Silo‘s biggest questions have yet to be answered, but a few key mysteries were dispelled last season. Juliette saved Silo 18 at the last minute, after discovering the truth about the outside world and Silo 17’s doomed rebellion. Key players also rose to positions of power, and one who coveted that the most is Robert Sims, who wanted access to the Judicial and the IT Department’s inner circles. Ambitious and ruthless, Sims chose the side that served him best, but he had a rude awakening toward the end of Season 2.
The chaos that ensued at Silo 18 created a power vacuum and an unexpected promotion — Sims became Bernard’s new IT shadow. Expecting access to the Legacy, Sims took his family to the vault to escape the uprising, but the Algorithm only allowed Sims’ wife, Camille, inside the vault. Realizing he was not the chosen one, Sims complied, but with newfound distrust in IT. Speaking with MovieWeb, Common reflected on his character’s arc and internal conflict, especially now that Camille has become the silo’s new power broker.
“The powers that be gave that position to Camille and told me to get out of the room. Now you find Sims in a place where everything that he has been believing in his whole life, everything he’s worked for, has been kind of taken away.”
That rejection is expected to drive Sims’ motivations in Season 3, even his redemption. What’s exciting about Sims’ arc is its absence in the novels — he’s a minor character in the books, basically just one of Bernard’s henchmen. The TV series does a great job of fleshing out Sims’ turn from loyal enforcer to disillusioned follower, after realizing he’s just another cog in a machine that’s controlled by “the powers that be.” The show already teased The Founders in the Season 3 premiere, but it has yet to reveal the master silo.
Common said Sims is now hell-bent on finding out the truth about Silo 18’s government — that’s expected to strain his relationship with Camille, who is now head of IT and her husband’s superior. The show has portrayed Robert and Camille Sims as a ride-or-die couple up to this point, both committed to rising the ranks together. However, they have very different approaches to reaching that goal, and that likely influenced the Algorithm’s decision.
Camille proved she had the technical and social adaptability needed to keep Silo 18 in order. Cold, calculating, and straightforward, Robert Sims is effective as an enforcer but incompetent as a diplomat. However, his devotion to his wife and son can’t be questioned, and it’s interesting to wonder how Season 4 might wrap up his arc, and whether he has a part in the show’s resolution.
Common described Sims as an insider who now doubts everything he has come to know as true. Alluding to real-world parallels, he said the same could be said about people’s growing distrust in government — “Once when you kind of recognize like, wow, is everything I’m being told on the news and what the government is saying, is that actually true?”
Silo Season 3 is now streaming on Apple TV+.
- Release Date
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May 5, 2023
- Network
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Apple TV
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
