In the first three episodes of Silo, Juliette Nicols came off as a person who didn’t express herself much, but from the look on her face, you could tell that her life had not been easy. Her father was a doctor, and it was very unlikely that anybody would do what she had done. She had joined the mechanical division, and it not only meant choosing a different career than your father but also voluntarily bringing down one’s social status. The levels of the Silo were like class hierarchy, where the ones on the topmost level were considered to be superior to the ones living down below. We always had a hint that something of that sort might be a common practice, just like in any other human settlement, but in Silo Episode 4, we got a clear idea of how much class discrimination was there in this dystopian society. Sandy, who was the sheriff’s assistant, gave Juliette a really hard time because she considered her to be unworthy of the position as she came from the lower levels, but Juliette was thick-skinned, and she didn’t let all these things get to her mind. She had realized that she didn’t have an ally, and if she needed to find the truth about George Wilkin’s death, she would have to be a part of the system and try to bring some people on her side.
Bernard Holland and Sims had gone to meet Deputy Marnes, who was mourning the loss of his friend and Mayor of Silo, Ruth Jahns. Deputy Marnes was very sure that Ruth had been poisoned, and he wanted to find the murderer and kill him with his own hands. Bernard told Juliette that until elections were held again, he was the acting mayor and that he would swear her in as the sheriff so that she could take charge of the pending matters straight away. Both Sims and Bernard didn’t want Juliette to be the mayor, but destiny had something else planned for her. A girl from the lower levels had climbed the ladder and made her way to the top, and the residents were shocked as it was not very often they witnessed such a classic underdog story.
Spoilers Alert
What Had Happened Between Dr. Pete And Juliette?
In the previous episode, when Mayor Ruth Jahns went to meet Dr. Pete, it became quite evident that he was not in touch with his daughter, and talking about her made him very uncomfortable. Their relationship had taken a hit after Juliette’s younger brother and her mother left them forever. Dr. Pete was himself suffering from the trauma, and there were times when he couldn’t be there for Juliette. Juliette was merely 13 years old, and she was expected to take on responsibilities and do things that she had never done and neither had any child at Silo. Dr. Pete was mostly busy with his clinic and patients, and he asked his little daughter to gather all the stuff that belonged to her mother and brother and hand it over to the recycling division, as that was the designated place in Silo where all the extra stuff went. Juliette felt like she had to go through the trauma all over again. That night, when her father came back from work, she got extremely angry at him and told him how unfair it was for her to deal with all that stuff alone. Juliette felt alone, and it frustrated her that her father still prioritized his work and didn’t think that it was important to be with her until they got better at dealing with stuff.
Dr. Pete loved his daughter, and he knew that he was not able to fulfill his duties as a father because he, too, was grieving the loss of his wife and son, and he had become inept in dealing with his own emotions. He couldn’t provide her with the emotional support that she craved, and neither was he able to fill the void that had been created after they suffered the loss. Dr. Pete had started expecting a lot from her to the point where she had a nervous breakdown and blamed her father for everything. Juliette just didn’t want to think about it any longer, and one day, she packed up her things and left for the mechanical division, in a hope that she would be able to escape her feelings. Martha knew Hannah Nicols, Juliette’s mother, and she realized that Juliette had run away from her house without telling anyone. Juliet had brought her letter of permission, and she told Martha that her father wanted her to shadow the mechanical workers. Martha knew that the letter was forged, and she informed Dr. Pete immediately about it. When Pete came, he just asked Juliette one thing: if she was happy or not. Juliette knew that she was good at mending machines, and additionally, the excessive work helped her not think about her mother and brother. Pete decided to let Juliette do whatever she wanted to, and Martha made her the “shadow” of a young Knox, who later, as we saw, became the head of the mechanical division.
Why Was Deputy Marnes Attacked? Is Marnes Dead?
Sims had met Deputy Marnes, and he had tried to convince him about making Paul Billings the new sheriff and removing Juliette from the position. Deputy Marnes would have probably sided with Sims had Juliette not met him before and told him what was on her mind. In Silo Episode 4, Julitte realized that nobody wanted her to be the sheriff, and they were all scratching their heads as to why Holston had chosen her to be his successor. From Sandy to Bernard Holland, everybody looked at Juliette with a suspicious eye, as if she were a creature belonging to some other realm. Juliette knew that she needed to have an ally, and that is why she talked to Marnes after she found him fighting with a man on one of the levels. Bernard was mourning the loss of his beloved Ruth, and he just wanted to find and kill the murderer as soon as possible. He was not able to find any potential leads, and that is what made him even more frustrated. Juliette made a pact with Marnes and told him that she could help him find Ruth’s killer, provided he helped with the George Wilkins case.
Juliette also showed Holston’s batch to him, which Ruth had given to her. The word “truth” was engraved on it, and Marnes realized that Holston had found some potential leads that he wanted further investigated. Marnes might have despised Juliette and would have considered her unfit for the job, but after that moment, he realized that it was necessary for her to be in that position, and she was probably the only one whom he could trust. It’s intriguing how, just after Marnes told Sims that Juliette at least deserved a chance, he was attacked by an anonymous man. The man was hiding in his quarters, and he pounced on him as soon as he entered. The man took Marnes’ gun and pointed it at him. Though we are not shown if he shot Marnes or not, seeing the fervor in his eyes and taking into consideration the circumstances, we believe that he would shoot and kill Marnes. The stakes would have been high, and whoever was behind the attack would have realized that it was imperative for Marnes to be killed so that the secret wasn’t revealed.
At the end of Silo episode 4, Juliette found out about George Wilkins’ missing file. Holston had hidden it from the Judicial and kept it inside his cabin. It meant that Holston also believed that the Judicial couldn’t be trusted. The two people who had an immense amount of faith in Holston were now dead, and it seemed like a planned murder, probably because they were getting close to unraveling the truth or a part of it. Martha contacted Juliette, and she told her that she would need her help with a device that was probably a relic that she had recently found. That device might contain some information that would lead Juliette closer to the truth and tell her who was responsible for all the murders that were happening in the Silo. Juliette also met a man named Lucas, and the way he approached her, it felt like he wanted to say something more. In the upcoming episodes of Silo, we will come to know what his real motive was for talking to the sheriff. There were hints all around Juliette that there was some foul play happening that she and the other residents were unaware of, and in the upcoming episodes, we would see her carrying on her quest to bring the truth to light.
