An extraordinary second episode of the second season of Severance on Apple TV+ today -- mostly a prequel to the first -- pushing this season to be well on its way to exceeding the first in sheer ideational power, which is high praise indeed.
[And there will be spoilers ahead ... ]
Severance, of course, is about how the same person can be two people, expressing different emotions, living two different lives. We see this powerfully played in Helly/Helena (fine acting by Britt Lower). Mark's innie is falling in love with Helly, who kisses him in Season 1. Helena the outie turns out to be the daughter of Jame Eagan, CEO of Lumon, and a direct descendant of the almighty Kier who started all of this back in the 19th century (and, yes, there's a Big Love-ish flavor to Severance). Jame shows his appreciation of his daughter by calling her a "fetid moppet," one of the nastiest things I've heard a father call a daughter on a TV show or anywhere else. Maybe because of this, and who knows what other reasons, Helena takes great interest in the video of her innie kissing Mark's. As Milchik tells Mark's outie, the good emotional things that can happen to an innie eventually seep through to the outie.
But this doubleness, if that's a word, is both multiplied and lampooned with Dylan G. in this episode. First, we see a character -- on the outside, pretty high up in Lumen -- who looks a lot like Dylan. That would be Mr. Drummond. Then, as Dylan's outie goes looking for a job, he's interviewed by a Mr. Saliba, who looks so much like Dylan that he (Saliba) even says so. In fact, I thought for a moment that Saliba was being played by Zack Cherry (who plays Dylan) -- same for Drummond -- but it turns out Saliba is played Adrian Martinez, and Drummond by Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (whom I first saw in The Widow a few years ago). So, I don't know, but this had to be deliberate. Or, it could be, at least in part, because Severance's creator and writer Dan Erickson looks a little like Dylan, too.
There's also great dialogue, as always, in this episode of Severance. For some reason -- maybe because I gave a lecture there a few years ago -- my favorite line was delivered by Mark W., who, fired after his very brief employment at Lumon because the company wisely decided to rehire not only Mark S. but all his original innie colleagues, at least until "Cold Harbor" (whatever that is) is completed, Mark W. angrily says, "I broke a lease in Grand Rapids".
And, just to top off this brilliantly entertaining episode, we're given a big hint at the end by Harmony that she may know something about how and why Mark's wife Gemma died. The way Harmony drove away, there's a chance she killed Gemma, or knows who did.
Add murder mystery to the mix. See you back here next week.
See also Severance 2.1: Ultimate Fake News?
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