Severance – Who Is Alive? Review

I’ll admit that this episode of Severance threw me for a loop in a number of ways and left me with more questions than answers – particularly when it comes to the Cobel arc for this season. In fact, I’ve watched it four times thus far, trying to understand just what is going on with Mammalians Nuturable and Cobel’s choice to walk away from Lumon one more time, and I’m still not quite sure what is happening with either of those plot point. That being said, I still loved this episode for the things we did learn – and the steps that were taken to continue to flesh out our core four characters both inside and outside Lumon.

Let’s start with Dylan’s arc, which saw us (and his Innie) meet his wife, Gretchen (the always delightful Merritt Weaver) for the first time in the flesh. For all of its trial and error when it came to keeping Mark happy, Lumon knew precisely what to do to entice Dylan to continue his work and keep out of trouble: Let him learn about his family on the outside. And, even more interestingly, we see that Gretchen truly loves Dylan – despite him being a bit of a screw-up on the outside. But seeing Innie Dylan, who takes such a genuine interest in both her and their kids (in contrast to Outie Dylan, who definitely loves his family but who isn’t the sharpest or most plugged-in family man), seems to have hit on something for Gretchen. Her telling Dylan that she is always proud of him was just beautiful to see – and to see that it is the truth for both versions of her husband, even if the Outie version can’t bring himself to truly believe it, was also incredibly touching. Of course, anyone who has watched television before can see where this might be heading – that would be Gretchen starting to have feelings for Innie Dylan (and vice versa) that aren’t the same as the ones she has for his Outie – which will certainly complicate Dylan’s life (but make Lumon all the more able to control Innie Dylan).

And then there’s Irving, poor broken-hearted Irving. His journey to O&D and conversation with Felicia was healing for a guy who is still reeling from the loss of Burt. It certainly seemed helpful to have someone to chat with who loved Burt as well. (Helly’s show of support seemed just as suspicious to me as it did to Irving, and his team definitely isn’t thinking about Irv’s mental state, so seeing someone genuinely care about him was a nice touch.) Irv’s refusal to show Felicia the Ms. Casey poster was also intriguing, showing us that, like Dylan, he’s got his own agenda that doesn’t necessarily align with Mark’s. Sure, he’s also looking to secure answers to Lumon’s secrets – and he gets some information on just what that mysterious elevator is – but his investigation is one that he’s not going to have to undertake alone. Felicia helping him out, in whatever way she can, is something I suspect Lumon would want to immediately put a stop to. As we’ve seen, Lumon went to great pains to ensure that the various Severed departments don’t interact with one another, so to have two teaming up in this matter isn’t great for them. But it appears that Lumon isn’t listening in on Irv and Felicia – at least not yet. Which means they might have a chance to delve a bit deeper into the mystery of the elevator.

On Helly Watch 2025, her interaction with Irv certainly tripped my Spidey Sense – and Irv’s as well. There’s just something about her and how she’s reacting to things within Lumon that just doesn’t fit with who she was last season. Yes, she’s not the same in temperament as Helena – who remains calm, cool, and collected in the face of Cobel’s demands at the close of the episode – but she isn’t the same person we knew. Irv is definitely suspicious of her, Dylan didn’t seem particularly taken by her story about the night gardener (although he’s focused on himself far more than anyone else right now), and Mark is definitely not about to question her identity at this stage of the game – after all, she’s the only person willingly going with him on his journey to find Ms. Casey.

And, Helena or not, her willingness to trek into the world of Mammalians Nuturable was certainly a choice Helly would have made. Just what that place is – and what the purpose of all those farm animals and handlers (who are . . . strange, to say the least) is to Lumon is one heck of a mystery. I’ve seen a variety of theories out there and the only angle that makes some sense to me is human cloning or reincarnation of sorts. After all, we did originally clone a sheep, so perhaps that’s part of what’s going on here? And with Gemma seemingly dying on the outside yet existing in Lumon, maybe there’s something to the theory that Miss Huang is some version of her as well? But it was lovely to see Gwendolyn Christie as the head of the department – even if her character seemed to think that Mark and Helly/Helena were there to kill her, which is another very dark thing to stick a pin in for now.

Speaking of Helena, I still don’t quite understand just what was happening in that scene with Cobel. Now, I get what was going on on the surface – Cobel trying to make a power move to see just what Helena would do (including stressing that Mark is close to completing Cold Harbor and that Milchick isn’t capable of getting him across the finish line, which might be true considering the creepy paintings he received and his very un-Milchick reaction to them). But what made her turn tail and run? Was it Helena’s driver taking a step toward her to protect her from the perceived threat of Cobel? Was it something else? I’ve watched that scene multiple times and I still can’t figure out just what made her run away. Anyone have theories or am I missing something obvious here?

Finally, we have Mark. Innie and Outie, focused solely on their respective tasks and so in over their heads yet they cannot see it. Innie Mark is like a bull in a china shop, diving headfirst into his quest to save Ms. Casey for his Outie, refusing to take precautions and assuming that he can outsmart Lumon. Of course, he doesn’t see that neither Irv nor Dylan is devoted to the mission – or that Helly might not be who he thinks she is. He just knows that Lumon needs him and was willing to acquiesce to his wishes once, so why wouldn’t they just let him do what he wants now? I’m not sure that’s how it works, Mark. And Outie Mark, trying to send a message to his Innie, asking who is alive (which he learns the answer to at the end of the episode from Reghabi), doesn’t seem to understand that Lumon is tightening the noose around him on the outside as well. This interest in Ricken? Obviously Lumon trying to dig deeper into just what Devon knows – and I’m pretty sure she’s wary and onto them, even if Mark isn’t. And the reintegration? Oh boy, that’s a risky choice to make considering what happened to Petey, yet Mark dives right in all for the possible chance to see Gemma again.

What continues to impress me about Severance is the amazing structure of the series. We get just enough of each of our key characters this week, both in and out of Lumon, pushing their stories along while also letting the characters dictate how the stories move. It’s the perfect example of characters driving story and not the other way around. Each new piece of information our characters learn helps them to grow and change, impacting the story along the way as well. It’s spectacular writing coupled with brilliant acting, all brought together through the excellent direction of Ben Stiller. This is far and away the best series on television right now and it’s not even close.