In the review of the first episode, we talked about how Holston had made up his decision to leave the Silo, and Mayor Ruth Jahns was now powerless to stop him. Mayor Ruth accepted Holston’s apology for creating so much commotion before saying goodbye to her and Deputy Marnes. For the first time in his life, he exited the Silo while dressed in a spacesuit. Awaiting Holston’s promise to clean the lens that allowed the residents to view outside, the audience within the institution made wagers. Holston was taught to believe that what his wife had told him about the outside world was accurate when something strange occurred.
Holston observed birds soaring through a crystal-clear blue sky while the lush, emerald trees waved in the breeze. Holston cleared the lens as it suddenly occurred to him that the locals needed to see it with their own eyes. The Silo’s inhabitants, however, continued to perceive the same images: the outside world appeared drab and devoid of any life. Though it is likely that Holston’s space helmet screen was showing him a computer-generated image at this point, it is not yet clear who was seeing reality and who was being tricked. Moments after he stepped outside, he too perished in the toxic environment like his wife, Allison. Holston managed to crawl over to where his wife’s body was laying dead, hold her hands, and pass away next to her. After observing the sheriff up until that point, Juliette stormed out of the dining area, yelling again that the sheriff had lied to her. Without further ado, let’s examine the recap for Silo Episode 2.
Warning: Spoilers
What Did Juliette Tell Martha About Holston?
After what had transpired with George, Juliette was already frustrated. Her feelings were exacerbated by the sheriff’s passing, and she yearned to tell someone everything she knew. Juliette was quite close to Martha, an elderly woman who owned a repair business in the Silo’s lower levels and in whom Juliette had a great deal of faith. Martha recognized that something was cooking inside Juliette’s head the moment she entered her workspace in the second episode. She was asked to calm down and explain her problem by Martha. As she had informed one of the deputies that George Wilkins hadn’t committed suicide but had instead been murdered, Juliette told Martha that she had met Holston immediately following his passing. When Holston met Juliette, he requested information from her regarding George and inquired as to whether he had left any gifts for her prior to his passing. Holston was aware that Juliette and George had been dating for a while, but they had been keeping it a secret from everyone out of fear of the police and possibly because there was a rule prohibiting them from doing so without permission.
Juliette had received a gift from George along with a note, but she was hesitant to tell Sheriff Holston about it for fear that he would prosecute her for possessing a relic. Only then could Juliette tell Holston her secret, so she made him promise that he would watch and listen to everything with an open mind. Juliette handed him the gift that Geroge had left for her, and Holston nodded in agreement. There was also a note with that item, which Juliette had cut in two and kept from Holston for some reason that she will later tell in Silo Episode 2. George asked Juliette to recall where she had first seen that object in the first half of the note. There were many secret locations inside the Silo that were unknown to the general public. Holston followed Juliette down a tunnel that led to a large room with some sort of massive apparatus situated there. That such a place existed inside the Silo astounded Holston. As a law-abiding citizen, Holston had up until that point accepted what the authorities had informed him and had never questioned their motives. Then again, there were those with inquisitive minds who wished to learn more about their past and the origins of Silo, such as George and Allison.
To go to the basement, where George had put up a temporary set-up where he frequently came to stay with Juliette, Juliette and Holston down the steps. Juliette discovered a wire attached to a fabric bag at one end that was concealed beneath the concrete surface. When Holston noticed that the bag had the same drive that George had shown Allison in Silo Episode 1, he became uneasy. Inside that bag, they also discovered a document with writing on it. Upon closer inspection, Holston noted that it was written in his wife’s handwriting. Holston wanted to know whether Juliette or George were involved in his wife’s decision to leave the Silo, and Juliette understood that he wasn’t there to investigate the reason of George’s death. Holston left and informed Juliette that he would look into the situation, check the drive, and let her know what they should do next.
What Was George Wilkins Looking For?
After three years of his wife choosing to go outside to clean, we learn in Silo Episode 2 why Holston had a change of heart. It’s possible that when Sheriff Holston examined the drive, he saw the same film that Allison and George had seen in the pilot and appeared to be proof of the existence of life in the outside world. After that day, Juliette didn’t hear from Holston again until she understood he had made the decision to leave the Silo one day.
Before handing it to Holston, Juliette tore the bottom half of the note, which she then displayed to Martha. George had stated in a letter that he had discovered what he was looking for. Juliette recalled George telling her that he had reason to think there was a door in the basement, but he had no idea what was on the other side of it, one day while they were hanging out at their private location where she had taken Holston. Because of the water in the basement, Juliette had become fearful and advised George not to endanger his life by going down. Though she knew Juliette wouldn’t stop until she discovered exactly where that door was and where it led, Martha cautioned Juliette that she was entering extremely dangerous territory.
At the conclusion of Silo Episode 2, Juliette proceeded to the covert area and made the decision to enter the basement and locate the door George had mentioned. Meanwhile, Deputy Marnes notified Mayor Ruth that Holston Becker had left a note nominating a candidate to succeed him as the Silo’s sheriff before exiting the building. Mayor Ruth was unable to comprehend why Holston had appointed Juliette as the new sheriff, much to everyone’s amazement. Mayor Ruth was aware that Holston was a reliable and trustworthy person who would never assign such a responsibility to the wrong people. Because it was unexpected, the Mayor decided that rather than flatly rejecting his advice, she would prefer to meet Juliette first before making a final decision.