‘Silo’ Ending Explained: Does Juliette Go Out To Clean? Is The Display A Lie?

Ten episodes into Apple TV+’s dystopian sci-fi thriller, Silo, we still don’t know who built the silo, why everything outside the silo is as it is, or when it will be safe to go outside. But the suspenseful Season 1 finale shows why Judicial is working so hard to keep residents locked away, what really happened to George, whether Juliette goes out to clean or not, and if the dreary post-apocalyptic display of the world above is actually a lie.

Based on books by Hugh Howey and adapted for TV by Graham Yost (Justified, Sneaky Pete), Silo’s first season follows a society mysteriously living underground 140 years after a rebellion. A single display of the world above shows a dreary, uninhabitable wasteland. But when Allison (Rashida Jones), her husband Sheriff Holston (David Oyelowo), and engineer Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) set out to learn if leaving the silo is truly a death sentence, hard truths are revealed and realities are reframed.

In Silo’s penultimate episode, Juliette is on the run from Judicial after escaping Billings’ (Chinaza Uche) grip during a flare-up of The Syndrome. She breaks into Sims’ apartment and temporarily holds his wife and son hostage. Meanwhile, Billings breaks into Juliette’s old apartment, finds and reads the “Amazing Adventures” Georgia book, and tears out a page before burning it. After using Sims’ computer clearance to access the hard drive, Juliette watches a video from George and quickly flees capture again, calling on Patrick (Rick Gomez) and Danny (Will Merrick) for assistance. Together, the three dive into the drive, uncovering a video of the outside world that shows a bright blue sky, vibrant greenery, and birds flying through the air. GASP!

Curious how Silo’s Season 1 finale ends? Wondering if Juliette gets caught and goes out to clean? Or if the display truly is a lie and the world outside is perfectly livable? Decider’s detailed recap of Silo Season 1, Episode 10 has all the answers.

Silo Ending Explained: Does Juliette Go Out To Clean?

Silo‘s Season 1 finale, “Outside,” picks up with Juliette taking in that life-changing image of the outdoors. “We’re being lied to. Everyone has to see this,” she says. Aware they’re being tracked by Judicial, the three decide to relocate to a signal booster on 126 in hopes of linking the damning video to other silo screens. To evade security stationed on each floor, the team travels through the trash chute as a baffled Sims and Bernard wonder how Juliette keeps giving them the slip.

After successfully reaching the signal booster, Juliette and the guys blast the video of a hopeful world to screens and Bernard orders everyone (including Robert, aka Sims) to shut their eyes, turn away from their monitors, and cover their faces. After shutting the entire system down, he tells his team to unsee everything they just saw, but is it too late? Juliette planted seeds of doubt. Now we wait to see if they grow.

Once Bernard realizes Juliette is using the trash chute to travel, he and Sims order a team to toss recyclables down in hopes of knocking her out. As a particularly heavy object plummets towards her, she lets go of the ladder and falls to her possible death. In a twist, her pals in Mechanical rescue her, but Judicial is at Walker’s (Harriet Walter) door to collect Juliette and destroy the hard drive in no time. Juliette agrees to go with Bernard after a quick goodbye to Walker, which starts with Juliette saying, “There are things I need to tell you!” She also agrees to waive her right to a Judicial hearing, so long as Bernard shows her what happened to George.

After Juliette is taken away, Shirley (Remmie Milner) tells Walker, “I wish I talked her out of it…going after that shitty heat tape when I almost ran out. That’s what pissed them off up top.” The comment sits with Walker and she grabs a roll of her high-quality tape before bravely leaving her apartment for the first time in decades. She cautiously makes her way to Carla’s door, who asks, “Is this about Nichols? Is this about that fucking heat tape? That stunt of hers brought Judicial down…Why do they care so much? Your tape is way better than theirs.” Walker agrees and suddenly it’s clear. “It doesn’t make any sense,” she says. “Unless it does.”

Before sending Juliette out to clean, Bernard brings her to the surveillance room and shows footage of George the day he died. George deliberately stopped in front of a camera, announced he would be tortured to give up the hard drive, then smiled straight into the camera, crossed his arms over his chest, and fell backward off the railing on purpose. Juliette reflects on the newfound closure behind bars as her loved ones come and say their goodbyes. A case of sensor wool tape is brought in for Juliette’s suit, and Shirley brings her a box of treats with a note from Walker that reads, “You wanted the truth. The truth is I love you. Have no fear. They’re in good supply.”

So Is The Display A Lie? And What Does “They’re In Good Supply” Mean?

After all his cooperation, Bernard brings Lukas (Avi Nash) into his office and sentences him to 10 years in the mines. He then examines the smashed hard drive at his desk, removing a still intact disc inside and keeping it. Hmmm… And back at home, Billings tells his wife that Sims knows he has The Syndrome, but Judicial is granting him an exception. HMMM…

With minutes left until the big event, Bernard takes a moment with Juliette and reveals her parents weren’t supposed to have children. “You’ve been of great service to the silo, but once you became sheriff and started looking into Wilkins’ death you became a mortal threat to our survival,” he says. “You know the display is a lie, so why don’t you just tell people it’s OK to go outside?” Juliette questions. “And how about the door? The massive door made of steel at the bottom of the silo that George found? Why don’t you tell people about that.” Bernard looks confused when he hears about the door, but he ultimately says the silo’s founders left them with many mysteries and honors her last request by giving her Sheriff Holston’s badge before she goes.

As the biggest cleaning crowd (including Walker, Dr. Nichols, and Mechanical) gathers to watch Juliette leave the silo, her suit is fitted and her arms and legs are secured with heat tape. Bernard gives his same old spiel, stressing that they don’t know why they’re in the silo or when it will be safe to leave, and Juliette gives her last words: “I’m not afraid.” When she exits the silo she sees the same picturesque, colorful world from the hard drive video (birds in formation and all), without Allison or Holston’s bodies in sight. She walks up to the silo’s camera, holds her cleaning rag out, and drops it on the ground in a final act of rebellion.

All seems swell, but Bernard assures Sims Juliette will be dead before she reaches the tree. Like those before her, she falls to the ground right on time. But we quickly realize it’s not because she’s in physical distress. She tripped over an object that’s invisible to her, but very clearly seen through the silo’s window as Holston’s body. She bends down to the ground and feels around, triggering a simulation glitch in the picturesque helmet display she hoped would be real. A panicked Bernard says, “SHE KNOWS,” and even Sims is in the dark because by the time he looks over at Bernard, the man of many secrets is already sprinting to the server room.

Now fully aware Sheriff Hoston’s body is beneath her (even though she can’t see it), Juliette lays his badge on him and keeps moving forward. Taking the deaths in and wondering why she, too, hasn’t dropped to the ground yet, she looks at the tape on her suit and repeats the line from Walker’s note: “They’re good in supply.” Walker ensured her suit was fitted with her high-quality heat tape, and in the end, it saved her life. As Juliette reaches the top of the hill and looks out at a lush grassy meadow, flowers, trees, and birds, Bernard reaches the server room, opens his “18” key, and disables Juliette’s beautiful display, revealing everyone’s biggest fear. The desolate, barren world seen from inside the silo is, in fact, reality. And with a city far in the distance and dirt and dead bodies surrounding her, Juliette has no choice but to keep walking. As the camera pans, we see the ground before her is full of other silo entrances, and somehow we’re left with even more questions than when we began.

Bernard was telling the truth, and the world outside the silo was unsafe all along? How long can Juliette survive in that suit? Where does she go from here? What’s the deal with all those other silo entrances? And what about the door George was talking about? Does it lead to another silo? We need Season 2 ASAP, Apple TV+!

SIlo is now streaming on Apple TV+.