Review: Silo, “Whatever You Do, Don’t Go Home” | Season 3, Episode 4
The season’s storylines are still a mixed bag, but at least they’re going somewhere
I’m a sucker for characters with hard exteriors who gradually soften up over the course of a series. It’s one of the most satisfying changes to see a person make: overcoming kneejerk anger and bitterness to respond to a friend (or a parent, or a child, or the world itself) with love. Watching someone let their guard down and show their real feelings, no matter how reluctantly, is almost always rewarding.
So I’ve been frustrated by my own general lack of engagement with Shirley as a character in this show. She fits the type I’m describing, in theory, but her cold reactions have often been one-note to the point of irritation, especially when her target is misplaced. That said, the Shirley subplot finally moves forward this week, and not a moment too soon. Even just seeing her acknowledge her guilt early in the episode is refreshing: she feels like a “piece of shit” for ignoring and mistreating her best friend, and will do anything to find and protect her now, including spying on the most powerful people in the Silo.
Juliette and Shirley get some good bonding time in “Whatever You Do, Don’t Go Home,” especially during their trip to the not-quite-closed-off Digger Void. There, Juliette describes a feeling of recognition she gets around the people she loved, including Shirley: a strong sense that she would kill for that person. Shirley is clearly touched, even if there isn’t time to fully debrief and work on restoring their old friendship, and it’s a nice way to move this story into a satisfying place.
Perhaps there’s a missed opportunity for true catharsis here, just like there was by killing off Juliette’s father before she got to reunite with him (and then zapping Juliette’s memories before she could learn and process his death, a moment that might still happen later on). Shirley thought her best friend was dead last season, and we never got to see the two characters properly “reunite.” (Again, maybe that will happen later on.) Still, this is a good start.
