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This Week’s ‘Severance’ Was Nuts

By Kaleena Rivera | TV | February 1, 2025 |

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Header Image Source: Apple TV+

Back in 2017, stunned by Donald Trump Jr.’s clumsy admission of working with the Russians for political gain, journalist Jared Yates Sexton had a viral moment after he tweeted, “I…worked on this story for a year…and…he just…he tweeted it out.” His baffled response became an instant meme, humorously repurposed for an endless number of joke tweets. I haven’t had cause to think of that bit of online ephemera in years, but it ran through my head like a freight train during this week’s episode, when Dr. Asal Reghabi (Karen Aldridge), with no lead-up, casually dropped the bomb on Mark: “Did he [Innie Mark] tell her [Devon] your wife is alive at Lumon?”

“She just … said it …” I gaped. “All this suspense and … she just said it.”

In what was already a whopper of an episode (more on that shortly), it finished not just with Mark finding out this earth-shattering secret, but with him attempting the reintegration process and it works. This is, of course, an assumption here, because as we saw with poor Petey (Yul Vazquez) last season, this is a faulty prospect at best. Judging by Mark’s recklessly fast agreement to undergo the procedure, death might be an acceptable price when it comes to Gemma.

Meanwhile, Innie Mark’s mission to find Ms. Casey took him and Helly into the strangest department we’ve encountered at Lumon yet. We barely have the luxury of appreciating the juxtaposition of emerald green mounds of earth against the medical theater-bright ceiling lights before The Office meets The Children of the Corn appear, led by a name-has-yet-to-be-revealed Gwendoline Christie as an alarmingly imposing middle manager in charge of Mammalians Nurturable. The existence of this department gives us a bit of insight into the fate of the goats we encountered last season, but it brings another good dozen or so new questions to the fore, chief among them being what they’re capable of; the way they menacingly surrounded Mark and Helly (still unsure if she’s Helena!) implied that they knew a place or two where a body could easily be stored (which invites the question: if the violent coup in season one did occur, whether inter-departmental or O&D/MDR working together against Lumon, how would employee deaths be dealt with?).

Severance is no stranger to menace, as demonstrated by Tramell Tillman’s Milchick nearly every time he’s onscreen, or the perpetually smiling Natalie (Sidney Cole Alexander) for that matter—speaking of which, that “re-canonicalized paintings” scene is, in many ways, the craziest moment in the entire episode, thanks to the unhinged Eagan mythos and racial issues layered together to create the world’s worst workplace gift, along with Tillman and Alexander’s combined performance—one of the scariest moments of the hour was when Cobel came to realize her true value to the company. What’s stunning about that parking lot scene is that it’s a danger that’s entirely unadvertised, with Cobel’s cold vindication giving way to unease in mere seconds, the suspicion confirmed only by Helena’s security taking one simple step forward. Despite Helena’s frosty serenity, when Cobel’s Volkswagen speeds out of that parking lot (much praise for Ben Stiller’s capability as a director), there’s little doubt that she just saved her own life.

Several massive developments have happened early enough that whatever possibilities that could potentially occur over the rest of the season have been blown wide open. After Cobel’s frightening moment—though it still doesn’t beat the horror film-esque jumpscare I received in the scene that immediately followed, when Mark opened his eyes to the unexpected view of Asal on the hood of his car—her commitment to her hybrid career/religion/worldview surely has to be damaged beyond repair. After her short-lived moment of sympathy for Mark last week, there may be a chance for her to aid him in his quest as a means of setting fire to the whole evil venture. This isn’t even taking into account the complexity of Dylan’s entanglement with his outie’s world by way of his visit with Gretchen (Merritt Wever) and the way she perceives her husband (raise a hand if you were positive Gretchen was a fake wife for several minutes), Irv’s return to O&D, and Lumon spinning their web around Devon by way of her husband. I can venture no other guesses as to what might happen over the next few episodes, but I know for sure that whatever it is, I’m fully unprepared.

Kaleena Rivera is the TV Editor for Pajiba. She can be found on Bluesky here.