Comedy
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Disney+’s ‘Skeleton Crew’ has some problems, but overall it’s a return to form, when the galaxy far, far away was relatively safe for the family.
The outside world is no longer an option. It’s a dangerous, toxic wasteland that no one can survive. Or so they say. Now, the Silo is the only hope for humanity.
This vast, underground, self-contained city houses 10,000 people within its worn walls. A place governed by strict rules and regulations for the good of the people. And these same people are doing their designated part to survive and to keep peace.
Except for Sheriff Juliette Nichols.
She should be the enforcer of the statutes of the Silo. She should be the one people come to when they’re seeking the Silo’s confined sense of “justice”. She should be.
And she used to be. But not anymore. She’s seen too much.
When Juliette was a child, her mother wanted nothing more than to help the people of the Silo. She’d create machinery that could do just that, such as a microscope that could look at the details of someone’s heart. She wanted to keep people from unnecessarily losing those that they loved: Given that she had lost a child herself, she knows how painful those losses can be.
But her creations weren’t welcome in the Silo. And after they were confiscated and destroyed—years of hard work pummeled into oblivion—her spirit was crushed. It is said that she ended her own life.
That apparent suicide is something that Juliette remembers but never really wanted to confront. Until now.
Now, she has questions. A lot of questions that need to be answered.
Why were the people of the Silo, primarily tech-leader-turned-mayor Bernard Holland and the judicial branch leader, Robert Sims, afraid of her mother’s creations? Was it just because her mother was a free spirit? Did they have a heavier hand in her death?
And why are people disappearing in the Silo? People like Juliette’s ex-boyfriend, George?
Well, she believes they’re being murdered. Those who’ve gone missing are the sort of people who won’t stay within their doled-out roles. Who won’t take their lot in life quietly. The people who won’t stay silent about the truth.
A truth that will be suppressed at all costs. After all, the Silo always wins, they say.
… So says Apple TV+ with its latest addition to the genre.
This TV-MA dystopian series, based on the novels of the same name by Hugh Howey, is a murder-mystery at its core with a healthy mix of post-apocalyptic thrill.
So far, this show is packed with twists and turns. The first episode focuses on the previous sheriff, Holston, and his wife, Allison, and their government mandate to have a baby (something they’ve been not allowed, and then not able, to do). As the series continues, their story wraps into that of Juliette’s and sparks a question: How did the Silo come to be, and are its leaders as honest as they say?
To answer the first question, it seems that nobody knows about the Silo’s history. A rebellion occurred roughly 140 years prior to Juliette’s appointment to sheriff. And all records of what happened to Earth, how the Silo was built, and all other pertinent information were burned in that uprising. Supposedly. As for the second question, the leaders aren’t as honest as they outwardly portray. It seems they might know what some of those ruined records contained. They listen to their people with hidden microphones and watch them with hidden cameras. And as we learn at the end of Season 1, they have no qualms about eliminating anyone whom they feel to be a threat to the Silo’s status quo.
The world we see in Silo is a cold, heavy one. But it’s nothing like some of the shows out there (such as The Handmaid’s Tale). And although it’s not as heavy as some, that doesn’t make the show squeaky clean.
For starters, we hear a staggering amount of profanity. Seriously. Some of it felt like the writers were bored and needed to fill their scripts. Viewers also deal with some sexual content, but mostly related to conversations about sex (no nudity, so far).
Then, there’s violence. One rule in the Silo is that anyone who wants to leave is allowed to go. However, nobody has survived more than a few minutes outside. They’re given hazmat suits, but the air is so toxic they collapse before they can reach the edge of the Silo’s border. So, letting people go is reminiscent of assisted suicide.
In some cases, it’s also murder. Another rule in the Silo is that once you say you want to leave, you have to leave. You’ll be forced out of the Silo, even against your will, for expressing doubts. And that’s to say nothing for other run-of-the-mill violence actions that result in deaths and injuries.
As far as sci-fi shows go, Silo is much more narratively robust than some, and it makes a lot more sense than others. It has enough mystery and intrigue to keep viewers hooked. Yet, still, that doesn’t make this a show for every member of the family.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Season 2 picks up right where Season 1 left off: Juliette was forced to leave the Silo after Sims and Holland lied that she requested it. However, she managed to survive the toxicity of the air because her friends swapped out the faulty tape used to seal the hazmat suits with functional tape. And after climbing over the ridge at the edge of the Silo’s borders, Juliette discovered their Silo was not the only one.
A flashback shows a rebellion at one of these other Silos. The people there didn’t believe what their leaders told them—that the world outside was uninhabitable. Government officials and soldiers shoot at the rebels with guns, killing several. But the people overwhelm them with makeshift weapons and sheer numbers. A few unlucky folks are thrown off a bridge to their deaths. Later, a woman wipes someone else’s blood off her husband’s face, the leader of the rebellion. He then leads his family and his people to the surface, opening the Silo doors for all.
Upon her own exile, Juliette walks to this other Silo, finding the rotting skeleton of every person who attempted to escape, including the rebellion leader and his family, all poisoned by the air outside. Juliette enters the still-open Silo, hoping to find shelter. Behind an air-locked door, more bodies are found, indicating that not everyone died from exposure. Many, it seems, were killed after the rebellion ended.
Juliette finds the bodies of half a dozen people who were hanged. Juliette nearly suffocates when her suit springs a leak. Luckily, since she’s already inside the other Silo, she’s able to break the glass on her helmet and breath the recycled but non-toxic air. Trying to reach an inaccessible location, Juliette falls from a great height into a pool of water. She nearly drowns since she can’t swim but manages to grab hold of a floating box and push herself to shore. Her arm is badly cut in the process, so she bandages it with strips of cloth. Juliette finds a man hiding behind a bunker door in the Silo. He tells her if she tries to get to him, he’ll kill her.
In a flashback to Juliette’s childhood, she talks about her mother’s death with her guardian. She admits that other children avoided her after it happened. But the woman tells Juliette that she doesn’t have to lie about how it happened. It’s sad and awful that her mother took her own life, but it’s the truth.
Someone talks about the dangers of sleeping on the job in the Silo’s engineering section, describing how one can get scalped if her hair gets caught in the conveyor belt’s rollers. A teen girl is grossed out when someone tells her to drink water until her urine runs clear—a method for staying properly hydrated in the hot and humid conditions.
Juliette smashes a mirror in the new Silo, discovering a camera behind it, indicating that the government here spied on its people just like hers.
We hear the f-word four times (and written out, too), as well as the s-word and “h—.” God’s name is also misused once.
Juliette begins to uncover secrets about members of The Silo that could get her killed; In a flashback, a young Juliette learns, via her mother, that the judiciary branch within the Silo has ulterior motives.
Police officers try to arrest Juliette, but she fights back (we see lots of hand-to-hand combat). A man punches Juliette in the stomach. Juliette’s mother tries to save a rabbit’s life by operating on its heart (we see blood as she cuts open the bunny).
Juliette asks her father why her mother killed herself, and he tells her it’s because the system within the Silo crushed her spirit. An elderly woman is injected with an unknown substance after being threatened.
A married couple kisses.
The f-word is used more than 10 times and the s-word is heard twice. Other profanity includes one utterance each of “son of a b–ch,” “a–hole” and “d–mit.”
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
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