*Spoilers for Severance
As Season 2 of Severance continues to unwind, I wanted to discuss it further. Unlike my previous review of the show, I will be discussing spoilers since a lot more has occurred.
Starting with Episode 5, titled “Trojan’s Horse,” the story picks up after Innie Irving’s death in Woe’s Hallow. This episode focuses on how MDR handles Irv’s apparent demise. I think the writers did an excellent job this episode in showing how Lumon handled the events of the previous episode. In the previous episode, it wasn’t just Irv’s death that plagued MDR. However, it was revealed that Helly was actually her outie, Helena Egan, the heir to Lumon. The combined events of both Irv’s departure and Helena’s secret allowed for a good payoff in Episode 5. The employees of MDR are clearly disgruntled and Lumon continues to attempt to brush this under the rug.
We see Mr. Milchick throws a small funeral for Irv in which Lumon provides a watermelon head of the former employee. However, Milchick is criticized for this by his younger subordinate, Miss Huang. Miss Huang states that Mr. Milchick is making the employees feel like Irving was a person, which she insists he was not. This raises more odd questions about Miss Huang’s origins since she is a child working at this evil corporation. One theory that I think is likely here is that Miss Huang is some sort of clone created by Lumon. This would fit into the broader narrative of cloning and consciousness that has been explored in the show.
We also see various events occur in the outside world in Episode 5. One of those events is Mr. Milchick’s performance review. Milchick receives some very unnecessary and picky criticism from Lumon. One of those is how he uses big words and the other is how he attaches paper clips back to front. These criticisms from Lumon highlight their obsessive control of their employees and their authoritarian nature. Throughout the show, Lumon’s odd rules such as the ones highlighted suggest a deeper and darker secret.
Meanwhile, we also see more of what’s going on with Mark Scout’s life in Episode 5. Mark is working with an anti-Severance surgeon named Asal Reghabi to help re-integrate him. However, the process proves difficult and lengthy. Mark ends up suffering from the effects of the reintegration process throughout this episode, as his innie and outie’s memory attempt to blend. Mark also continues to face various family issues. Mark’s sister, Devon, attempts to help Mark escape Severance but Mark cannot reveal that he is being reintegrated at the risk of Lumon hurting his sister and her child.
Additionally, Mark’s eccentric brother-in-law, Ricken, proves easy to trick. Lumon sends their representative, Natalie, to speak with Ricken. This is because in Season 1, Ricken’s poorly written self-help book, The You You Are made its way onto the severed floor. The book sparked a revolution within MDR with its anti-work message. Now, Lumon is attempting to recruit Ricken to write a version for severed employees. They are clearly just doing this to control their employees even more than before. Ricken proves to be opportunistic here and abandons his previous anti-work message. He seems highly encouraged to take the deal to write a new book since it will help him accomplish his dream of being a famous writer. Devon, Ricken’s wife, is upset with Ricken for this and views it as unethical. This raises the question about whether or not Ricken will fold in the coming episodes.
Overall, I thought Episode 5 was really well-written and helped wrap up the aftermath of the previous one. Episode 6 was another excellent episode as well. Mark continues to struggle with the effects of re-integration and it becomes more difficult for him to hide.
Meanwhile, in the office, things are getting intense. Mark and Helly continue to recover from the events of the previous episodes and reconcile their relationship. Furthermore, there’s also some relationship issues with Dylan. Dylan’s outie is lazy and apathetic. However, his innie is much more confident. When Dylan meets his outie’s wife, the two briefly kiss, representing the potential complications in their marriage. The last person to mention in this episode is Irving who is with Burt. The two spend some time in Field’s and Burt’s home, and it seems as if Burt may still be working for Lumon. My theory here is that Lumon is investigating Irv’s anti-Severance work and recruited Burt to help them. The show then switches over to Mark’s house again. The episode ends on an interesting cliffhanger with Devon coming over to his house and Mark passing out after his severance chip is removed. This leads to Mark passing out and us wondering what will happen now. Overall, I’ve been very happy with the show thus far and I think it continues to shine.
