Abhiroop Das
Created by Graham Yost, Apple TV+’s science-fiction series ‘Silo’ steps into a world where thousands of people are stuck living hundreds of feet underground, with virtually all of humanity’s collective memory being lost to time. The story, then, follows Juliette, who starts out as just a curious engineer but ends up becoming the silo’s sheriff, surviving even the infamous cleaning ritual. While all of this is happening, Bernard, the former mayor of Silo 17, has an arc of his own. After it’s previously hinted that Bernard lost his life in the fire hazard, we learn that Robert Sims actually carried him all the way down, when he was still alive, and then tried to strangle him to death. However, a huge chunk of his story still remains untouched, and we only see it get covered in episode 9 of the season, fittingly titled ‘Farewell.’
Bernard Meets His Heroic End in the Penultimate Episode of Season 3
Episode 9 of ‘Silo’ season 3 ends with Bernard dying after stepping out of the Silo for a cleaning. Though the season premiere initially led us to believe that Bernard was choked to death by Robert Sims, that reveal is overturned in episode 4, which shows that Bernard managed to survive and secretly orchestrate a revolution. The final piece in this puzzle, however, is for Bernard to show himself to Silo 17 once again, even if it means inviting certain death. The reason he climbs back up to the vault is to serve as a distraction, with Camille directing all of her energy towards sending him to his death, while Knox and company successfully rig the Judicial Department with explosives.
Given how Bernard has managed to cheat death once already, Camille decides to send him out to clean without even a suit. This decision brings the fundamental cruelty of the act out into the open. As Bernard walks out of Silo 17 and breathes in the outside air for the first time, it is clear that a lifetime of suppressed curiosity seems to be flashing in front of his eyes. Fittingly, he chooses to die facing a dead, leafless tree, imagining what it must have looked like in its heyday. While he may have never seen wilderness outside of banned images, it doesn’t stop him from imagining life in all of its capacity, right before he breathes his last.
Tim Robbins’ Journey as Bernard Has Reached Its Finish Line
While Bernard’s fake-out death earlier in the season may have left Tim Robbins’ future with the show up in the air, this time, his exit is for certain. What makes Bernard’s death in episode 9 more powerful than in episode 1 is the fact that we actually spend time with the character in his final moments, as he reflects on his life, dreams of the future, and slowly withers away. It is confirmed that humans cannot breathe the outside air for too long, which is why what we see is Bernard’s confirmed death. With this, Robbins’ three-season journey with the show has come to an end, and it solidifies his performance as one of the show’s strongest aspects, down to his very last scene.
Bernard’s character arc in the third season is very different from how he is usually written, and for Robbins, this proved to be a memorable experience. “The thing I loved most was the opportunity to play a really different Bernard,” he explained in an interview with The TV Cave, adding, “not only has he changed physically, but he’s had an entire shift of his worldview. Everything he held sacred, everything he thought was true, turns out to be a lie.” By the end of the season, this arc reaches a poetic conclusion, and there could not have been a higher note to end Robbins’ journey as Bernard. While the character may be dead, his impact on the show, both as an antagonistic figure and as a reformed ally, is what makes ‘Silo’ a unique story.
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