Silo's first season was quickly engaging, introducing elements such as the mystery of the dystopian world outside and the unanswered questions behind the truth of how the Silo came to be. But, where season one was thrilling in mystery, season two has yet to take off. In a series of episodes all about the aftermath of Juliette leaving the Silo, the show has split into two main storylines: Juliette's discovery of another Silo and its sole survivor, "Solo," and the central Silo's immediate response to Juliette's decision not to clean, which offers itself two-fold in a strive for the truth in the form of growing rebellion, and a government's desire to stomp a progressive movement out of the people. All of these elements could have had the opportunity to be very interesting. Still, the slow pacing of the season and the refusal to allow Juliette to return home quickly results in an exhausting group of episodes that still go nowhere, even after five installments.
The decision to offer Juliette her own singular journey is failing on all levels, from intrigue to excitement to interactions with other people. What was the point of taking Juliette from her own Silo when she would not learn anything about the world beyond? While Juliette does pick up on a few details, such as Romeo and Juliet's tragic ending and a warped history and understanding of how Solo's Silo ended up abandoned, there is not much that season two offers Juliette in terms of new information. Maybe this singular adventure could have been forgiven had there been more people for Juliette to interact with or even a location that was not another Silo. Yet, season two's first few episodes have refused to push the envelope in terms of any new significant information, and at this point, the only thing to root for in terms of Juliette's storyline is for her to return to the very place she was kicked out of in the first place.
Reuniting Juliette with the rest of the main characters is season two's only hope for a redeeming ending, as every plot line is dragged down due to Juliette's separation from the rest of the main cast. The mystery of Solo could have been interesting had it not been dragged out, especially as Juliette and Solo are the only two people there, so it is not as if there is anyone else for either of them to bounce off of. Meanwhile, Silo season two strives to make its supporting characters relevant in a world where they must step up when their leading protagonist is off elsewhere, which may be particularly more difficult given they struggled to be strongly remembered as season one's side characters. With the exception of a few standout significant characters, this series is cluttered with side characters that the narrative deems important to reference but not instrumental enough to move up to center stage.
The motivation that drove season one is non-existent in season two, which is frustrating given the severe emotional motivation Silo desires all of its characters in the Silo to have. The drive to uncover the truth that was the main force behind Juliette's journey in season one is not only missing from her storyline in season two, but other than mob mentality rebellion, no singular character has picked up the charge of trying to unravel the truth in a productive manner that gets the story going. Given how Paul Billings had worked so closely with Juliette during her time as Sheriff, he had been significantly downplayed within the season's first few episodes, as Silo chose to devote most of its time to the rising anger among the residents of mechanical and the corrupt government actions of Bernard Holland and Robert Sims. For there to be so many characters with a motive to do something, but for the narrative's pacing to hold them all back has been a recurring theme throughout season two.
As Silo prepares for the second half of season two, the main storyline that needs to occur is for Juliette to reunite with the rest of Silo. Only then will these storylines culminate into plotlines that are moving forward. Until then, Silo's second season is a series of events that never quite get anywhere, even though Silo is determined to try and get something done in its second season. With the remaining episodes left, Silo has to start picking up the pace and offer the thrilling dystopian mystery that season one promised upon its big cliffhanger.