Bernard Holland may have drawn a record-size crowd for his fatal trip outside the Silo, but it’s Tim Robbins who deserves the standing ovation. And from this looks of this exclusive video of his final days on set, the cast and crew definitely agree with us. Warning: The following post contains spoilers for Silo Season 3 Episode 9, “Farewell.”
As fans of Apple TV’s outstanding sci-fi series based on Hugh Howey’s novels know, Robbins’ previously cruel head of Silo 18’s IT Department has had quite the change of heart in Season 3. Known for his cruelly calculated approach to surveillance and willingness to follow the often-nihilistic directives of the faceless Algorithm, Robbins was a masterful scenery chewer in Seasons 1 and 2.
Apple TV
This year, Bernard entered his Redemption Era after being nearly burnt alive in the airlock with Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson), then nursed back to health in hiding by her resistance pals and his own former henchman, Sims (Common). And it’s been a joy to watch Robbins finally get to play nice with his costars and slyly peel back the character’s harsh shell to reveal a Bernard that borders on almost nice — one that even begins to charm those who once wished him dead.
“Here comes Bernard, who nobody expected to see alive again,” Robbins laughingly told us back when Holland was revealed in Episode 4. “And over the course of the episodes that we have him, their viewpoint changes a little bit. We start to see a softening of opinions about him, especially with Martha. And I, as a viewer, also began to soften towards him because we live in a world where people need to be allowed to change their minds when they’ve been wrong and move into seeing the light basically.”
Apple TV
In this week’s episode — the last hour before the (trust us) game-changing season finale arrives on Friday (September 4) — his new Bernard literally stepped into the light by making a move that even surprised Juliette, the long-running thorn in his side whose devotion to honest justice and protecting the people of the Silo seems to have rubbed off on the ol’ chap. Arrested and sentenced to “clean” outside the Silo by Sims’ callous wife Camille (Alexandra Riley), who is also now his replacement in IT, Bernard orchestrated a meeting with the Algorithm in an attempt to cut a life-saving deal. Unfortunately, his plan failed, but he was able to suss out that the technological entity calling the shots was not, as we all assumed, artificial intelligence but instead an actual person.
Apple TV
Fittingly, it was this interaction and the events that followed — Camille sent the man out into the nuke-ravaged landscape without a protective suit — that allowed Bernard to tap into his own humanity. Not only did he make sure to clue in Juliette to the idea that the Algorithm is basically a post-apocalyptic Oz, but he also faced his fate with bravery, wonder, and an unexpected dash of that grounded Robbins heroism that gave Bernard a redemption of Shawshank proportions.
“And that,” Robbins told us, “is always for an audience, inspiring to see. As you get older, you realize there’s two paths ahead. One is stubbornly holding on to everything you’ve done in the past, saying ‘I was right,’ being an expert and demanding respect…or going forward and saying, “I might not have been right about everything. I can still learn. I can still evolve, and perhaps I can become purer or a better person because I have this humility.”
“I believe that’s the wiser way to proceed in life because I’ve seen a lot of bitterness and anger on the other road.”
Watch the above-embedded clip from behind the scenes of Tim Robbins’ big Silo exit for more.
Silo, Fridays, Apple TV