TV: Severance - Apple TV

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I think one of the most intriguing unknowns at this point(And there's still so many its honestly crazy), is who has Irving been talking to on the payphone?

I feel like that's going to prove to be extremely significant and I've seen a bunch of theories as to who it could be but there's so many that make sense that its gonna be really interesting to see who it actually is and the significance of it.

The dynamic between the innies right now is also so well done and the way they're incorporating that with Marks reintegration so far has been absolutely brilliant writing and even better acting. I'm fully expecting this series to absolutely clean up at the award shows this year.

Just such a good show. Extremely intelligent writing matched with equally top tier acting is a hard duo to match.

 

[HanSolo]

Love the recap!

Spoiler

I don't trust Outie Burt. Yes, Walken plays him immaculately, and he seemed so vulnerable when talking to Irving. But what if he's just luring Outie Burt to his doom? We saw the death of Innie Irv last week, but as viewers we know his Outie is alive and well. It would be the ultimate gut punch if they killed off his Outie as well, truly killing the character off.

I also wonder why the man from the bottom floor was whistling The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald at the beginning. Foreshadowing of the total shipwreck that Cold Harbor may turn out to be?

Spoiler

I could maybe see that but it feels like there's too much smoke around outie Irving investigating Lumon for him to just die, as a fan favorite character, before anything materially comes of it. I mean he has files on severed employees, he's reporting to someone unrevealed who he's told "my innie got the message" and "they fired me". Personally I think they're working towards reintegrated Mark and outie Irving working together. It. Maybe Burt is an outie spy for Lumon or maybe he hopes giving dirt on him to Lumon will get him his job back, and maybe that will end in severe consequences to outie Irving but I can't eqsee it happening any time soon. Or who knows? Maybe he'll get to close to the truth and have an unfortunate car "accident". If you or others haven't read the Lexington Letter (written by Ben Stiller as a supplement to the show) and don't mind a *little* insight into the Lumon mysteries and a potential hint of why Gemma became Ms. Casey, you should check it out.

As for the song could be any number of reasons, my guess is it's basic doom and gloom. The employee is predicting that everything is going to go to shit for the severed EMPLOYEES. Not necessarily with Cold Harbor

 

[HanSolo]

I think one of the most intriguing unknowns at this point(And there's still so many its honestly crazy), is who has Irving been talking to on the payphone?

I feel like that's going to prove to be extremely significant and I've seen a bunch of theories as to who it could be but there's so many that make sense that its gonna be really interesting to see who it actually is and the significance of it.

The dynamic between the innies right now is also so well done and the way they're incorporating that with Marks reintegration so far has been absolutely brilliant writing and even better acting. I'm fully expecting this series to absolutely clean up at the award shows this year.

Just such a good show. Extremely intelligent writing matched with equally top tier acting is a hard duo to match.

Britt Lower in particular has been outstanding in both seasons. There's subtle differences between Helena and Helly in posture, manner, affect, expressions but there's still a lot that's shared between the two. Helly still has to be performed as the same general identity as Helena just one that isn't under the pressure of being the "ceo in waiting" of a cult like corporation or affected by years of brainwashing that must have come from growing up Eagan.

The way Helena talks about the innies being animals after two attempts on her life is more or less the same way Helly R. talks about her imprisonment as an innie. Just like both Helena and Helly R. are revolted by the idea of their counterpart hijacking their body. Part of that is writing, but Lower's performance sells it so well.

On a similar note, Adam Scott has done a phenomenal job distinguishing between his outie who remains depressed and traumatized by the death of his wife in contrast to the more upbeat and energetic version he brings as an innie. It's interesting because this episode flips the script on Mark. After the Helena reveal, innie Mark is shattered and thinks he can't beat Lumon at their games on top of feeling guilt ridden for sleeping with Helena not knowing the difference between her and Helly. While outie Mark is at least somewhat reinvigorated to push his reintegration forward to try to see/save his wife. I think that makes the last scene that much more significant. To date, outie Mark simply agreed to reintegrate on the reliance of someone's word that Gemma was still alive. His vision at the end confirms to him that his innie has seen his wife, alive, and this reintegration plan is not based on false pretenses.