Silo Season 3 Episode 7 Recap & Review: “Radio”

Warning: This post contains major spoilers for Silo Season 3, Episode 7, “Radio.”

Let’s go to the Silo!

Coming off the revelations in Episode 6, “The Drive,” Juliette’s race to stop the Safeguard becomes even more urgent as she takes the dangerous next step: sending Lukas and Kennedy outside.

Silo Season 3 Episode 7, “Radio,” sends Lukas Kyle and Patrick Kennedy outside, raises new questions about the Algorithm and brings the Before Times storyline closer than ever to revealing how the silos began.

Lukas and Kennedy Go Outside

Juliette tells Lukas Kyle and Patrick Kennedy they are going outside and heading to Silo 17. Lukas understands the mission: they need to find the pipe connected to the Safeguard. Kennedy is less enthusiastic about the mission itself. He still wants to go outside, but after helping Lukas reach Silo 17, he wants the freedom to go anywhere that isn’t another “effing hole in the ground.” Juliette agrees.

Before they leave, Juliette receives a secret note from Sims. He tells her there are guards at Water Treatment, which means the drugs are already in the water. He warns her to drink milk, juice, wine—anything except tap water. Because he is being followed, this has to be their last contact. Juliette tells him to be careful, and I have to say, that was a very different kind of look between these two. They may finally trust each other.

Down in the airlock, Martha Walker helps Lukas and Kennedy suit up and establishes code names because Silo 1 could be listening to the radios. Then the doors open. For the first time, Lukas and Kennedy step outside. Lukas looks up at the stars and is completely mesmerized.

“The situation is a lot bigger than expected.” Kennedy looks around at the empty landscape, then up at the sky. “What is all that?”

It is one of the episode’s best moments. But it doesn’t last. As they cross the hill toward Silo 17, they begin walking through the remains of hundreds of people. Then they hear a buzzing sound. It grows louder. Suddenly, gunfire erupts. The radio goes silent.

The Algorithm Says Lukas and Kennedy are Dead

Camille is summoned to the Vault, where the Algorithm tells her that Lukas Kyle and Patrick Kennedy have been neutralized.

Then it questions her about Juliette’s unedited cleaning video. Camille says she saw what looked like an entire silo’s worth of bodies. The Algorithm explains that Silo 17 appears to have prevented a Safeguard, at least momentarily, but insists that the Safeguard itself is not preventable. It believes Juliette may be trying to stop it and tells Camille to determine whether that fear is justified. Camille confronts Juliette and tells her Lukas and Kennedy never made it to Silo 17.  When Camille suggests Lukas and Kennedy died because of suit failure, Juliette tells her maybe they should have taken more time to make the suits bulletproof.

Daniel and Helen Learn the World’s Biggest Secret

In the Before Times, Daniel Keene and Helen Drew arrive at the hangar and find Charlotte Keene waiting there. Senator Rosalind Thurman tells them they will have to sign NDAs before learning anything else. Then we meet billionaire Per Stensen. He offers Helen $100,000 to sign. She isn’t impressed. So, he raises it to $1 million each. Helen asks how long she would have to wait before writing about whatever secret they are about to discover. The senator says no more than five years.

“Sure,” Helen says. “Let’s go save the world.”

Billings Investigates Orla Kent’s Death

Back in Silo 18, Sheriff Billings questions Harwood about Orla Kent’s death. Billings believes Orla was murdered and her body moved, but with the cameras operating, he doesn’t understand how. He reveals that Sheriff Holston had opened seven investigations into Harwood. Billings also saw Harwood arguing with Orla shortly before she died. Harwood admits he was angry because his daughter Glenda had been expected to become head of Supply until Orla got the job instead. But Billings still doesn’t have enough evidence.

Juliette’s Plan to Bomb Judicial

At Martha’s apartment, Juliette’s group develops a plan to destroy the Safeguard pipe.  The problem? Destroying the pipe could release the poison. Martha estimates approximately 1,000 people could die on the residential levels above. Shirley argues that 1,000 is better than 10,000. Juliette refuses. Bernard reminds everyone that this is Juliette’s decision because the silo chose her as mayor.

Knox Learns the Truth About His Father

Knox goes back to the Down Deep looking for answers about his father. He was always told his father died when a tunnel collapsed in the mines. That may not be true. Knox learns that his father designed something for Harwood and, in exchange, another dead miner apparently took his identity. His father disappeared instead. So where is Knox’s father now? And what did he design for Harwood?

Gloria Hildebrandt and The Mission Diary

Bernard later brings Juliette to meet Gloria Hildebrandt. Gloria explains that she was one of the Flamekeepers, a secret group that sought knowledge of the Before Times. George’s mother was one of them too. She also reveals something called the Mission Diary. Mission was a porter who lived around 140 years earlier during the Great Rebellion and transported explosives used to blow up the stairs. Gloria reads his final entry. He describes losing his memories, forgetting days at a time and watching people throughout the silo become terrified and disoriented. Then Bernard reveals the reason. Salvador Quinn, who was head of IT at the time, drugged the entire silo in an attempt to prevent the Safeguard. The result? Approximately 2,000 people died because of the chaos caused by losing their memories. Bernard’s point is clear. Juliette may be refusing to risk 1,000 lives by destroying the Safeguard pipe, but doing nothing could cost twice as many.

There is no good choice.

Charlotte’s Missing Memories

On the private jet, Charlotte tells Daniel that she remembers the facts surrounding her final mission in the Navy, but emotionally it feels as if those events happened to someone else. Later, Dr. Victor Crnkovich tells Daniel he originally developed the memory treatment for himself. Years earlier, he lost his daughter Lulu in a car accident. According to the EMT report, he held her as she died. He remembers the accident, but he deliberately erased that specific memory. That means this technology does not necessarily erase everything. It can potentially choose what stays and what disappears. Then Helen looks out the plane window.

They have reached Atlanta.

Judicial Passes and the Bomb

Juliette needs Judicial passes, and Sims finds a clever way to get them. Juliette’s team disguises themselves as maintenance workers and enters Judicial carrying explosives. They reach the pipes and start planting the charges. Then the radio crackles. A voice says: “Who the fuck is Donnie?” Martha asks who is speaking. “This is Deputy Kelso.” Patrick Kennedy. He is alive. And he is on Level 17. Kennedy reports that there was “a little bit of a situation,” but the children are safe. Juliette immediately aborts the bombing. The team frantically removes the explosives and stops the timer with seconds to spare. The Algorithm told Camille Lukas and Kennedy had been neutralized.

Clearly, that was not true.

Robert Sims Stops Camille

At the same time, Sims and Camille are questioning Amy, the nurse who helped Juliette. Amy is chained on the floor. Camille pulls a gun. Robert stops her. He admits he has done terrible things too, but tells Camille that whether Anthony remembers them or not, their son deserves to have at least one parent who hasn’t killed someone. That feels like a major turning point for Sims.

Massive drill outside Atlanta in Silo Season 3 Episode 7 

The episode ends in the Before Times. Daniel, Helen and the others fly by helicopter over Per Stensen’s enormous property outside Atlanta. Then Helen sees something below. “What the hell is that?” Senator Thurman says Daniel knows. He does. It’s a drill. A massive drill digging an enormous hole in the ground. And suddenly the Before Times story seems much closer to the answer we have been waiting for. Are we watching the beginning of the silos?

My Take on “Radio”

“Radio” moves the story forward in a big way without giving us all the answers.

The biggest mystery is now the Algorithm itself. It told Camille that Lukas and Kennedy were dead when Kennedy later radios from Silo 17. Did the Algorithm lie? Or did something happen outside that even Silo 1 didn’t anticipate? I’m also increasingly interested in Robert Sims. He is secretly helping Juliette, protecting Anthony and now stopping Camille from killing Amy. He may finally be deciding where his loyalty really lies. And then there is that final shot. A giant drill outside Atlanta. Daniel recognizes it immediately.

That certainly looks like Silo is leading us toward the origin of the project itself.

Questions I’m Still Asking

• Why did the Algorithm say Lukas and Kennedy were neutralized when they survived?
• What caused the buzzing sound and gunfire outside?
• What really happened during Charlotte’s final Navy mission?
• And are we finally watching the beginning of the silos?

Silo is streaming on Apple TV