severance: cold harbor

Hey bestie,

Where to even begin!!! First off, just need to say that the Severance intro is one of the very few I like watching and don’t skip through. I like that it both has clues to the season and is so visually interesting to watch. Even the music kinda goes hard. 

***There will be spoilers just because the episode was released two weeks ago and the internet has been on fire over the ending.***

Well, this episode begins where the last left off, at the Damona Birthing Retreat, and we finally witness the meeting of Mark’s minds if you will. They speak back and forth through recordings, and Mark S. records inside the retreat. When he steps on the balcony, he becomes Mark Scout again. It’s genuinely heartwarming to see how they both smile upon first seeing each other in the recordings. Mark S. at first has a look of wonderment on his face, but that quickly fades. Ultimately, Mark S. has reservations about freeing Gemma, because it comes at the cost of the severance program possibly ending and effectively killing the consciousnesses of all innies. A risk Mark S. is very against taking. It’s interesting to watch them go back and forth, because it really personifies how we all wrestle with ourselves, contradict ourselves, and even struggle to trust ourselves. 

We finally learn that the numbers are essentially the building blocks of Gemma’s mind, and each file completed is a new consciousness. Why? Who the hell knows? Hopefully, we find out next season how this all fits into Lumon’s grand, world-altering plan. We see Mark S. return to Lumon, unsure of what he may or may not do. Dylan G. is back at Lumon as well, after his outie denies his resignation. Mr. Milchick takes him to the break room, so Dylan G. can read a letter his outie wrote to him, and basically goes, “This is awk, bye” and legitimately runs away. I cackled, cause like, why king? The letter is simultaneously unhinged and heartfelt, with Dylan’s reasoning being that he hopes he can become more like his innie. In another heartfelt moment, Mark S. confides in Helly about the Gemma situation, unsure what to do. Helly encourages Mark S. to free her, telling him, “At least you’ll have a chance at living” and…hold my tissue…he says, “Yeah, but I wanna live with you.” WHY MUST THIS WORLD BE SO CRUEL AND UNFAIR?! Also, this is all too much for 9:40 AM.

Mark completes Cold Harbor, and in probably one of my favorite sequences in the series, Mr. Milchick brings in a whole ass marching band, and OBVIOUSLY has his own choreo. I said, “Ok shoulders!” watching this man move, which for some reason was menacing AND kind of sexual? I need Tramell Tillman to get an Oscar for the sole basis of this scene. The marching band and Milchick’s compulsive flair for dramatics provide the perfect distraction for Mark S. to get to the testing floor through the secret dark hallway. Before Mark S. gets to Gemma, though, he has to go through Mr.Drummond, who is preparing to sacrifice poor Emile, a goat with both verve AND wile! Emile is intended to be buried with Gemma after she passes her final test in the Cold Harbor room on the secret floor. 

Since the chip in Mark’s brain only works on the severed floor, Mark S. becomes Mark Scout, who reaches Gemma in the midst of her final test, in which her innie is forced to cruelly build a crib, similar to the one that Mark Scout built before they lost their baby. We get to witness several different Mark and Gemma’s interactions, and truly see Adam Scott and Dichen Lachman’s acting chops. Mark Scout rescues Gemma as one of her many innies, when he pulls her out of the Cold Harbor room, we get to watch the heartstring-pulling reunion between Mark and Gemma Scout. On the elevator, we see Mark S. and Ms. Casey come to life once they reach the severed floor. As they escape and Mark S. sends Gemma (still as Ms. Casey) through the exit doors, the now-Gemma tearfully watches Mark S. close the door behind him. Helly, of course, rounds the corner and Mark S. is faced with an impossible decision: does he leave with a woman he barely knows, or run back into the unknown with the woman he loves? Well, much to the distaste of the internet, he chooses Helly in some type of doomed Romeo and Juliet scenario and we end as they run down the hallways of the severed floor, holding hands, covered in flashing red lights. Personally, I understand the choice and think there’s room for both pairings. After all, this whole season has highlighted the stark differences between innies and their outies. While the innies represent a facet of their outies, their lived experiences are vastly different and unique. The innie’s whole world is Lumon and the people that inhabit the severed floor, so they try to find joy and fulfillment where they can.  That’s what Mark S., Helly, Dylan, and Irving found in each other and are essentially the only family they’ve ever known. 

Cold Harbor gives us some answers but leaves us with many new and lingering questions. What will happen to Helly and Mark S.? What does this mean for the severance program? Are we going to get to see a bad ass team up between, Gemma, Devon and Ms. Cobel to now rescue Mark? Only time will tell and hopefully it doesn’t take two years. Also, hopefully, we get more dance sequences for Mr. Milchick.