*Spoilers
Since I last wrote about Severance a lot has happened. Episode 7 was one of the craziest episodes yet. We finally got answers to the history of Miss Casey. The episode began with the aftermath of Mark’s reintegration procedure. Reghabi, the former Lumon neurosurgeon, removed Mark’s severance chip. Reghabi and Devon then got into an argument as Devon wanted to call Miss Cobel. This resulted in the former Lumon employee storming off.
Following this, we see Mark undergo a process known as “journeying.” His memories between his innies and outies are blending into one. These culminate in a number of flashbacks throughout the episode of him and his wife, Gemma. Before Mark was a Lumon employee, they both worked at a local college where Mark was a history professor and Gemma was a Russian lit professor. These flashbacks detail their relationship and their struggles in having a child. This results in Gemma turning to a fertility clinic run by Lumon, which seems like an obvious trap by Lumon. Eventually, the flashbacks reach the point where Gemma dies.
In between all this, we see the experiments that Lumon conducts on Gemma. It seems like they are perfecting the Severance chip so people can no longer experience unpleasant experiences or emotions. This is a revelation to the audience since we finally know the point of Gemma’s capture. Lumon is essentially running tests on both Mark and Gemma to perfect the Severance procedure. They were both chosen so that they can see if the Severance chip can suppress the recognition between two loved ones. Additionally, Gemma was chosen to be the candidate to test the chip on. I think that this likely had something to do with the fact that they knew Mark/Gemma couldn’t have a child and Mark’s personality which would result in him working at Lumon.
Overall, the seventh episode was excellent. I thought that the storyline had a good emotional payoff and the acting was top notch. I also enjoyed the usage of film during the outside scenes versus the inside scenes which used the digital camera.
Following this, the eighth episode wasn’t quite as good. It was more of a filler episode overall at 37 minutes but it still had a lot to offer. The episode transitioned to Salt’s Neck, Miss Cobel’s hometown. This is the first time that we saw Cobel since she stormed out of the Lumon parking lot earlier in the season. Patricia Arquette’s acting in this episode was top notch as we learn about Cobel’s history. We find out that the town used to host a Lumon factory, but Lumon has since abandoned the town. Everyone there is now addicted to a drug called Ether.
The episode provides some more interesting reveals such as the fact that Cobel developed the Severance chip. However, since she worshiped Kier, she never received credit for her work. Episode 8 ends with a mysterious truck coming over the distance, likely to track down Cobel.
Overall, both episode 7 and 8 were quite well done. Although Episode 7 was by far the better episode, but the following episode still provided some important context to Miss Cobel’s past. The last thing that I’ll mention in both episode 7 and episode is the quality of the cinematography. Throughout this entire series, the cinematography has been great. The whole show has been beautifully shot with a lot of dynamic camera angles. I think this is one of the things that really helps this show consistently stand out and why it remains one of my favorite shows to date.
