Sumith Prasad
The tenth episode of Apple TV+’s science-fiction series ‘Silo,’ titled ‘Outside,’ revolves around the aftermath of Juliette Nichols watching the video recorded by Jane Carmody, which shows the outer world as lush and green. She sets out to screen the video on the displays inside the silo, infuriating Bernard and Robert Sims. Their efforts to capture her come to a conclusion and Juliette’s fate gets threatened by a decision the “custodians” of the silo make. The engrossing episode ends with several ambiguous narrative developments and revelations. If you are up for a detailed take on the same, let us share our thoughts regarding the ending of episode 10! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Silo Episode 10 Recap
‘Outside’ begins with Juliette Nichols setting out to screen the video of the outer world, in which the same is lush, green, and habitable, in the displays inside the silo. She seeks the help of Patrick and an employee of the IT department to do the same. Although she succeeds in screening the video, Bernard makes sure that the same is not shown anymore in no time. Juliette tries to escape the authorities through the vertical tunnels in the silo but Bernard realizes what the former is doing and sends Sims and other officers to capture her. When officers throw things at her to make her surrender, Juliette falls to the bottom, only for her peers to save her.
While Juliette recovers at Martha “Walk” Walker’s home, her former boss Knox calls the Judicial to inform them about her. Knox doesn’t want the authorities to conduct raids and make other residents’ lives miserable in her name. Before she gets captured, Juliette talks to Walk about the heat tapes of the IT department. Juliette then gets captured by Bernard and Sims and they take her to prison while the residents of the silo watch the same. Martha then goes to Carla, seeking heat tapes. Bernard and Sims take Juliette to the surveillance room to show her what really happened to George Wilkins. Juliette watches the security footage of Wilkins killing himself to not let the authorities torture him to find the hard drive he hid for the former to find.
Juliette’s father Pete Nichols meets his daughter at the prison with food for her. After Pete leaves, Shirley visits her with food from Walk, which also contains a note which informs the former sheriff that the heat tape is good in supply. Sims confronts Paul Billings about going to Juliette’s apartment. The head of security reveals that he has noticed the deputy sheriff’s trembling hands, which is a symptom of the syndrome. Rather than firing Billings, Sims lets him keep the job.
Silo Ending: What is Outside the Silo? Is the Outer World Habitable?
After getting captured by Bernard and Sims, Juliette is sent outside the silo so that the duo can avoid a rebellion brewing inside the establishment. Juliette gets forced to walk out of the silo, only to see a lush and green world. However, she notices that the birds flying in the sky fly exactly how birds do in the video recorded by Jane Carmody, which makes her realize that the image of a vibrant world is only a simulation her suit’s visor displays. She uses Holston Becker’s badge to verify the same. When she walks ahead instead of dying like others who went out of the silo, she sees a barren world.
Since the vibrant world is only a simulation, the cafeteria display has been showing the real world, which is barren and lifeless. Considering that all the people who went out of the silo, except for Juliette, have died inhaling the air outside the refuge, especially Holston and his wife Allison, it is safe to say that the outside world is inhabitable. The Founders of the silo must have created the simulation to trick the people who went outside to clean the camera under the belief that the residents would watch a revived world if they did the same. By making them do so, the Founders must have achieved the satisfaction of the residents watching the real barren world clearly enough to acknowledge their establishment.
Why Doesn’t Juliette Die?
The individuals who have gone out of the silo never managed to remain alive due to the toxic air present in the outer world. Whether it be Holston or Allison, the people who freed themselves from the silo before Juliette’s exit from the establishment had died even before reaching the small ridge. Juliette, however, remains alive and even reaches the ridge without any health concerns. Juliette stays alive because of the heat tape used on her suit. The suits designed for the people who are set to leave the silo seemingly contain pores for the toxic gas of the outer world to enter the same and kill the individuals.
The heat tapes used while dressing Holston, Allison, or any other individual who left the silo before Juliette must have had pores for the toxic gas to kill them. Juliette stays alive because the heat tapes used while dressing her are the ones Walk collects from Carla. The tapes used in the IT department are of high quality, which is also why Juliette stole the same before becoming a sheriff. Walk seemingly replaces the low-quality tapes, most likely filled with pores, with the ones used in the IT department to ensure that Juliette’s suit doesn’t have any openings for the toxic air to kill her.
Where Does Juliette Go? Are There More Silos?
After leaving the silo, Juliette continues to walk ahead, only to see a barren world in front of her. However, there are several openings on the ground, similar to the opening of the silo she has resided in all her life. These openings indicate that more silos are existing in the world and hers is just one of them. If the upcoming second season of the series follows Hugh Howey’s ‘Silo’ novels, the source texts of the show, without much deviation, we can expect her to end up in Silo 17 and meet Solo, the last survivor of an uprising that happened at the establishment. She may learn that the silo she resided in is Silo 18.
Solo may teach Juliette to communicate with other silos, including Silo 18. She may establish contact with Lukas or Walk so that she can explain that the outer world is really what the display at the cafeteria displays. In the novels, Juliette also forms a relationship with Lukas and learns that the mechanical department kickstarted a rebellion against Bernard’s reign. Juliette’s journey to another silo may also unravel the history of these establishments and how they are really operated.
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