In the Silo books, the silo was built without elevators (for reasons that are spoilers.) Messages between folks who may live and work up to 144 levels apart must be carried by porters, are expensive, and easily intercepted.
In the TV show, these restrictions are revealed by Mayor Jahn’s trek from “Up Top” to “Down Deep” to interview Juliet.
But yup, I agree that too often in books and movies, the entire plot falls apart if the viewer/readers wonder, “Why don’t they just talk to each other?”
Which is why one of my favorite tongue-in-cheek murder mystery tropes is the detective or coroner who politely talks to the dead or is haunted by murder victims.
I get the time limitation of communication there -- although, they have radios. And if I uncovered earth-shaking conspiracy knowledge, I might make the trek ...
They talk about the radio issue too. Radios are all controlled and monitored by the “up top” and (spoiler issue). They make sending a “wire” hugely expensive and porous. And Mayor Jahn? (Spoiler issue) What happens to her addresses the problems with the trek and the time off work it requires.
And asking too many questions about any of this stuff gets you sent out to clean.
Sometimes I'll turn on a show and see a warning: "Some scenes reflect the attitude of the times", or something like that. Certainly not Archie Bunker! Dad made us watch that. Oh, right...
While there we went to a fancy-ish restaurant and I wore shorts. The hostess chased me through the dining room and draped a napkin over my bare legs, and there was a serious discussion about making me leave. I've never felt that attractive since.
I can see that from a pratcical nuts-and-bolts writing POV, and I think trhere are ways to justify the lack of communication (the show does mention that Holston and Nichols aren't exactly in touch after their initial adventure, to be fair). But the show doesn't put anyn effort into that justification, making it a "just don't think about it" moment, which is irritating. To me, maybe no one else!
In the Silo books, the silo was built without elevators (for reasons that are spoilers.) Messages between folks who may live and work up to 144 levels apart must be carried by porters, are expensive, and easily intercepted.
In the TV show, these restrictions are revealed by Mayor Jahn’s trek from “Up Top” to “Down Deep” to interview Juliet.
But yup, I agree that too often in books and movies, the entire plot falls apart if the viewer/readers wonder, “Why don’t they just talk to each other?”
Which is why one of my favorite tongue-in-cheek murder mystery tropes is the detective or coroner who politely talks to the dead or is haunted by murder victims.
I get the time limitation of communication there -- although, they have radios. And if I uncovered earth-shaking conspiracy knowledge, I might make the trek ...
They talk about the radio issue too. Radios are all controlled and monitored by the “up top” and (spoiler issue). They make sending a “wire” hugely expensive and porous. And Mayor Jahn? (Spoiler issue) What happens to her addresses the problems with the trek and the time off work it requires.
And asking too many questions about any of this stuff gets you sent out to clean.
Sometimes I'll turn on a show and see a warning: "Some scenes reflect the attitude of the times", or something like that. Certainly not Archie Bunker! Dad made us watch that. Oh, right...
But at least you woke up in Hawaii.
While there we went to a fancy-ish restaurant and I wore shorts. The hostess chased me through the dining room and draped a napkin over my bare legs, and there was a serious discussion about making me leave. I've never felt that attractive since.
I can see that from a pratcical nuts-and-bolts writing POV, and I think trhere are ways to justify the lack of communication (the show does mention that Holston and Nichols aren't exactly in touch after their initial adventure, to be fair). But the show doesn't put anyn effort into that justification, making it a "just don't think about it" moment, which is irritating. To me, maybe no one else!