So the reveal at the end of season one is one of the coolest plot twists I have seen in quite a while. The while show sets up a common trope..... the silo is being oppressed by an oligarchy at the top who is suppressing the people, lying to them that the world outside is still destroyed and hostile. That right outside the door is a return to a green paradise....and we have to throw off the yoke of the oppressor to find freedom.
And then the show completely turns it on its head. The lie is the rebellion, the lie is that the world is fixed....in reality everything is in fact still poisoned outside and the oligarchy is doing exactly what they set out to do....to stop rebellions that will lead people outside and kill everyone.
And so season 2 is just delicious to watch. It recontextualizes the main villain, that while you can disagree with his methods you can understand why he does what he does. And it makes you feel so much for the newly formed rebellion, you want to see them fight for freedom but at the same time knows that leads to doom and destruction, and so its both triumphant and agonizing to see every victory they gain. Just really enjoyable to watch.
That said, there are a few really important "plot holes" that have to be explained at some point to maintain the awesomeness of the show, for either its just one mystery still left to be revealed....or a completely missed plot point that makes everything cool just fall apart. And that is:
Why Can't People Return to the Silo?
At first, it seems trivial when the notion of rebellions pop up.... just have someone go outside, look outside, and report back. The truth is on the side of the government, the world really is messed up.... so why not simply send someone the people trust to go outside. they will certainly come back and say "damn guys, its a nightmare out there.....guess we got to bunker down, for the silo!"
We know that people can survive for a decent enough time with the proper equipment, so it seems a major mistake to not do that.
Now perhaps there is major radiation outside, and so the suits become permanently irradiated and you don't want to return that to the silo. That....seems unlikely as Juliet met with the others with her suit and no one seems particularly effective.....and its not like you couldn't put the suits in some big lead box and just keep them there, or just have someone toss them right back out the airlock.
It would be interesting if there used to be major radiation and that's why the rule was put in place, but over the 300ish years that is no longer true (but no one knows), its still really poisonous outside, but perhaps no radiation.
Still there is explanation to do here, this seems such an easy way to solve your rebellion problems, that the idea its not even been entertained raises an eyebrow.
Why have the Cleanings?
The cleanings represent a MASSIVE risk to the stability of the silo. As we saw with Juliet, someone could make it out and see another silo. Or as what happened in that other silo, a person wrote "lies" on the screen and it jump started a rebellion (or hell they could just mouth it, it seems that those visors you can see through, so could just mouth to the people "its a lie, the rebellion lives!!!"
All of that just to clean a little dirt off of a lens? The founders managed to build a steam generator that apparently has run continuously for 140 years without needing to power down.....an ASTOUNDING feat of engineering (honestly its one of the most unbelievable things in the show tbh....we can't get close to that with current technology. Most power plants today need to shut down every couple of years.)
So they couldn't devise a little wiper system to clean off that lens? You have to be kidding me.
And so it suggests another reason for the cleanings....but what? why take such a risk having these people go outside?
Why have the false image for the cleaning?
which brings up another point...why the fake viewing when you go out to a cleaning, why the lie that it actually is nice outside?
The argument so far is "maybe thats why people clean...to show people the beautiful world".... but that's a paper thin argument. Considering the societal (near cultist) levels of pressure put on people, most people are going to clean....its their last act in the world and we see how people cheer when they do.....most people are going to want to go out a hero if they can. Sure you are going to have some people that say screw it and don't clean....but that's a minority and removing the fake view removes another HUGE HUGE HUGE risk point to stability.
You could argue maybe its a mercy, one last nice thing for the person to see before they die. I could buy that if the government wasn't brutal in maintaining order. Again, there is no room for nice when you maintain order, and so again....the risk seems incredibly high to start a rebellion just to provide a little mercy to a criminal.
