SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Outside,” the season finale of “Silo,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
If the Season 1 finale of Apple TV+’s “Silo” doesn’t get people rushing to their local hardware store to stock up on heat tape, nothing will.
In the closing moments of the ambitious world-building thriller, Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) was banished from the silo and sent out to “clean it up,” just as Bernard (Tim Robbins) had threatened to do, due to her attempts to uncover the secrets. the elusive hard drive. But unlike doomed lovers Allison (Rashida Jones) and Holston (David Oyelowo), who both took turns cleaning up earlier this season, Juliette gets past the ridge, thanks to the super-sealing heat tape used by Walker (Harriet Walter ). Who knew all this talk about Juliette stealing the heat tape would be the lynchpin of the whole story?
But surviving long enough to climb the ridge presents a new set of problems. First, Juliette discovers that the video of blue skies and green grass she’d seen on the hard drive—which she and the Flamekeepers believed proves that the world outside the silo isn’t a toxic wasteland—was in fact an illusion meant to give those sent out to clean a blissful final picture before the poisonous air seeps into their suit and they die.
The even bigger shock comes when the camera zooms out from Juliette’s walk to reveal that the silo she just left is surrounded by dozens of other possible silos, meaning there could be countless other subterranean communities that also think they’ve lost the last 10,000 people on earth.
Thankfully, the wait for answers won’t be long, as Apple has already greenlit Season 2 and production is underway in the UK.
During a break on set, Ferguson talked about the finale and why she wants people to know that Juliette never resigns herself to her bleak circumstances towards the end of the season.
“We always keep hope, and I don’t want people to feel like she’s letting it go,” says Ferguson. “That’s what Juliette stands for. It’s that last breath, it’s that last bloody victory as a rebel against everything.”
Looking ahead to Season 2, Ferguson shared with Variety the final scene that ranks among her favorites is what it was like to film on the show’s massive practically built sets – and teases what little she can about what’s to come in the show.
You’ve worked on some very large-scale movies, two of which are coming out this year: ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part 1’ and ‘Dune Part 2’. But “Silo” has its own huge scale with huge practical sets. What was it like working on that scale in episodic TV?
I didn’t know what to expect. I did a TV show a long time ago called “The White Queen,” and the sets were great. They were huge. But then TV was very different than it is now. It’s going to sound like I’m blowing smoke up Apple’s ass for a second, because that’s me. Walking on set made me realize how much they put into this show. It’s love, but it’s also care. They can make this green screen and blue screen, but they don’t. They built it. They let us create these whole worlds. It’s phenomenal, and for us actors, it’s everything. I hate working with green screen and blue screen, and I’ve been lucky enough not to with “Dune” and “Mission: Impossible”. To walk into a world of TV shows that I didn’t think would be the scale that we’ve managed to create here, it amazes me every day.
Whether it was an act of mercy or a power grab before sending her out to clean, Bernard brings Juliette into the all-seeing surveillance room to show her a video proving that George (Ferdinand Kingsley) jumped to his death to kill the Flamekeepers. to protect. and the drive. Her crusade was to avenge him – so what does that moment mean to her?
That’s one of my favorite scenes because she’s lived in this place all her life, but when she walks into that cleaning room, it’s only now that she realizes there’s something so horrible and controlling behind all those locked doors. It’s a police state times 10. For me acting-wise, being able to see these screens and what they controlled was such an unraveling. It’s so offensive. Everything about it is emotionally abusive and it hits her at the time. And then seeing your lover on the monitor. I think it’s on such a large scale. The relationship with her mother being studied, her entire childhood, the trauma she went through and then this. I sometimes wonder…
[hesitates] No I can not. It’s too big a spoiler!
Talking about all she’s been through, Bernard asks Juliette if she regrets becoming sheriff, and she quickly says she doesn’t. Do you believe her, given all that’s happened and where she’s ended up?
I did, and I think it was worth it. At first, Juliette is like a fish in water, completely. Her most comfortable environment is working with her hands in a noisy environment. She has had so much trauma in her life with people dying and leaving her; her father does not come to see her; and it’s all so damn lonely, right? But then she is put in this situation where she gradually realizes that she is a self-centered human being that she is more or less because of trauma, and can become caring and nurturing.
She realizes it’s not just about her. It affects the whole race, and her tribe and her people. But I think what’s great about this journey is that we’re not there yet – where she cares about everyone. She just grabs the job that is offered, and she gives everything for it. But she’s not quite sure why yet. There are so many mixed feelings with her. It’s like a bowl of potpourri. Is it her? Is that why she’s doing this? Is it George? Is it for her mother? She’s like a young child with a lot of emotions that she hasn’t been able to unravel and it’s so unpredictable.
And those emotions are sure to get mixed up even more because all of her people, including her dad (Iain Glen), come to say goodbye before she’s sent out to clean. Do you think she ever resigns herself to her bleak circumstances?
We always hold onto hope, and I don’t want people to feel like she’s letting it go. That’s what Juliette stands for. It’s that last breath, it’s that last bloody victory as a rebel against everything.
When she finally gets out, she gets further than anyone we’ve seen, thanks to Walker’s tape. And she comes face to face with the realization that it is a desolate world after all. But we see that there are things similar to other silos that surround her own. What was your reaction to this revelation?
Well, I’ve read Hugh Howey’s books, and this is all part of a journey – and it’s a great ending to this part of it. The philosophy of it all is beyond staggeringly shocking, isn’t it? What is beyond and what is beyond? All these emotions and to be able to play with them is exciting. There really is an inner explosion in this world and it’s what Juliette does with that information that matters next.
Fortunately, she has a bag of extra tape so she can go find out what we saw in those last moments.
Maybe! We’ll see if it was really the right tape.
With Juliette literally heading into the unknown, what can you say about what’s to come?
What’s so amazing is that we’ve already gotten the green light for season 2, and right now we’re diving into dissecting the world where we’re ending season 1. So that’s a question that I’m literally unraveling right now, and I’m really excited about. It’s brilliantly written. The show gets darker. It’s no different from what we know. But it gets darker and rougher.
This interview has been edited and shortened.