the book(s). Book readers, which one(s) does the show cover so far? I don't want to be spoiled for the tv show so I don't want to read too far ahead. 

 

Season 1 doesn’t even cover all of the first book. I don’t remember when exactly Juliet’s cleaning happens - probably around 75%.

20 hours ago, wembley said:

Wait. So why did Jules steal the shitty tape way back when if she knew it was shitty?

Stealing that tape is how they found out it was shitty.

 

 My thinking for why they clean is pity. They see the green lands think they’ll be living great, and do it for those poor saps still in the Silo.

[enchantingmonkey]

On 7/2/2023 at 12:11 PM, iMonrey said:

That was my issue as well. Plus - everyone in the Silo has watched someone go outside and clean. Even fairly recently. They already know cleaning the lens doesn't change the landscape.

For me, this was a weak spot in the writing. It was obviously meant to throw us off into thinking the barren wasteland was a lie and the pretty landscape was the truth just so we'd be shocked at the ending. The author's explanation for the pretty landscape video just doesn't wash with me. The only reason for it is to throw us, the audience, off.

Alison cleaned to indicate to Holston that the image of the barren wasteland on the screen was a lie, not because she thought wiping off the camera would reveal the lush scenery outside.  Holston cleaning could maybe fall under "audience deception" but the Show did explain that he had been grieving his wife for 3 years, so I didn't feel like he was of such a pristine state of mind that his cleaning could be explained rationally.  Alison's death was even more tragic after Juliette went out and realized the wasteland is the truth, because Alison really did die for no good reason at all.  I thought Alison and Holston's stories were an interesting look at how conspiracy theory and grief can lead to irrational behaviors and disastrous results more than I felt like it was merely a story-telling device.

But then, Hugh Howey's explanation for projecting the pretty scenery in their visors sounds so silly that maybe I'm imagining there's more depth to this story than he intended.   Hugh Howey's interview by Pete Poppers (in the video linked previously) was so lacking in insight into the human condition that I'm a little surprised I enjoyed the Show as much as I did.  

[CloudySky]

On 7/5/2023 at 8:19 AM, wembley said:

It's not rational. Some human beings just want control, want to dominate others, and come up with justifications after the fact. But it's about their feelings and desires. 

I think this extreme repression only started after the rebellion. Like in our world, there's poor people doing the shitty jobs and there's people living the good life up top. Sooner or later, those people down low rebel as we know happened. To prevent that from happening again, the pact was created. And like in our world, the people in charge bend those rules how they see fit "for the greater good" and to keep their comfy lives comfy. I actually think they may really believe that those rules keep order as the mayor sees the silo as a pressure cooker that could be set off by the slightest shift. By keeping people ignorant, he thinks he can maintain order.

[paramitch]

Yeah, I found this underwhelming and disappointing, like all the rest since episode 5.

I don't think it's the worst thing ever. It's okay. I just find it painfully obvious, earnest, and clumsily written. The actors' varying abilities to play American accents also kept taking me out of it, and the final revelations just made the Silo's leaders seem really stupid and villainous for very little reason.

This review by Dylan Roth for The Observer really echoed my feelings for it perfectly, so I'll just quote them (boldfacing is mine for emphasis):

• "Silo’s most troublesome storytelling hurdle is built into its premise: The audience begins the show with more information than most of its characters, which means that we spend almost the entire show two steps ahead of the mystery they’re trying to solve."
• "Most of the smaller mysteries or character conflicts peppered throughout the season are relatively slight, which makes the pace of the season-long mystery plot feel interminably slow."
• "The season’s best performances come from Rashida Jones and David Oyelowo, who portray a couple whose relationship is tested when one of them begins to question the nature of their world. Unfortunately, these two stars are rotated out early on, leaving a capable but unremarkable Rebecca Ferguson in the lead. The remaining cast, even Oscar-winner Tim Robbins, is merely adequate, failing to elevate the sometimes clunky or contrived material they’re given."
• "Most criminally, however, in this thriller, no one’s actions are ever surprising. If someone seems untrustworthy, they are; if they’re introduced as noble, they’ll stay that way. Any viewer familiar with sci-fi dystopia will see every twist and betrayal coming from a mile away."
• "These ten episodes might have been better spent exploring the different facets of life in this closed society, sparking real conversations about class, hierarchy, information, education, or any of the other dozen topics Silo barely touches on a surface level."

I still can't believe the entire "mystery" was that the world actually was a postapocalyptic hellscape but they decided to cruelly taunt those who chose to leave with a fake vision of a green world so they would, um, clean the outer windows/camera views? (REALLY?!) And that they would have survived but they had bad tape on their suits?

Most of all, why do all this? Why the silly murders, the doublespeak, the obvious signifiers of "We are hiding a better truth?" Why go through all this lie-within-a-lie -- using up tons of manpower and subterfuge, instead of solidifying the truth and offering other motivations -- "Someday the world will be habitable again. Meanwhile, we're all in this together." 

The "murder mystery" angle of the show feels kind of like a fizzled failure. The first Sheriff and wife died because the stupid hard drive wasn't clearer that there really WAS no mystery (well, due to that and to poor-quality suites and tape). Then Juliette's boyfriend killed himself, and Simms murdered poor Mayor and Deputy in a paranoid power grab. And why didn't someone send Juliette the video of her boyfriend's plummet anonymously ASAP when she started insisting it was murder? She would have backed off ASAP.

On the positive side:

• Rashida Jones, David Oyelowo, Will Patton, and Geraldine James were fantastic. Rebecca Ferguson's accent work was shaky but she did make Juliette a believably strong, fierce person. If not too bright when it came to solving mysteries or keeping a low profile.
• The production design was beautiful, and made me wish we'd seen more of the silo as a world-space.
• The music by Atli Örvarsson was gorgeous, moody, and evocative.
• I thought the first three or four episodes were terrific, and especially loved the tension of episode 3, "Machines." (Although given the lifespan of the generator rotors, their importance, and the engineers' knowledge of the situation, I still don't understand why more wasn't done to prepare a spare rotor years earlier.)

Anyway, thanks for letting me rant. I don't think I'll be back for Silo season 2, but you never know.

Edited July 10, 2023 by paramitch

[Zaffy]

8 hours ago, paramitch said:

capable but unremarkable Rebecca Ferguson

No offence I hope, but I stopped reading there. She is the whole show. 
 

[paramitch]

22 minutes ago, Zaffy said:

No offence I hope, but I stopped reading there. She is the whole show. 
 

Of course not. To each their own. :)

Like I said, I thought she gave a solid performance, aside from the constant accent slips, which did break immersion for me when they occurred.

[Rickster]

I would agree there are a lot of dramatic flaws in the show, but for me, the whole concept of the the Silo - what it is, how does function, how does society operate, why are they in there in the first place- was enough to keep me interested.

[BooBear]

On 7/6/2023 at 8:45 PM, enchantingmonkey said:

I thought Alison and Holston's stories were an interesting look at how conspiracy theory and grief can lead to irrational behaviors and disastrous results more than I felt like it was merely a story-telling device.

I actually liked that because it seems like usually in history truth never comes out the first time. It takes many people giving their lives to - step by step - get the truth out and usually the final person gets the credit.  But no one ever remembers, or in some cases, knows about the people who made it happen. 

I did like this show. I do think maybe by accident... it is commenting on the current world. I do think there are conspiracy theories that do, more often than not, turn out to be true. When we question something and we don't understand why people turn a certain way to get into power, perhaps there is a good reason we just don't understand. 

The acting was great... except for, Tim Robbins and Common, which is disappointing given their roles. 

I enjoyed Julliet making errors but thought it was kind of laughable that she goes from mechanical to sheriff so easily. 

My nitpick is that, after the first person died by diving over the silo stairs I would imagine that they would put up some sort of fence to stop it. 

[Straycat80]

I didn’t get the ending. Why did everyone else who went out to clean died? But Juliette didn’t. Saw a beautiful world, but then changed to barren wasteland. What? Guess I’ll have to read the books. 

[ofmd]

The beautiful world was a fake image on the display in her helmet, probably to make those who go out clean. The world is really a wasteland, toxins killed the others because their suits were deliberately faulty. (Bad tape.)

Thanks to her connections to supply, they made sure Juliette's suit got the good tape, so she survived (for now).

[Zaffy]

Is the wasteland's air outside that killed the cleaners or whatever they are spraying them before they go outside?
In any case the cleaners before Jules did not have a chance.

[tired and hungry]

6 hours ago, Zaffy said:

Is the wasteland's air outside that killed the cleaners or whatever they are spraying them before they go outside?
In any case the cleaners before Jules did not have a chance.

The air outside is toxic hence why it was a dead wasteland. 

As mentioned by @ofmd , the tape is what was preventing the toxic air from getting into their suits. But since Jules got the good tape, she wasn't affected by the air and also why the others who previously went out to clean collapsed since they had the faulty tape.

[Zaffy]

23 hours ago, tired and hungry said:

The air outside is toxic hence why it was a dead wasteland. 

As mentioned by @ofmd , the tape is what was preventing the toxic air from getting into their suits. But since Jules got the good tape, she wasn't affected by the air and also why the others who previously went out to clean collapsed since they had the faulty tape.

Not sure about that, cause I guess in the next episode, Jules will have to remove her helmet (whatever oxygen the suit has is very limited). And in order for Jules to live. the outside world must be survivable. Which means that they either spray them with something before they go out, or they have contaminated the area just outside the Silo...
(or maybe Jules does not live so everything I say is stupid!)

[astrohip]

On 8/4/2023 at 11:07 AM, Zaffy said:

Not sure about that, cause I guess in the next episode, Jules will have to remove her helmet (whatever oxygen the suit has is very limited).

We don't know that at all. We have NO IDEA what will happen in the next episode. Maybe she makes it to another Silo, maybe the air in the suits last longer than you think, maybe... something none of us have thought of.

But the show made it clear the air is toxic, and the tape was the reason behind the deaths.

[Zaffy]

On 8/6/2023 at 4:24 PM, astrohip said:

But the show made it clear the air is toxic, and the tape was the reason behind the deaths.

The show made clear the cleaners died from something toxic. Not from where the toxic came from. I remind you, they sprayed them with something before they go out
Also, if I recall well, Bernarnd said something like "do not worry it will be over soon" when Jules tripped and fell, but when he realized she would continue he run to the servers. If he was sure that Jules would die anyway, he wouldn't seem so alarmed.
Which is why I believe the air might not be as toxic. 

[maddie965]

I was disappointed  with a lot of the answers we got. A question I haven't seen answered yet, not even here. If Walker knew people were dying outside because of bad tape, why hasn't she done anything to prevent those deaths? Why did she let them all die, and only helped Jules? iDGI

Edited August 12, 2023 by maddie965

[Zaffy]

23 hours ago, maddie965 said:

I was disappointed  with a lot of the answers we got. A question I haven't seen answered yet, not even here. If Walker knew people were dying outside because of bad tape, why hasn't she done anything to prevent those deaths? Why did she let them all die, and only helped Jules? iDGI

I think she hasn't realized it before. After all, it wasn't long ago since Jules stole the tape so they haven't thought about it.

[Black Knight]

I don't think the air is toxic either. They must be pumping poison gas into the chamber where the cleaner waits for a minute. There's really no reason to be blowing anything into that chamber at that time otherwise. I'd understand if it was happening AFTER the cleaner had left, to decontaminate the chamber of anything that came in from the corridor that leads to the outside, but before?

I keep thinking of the Georgia book. My guess is that the issue with the book is that at least one of the pages contains a "fun fact" that references a year that is after the silo came into existence. That's why Paul could take one page and burn the rest of the book, which I assume he did because it is much easier to hide one page than an entire book.

I'm thinking the Founders were some kind of doomsday prepper cult that sent their people down into these silos assuming everything would go completely to shit aboveground shortly thereafter. That didn't happen, eventually there was a rebellion - probably among the first generation of children born into the silo, hence the emphasis now on controlling who reproduces in an attempt to ensure meek and compliant new generations - and when that was put down, they shifted from "something bad is going to happen aboveground" to "something bad already happened aboveground that made it too toxic for people to be outside."

The landscape immediately around the silos looks to be more due to what happens when you dig huge construction projects in the ground and don't bother to clean up the rocky rubble that is generated. The Founders wouldn't bother since they were going to just go into the silos. And from the distance, it was impossible to tell if the city was functioning or completely deserted. There obviously have to be some problems with the outside world; the one that comes immediately to mind is that air travel has ended, because otherwise the camera would have picked up airplanes and helicopters from time to time. We don't know why it's always grey - maybe a geoengineering project to combat high heat and drought issues (which could be what killed the trees).

I just binged this over the course of a week and am looking forward to S2 and some more answers!

[Joimiaroxeu]

Walker cared for Juliette so much she was compelled to overcome her agoraphobia after decades of not leaving her home. Amazing.

Wonder if Juliette will try to approach one of the other silos, and if so, whether they'll let her in? There's probably not a protocol for dealing with outsiders, that is if the other silos operate the same way as the one we've seen.

As soon as I Iearned the far off city Juliette saw was Atlanta I figured the purpose of the silos is to protect people from turning into zombies. 😉

Edited September 11, 2023 by Joimiaroxeu

[Anela]

I figured there was something wrong with the suit, and the display they were talking about, was the one in the helmet.  There is no reason to decontaminate someone going out to a wasteland like that.  They would need it coming back in.  
 

they would want to weed out troublemakers. 

[Anela]

I also wondered if they were test subjects. The people going outside. But the faulty tape wouldn't make sense then. I do want to read the books now, but I can't afford to buy them. 

[Affogato]

4 hours ago, Anela said:

I also wondered if they were test subjects. The people going outside. But the faulty tape wouldn't make sense then. I do want to read the books now, but I can't afford to buy them. 

Not everyone has access, but the books are available on hoopla. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

4 hours ago, Anela said:

I also wondered if they were test subjects. The people going outside. But the faulty tape wouldn't make sense then. I do want to read the books now, but I can't afford to buy them. 

If you have a library card, check to see if your library has access to Hoopla. Hoopla provides ebooks, audiobooks, digital versions movies and TV shows, graphic novels and comics, and music. Hoopla has the whole Wool series of books and that's where I was able to read the ones the first season of Silo was based on.

Note: Silo's first season is based on the first three Wool books.

ETA: jinx!

Edited March 8 by Joimiaroxeu

[Anela]

Thanks. I have libby, but the wait is a few months. Hoopla blocked my card, when I had overdue books in 2020. 😔

My own library doesn't have the physical books. I was hoping they would be there. 

Edited March 9 by Anela

[Hanahope]

I too think Bernard had no idea about the big metal door until Juliette told him.  He knew there was a hard drive, but not what was on it.  If he did, he would have told the IT people to close their eyes before the green landscape video played.  
 

there are at least 18 Silos, for hard drive 18, info on the Silo and Bernard’s key fob.  The hard drive must have gone missing since the rebellion.  So the silos were always intended to keep people in and punish them by cleaning.  
 

maybe during the rebellion when this hard drive was lost, so was the info about connecting silos.  But there is no indication any other silo tried to connect to this one, so either other silos failed or they were intended to be separate.

it did seem like a smaller space for the silos outside rather than inside considering the space needed for crops and animals 

[Paloma]

On 6/30/2023 at 11:45 AM, ofmd said:

I figured that the nice, lovely landscape was just an illusion/ image. Maybe just for the helmet display in order to get everyone to clean.

That makes sense, but why was it so important to get everyone to clean? If what everyone already saw through the cafeteria window was what the world outside really looked like, what difference would it make to scrub the window with some wool? Is agreeing to clean (even if you have previously said you won't) just way for the authorities to show their power? Or is it some kind of religious thing? (The thing the mayor recites when sending a person out kind of sounds religious.)

[Paloma]

On 7/1/2023 at 8:40 AM, Rickster said:

About the only thing I can figure is that the idea of a green landscape gives people hope for the future that someday they, or their children, will be able to return to the outside world when it’s safe. To constantly gaze at the bleak barren landscape might be terribly depressing and lead people to give up hope.

But the bleak barren landscape is all that the people in the silo see. The only ones who see the green landscape are the ones who are sent out to clean (and die), so they can't tell anyone. Even if they clean in the hope that people inside will see the green landscape, that won't happen because the authorities won't allow it. So I really don't get the point of projecting the fake green landscape into the visors of the people sent out to clean.

[Paloma]

On 7/5/2023 at 11:25 PM, jacehan said:

Season 1 doesn’t even cover all of the first book. I don’t remember when exactly Juliet’s cleaning happens - probably around 75%.

In my paperback copy of Wool, her cleaning happens at page 200--not even halfway through. The book is over 500 pages. I read it so long ago that I don't remember what happened after she went out, but I may reread it now while waiting for Season 2.

[Paloma]

On 3/8/2024 at 8:56 AM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Silo's first season is based on the first three Wool books.

No, it's based on only the first half (really less than the first half) of the first book. The first book is Wool, the second book is Shift, and the third book is Dust. (I don't think these titles give anything away, but in any case I only read the first one.)

[Joimiaroxeu]

2 hours ago, Paloma said:

No, it's based on only the first half (really less than the first half) of the first book. The first book is Wool, the second book is Shift, and the third book is Dust. (I don't think these titles give anything away, but in any case I only read the first one.)

Again, I meant what I said. In Hoopla, Wool is separated into five parts, just as the author Hugh Howey wrote and delivered them. Part one is a short story and the other four are novellas. Both Hoopla and Goodreads treat them as individual works.

The first season of the TV series is based on the first three parts of Wool. I haven't read beyond them because I don't want to get ahead of the show.

[Paloma]

57 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

3 hours ago, Paloma said:

No, it's based on only the first half (really less than the first half) of the first book. The first book is Wool, the second book is Shift, and the third book is Dust. (I don't think these titles give anything away, but in any case I only read the first one.)

Again, I meant what I said. In Hoopla, Wool is separated into five parts, just as the author Hugh Howey wrote and delivered them. Part one is a short story and the other four are novellas. Both Hoopla and Goodreads treat them as individual works.

The first season of the TV series is based on the first three parts of Wool. I haven't read beyond them because I don't want to get ahead of the show.

It's just a difference due to the different formats the book is available in. I got Wool in the first paperback version published by Simon & Schuster in 2013, and that version has Parts 1-5, which apparently correspond to the short story and novellas you saw in Hoopla. But in my paperback they are not labeled a short story and novellas--they are just each called a "Part." Maybe the labeling and/or formatting changed when it came to Hoopla and Goodreads, or in later print versions.

[Joimiaroxeu]

20 hours ago, Paloma said:

Maybe the labeling and/or formatting changed when it came to Hoopla and Goodreads, or in later print versions.

The five-part formatting was the way the author originally released them in 2011. It wasn't until 2012 that the parts were consolidated and released as one novel. I think the producers of the TV series confused the issue by having the first season only cover part of the Wool works. But I guess they were limited by funding, time, and not knowing whether they'd get a second season. Hopefully they'll be more on track now.

[Affogato]

On 8/1/2024 at 3:59 PM, Paloma said:

But the bleak barren landscape is all that the people in the silo see. The only ones who see the green landscape are the ones who are sent out to clean (and die), so they can't tell anyone. Even if they clean in the hope that people inside will see the green landscape, that won't happen because the authorities won't allow it. So I really don't get the point of projecting the fake green landscape into the visors of the people sent out to clean.

It is so they clean the window. They would think the dirt on the window is why people can’t see the healed landscape. 

Edited September 9 by Affogato
Typo

[ofmd]

I'll have to rewatch before season 2, I've forgotten so much!

[astrohip]

I'll probably rewatch anyway. I rarely do a rewatch (like you can count them on one hand), but this show was so good that I'm actually looking forward to a rewatch. I'll start a couple weeks before Silo II comes out.

Do we know when that is?

[Rickster]

10 hours ago, astrohip said:

I'll probably rewatch anyway. I rarely do a rewatch (like you can count them on one hand), but this show was so good that I'm actually looking forward to a rewatch. I'll start a couple weeks before Silo II comes out.

Do we know when that is?

Various internet sources say November 15.