Severance
Credit: Apple
There’s a lot to unpack in this week’s episode of Severance, which sees our innies return from the ORTBO, minus Irving B (John Turturro). Outies get a turn this week as well, with Mark (Adam Scott) continuing his search for Gemma (Dichen Lachman). We get some glimpses of Lumon’s inner working as well, with a conflicted Helena (Britt Lower) still shaken from her near-death experience last week. Spoilers ahead.
The Funeral Of Irving B.
Unsurprisingly, when the innies return from their outdoor excursion, none of them are particularly happy about how things went down in Woe’s Hollow. Dylan G (Zach Cherry) is especially upset with Milchick (Tramell Tillman) over the death of Irving B. They demand a funeral, and Milchick complies, though Ms. Huang (Sarah Bock) warns him that he shouldn’t because he might make them feel like real people. It’s an ominous thing to say.
I also think it’s an important line to think about in light of all the fan theories suggesting that Ms. Huang (and Milchick and Cobel) might all be severed themselves. I’ve never liked this theory, but a lot of people have floated it around. I think it’s pretty clear that these Lumon employees are not severed, that they are true believers in Kier, and I think Ms. Huang’s warning should make that abundantly clear.
Huang also reminds Milchick that he has a performance review coming up, and she says this in the most threatening way possible. Has she been spilling dirt on Milchick to his superiors? After his performance review with Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) it seems obvious that this is the case. Who else would report him for paperclipping things backwards or using words that are too big?
The funeral itself takes place in the new Break Room with its silly posters and welcoming vibe. All part of Milchick’s efforts to be more humane and less like Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette). This is another ding on his performance review. Drummond has lost faith in Milchick’s approach after the disastrous ORTBO, and Milchick promises to tighten the leash.
Severance
Credit: Apple
Still, they have a funeral and it comes replete with a watermelon carved in the likeness of Irving B. It’s comical and disturbing in equal measure. The innies must devour their own friend. It’s also something of a reverse of Milchick’s proclomations at the end of last week’s episode, that Irving B will be erased, as though he never existed. Instead, they memorialize him. He’s gone from all the photos, but Dylan G. gets to make a very nice eulogy. And when the funeral is over, Dylan recalls Irving’s own final words: Hang in there!
And there, on the wall, is a poster with those very words. When Dylan searches behind the poster, he finds Irving’s note: The directions to the Exports Hall that Felicia gave him a couple weeks back. It’s one step closer to Mark S. and company finding the whereabouts of Ms. Casey.
The episode opens on “the guy” that Felicia told Irving about. The guy who comes from the Exports Hall to make/pick up the deliveries. We never see his face. He’s whistling “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot. I suppose it’s a song that fits nicely with the notion of a Cold Harbor. This faceless man and his haunting tune leave us with a strange, cold sense of dread.
Helly R Returns
Severance
Credit: Apple
While Helena Egan demands to go back in as a mole, the Board (and her father, though he’s nowhere to be seen) strike this notion down. Mark S needs the real Helly R if he’s going to complete Cold Harbor in time. We’re not sure why there is this sense of urgency, this ticking clock, but Lumon wants this file completed as quickly as possible. So Helly R is sent back . . . to a cool reception.
Mark S is cold and short with her. She’s confused and overwhelmed by all the stuff she’s missed while her outie pretended to be her. She feels violated by her outie’s actions. Mark S just feels betrayed. Theirs is not a happy reunion. In the end, Helly gets tired of Mark’s cold shoulder and tells him to stop being such a jerk.
Later, after his performance review, Milchick confronts Mark S in the elevator. Mark is defiant and sarcastic, but Milchick knows just what to say. He asks if Mark has told Helly that he slept with her outie yet.
The Slow Reintegration Of Mark S/cout
Severance
Credit: Apple
Many people were confused about the timeline last week, since in Episode 3 Mark began his reintegration with Dr. Reghabi (Karen Aldridge) and then in Episode 4 there weren’t many signs of it. There were some, however, with Helly and Ms. Casey’s faces flickering in and out at one point. This week, we learn that Reghabi has been taking the process slowly, attempting to avoid the bad side-effects that ultimately killed Petey.
But the process continues and makes pretty wild strides at the end of the episode. Frustrated with all of it, Mark begins walking upstairs out of his basement, when suddenly his house and Lumon’s severed floor begin to flicker in and out. He hears the voice of his wife, but hers are not words from the outside world. Instead, he hears Ms. Casey’s Wellness lines. The hall flickers between his townhouse and the cold, flourescent halls of Lumon. Then there she is, staring right at him, the wife he thought was dead. Adam Scott’s acting here is truly outstanding, as Mark stares into his wife’s face, the face of someone he loves but who is clearly a complete stranger all at the same time. It’s heartbreaking.
Burt & Irving
Severance
Credit: Apple
When Irving goes to make another mysterious call at the payphone (I’m not sure who these calls are being made to, but I suspect it has something to do with outie Irving’s investigation into Lumon) Burt (Christopher Walken) shows up again, watching from his car. How he knows to show up at the payphone when Irving is there remains a mystery. Maybe he’s driving by each night, just in case.
Irving confronts him and the two finally have a conversation. Burt explains that when someone shows up banging at your door late at night, you tend to want to find out why. He’s not spying on Irving, he just wants to understand. He says he was let go by Lumon (not retired?) due to an “unsanctioned erotic entanglement” which he suspects was between the two of them. Then he tells Irving about his husband and invites him over for dinner.
It’s a cute scene, but I still get an uneasy feeling about Burt sitting their in his car in the dark, just watching like that.
Severance
Credit: Apple
Other interesting bits:
Milchick asks Natalie (Sydney Cole Alexander) how she felt when Lumon gave her the paintings that replace white Kier and friends with black versions of the same historical figures. She stares at him for awhile before changing the subject, as if he never asked her at all. Milchick’s faith is certainly being tested here, at least to some degree. And while she isn’t in this episode, so is Ms. Cobel’s. I’m most curious to see if Helena, who clearly experienced newfound freedoms as an innie, will lose faith in her father’s company/cult.
Ricken (Michael Chernus) and Devon (Jen Tullock) have their first real tiff this episode also, as Devon expresses her enormous doubts about the heavily edited version of The You You Are he’s submitting to Lumon. The barbs he throws at her are certainly not what we’ve seen from him so far, as he basically asks her if she’s taking the lifestyle he’s provided for her for granted. This, of course, does not go over well with Mark’s sister. I really like Devon. This is the first time I’ve really disliked Ricken.
Hovering above all of this remain mysteries: Cold Harbor is at 81% . . . what does that mean? Why is Mark so crucial to its completion and how does Gemma/Ms. Casey figure into all of it? Is Mark now fully integrated, or is there more work to be done? Who is the faceless man, and what is below the Exports Hall? Where is Covelbig and what game is she playing? And what in Kier’s name is up with all those goats? We have four episodes to go. Hopefully at least some of these questions will be answered.
Check out my previous Season 2 recap/reviews below:
Spoiler-free Full Season 2 review
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