‘Silo’ Season 3, Episode 5 Recap – From A Different Point Of View

“I remember”. Those are the two simple words that every Silo fan has been waiting for since the beginning of Season 3, when Juliette’s amnesia storyline was first introduced. Episode 5, fittingly titled “Memory”, finally allows Juliette to catch up with everything that happened in Season 2, notably the crucial information about the Safeguard and, potentially, how to stop it. And all it took was a carefully orchestrated multi-level plot and a cute Pez dispenser. I told you that would be important.

This is a clear turning point episode. A lot of it takes the form of flashbacks designed to fill in the blanks of what has been happening behind the scenes since Juliette’s return, so it spends much more time in Silo 18 than any other episode this season has, kind of short-changing the “Before Times” storyline, which only gets a single scene right at the end. But it’s hard to mind. Not only is the Silo-set stuff excellently handled, but it’s vital, and clearly establishes exactly who’s on-side going forward. We have our team of insiders. And we have our unlikely villain.

Sims Has Been Pulling the Strings

Robert Sims gets a lot of focus in this episode, and rightly so, since it’s he who has been pulling the strings behind the scenes ever since the Algorithm ejected him from the Vault in favour of Camille. When Camille came back tight-lipped about what she was told, but adamant that Juliette, Bernard, and Lukas Kyle all represented existential threats to the Silo, Sims knew something was amiss and immediately started working behind his wife’s back.

Camille wanted Sims to “deal” with the problem, which meant killing Juliette and Bernard, first and foremost. However, since everyone was paranoid about the bodies being potentially contaminated by the poison in the outside world, any corpses had to be wrapped in plastic before being transported to the incinerator. That gave Sims the opportunity to wrap up Bernard’s body — which is why he had the flashback about suffocating him — and swap it out. Martha and Carla helped him. He also sowed the seeds to get Juliette elected as mayor, to make sure that she was too important for Camille to have her killed.

In return, Bernard told Sims about the Safeguard, the other Silos, and how the Order — the version of the Pact exclusive to the Head of IT and their shadow — dictates that those given “forgetting drugs” be kept away from relics from the past. This is how Sims knew that Juliette would be drugged. He went to Regina to get substitute sugar pills to Amy, and also told Regina to start trading relics again, assuring her that the raiders would look the other way when it came to anything pertaining to Juliette. Since most of those items had been acquired by Juliette’s fan club, the sheriff’s badges with her name on were created for trading purposes.

Jogging Juliette’s Memory

In the present day, Sims takes Juliette to the relics that Regina procured. Martha, Kennedy, and Lukas are also there because, as per Sims, “They know too much to be anywhere else”. Knox and Shirley are also in the loop elsewhere, since Martha has to enlist them to help her relocate Bernard’s body in case Camille follows Juliette into the Digger Void.

In the meantime, Juliette sifts through a series of items from her past, each of which triggers a vague memory, but nothing concrete. They suspect that the true breakthrough might come from the watch that George gave her, which was passed to Hank by Pete before he sacrificed himself. Hank is welcomed into the inner circle and gives Juliette the watch along with her father’s final words. It helps, but not enough.

The key to everything is the Pez dispenser. When Sims finally gives it to Juliette, she recalls everything and rushes back to the others to tell them about Silo 17 having capped the Safeguard pipe. Sims and Camille exchange a very telling look, though it’s a little unclear quite how much Camille suspects her husband. For now.

When the Lights Go Out

Carla finally meets with Billings in Silo Season 3, Episode 5, and she doesn’t respond well to the news that Orla Kent has been murdered. This is largely because she blames herself; not because she killed her personally, but because she gave her the task that likely brought about her demise. To explain, she takes Billings to Critical Supply.

This is where stuff from the “Before Times” was loaded when the Silo first began. It’s full of stuff that can’t be manufactured underground, stuff that keeps the entire facility operational. There’s a tremendous amount of secrecy around it all. Every item that leaves requires three kinds of approval and the presence of either the Head of Supply or their shadow. Empty boxes are kept so nobody can ever quite work out what has been used and what hasn’t. The information is too important. If anyone could track the stock, they’d know how long Silo 18 has left.

And that’s the problem. Carla discovered that the long-time thefts in Supply had also been happening in Critical Supply. There should be 50 years’ worth of lightbulbs in there, but there’s only enough for two years. When the lights go out, the bulbs in the farms can’t be replaced, the food will stop being produced, and everyone will die in the dark. Carla tasked Orla with finding out who was stealing from Critical Supply. And her investigation likely got her killed.

AI Takes the Wheel

In the only “Before Times” scene, Daniel briefly explains to Helen what Sam told him. Per Stensen, the billionaire and militant AI advocate, was aboard the USS Nimitz during Operation Righteous Vengeance. That carrier only provided one sortie, and the planes had been downgraded with unencrypted comms. Something was amiss, and Sam might have secured them a meeting with someone who knows what.

However, as they’re on their way, Daniel’s car begins driving itself, having been commandeered remotely by persons unknown. Is AI going to be the bad guy here? Are we going to get an explanation for how the mysterious black goo works? Time will tell. But something would rather than Daniel and Helen didn’t find out.