Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig
Episode 2 of Severance season 2 starts with Mark outside, clutching the photo of him and his wife. Outtie Mark is back in control.
Those over at Lumon are determined to figure out exactly who the Innies have spoken to and clear this mess up asap. Helly’s father is not happy with his daughter, so Helly tasks Mr Milchick with clean-up duties for the time being while she handles Mrs Harmony Selvig. Selvig wants an apology for putting her in this tough position, and after Helly says sorry on behalf of the company, tries to encourage her to head back to work.
Selvig has her own investigation she wants to undertake but Helly has other ideas. She offers Selvig a promotion to the Severance Advisory Council. This is a brand new initiative that she’s going to be spearheading it. In reality, it’s very clearly just her way of pushing her aside, especially when she finds out Milchick has been promoted to Floor Manager.
Milchick leaves work and heads off to see Irving and Dylan, firing them both. As for Helly, she plays damage control and does a PR puff piece, claiming she was drunk at the party and was joking about her Innie being tortured.
Having been fired, Dylan tries in vain to find another job. It would appear that the world has a disdain for severed employees, not wanting to take a chance on these guys. As for Irving, he and Burt continue to circle one another’s worlds but for the time being, there’s not much development being made here.
The wildcard is, of course, Mark. He speaks to Devon and Ricken, who go over what they know. However, Milchick shows up before they can discuss it at length. He mentions how the incident that night is a result of the “overtime contingency”, a plan in place that allows the company to take the Innies out of work for a period of time. Outtie Mark buys all of this as Milchick claims it’s part of the paperwork he signed at the start of this Severance program.
Milchick explains that the Innies commandeered their counterparts for a total of 39 minutes, and promises that Cobel won’t be on that floor in Lumon anymore. He also mentions how they don’t punish their employees but he does guilt-trip Mark into continuing to work, given his Innie’s courage in going to these lengths in escaping. After all, if he quits now all of that was in vain, right?
Mark has made his mind up that he wants to quit Lumon outright. Devon isn’t so sure though, talking to him the following day at a diner. Given how Ms Casey is mixed up in all of this, Mark is obviously still hurt by his wife’s death, and wants to drop all of this and walk away.
However, Mr Milchick shows up that night with a fruit hamper from Lumon, wanting to talk. Lumon are clearly determined to bring him back, offering a 20% raise and regular wellness checks from independent organisations to sweeten the deal. Some of this appears to be Helly’s doing, as she watches video footage from her Innie’s time with Mark. Turns out they’ve been recording everything and she sees the kiss they share.
Back with Mark though, Milchick tries to convince him to continue working at Lumon. Outtie Mark is obviously wracked with pain over his wife’s death, but of course our Innie counterpart doesn’t know all of this. Milchick also brings up that Innie Mark has found love, convincing him that these positive emotions that the Innie is feeling could find their way to him. It’s certainly a compelling argument, and one that sees Mark bite and agree to continue working.
Lumon underestimate Innie Mark’s loyalty to his friends though, as Helly decides to just bring in random new workers. She doesn’t care what sort of chemistry they have, and instead believe they just need to get him to crack on with working on something called Cold Harbor.
Of course, this brings us along nicely to the radio transmission. The Board (and lets be honest here, Helly too) agree to give Mark everything he wants. They need Mark for work and this is the only way they can do it. Given Irving and Dylan seem directionless without working at Lumon, they quite quickly bite at the chance of getting the old gang back together again.
That night, Outtie Mark speaks to Selvig, who starts to drive away from her house. She scoffs and points out that Mark is so easy to sway. “What the fuck is this all about?!” Mark screams, standing in front of her car. He asks about Gemma and there’s a moment where Selvig looks like she’s ging to talk to him… but then she honks the horn constantly and drives off.
The Episode Review
Much like in the first season, details from inside Lumon are given a whole new dimension when we see the world outside those four walls. Simple things like the colours changing from green dominating the aesthetic to blue, right the way across to the cold, uninviting, large locales next to the more confined and cozy office spaces, makes for one of the best production designs seen in a show in quite some time.
As for the story, we get a lot more context now over why Marks’s demands have been met, and this Cold Harbor project appears to be the key to everything. Helly very clearly longs for that proper human connection, and this explains why she viewed that footage of the kiss so much, given her feelings toward Mark.
Speaking of Mark, Selvig could well be the key here to unlocking exactly what Lumon are up to and how Ms Casey plays into that. Was she severed without her consent? What’s fascinating here though is how the wider world views severance.
This is evidenced by Dylan’s quirky job interview with a man who seems like a mirror image of himself. This is clearly intentional, showing where Dylan could have ended up if he didn’t go to Lumon. However, the mood changes completely when he mentions severance, like it’s a dirty black mark on someone’s CV. It’s a small inclusion but it does a lot of great worldbuilding as a result.
The acting is, as always, impeccable and Adam Scott does an amazing job bringing both sides of Mark to this series. The Outtie Mark has a lot of pain and grief he’s working through and whether this Severance project holds the key, remains to be seen. Either way, next week looks like it’s going to be a must-watch episode!
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