Juliette was an exceptional engineer, and her love for machines was known to every member of the mechanical division. Knox, the head of the division, respected her and had full faith in her abilities. When the generator, which provided electricity to the entire facility, started having problems, Juliette said that it would have to be mended properly as soon as possible, and she feared that if it completely stopped functioning, then they would have a power crisis and life in Silo would come to a halt. She could touch the machine and tell that something was wrong with it. She had lived her entire life repairing stuff that people didn’t think was repairable, and she had faith in her abilities that she would be able to fix it. Juliette put her life at risk and went inside the containment chamber, where she almost drowned, but she was able to put things right in the end. The common people never got to know what happened in the lower levels or how a few engineers made sure that Silo remained habitable. The people living on the upper levels still had a very condescending perception of those belonging to the Mechanical division. Class conflict is the worst of the vices, and the dystopian society was not spared from it. We got privy to it when we witnessed Sandy’s behavior towards Juliette, who was newly appointed as the sheriff in Silo episode 4.
The people living on the upper levels considered themselves far superior to those living at the bottom. Sandy said that she didn’t stock the fridge even after she was told to do so by the interim mayor, Bernard Holland, mainly because she didn’t know what people ate in the lower levels. Juliette got a bit triggered by the remark, and she told her sarcastically that they ate children there. Sims and Bernard also didn’t want a person from the lower levels to be the sheriff, and in fact, Robbins had already branded her a thief. This bias came from the fact that she was a nobody, and to rise among ranks in such a drastic manner was unheard of before. Soaked in their own superiority complex, the so-called alpha males couldn’t gulp down that fact.
Why Did Holston Choose Juliette As The Sheriff?
There could be multiple reasons why Holston made the unusual decision of making Juliette the next sheriff of Silo. Juliette had told Holston that she had a very strong reason to believe that George Wilkins hadn’t committed suicide but had been killed by someone. George was a conspiracy theorist, and he had a keen interest in finding out more about Silo and what existed in the outside world. George always felt that the administration was hiding something from the common people and that the outside world was not what it was portrayed to be. Juliette always believed that George had been killed and not committed suicide, and the day she found out about the drive in the underground tunnel, her suspicion strengthened even more. Holston was also present with her at that time, and he took the drive and told her that he would inform her if he found anything pertaining to the death of George Wilkins. But Holston never contacted Juliette after that day, and all of a sudden, he made up his mind to go outside Silo and unravel the mysteries that lay there.
It could be possible that Holston might have found something on the drive that would have led him to believe that George Wilkins, his wife, and even Juliette were not wrong in their assumptions and that there were traces of life on the outside. Probably that’s why he wanted Juliette to become the sheriff so that she could keep up with her research and find out more about Silo. One thing is for sure: the judicial and power-holders knew something that they were not telling the residents. When the generator was being repaired, and the backup system was activated, the screen flickered, and it felt like what residents were seeing was a computer-generated image. It might also be possible that the suit that a person was wearing on the outside released some toxic gasses, due to which they died moments after stepping out. Maybe the Judicial didn’t want people to know the reality. There could be many speculations and theories, and that is why Holston named Juliette as the next sheriff so that she could find out about their past and if there existed any other settlement other than theirs on earth.
What Could Be Beyond The Underwater Door In The Tunnel?
George Wilkins had told Juliette that there was a door in the underground tunnels beneath the water that he wanted to find. George, after seeing the data on the drive, realized that the reality they were shown was distorted and that there could be more to their existence. It was a quest to find the past and learn about their roots. The humans had not been inside Silo forever, and because all the data had been destroyed in the great rebellion, they had no means to decipher how life was before the catastrophe struck and the earth became inhabitable. But before George could do anything, he committed suicide or was probably killed. In Silo episode 3, we saw that Mayor Ruth Jahns was also poisoned by somebody, and Deputy Marnes believed that he was the target and not the mayor. So basically, all these unfortunate incidents revealed one fact: there was somebody who was operating undercover and probably had the support of powerful people sitting in influential positions.
Juliette had also tried going underwater and finding the door, but she had no clue how deep it was, and she was a bit scared to go inside. We are of the opinion that whatever lay beyond that underwater door was something that the Judicial or someone else didn’t want the residents to know about. The door could lead to another settlement, as it might be a possibility that there were other people out there, and the Silo was not the only habitable facility. Our suspicion falls on the Judicial solely because of the dubious demeanor of Sims. The man had some hidden agenda, and it could be seen in the way he was vouching for Paul Billings to become the sheriff. Additionally, Holston’s batch that Mayor Ruth had given to Juliette had the word “truth” engraved on it. Probably Holston had gotten to know what was on the outside, and he was encouraging Juliette to keep looking for the truth.
No matter what the general perception was, we believe that there was something on the outside that had the potential to bring about a change in the power dynamics, and probably that’s why people sitting higher up the food chain didn’t want anybody to know about it. Be it the screen glitch, Wilkin’s drive, Holton’s batch, or the hidden door, everything pointed towards the possibility that the residents of Silo were not the sole survivors on the face of the earth.
