Severance - 3 Episodes In...
Episode 3 of Severance Season 2 was a jaw-dropper! From the moments with Dylan and his wife to Mark discovering Gemma is still alive, everything hits hard. The ending left me speechless, and I can't stop thinking about it. 10/10 – Bring on Episode 4!
SPOILERS AHEAD YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
I am no movie journalist. I do not watch that many films or TV shows as a whole, for that matter. Maybe that’s why I should have made Mauro review this, buuuut he didn’t watch Severance, so it’s on me.
Severance is a dystopian Apple TV+ original set in what looks like our universe, in the fictional town of Kier, PE. This is the birthplace of Lumon Industries, a company that developed a highly controversial procedure colloquially known as Severance—designed to sever the memories of employees who undergo it. This way, there are essentially two people: an innie and an outie. The outie and innie cannot recall any memories from each other. The result? The innie is forever trapped within the confines of Lumon. I won’t delve too deep into the details of Season 1 because that’s been covered by so many already. I want to talk about Season 2 and the third episode we’ve seen!
EP 203
Okay, so holy hell. What an episode! I have no clue what Ben Stiller is doing, but if this is just three episodes in, then what the hell is the rest of the season going to look like? Truly jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring, mind-boggling. Let’s break it down.
Okay so holy hell. What an episode! I have no clue what Ben Stiller is doing but if this is three episodes in then what the hell is the rest of the season going to look like. Truly jaw dropping, awe inspiring, mind boggling. Let’s break it down.
The episode starts off with a wide shot of Cobel on a desolate road. She seems to be going (or trying to go back) to her home town of Salts Neck. (Not a real place we checked). This could be a nod back to Season 1 where we learn about Cobels mother and the fact that she was hospitalized.
After that stint, we get… Blackface Kier. Milchik is presented by Natalie and the board with a series of paintings in which Seth Milchik is meant to reflect and see Kier in himself. This may be one of the best moments of the season so far. So much is conveyed just by the way Milchik and Natalie look at each other, knowing they cannot comment on any of it. In my opinion, Milchik looks visibly displeased and downright shocked.
After whatever that was, we are shown the innies as they decide to go on a scavenger hunt and explore the hallways of the building, looking for Ms. Casey—Mark’s late wife. Mark and Helly go out to look for the goat room from Season 1, while Irving stops by O&D. Dylan is escorted to what used to be the security room, which is now where he sees his outie’s wife.
Something about this scene looked vaguely familiar, so after the episode aired, I scrolled through r/Severance only to have my suspicions confirmed. She looks like Pam Beesly. This CANNOT be something they left in accidentally. We know that every detail of this show has been crafted with care and precision, so this has to be a callback to The Office.
I think it’s deliberate that [spoiler] is dressed like Pam Beesly
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Mark and Helly do end up finding the goat room, but that raises more questions than it answers. The goat people all wear green ID tags—the same ones that O&D has—while clearly not being Optics and Design. The people that interact with Mark and Helly act in odd ways, their speech is weird, and their behavior is random.
I did almost cry at the part where Irving and Felicia reminisce over Burt and his departure. It’s clear that he left a major impact on both of them, having worked at O&D for around four years. Irving shows her his notebook of drawings of Burt, but at the end, we can see the elevator drawings he has. This is something his outie has been painting over and over, and it seems that his severance might not have been as comprehensive as Lumon had hoped. Felicia promises to show Irving where the elevators are in hopes of finding Burt.
Last, BUT CERTAINLY not least, Mark’s outie. Oh. My. God. I’ll be honest—the idea to burn a message into one’s eyes with light is great, but it’s quickly shattered by Reghabi, leaving only one option left: reintegration. Mark agrees ONLY after Reghabi tells him that Gemma is still alive.
The first two episodes dragged their feet in an effort to move the story, with a slow burn that I did enjoy, but this much of a jump in the last five minutes of the episode is WILD. It’s been almost a week, and I cannot stop thinking about it. The white ending screen—ARE YOU JOKING?! The words I need to properly form cohesive thoughts about this keep eluding me. I have rewatched that ending maybe 20 times at this point, and I cannot get enough.
All I can say is: 10/10, will watch again, and I cannot wait for Episode 4
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