If you’re any kind of fan of the fantastic Steve Zahn, and frankly who isn’t, you’re in for a real treat in this fourth episode of “Silo” Season 2 titled “The Harmonium.” Watching him innocently describe trapeze artists and exotic animals to Juliette while she’s trying to craft a breathing tube apparatus to swim down to a submerged level of Silo 17 is a sheer revelation and a true testament to his enormous range.
Juliette might be a bit annoyed at his carrying on about circuses, elephants’ altruism, and Captain Nemo and “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea,” but she patiently indulges him as she attempts to rig herself a makeshift scuba unit. Zahn’s Solo character has obviously been exposed to many books in his isolation time and he mentions a musical instrument in the silo called a harmonium (a type of small organ) that might be used for her special needs. The two actors have a remarkably natural chemistry and it’s a pleasure to watch them perform together.
Over in Silo 18, Knox and Shirley inspect the walls deep under the bunker filled with names and graffiti. He deduces that there’s more to the memoriam and learns how history has repeated itself in Silo 18 with some form of rebellion breaking out every generation, some starting with a food shortage or trash chute fires, but overtly blamed on Mechanical because they can shut it all down in desperate times. They decide to get a message to Judge Meadows demanding truth about the outside to see for themselves what they now believe to be a safe environment.
Back in Silo 17, Juliette and Solo enter an old classroom where Solo recalls his time as a young student, recalling certain classmates with great detail, which could place the fateful rebellion there around 30 years or so earlier. There’s an uneasy tension here strongly felt! Solo shows Juliette that the expanding bellows used in the harmonium instrument he’s playing can be employed to force air down a tube.
Now with the breathing contraption done, Juliette goes for an intense plunge into the water that doesn’t all go according to plan. She eventually has to tear apart a metal locker to find a fire suit and returns exhausted. Solo has a panic attack and flees back to the vault’s safety, but can’t recall the key code to open the lock. With a final try he hits the right combo and vanishes inside, only to be coaxed back out.
Later, in a particularly disturbing scene during a quiet dinner at Bernard’s apartment with Judge Meadows, the sly IT Head is cooking up a gourmet meal as Erik Satie’s “Gymnopedie #6” plays softly in the background. Meadows arrives after being invited and hopes to try on her survival suit.
But as the conversation becomes lighter and more friendly, she realizes that there is no suit and that Bernard has poisoned her with mushrooms. It’s a tearful farewell to Tanya Moodie’s wonderful character. The idea is that her death will unite the silo and serve a greater purpose to ignite anti-mechanical sentiment as laid out in his Founders’ strict bible, The Order.
Before she expires, the mystery of what else was on the illegal hard drive Juliette was in possession of comes into play as it appears Meadows knows about a coded letter buried in the data that the former Head of IT, Salvador Quinn, wrote that she partially deciphered but won’t reveal its contents. As one last kind gesture, Bernard lets her view his set of VR goggles that show flora and fauna from an ancient Earth as she eventually slips away in his arms.
Knox, Shirley, Carla and Walker are on their way up the staircase to supposedly meet with Judge Meadows, but instead meet with extreme resistance as they ascend. The angry crowd threatens to toss them over the side, leading to Carla dropping colored balls to Mechanical as a signal to cut the power if their requests are not agreed to.
A standoff ensues but Bernard appears and tells Knox and Shirley that he’s arranged for them alone to see Meadows if they turn the power back on. They agree and follow Bernard safely to Meadows’ chambers.
But it’s a total set-up orchestrated by Bernard and Sims, who planted evidence and arranged Meadows’ body in her office to look like she’d been stabbed in the chest. Bernard allows Knox and Shirley to run, realizing that the citizens of the silo will take care of the justice for him after they’re blamed for Meadows’ murder. The crowd is whipped up into a frenzy as the innocent Down Deepers flee for their lives!
Will Juliette use the discovered fire suit or try to find another way to communicate with Silo 18? Will Solo tell more colorful circus tales? How did Meadows know so much about celestial mechanics in her Lukas chat? Will Bernard find that decoded letter? And will the Down Deepers make it all the way back down to Mechanical?
All “Silo” mysteries are bound to reveal themselves in due time … hopefully!
“Silo” Season 2 streams weekly each Friday exclusively on Apple TV+.