Silo (2023): A Dark Web - S03E03 - RECAP

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Well there are things that just dont change, and that is Silo turning a bit draggy while all the mistery is brewing up and unfolding, there is still a lot to uncover and remember and so does "A Dark Web" because it turns to be good at when the investigation actually has consequences, when the grind is happening the cop work, but the episode takes too long getting there. Juliette getting sharper after secretly stopping the pills is a good change, she finally feels active again instead of waiting for people to tell her who she used to be and Rebecca Ferguson sells that shift without needing a speech about it, there are constant actions like her taking the gloves from that worker and going straight down using that rope, she just jumps into the void. She starts reading people again, notices when Kathleen Billings is hiding something and refuses to accept Lukas Kyle is dead just because everyone else already gave up on him, honestly I thought he was. I like that her instincts come back before her memories do, it shows Camille has not managed to erase everything that made her dangerous to IT and the algo. The problem is the search drags through too many conversations saying the same thing, Shirley avoids her, Knox has nothing solid and the people at the mines only confirm Lukas had good reason to hide there, the mines is a floor I would love them to explore more, mainly for context of the what the Silo is. The best part of these scenes is Juliette turning the blame back around, Shirley is hurt Juliette does not remember their friendship, while Sims carries a colder version of the same complaint since his son still remembers being scared of her, even though she cannot recall any of it, she has lost almost everyone and cannot even understand why their faces are supposed to matter, that hits hard specially when she cant remember what is to have a father.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14688458/
• Platform: {{PLATFORM}}

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Camille is the most interesting person in the episode because every choice she makes can be explained, but that does not make any of it okay. She does not want to put the memory drug in the water because she knows what it would take from close to ten thousand people, and Robert seeing that Juliette cannot remember her own father makes the danger personal for him. Camille and Sims are risking a lot here, not only been affected by this drug but their son is the priority and Camille is starting to see it as collateral damage because she clearly told Sims to make sure their son makes it alive of that Silo no matter what, this also includes all the memories he might have of them together as a family. I obvious whey she keeps looking for a way out even when that means killing others, especially when the algorithm keeps presenting the drug as the safe option without caring whether the people left behind still know who they are. At the same time she keeps treating every delay like permission to gamble with somebody else, she lets Juliette go search for Lukas because it might confirm he is dead and expose Patrick Kennedy, and that is not a careful plan, it is Camille avoiding one terrible decision by pushing the risk onto Juliette instead, its almost like she gambling and letting Juliette reckless somehow save the Silo and avoid using the Vitamin D+. She admits protecting Anthony is the whole point of what she and Robert want, yet she is also willing to destroy other families the moment their lives get in the way. The more pressure she is under, the easier it gets for her to call cruelty necessary and that bothers me because she is starting to put dutty over her own family while the algorithm just throws more gasoline into the fire by adding to those thoughts.

I think one of the aspects that is hurting the season the most is this present and past situation going on, both have very good moments but the transition is very drastic to the point that the series cuts you off from one to the other, in some cases during very interesting moments. In the present we got Daniel and Helen who have the right kind of danger around them, the goverment is on their tails, but their part of the episode feels weaker because it keeps the useful information out of reach. Daniel learns the pilots used communication equipment that could be recorded and Helen thinks she can track that recording down through one of her dark web contacts, her getting fired right after she starts asking questions gives the investigation a sense that someone got their eyes on them, especially with that same mysterious man showing up near people connected to Charlotte and the mission. The missing contact and the wrecked room point toward somebody working to bury that recording, though the episode never says who or why. The problem is the episodes doesnt let use listent to the recording that scares them so badly, shocked faces only carry so much when the recording itself is missing in action been the sauce that would give more context of the situation with the pilots at Iran. We know twenty seconds of it exist and that it changes how Daniel sees the situation, then the evidence disappears before it tells us anything clear. The chess move after the contact gets warned about being tracked feels like it should matter and provide us more context but it never arrives, we never learn what it means and this creates a big disatisfaction for me. Daniel deciding to go back for the tape shows the investigation has become more than a family matter to him now but I wish the episode just stop hidding this info and start to data dump what really went down and why, there are ways to do this properly without telling the entire story but they just keep hiding everything.

I mention above how cool would be if we get more context about the mines, a place everyone describes as hell but once they start showing it its not like they describe, at least now what they show on this episode. Camille ordering the fumigation is the moment that changes how I see her, she turns into the monster that the series is expecting. She believes Lukas might be digging toward another Silo and the algorithm warns that contact between silos could set off the safeguard, that explains her panic, but it does not excuse pumping gas into occupied tunnels without giving anyone enough time to get out. She knows miners can die and gives the order anyway because stopping Lukas matters more to her than anything as he is an important link in the chain of Juliette getting back her memories. The episode also pull this foolish and reckless moves without much ground as when Knox and Juliette jump right into the mines full of gas, that choice comes with a real consequence instead of another easy win, but still too convinient as when Juliette grabs a mask, tries to help a man, loses the mask when he takes it off her and collapses before she can get out. Her instinct to help somebody does not protect her from the damage around her, I wonder if this toxic gas is going to have some sort on effect on her phisically or even if that somehow kicks in some old memories. Lukas finding her and carrying her out gives the search a satisfying moment setting him up as the hero of th emoment, even if it is a little convenient and it matters because Juliette was right when everyone else had already given up on him. Finding Orla Kent in the mines also gives Billings an actual case instead of just a disappearance sitting in the background. Camille gets what she wanted because Lukas gets forced out into the open, Juliette gets proof he is alive and Billings gets a body that could expose another secret, none of that feels like clean answers, its just the tip of the iceberg and there is more cop work to be done and grind to uncover the truth which is why this episode works better than the earlier search did.

The ending is what makes the episode stronger because it turns Camille from someone stalling an awful choice into someone actually ready to make one, Lukas and Juliette plus her memories is a very dangerous setup she doesnt want to deal with, anything is better than getting the Silo wipe out during a "safeguard protocol". Juliette is unconscious in the hospital after the fumigation and the algorithm tells Camille her death could be spun into a story about sacrifice and unity, which would get rid of Juliette as a threat while letting everyone else skip the memory drug entirely. I can see why Camille wants that option to be real, she would only have to sacrifice one person, Anthony would still remember his parents and the Silo could be told Juliette died a hero saving people in the mines. The problem is that only works if Camille is willing to murder a helpless woman and lie about it afterward, I mean many have done it, her husband is a specialist on this matter and should as him. The algorithm praises exactly what made her useful, her skill at deceiving Robert and playing both sides during the rebellion, and even though that is manipulation, she still responds to it. Her admitting she once admired Juliette makes it worse, she used to respect that Juliette searches for the truth and now she treats that same instinct as dangerous enough to justify killing her, you live long enough to see your hero turn the villain. I do not think the show kills Juliette here because the entire series turns around here but the cliffhanger works because the real question is what Camille tries next and how far Robert lets her go. This episode drags in a few spots and the Daniel and Helen side of the story needs to give us more than missing evidence and scared faces. Even after all this small problems, the episode ends in a much better place than it started, Lukas is alive, Juliette is paying for her reckless search, Billings has a new mystery and Camille has crossed a line that is hard to explain away. I give this episode a strong 7.5/10, I know it might be boring for others but I do like the investigation work and the risks taken here, even when some are just too dumb.

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Rating: 75/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.