Since season one, Silo has had a powerhouse actor lurking mostly in the deep background of the story, popping up for a scene or two in a few episodes but never getting showcased the way someone of her talent and stature deserves. That finally changes this week as Tanya Moodie’s shadowy Judge Meadows moves to the center of the action, dragged into the fray by Bernard, who is desperate for her help.
“Order†works as a companion episode to last week’s “The Engineer.†In the season two premiere, we found out what happened to Juliette after she left the silo and escaped its crater. This week, we find out how the silo’s residents reacted to her walking over the hill. In short: People are freaking out and questioning everything.
That’s not great for Bernard, who knows (for reasons yet unexplained) that if Juliette survived long enough to make it to the silo next door, she’d have found the hundreds of corpses littering the ground out there after a rebellion that killed nearly everyone. It’s the outcome he fears most for his own silo and why he’s so persnickety about keeping everyone in line. Yet, when he checks the protocols for advice on what to do on the rare occasion that someone who goes outside doesn’t clean, the book — The Order — says, “Prepare for war.â€
Enter Judge Meadows, who has the kind of air of gravitas and authority that Bernard lacks. Both Bernard and Meadows know that the only way Juliette survived long enough to get over the hill is because of the good-quality tape, and they know it’s only a matter of time before other people in the silo make that same connection. So Bernard decides to deliver a speech, backed by Meadows, where he declares that Juliette is a hero because she agreed (sort of true) to test out “a new kind of tape developed by our brilliant suit technicians … The first step forward in our lifetime!†(Not so true.)
Tim Robbins gives his usual aptly smarmy performance as Bernard, both in public and in his private scenes with Meadows. But it’s Moodie who’s most magnetic. Her Meadows remains somewhat mysterious throughout this episode, but her personality and pain come more to the fore.
We see Meadows dumping out her alcohol, suggesting that she’d been going through life in a kind of a boozy haze before Juliette’s escape. And we discover that she has some very choice relics in her chambers, including copies of Beowulf and The Wizard Of Oz. She and Bernard clearly know more about the world that came before the silos — and the world as it is right now — than anyone else around, and that knowledge has affected them in very different ways. For Bernard, it’s provided a path to power. And for Meadows? The weight of all her secrets is crushing her.
One of my favorite Silo themes is the idea that there are two sets of rules governing this place. One is the formal set of regulations known as the Pact, and the other is the decades of accumulated, off-the-books knowledge about how to get around the Pact. Meadows is the public face of the Pact, but even she knows that human nature can’t be controlled by rules alone. You have to let people at least think they have some agency.
That’s why she’s both surprised and somewhat impressed by how Bernard deftly incorporates a rebel like Juliette into the silo’s master plan without minimizing Meadows’s symbolic power (which the people still need to feel). Bernard even hires a couple of hecklers to create the illusion that everyone in the silo has a voice — and that they’ve ultimately chosen to maintain order.
“Order†is a little slight plot-wise, and whenever this show leans into characters issuing dictates, it can come off as pretty stiff. (As talented as Robbins is an actor, it’d be hard for anyone to completely sell a speech that contains a phrase like “brilliant suit technicians.â€)
However, the episode does offer a lot to think about, starting with its heavily loaded title. “Order†refers in part to the silo’s discipline, structure, and holy writ — something the dogged rule-follower chief deputy Billings (Chinaza Uche) grumbles about when he hears Bernard wants to toss out a key part of the Pact and make law enforcement an arm of the judicial branch. But there are also two moments in this episode where people pointedly ask, “Is that an order?†after they’re told to do something. The distinction matters. An order eliminates personal choice. It gives the person on the other end of the order a little wiggle room to believe they’re acting under protest.
One of those orders is delivered by Walker, who is on edge after Juliette’s escape, knowing that no matter what Bernard says, most people in the Down Deep know Juliette’s tape wasn’t “new†— and that Walker helped her get access to it. When the rabble first start gathering and talking about a revolution, she orders them to get back to work before something catastrophic happens. And later, when “JL†graffiti (for “Juliette Livesâ€) starts popping up around the silo, Walker tracks down a secret meeting of rebels and hisses, “None of you are cut out for this kind of thing.â€
Walker understands that her sly methods of subverting power only work up to a point, given that the people in charge have the weapons and will to crush any open subversion. Walker asks the rebels what their aims are. When they say, “We demand answers,†she says, “You won’t get answers.†When they say, “Then we fight,†she says, “They’re ready for that.â€
But they make one more pitch to Walker that she finds harder to refute: “Maybe some of the deputies and raiders will decide they want the truth, too.â€
Which brings us back to Judge Meadows, one of the people in the silo who does have answers but may be ready for more. Echoing her favorite book, she asks Bernard to get her some of that good tape so she can make like the Wizard of Oz and fly away. Meadows wants to go outside; is she up for an adventure or just tired of living a life of bossiness and lies? Either way, it’ll be something to watch with Moodie in the mix.
The Down Deep
• There’s a minor subplot this week involving Knox (Shane McRae), who is still dealing with the repercussions of ratting out Juliette, a big no-no in the cliquish Down Deep. He tries to explain his choice as a practical matter: to keep the law from intruding into the lives of all the people in the lower levels, who often skirt the Pact in hundreds of tiny ways. But privately, he also makes sure to warn an old friend at the foundry not to make weapons if any rebellious types ask. (Then he makes a second request off-screen. Mystery!)
• It’s not a great week for Robert Sims (Common), who finally outright asks to be Bernard’s shadow and is told that he’s “too valuable†in his current position as the Judicial Department’s much-feared, much-hated muscle. But here’s something to keep an eye on: Bernard’s rejection of Sims leads Sims to start questioning just what Meadows and Bernard were up to together in IT before she became a judge.
• When Judge Meadows declared that every household would get five credits to celebrate the “new tape†breakthrough, it got me thinking about how I’d love to see more about the economy and culture of the silo across all its various levels. We’ve mostly just gotten glimpses of the upscale neighborhoods, with their nice restaurants, and the Down Deep, with its street vendors. I want to know more! How do they brew beer? What do they do to entertain themselves after work? I know it’s dorky to say so, but sometimes with Silo, I want less action and more hanging out.