Half of the enjoyable of watching Severance is determining Severance. What precisely is Lumon making on the Severed Ground? The place do Innies go after they die? Why the fuck are there goats? However the newest episode, ominously entitled “Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig,” reveals that one of many characters we’ve been following has a secret significance none of us ever seen.
A present’s protagonist is often the central power round which your entire plot revolves. Up till now, we figured we had been ushered into the world of Severance by Mark S (Adam Scott) as a result of his spouse died, his Outie was struggling, and his Innie was secretly rising disillusioned with work after his greatest buddy Petey (Yul Vazquez) had been unceremoniously faraway from the Severed Ground with out discover. We had been unsuitable, and we should always’ve recognized we had been unsuitable.
On this week’s episode, we get thrown into the Outie world within the moments after the occasions of the Season 1 finale. We see Mark’s crew was really fired and didn’t refuse to return as Milchick (Tramell Tillman) had led Mark to imagine within the Season 2 premiere, Helena Eagan (Britt Decrease) tries to suppress Concord Cobel (Patricia Arquette) by providing her a meaningless advisory position separate of any direct involvement within the Severed Ground, and Lumon goes into full harm management Then, Severance’s greatest thriller is revealed when Helena tells Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), Mr. Milchick, and Natalie (Sydney Cole Alexander) that “we’d like Mark S again to work lengthy sufficient to finish Chilly Harbor.”
It’s on this second we have now to ask ourselves a query we should always’ve been asking because the sequence premiere: “Why is Mark S so vital?”
Not solely is that this the primary time the phrase “Chilly Harbor” has been uttered on the present, it’s the primary time we’ve seen Lumon deal with any worker as indispensable. Later in episode, we discover out that Innie Mark’s forcible demand for the return of his crew within the Season 2 premiere prompted The Board to offer him precisely what he desires. This is similar Board that doesn’t respect a single worker sufficient to indicate their faces or communicate on to them, but now they’re prepared to let a disgruntled worker power them to vary one in all their choices.
As soon as we uncover Mark’s seeming irreplaceability, sure particulars of the present go from missed fodder to clues. Cobel residing throughout the road from Outie Mark and forcing herself into his life was possible carried out to verify he stayed on process. Outie Mark being the one one on the Severed Ground to have somebody near him—his spouse Gemma (Dichen Lachman)—work for Lumon seems to be some type of emotional manipulation, particularly since he specified her loss of life and his lack of ability to shake her reminiscence as causes for him getting severed. He’s the one one of many 4 Innies that broke the foundations within the Season 1 finale to not solely not be fired, however get provided a 20 % pay improve to return.
This additionally offers us a clue into what these persons are really doing for work. On the finish of final week’s premiere episode, we see Mark is 68 % completed with a undertaking known as “Chilly Harbor” that has Gemma’s face plastered on it. If Lumon has no drawback firing and changing his crew at a second’s discover, it’s protected to imagine that no matter they’re engaged on could be carried out by anybody. For some inexplicable motive, solely Mark can end his undertaking, which means there’s some form of connection the employees should the numbers they’re sorting on the display screen. We already know the employees type the numbers primarily based on an ineffable emotional response they should what the screens present them. Mark being the one one who can end a undertaking that seems linked to his supposedly lifeless spouse means the undertaking has some inextricable connection to Mark as an individual.
What that connection is, and the way Mark grew to become such an vital determine to an organization that’s been round for over 150 years, continues to be unknown. Now, determining why Mark S is so vital is the central thriller all of us should uncover, as a result of it possible will unravel your entire tapestry of confusion that’s Severance.
