Things are really starting to hit the fan in the latest episode of theApple TV PlusseriesSeverance. In fact, it appears that the hold Lumon has had on the company’s Innnies for years is finally fraying to the point of breaking and at least in part, that control is slipping for reasons it usually does. Lumon decided its hold on those who wentthrough the Severance procedurewas far stronger and more dependable then it actually was. It forgot that while the Innies are oddities, they are indeed people who have thoughts and emotions and desires. When the firm allowed the Innies to experience a world that was outside their little office space, they realized that was just part of a bigger world.
Once that larger world was pointed out, especially when it came to Dylan seeing that he has a house and a family, things started to unravel quickly. There was also the fact that Irving found something to live for besides finger cuffs and MDEs. In fact, it’s possible that Irving being exposed to things besides work was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It’s a safe bet that if he wasn’t on board with everything that’s going to happen from here on out, it wouldn’t be happening the way it’s going to happen on theApple TV Plusseries.
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The Revolution Will Be Televised
This episode ofSeverancecertainly starts off with a bang and may actually be the most intense episode of the series since thefirst episodes of the Apple TV Plus series. In fact, it’s not a stretch to say that there’s more action in this episode than in the last few episodes combined. It starts off with Mark meeting the woman who helped Petey reintegrate his Outtie and his Innie. He also finds out that while it seemed as though the procedure was actually quite dangerous, the woman tells him that it was really just the fact that Petey didn’t do things the right way after the operation. Of course, it turns out that if Petey hadn’t done exactly what he did, Lumon might not be on the brink of collapse.
For the first timesinceSeverancebegan, things took a real and violent turn and not in a non-specific way. In doing so, a couple of different times, the audience is getting a real look into what’s at stake when it comes to the procedure and the people that order such a thing to happen. Of course, it’s still not entirely clear why things are apparently as high risk as they are, but the show does a marvelous job in this episode and really throughout the series in making the audience believe that it’s not remotely out of the realm of possibility that what happens, needed to happen.
There’s also a very real sense that things are going to go very wrong, even when there’s no violence at all.Ben Stiller and companyhave done a fantastic job of making things so offputting and weird at all times that even something like Ms. Cobel doing nothing more than showing Mark’s sister how to get her daughter to latch during breastfeeding has an undercurrent that is quite tense. So far, mama and baby aren’t in real danger, but it certainly feels like they’re going to be in the very near future, especially as Lumon continues to lose its grip.
Back at the office, things really start to spin out of control thanks in large part to Milchick being so worried about a card that, at face value, doesn’t mean anything at all. Having woken Dylan up in theprevious episode ofSeverance, the Innie know has at least some idea of what the Outtie world is like. That’s not sitting well with him, and the show does a masterful job of making it very clear why. To Dylan’s Innie, it feels a great deal like the company is taking his son away from him, even holding him hostage. This version of Dylan will never see his son again. It’s one line in the show, but it’s a line that certainly resonates.
That’s not the only line that makes it very clear why things are going wrong. The audience also learned this week that MDR isn’t the only division that hasgone through the Severance procedure. O&D apparently goes through the same thing, since Burt’s Outtie gives him one of the all time best retirement speeches ever seen on television. “I will never forget any of you, even though sitting here right now I have no recollection of ever actually meeting you…” Irving, of course is quite sad that Burt is leaving and as he’s appalled by the retirement celebration makes it very clear why. “You’re all just going to stand here and let him die?” He asks the room. The speech he gives to Milchick is perhaps the best exchange in the series so far. And then there’s the gradual change in Irving’s face as he walks the long hallway back to his own office. Things are about to very much go off.
Innies Aren’t The Only Ones Revolting
While it appears that the Innies are about to stage a (perhaps even violent) coup against Lumon, Outtie Mark is having a bit of a battle with himself. After taking a very big step forward in his personal lifein a previousSeveranceepisode, he takes a big step back in this one. That step back and the reasons for it do a very good job of casting him as an extremely pitiable man even as he kind of acts like a jerk. He’s having some real problems dealing with his new relationship and what that means for his old one. But he’s also having some problems dealing with what’s happened since running in Petey. It turns out that the show does a very good job of blurring the lines and not making it clear at all how much his struggles are due to one factor or another. Because the show ends with the first-ever look at Mark’s wife, as well as the song that’s playing, it seems as though it might be quite important in the season’s final two episodes.
