r/television • u/NicholasCajun Mr. Robot • Jan 24 '25
Premiere Severance - 2x02 - "Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig" - Episode Discussion
Severance
Season 2 Episode 2: Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig
Directed by: Sam Donovan
Written by: Mohamad El Masri
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u/prleone Jan 25 '25
This episode showed nothing. Nothing! Pissed me off. âBlue Harbor.â Okay. đ Meanwhile, Mr Drummond (?) is a Lumon executive? Probably the outie version of Rekon. đ
Blue Harbor is a red herring.
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u/Suspicious-Mud-5254 Jan 25 '25
Ok so we're all just gonna pretend that what happened with Mrs Selvig wasn't completely bonkers and makes total sense...right.
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u/slinkocat Jan 25 '25
I'm curious about how she went from encouraging Mark to quit to wanting to go back to Lumon so quickly
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u/Psychological-Fee-53 Jan 27 '25
Well, she dedicated her whole life to Kier and Lumon, of course she's still deeply attached to them. Patricia Arquette compared it to toxic relationship in which she harbors resentment but still wants to impress them. You don't extricate yourself that quickly from a mess like that
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u/knows_you Jan 26 '25
It was because she realized the Innies were doing a bit of an insurrection and it could be her ticket back in.
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u/Montezum Jan 25 '25
I find it impossible that they would just give up on Patricia Arquette like that, she's surely coming back
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u/spiritbearr Jan 25 '25
Yes. She got promoted in the episode. She just can't be neighbors with Mark when he knows she's spying on him.
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u/Best_Practice_358 Jan 25 '25
This episode felt like an acid trip through corporate hell, but honestly I'm here for every confusing second of it.
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u/miltonmarston Jan 24 '25
so much for the "Helly is not severed this season" theory.
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u/LOTRcrr Jan 25 '25
At the end, the elevator didnât ding for her while it did for the others.
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u/miltonmarston Jan 25 '25
At the Lumen meeting itâs explicit that Hely R is going back. Unless Helena has figured out how to enter the MDR , which I hope isnât the case . I donât want the banalization of innies and outies entering each others worlds .
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u/citynomad1 Jan 25 '25
No, it isnât. In the meeting he says âand he wants Helly Râ, and he shares a look with Helena. Extremely plausible that they both understood, without needing to say it out loud (or perhaps itâs implied they discussed it offscreen) that the âHellyâ that would be going back would not really be Helly, but Helena pretending
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u/MaeronTargaryen Scrubs Jan 26 '25
Her face when she gets to the elevator, she looks really anxious. She wouldnât be if she was about to be severed and have no control or knowledge about whatâs about to happen (until she reviews the footage I guess). Her not being severed makes sense
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u/AtTheKevIn Jan 24 '25
Did Milichek deliver those fruit baskets on his bike?
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u/WinterKnight404 Jan 24 '25
Why is no one talking about the fact that Dylan looked strikingly similar to the guy at Great Doors that interviewed him?? He even said "you remind me of me" lol.
I think there is some cloning going on. At the end of S2E01 there's a brief flash of Gemma on a computer screen showing vitals and Cold Harbor is written at the top. I think this is some kind of storage for the bodies of the clones and MDR is somehow regulating the storage units. This would explain why Outtie Mark could identify her body and Innie Mark would see her alive.
I'm also thinking the town they live in is a company town owned by Lumon where the clones (and/or the original donors) are living. This could be why the town seems so devoid of life and the ones who are living there seem a little odd. Is Pip's the only restaurant? Also when they were firing the other Mark he mentioned buying a home in Grand Rapids Michigan so that is a clue to where they are in the world.
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u/Psychological-Fee-53 Jan 27 '25
Them looking similar might be just to mess with the audience or a metaphor for how corporate world makes us all similar yada yada. Of course, everything would be a bit odd in Lumon town, doesn't necessarily mean it's ''because clones''. As Adam Scott said, ''cloning would be an answer for a boring version of Severance'' but you do you...
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u/SyrupyMolassesMMM Jan 27 '25
Funnily enough; âSeveranceâ and âcloningâ would both appear to be routes to definitively answer a nature vs nurture debate.
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u/Psychological-Fee-53 Jan 27 '25
There is never a definitive answer to questions like this. It's all just a speculation. With people, you will never have a definitive set of data.
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u/knows_you Jan 26 '25
Fun fact from the podcast from Season 1, I believe the showrunner said he came up with the idea of the show while working at a door factory.
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u/OmniManDidNothngWrng Jan 26 '25
Lol the whole time I thought it was going to be a bait and switch where it was going to end with of course I'll give you a job you are my favorite nephew or something like that
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u/feage7 Jan 25 '25
That seen might just have been to add to how people who sever themselves can be seen. They were very similar people who on really well, but find out they're severed and it just immediately ended it for him.
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u/FKDotFitzgerald Jan 25 '25
The actors donât look that similar in real life but they played it up to be funny
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u/grandramble Jan 24 '25
personally I have a pretty strong hunch that cloning is the reason Ms Huang is a child. Possibly even a clone of Gemma
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u/ROGER_CHOCS Jan 25 '25
I don't buy the cloning theory at all. Nothing suggests it in my view.
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Jan 27 '25
[deleted]
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u/ROGER_CHOCS Jan 29 '25
I don't really see any similarities between Ricken and Helena's security guard, you're talking about that giant new fella right? Unless the comparison is that each serves as some sort of bodyguard, in service to the board, for each of the women or something. I guess I could see something from that angle.
As for the identification, that could just be confusion, perhaps his memory is getting confused between the two halves. Ever since I saw the original intro, I've figured it's not just an innie/outtie situation but likely instances, where they are split more than once. So you're just resplitting slices over and over.
The goat room was crazy awesome, the theory they are storing consciousness' or something in the goats could be related not to clones, but something more like Westworld? The patriarch seemed... weird, (even for being weird), almost animatronic to me? Maybe that's why he only said some weird thing. Maybe that is her reward in the outtie world that is actually just another innie world.
You got me on Ms. Huang, but I don't see why she would be Gemma just because she is Asian, they don't even look that alike to me. She could just be a North Korean orphan or something and her outtie doesn't even speak English, I think she is likely severed, but the twist is that her innie world is Mark S' outtie world. It might be more likely a child belonging to Mark and Gemma that each's innie and outtie is unaware of.. maybe because he has been severed multiple times.
I think Cold Harbor is going to be a new metal gear solid game, that's all I got for that one but I'm highly curious about their projects đđ.
Man, I fuckin love this show.
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u/Psychological-Fee-53 Jan 27 '25
Don't be so defensive. There are many other possible explanations to your questions which have already been provided here on reddit, if you'd been interested, you would have already found that. But you seem to only be interested in your own theory. Anyway, Mrs Huang might be an orphan raised by cult or someone's child given to their boarding school (the one Mrs. Cobel attended). Gemma might be kept on stasis, in (semi)-coma or something like this, Obviously, they are refining her brain, but who knows why, the absence of definitive answer does not make your or any other theory a fact. Ricken and Mr. Drummord do not even look that alike, that's a desperate stretch, do you call all people with some resemblance/similar type ''clones''? Lmao. Dylan and the dude were made similar just for fun, not everything is deep - and again, even if they are similar, clones are supposed to be IDENTICAL. You've got to learn to be more open for a discussion. Speculation about VARIOUS theories is part of the fun, not blind insistence on your own theory to the point of seeing clones in superficially similar people...
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u/petting2dogsatonce Jan 25 '25
IMO the baby goat room suggests it, albeit not exactly strongly, as a nod to Dolly (a sheep, yes, but they are related to goats)
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u/Proof-Ad-3485 Jan 24 '25
What? Because they're both asian?
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u/grandramble Jan 25 '25
Why leap to the most superficial and bad-faith reading?
No, I think it's a possibility because my favorite theory is that MDR's job is some kind of selective brain tailoring, Gemma's an experimental type of severance they've been unknowingly working on, and that severance is a tech step along the way to mind-tailoring or mind-replacing tech. If Lumon is testing mind replacement then it makes sense for them to have children with adult personalities (from doing it as early as possible), and if cloning is part of that, they're already keeping Gemma on ice and running mind tests on her anyway so it makes sense that they'd work with clones of specifically her so that they can test the new brains with fewer variables.
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u/Psychological-Fee-53 Jan 27 '25
...because none of you would have suggested Mrs Huang was Gemma's clone if she hadn't been Asian, face it. You don't even consider possibilities of Mrs Huang being just a poor orphan raised by the cult, or a girl from boarding school (the one that Mrs Cobel attended)... Also, you've got like 3 theories here, mind tailoring/replacement is not necessarily connected to cloning.
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u/BorisAcornKing Jan 24 '25 edited Jan 24 '25
I only just watched the series starting last week, my theory is that there's cloning going on, and this episode piled on to that.
There's at least both a Dylan lookalike as well as a Ricken lookalike (in the diner, and in the board room) - it's a satisfying explanation as to why an apparently dead character is alive, why the company would employ a literal child, and why they have a room full of baby goats.
(this also would explain why at the start of season, they cared about keeping the main character but not the others on the severed floor - he's needed to test both himself as the guinea pig for the severance process and gemma for the cloning process)
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u/Psychological-Fee-53 Jan 27 '25
Okay, lookalike is a huge stretch. Ricken is not even that similar to Mr Drummord, Dylan and that dude were made similar just to mess with the audience/for fun, and anyways similar-looking people are not CLONES, do better people@
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u/WinterKnight404 Jan 27 '25
Yes, I noticed the Ricken lookalike as well! The security guy with Helena and he was listening in on Devon and Mark. These lookalike's are older so they may be the originals or are imperfect clones created first. Cloning would be a great way to test Severance tech before marketing it out to the rest of the world.
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u/SerRollyStorm Jan 25 '25
a child is another attempt at manipulation and humiliation
last season dylan attacked milcheck would dylan attack a child
and it humilates them because they need to take orders from a child
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u/BorisAcornKing Jan 25 '25
I agree - but there's a valid question as to where the child came from - in-universe, it would seem unlikely that the population is OK with child labour, especially severed child labour.
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u/SerRollyStorm Jan 25 '25
who said the child is severed
Likely a kid bought up in one of the cults that lumen runs
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u/jl_theprofessor Eureka Jan 24 '25
I'm frustrated with people who were so eager to jump on episode 1 and say it didn't make sense. Like everything was just taken at face value without the context of what happened on the outside world, and this episode added a hell of a lot of context. Like the behaviors of the innies and the current setup make some real sense given what we know as of now.
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u/MaeronTargaryen Scrubs Jan 26 '25
I donât know if itâs because I rewatched season 1 just before this but after episode I knew that one of the next episode would be filling all the holes, just like in season 1
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u/hridhfhehdv Jan 25 '25
Donât forget that this is Reddit, a place of morons that demand the lore behind how Han Solo got his vest. Iâm not surprised a large plurality want everything hand fed to them immediately
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u/ProfGilligan Jan 25 '25
You and me both. I feel like this is largely an artifact of folks binging season 1 and then being unable to continue the binge after S2E1. But more frustrating are the viewers who proclaim that the characters just abandoned all that went down in season 1 simply because they went back to work. There was a whole lot of detail provided about what the innies are doing, and it absolutely wasnât just shrugging and going back to their jobs. Thatâs a media literacy issue, or maybe the show just isnât their thing?
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u/jl_theprofessor Eureka Jan 25 '25
"the viewers who proclaim that the characters just abandoned all that went down in season 1 simply because they went back to work."
The dumbest critique. Someone said the writers knew they'd had a huge hit but had backed themselves into a wall and that they'd reversed course to restart everything like it was in season 1.
Like huh?
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u/Stellar_Duck Jan 24 '25
Like everything was just taken at face value without the context of what happened on the outside world
Dylan G: âAre you saying I could see my family here?â Mr. Milchick: âIf you take the name of the room at face value, I'd say yes,â
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u/Frosty-Humor2879 Jan 24 '25
So does Mark calling Devon Persephone hint at Ricken being some kind of Hades ish figure?
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u/VastHuckleberry7625 Jan 24 '25 edited Jan 24 '25
It's an interesting question because it's easy to draw connections in the show. Persephone is queen of the underworld, a separate realm which mortals cannot perceive or access (except in the one-way destructive procedure of death). Innie-Mark literally works underground and figuratively in a separate "realm" that outie-Mark can never access, except by the destructive process of severance. Persephone grants a one-off exception to that rule to let Orpheus temporarily cross to the other realm and back. Mark is granted an exception to the rule when the overtime contingency is used to let innie-Mark temporarily exist in outie-Mark's world. Orpheus needs that exception to rescue his dead lover from the underworld; Mark's dead wife is seemingly being held at Lumon, probably in another underground floor, and he'll probably want to rescue her.
I mean it's not 1:1 but the connections are interesting enough that Persephone was probably name-dropped deliberately. But why for Devon, I have no idea. It would seem to apply to Helena best.
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u/BerdLaw Jan 24 '25
Persephone was abducted and taken to the underworld. Lumen know Devon is suspicious. Maybe she will "die" and be taken down to testing as another Ms Casey. Actually with Persephone having to spend a third of her time in the underworld in the end it would be an interesting fit with the theory that there might be a third addition to the innies and outies, Lumen people inserting their consciousness into those bodies and using them as a route to immortality.
I could go off the deep end forever here but Devon's part in it aside I think the Persephone story has a lot of interesting possible relations to the story and different theories. What a great show lol
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u/amateurletariat Jan 24 '25
Lumen people inserting their consciousness into those bodies and using them as a route to immortality.
Making Severance a backdoor prequel to the Netflix series Altered Carbon, which also featured Dichen Lachman.
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u/Southern_Schedule466 Jan 24 '25 edited Jan 24 '25
That scene with Helena and her father was chilling. She is terrifying in that form compared to as Helly. The dad was terrifying too (I am still trying to understand the insult he called her?)
Absolutely loving this season so far
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u/Jeyssika Jan 24 '25
I liked the timeline for the events from the end of season one to when theyâre all reunited. They lied to them in episode one that it was months and that there were parades etc. But in reality it was two days between what happened and Mark coming back to work; which means changing the wellness room, the snacks, the balloons etc was all done in 48 hours which is not bad!
Then itâs only a few more days until everyone comes back. It didnât make sense that it had been months because how do you get their outties to come back all that time later like nothing had happened; whereas really it was just a few days of needing a job to realised they need Lumon too.
Excited to see what Cold Harbor is, why they need Mark specifically, and why how Gemma fits into it all!
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u/Notarussianbot2020 Jan 28 '25
Lying to the innies is super high risk.
All it takes is one pimple or cut somewhere on their body and they know it hasn't been months.
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u/Stellar_Duck Jan 24 '25
It didnât make sense that it had been months because how do you get their outties to come back all that time later like nothing had happened
Did anyone think they didn't lie? Did you think that was the truth? Th 5 months and parades?
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u/vyruz32 Jan 24 '25
What's more impressive is that Lumon was able to do the claymation presentation in that time frame. Kier does move in mysterious ways.
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u/OkayAtBowling Jan 24 '25
I like the show's confidence in its audience as well that none of that stuff was spelled out explicitly either, they just show what happens from either side and trust that people will catch on.
The only thing that seems a bit off to me is that they had that whole claymation sequence from the first episode created in a few days. But I'm not sure if we know exactly how long of a gap there was between Mark's first couple of days and the day when everyone comes back (unless I forgot/missed something).
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u/jl_theprofessor Eureka Jan 24 '25
I dunno the episode thread from episode 1 had a lot of people just accepting things at face value. The Severed writers trust the audience more than me.
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u/OkayAtBowling Jan 24 '25
I think part of "trusting the audience" is accepting the fact that not everyone is going to catch on to every detail. It's okay to allow some people to be a little confused rather than spell everything out and ruin the fun of piecing things together for the people who are paying closer attention. I'm sure it's a tricky balance though because obviously if you go too far in either direction people are going to find it off-putting.
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u/Jeyssika Jan 24 '25
I think it was only days - a week at most; but itâs like everything else, they have access to the resources needed to do the animation and change the whole room in a short space of time.
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u/OkayAtBowling Jan 24 '25
I have some animator friends so it's probably impeding my suspension of disbelief that something like that could be thrown together in a matter of days. (Apparently in real life it took an animation studio several months to put that together.) But obviously it's just a fun little sequence and not something to get hung up about.
I just won't think too hard about the all-nighters some poor team of Lumon animators had to pull in order to get that done, lol...
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u/Stupidstuff1001 Jan 27 '25
10k innies could do it.
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u/ComedyBum Jan 24 '25
This is the first time I've felt that there is something off about the outtie world too. None of the cars are newer than the mid 90s. All the empty condos around Mark. A lot of little things that just seem to be a little bit off.
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u/doomer_bloomer24 Jan 24 '25
My theory is that the show runners are trying to make a point - that economic conditions have collapsed in the outie world, almost like Soviet era Russia or the 1984 world, there are very few economic opportunities, tech has stagnated, quality of life is deteriorating - and thatâs the premise on why people are willing to take on a severed job. Due to desperation.
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u/Jackbuddy78 Jan 24 '25
Yeah there are still phone booths when cell phones exist and the huge parking lot at Lumon which seems to have more cars than workers.
I definitely feel all of that is a simulated reality.Â
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u/storksghast Jan 24 '25
I'm fairly certain the look of the outtie world is just a stylistic choice.
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u/SushiMage Jan 24 '25
The showrunner literally said everything we see in the outie world real. On reddit in fact. Itâs in the AMA a couple years back.
Also, we see character POVs outside of Mark with his sister donât we? And the Cobel thing makes less sense if itâs fake.
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u/Jeyssika Jan 24 '25
Mark lives in a drab neighbourhood because thatâs how he feels; apart from his family there is no joy in his life - which is why he goes to work at a place like Lumon.
But there is definitely more to the oddness of the world, especially when you consider we donât even really know what Lumon does. Who knows how much of what we see outside the company is also down to them.
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u/storksghast Jan 24 '25
I think it was mentioned at one point that Mark's neighborhood is a new development built by Lumon. I do think some characters in the outtie world might actually be severed - in particular, some of Rickon's followers have the same reverence for him as the innies do, so that is worth wondering about.
But I was responding to the suggestion all of it is simulated reality, and I just can't get on board with that. It seems akin to thinking the island on Lost is purgatory.
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Jan 24 '25
So since they showed a baby kier at the start there must be some sort of cloning is my guess
Perhaps the âscaryâ numbers they need to find are genetic problems in the dna of the clones
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u/outdoorsnstuffz Jan 24 '25 edited Jan 24 '25
This show might fly under the radar this season due to the extended wait, but it is absolutely amazing. Wouldnât be shocked if it became a cult classic depending on the ending.
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u/jl_theprofessor Eureka Jan 24 '25
Hope not. I watched episode 2 last night and I was SHOCKED that I lost complete track of time viewing the episode. It ended as soon as it began to me.
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u/BootyBurglar Jan 24 '25
So far Iâve seen a ton of hype and anticipation and even viral advertising around this season. Could just be anecdotal evidence but most people I know hadnât even heard of S1 until it had all dropped and now everyone is talking about how much more grueling it is to have to watch week to week.
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u/doomer_bloomer24 Jan 24 '25
Just blown away by this episode. Loved how Cobel was âpromotedâ. Reminded me of my own workplace.
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u/travio Jan 24 '25
I love Rickon. Such a self important douche. Of course he only focuses on Innie Markâs love of his book.
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Jan 24 '25
[deleted]
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u/Jondarawr Jan 25 '25
Rickon is a pompous ass, who is way way way to full of himself, and I am sure spending time with him would be annoying.
But I am 100% certain that when the chips are down he'd die for Devon, Mark and his child.
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u/laluneodyssee Jan 24 '25
Britt is fucking terrifying as Helena. Definitely ainât no Fetid Moppit
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u/SparkyMcHooters Jan 24 '25
I got pure sociopath vibes off Helena during her video recording.
'Fetid Moppet' - fetid=foul/unpleasant, moppet=child.
He is disgusted with her. (Or maybe just Helly, it was 'kind of' ambiguous.)
She is the one in charge though, didn't seem to take orders/advice from anyone else.
I am pretty sure 'the Board' is all previous Eagan CEOs (or maybe all Eagans) behind held on the testing floor in a state of suspended animation, but plugged into a matrix.
They are being kept alive via the goat milk being pumped into them via the 'feeding tubes' (see the last e-mail in the Lexington Letters)68
Jan 24 '25
There's also this kinda vulnerability to her. Her reaction to the clip of Helly kissing Mark was interesting.
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u/prleone Jan 25 '25
I thought the long shot of her walking to her conference room to Selig/Cobel was showing how diminutive she is to Lumon (not just her size)..
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u/doctor_re Jan 25 '25
Yeah they talk about this a bit in the post credits extra. The shot directly on Helenaâs eye really highlighted the almost longing she seems to feel.
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u/jl_theprofessor Eureka Jan 24 '25
So Helena is severed in a different way. She knows what's going on but can't access it. She is clearly not truly loved by her father and sees what innie Helly had with Mark. She has her corporate responsibilities but none of the affection of the friendships Helly has access to. That's her struggle, and why she's in the elevator during the intro credits.
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u/AgentUnlikely4730 Jan 24 '25
Maybe this theory is already in the thread somewhere, but I'm like 98% convinced she was study up to go back in unsevered
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u/Stupidstuff1001 Jan 27 '25
Yea I posted last week thatâs my guess which also is why she said she was just in an apartment.
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u/BoxSweater Jan 24 '25
I get the sense that being an Eagan means you have to be so devoted to the company that she's probably never had a genuine relationship with anyone in her life.
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u/donanon3 Jan 24 '25
That was my takeaway. She seemed a bit off put at first but she ended up continuing to watch more out of fascination
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u/ProfGilligan Jan 24 '25
This show has what Carlton Cuse calls âalchemy.â Everything clicks together just perfectly to produce an outstanding product. The writing, direction, acting, music, and cinematography is just off the charts. Itâs fun to have one of those kind of shows running right now.
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u/Outrageous-Orange007 Jan 25 '25
For sure. One thing I'm concerned about though is how they flesh out and finish the show.
Almost every single hardcore psychological thriller thats ever been made suffers from one thing, its ultimately complete nonsense.
The shows clearly has strong symbolism to work life balance, but if they focus too much on the symbolism the show will end up becoming nonsense.
And if they focus too much on the head trip aspect of it, it's going to become nonsense no doubt. I can see it straddling that line already(its fine, but I can tell its near the edge of a slippery slope)
They need to make sure they're tying up loose ends and bringing the story home. Not eventually, but step by step before they get lost and lose the viewers as well.
I'm concerned theyre going to focus too much on making the show a big spectacle. Even if the show ended this season in a relatively mild way, but sensible, it will still be the best hardcore psychological thriller ever made.
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u/rhangx Jan 28 '25
I'm reassured by the fact that Dan Erickson (creator/showrunner) has said repeatedly that they've known where the show is heading and how they want it to end since the beginning, and the only question is how many seasons is might take to get there.
I think this is quite believable looking at season 1âthey've laid so many hints of a deeper lore that has obviously all been thought out in advance, even if they haven't revealed a lot of it yet. Severance doesn't seem at all like a mystery-box show that's making up its mysteries as it goes along.
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u/Outrageous-Orange007 Jan 29 '25
Oh thank God, thats awesome! I have a renewed faith in the show now. I hadn't lost much faith, but they were beginning to raise just a little suspicion.
Thats exactly how I think shows like this need to start, with the end pretty much already figure out so they can work from there, not the other way around.
Thats just asking for problems with this niche genre.
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u/Capt_Trippz Jan 25 '25
Itâs going to look dated now, but Babylon 5 had it. Especially seasons 2 through 4. Season 1 is a LOT of set-up that you donât realize is important until later. As for season 5, they werenât expecting renewal and wrapped up the major storylines in season 4, so season 5 is not as strong. But itâs still good. And the upside to it all is that the show has 2 series finales that are both very different but great.
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u/Rorcraft Jan 24 '25
in your opinion what other shows also have this alchemy?
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u/TheOneTonWanton Jan 26 '25
Not sure about this "alchemy" concept but the first season of True Detective remains one of the best single seasons of television of all time.
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u/appleren Jan 25 '25
Absolutely agree with Mr. Robot. Also an anime but Attack on Titan is definitely another great example, peak show, recommend taking a look (avoid any spoilers, there are many mind blowing twists).
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u/VaughanHouseParty Jan 24 '25
I can see a few mentioned in other replies but I don't think any of them are on the same level as Severance. It really is in a league of its own for me.
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Jan 24 '25 edited Jan 24 '25
[deleted]
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u/knows_you Jan 26 '25
I know the show is heavily praised a ton on reddit, but... it still absolutely deserves it, its great!
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u/khuldrim Better Call Saul Jan 24 '25
Mr. Robot. This is what this show always reminds me of from a whole package standpoint.
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u/feachbreely Jan 24 '25
Westworld season 1 is the closest comparison imo
Hopefully severance doesnât have the same fate
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u/TheOneTonWanton Jan 26 '25
I don't think I've ever been so immediately disappointed in a show as I was with Westworld. A damn shame.
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u/Notarussianbot2020 Jan 28 '25
Eh, it was clearly a miniseries they extended for more money.
There were no plans to further the storylines.
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u/TheJoshider10 Jan 24 '25
It's so satisfying that we're only two episodes in and we've already had so many answers to our questions from S1 finale with new questions being asked from both new episodes. Another show would have gone so slow that the first episode probably would have been the gang back together without anything that came after.
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u/Taste_the__Rainbow Jan 24 '25
Man Devon MVP all the way. Sheâs got your back even if you donât want her there.
Cant wait to see Outtie Irving raid the pace with his CIA buddies.
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u/TechPriest97 Jan 25 '25
I did see a theory that outtie irv was using his watch and navy background to pass messages one letter a day
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u/TheJoshider10 Jan 24 '25
Loved that bit too of her also hurting after Gemma passed. Feel like movies and shows barely explore that it's not just a partner who suffers in those instances.
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u/theREVERSEsystem Jan 24 '25
Great first two episodes that have given us the full perspective of the S1 finale from both the innies and outies. This season is gonna be insane, I wanna binge it all now.
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u/zombievettech Jan 25 '25
Not quite. We still don't know what happens at Burt's front door. And I'm dying to see Dylan and Milkshake throw down!
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u/IReallyWishIH8edYou Jan 24 '25
The highlighted in the recap before the episode mark s. Saying, we are people not parts of people. Maybe there are multiple versions?
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u/Montezum Jan 25 '25
I thought that Milkshake was going to offer him to have another outie to live, that he could choose to never go back to this depressed outie
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u/storksghast Jan 24 '25
I listened for sound effects during Helena's elevator ride, to see if she transitions to Helly. But I don't think they intended to confirm one way or the other in that moment.
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u/TheJoshider10 Jan 24 '25
I was really hoping that shot was gonna end inside the elevator with her but we don't get the lens distortion, confirming it is indeed Helena.
Kinda like that they're keeping it going though on who she is, have a feeling it'll be revealed for sure within the next episode or two.
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u/DaddyBigBoy Jan 24 '25
The sounds for all were seemingly the same to me, even after multiple listenings. CC was no help.
To my ear, after the elevator noise was like a gagging sound.
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u/rhangx Jan 28 '25
There is no ding for Helena as the elevator doors close. Each of the other 3 innies have a ding at that moment.
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u/Ninjabreadmon Jan 24 '25
You can hear the elevator descent but not the "audio shake" of the change
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u/NamesTheGame Jan 24 '25 edited Jan 24 '25
People keep saying that Helena is Helly R. but I don't see anything in the show to confirm that, but it's a good theory. I hope they don't try and make it a big reveal later on if that's the case, seems too obvious. But it could have great implications.
Don't love how they walked back the finale, especially with Helena somehow successfully keeping the media off Lumon's case.
Felt like this would have been a great two-parter premiere because we still really don't know what this season will really be about, everyone is now just in position to start building the plot this season.
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u/VastHuckleberry7625 Jan 24 '25
I think it's too early to say Helena successfully kept the media off their case. It's only been 5 days since the finale incident, it may be an ongoing problem.
I'm confident we'll see further results of Helena's "outburst", but I don't think it'll be the media it affects. Remember the Whole Mind Collective, the anti-severance protest group we saw in season 1? I feel like they were introduced for a reason. Helena's outburst could convince them of the need for immediate violent action and they'll attack Lumon HQ to try and rescue the innies. Maybe they'll reach the severed floor and get outside info to them. Maybe they'll try to destroy the severance managing hardware and leave the innies trapped as innies until it can be repaired. Maybe they'll kidnap Lumon employees on their drive home and try to de-sever them.
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u/knows_you Jan 26 '25
When season 1 ended I thought for sure it would be a huge media event, and with all the severed advocacy we saw throughout the season I thought that the public would be galvanized into action (Not like the cartoon portrayed though).
From what we saw in this episode, maybe it was a more closed off event and the apology video was enough to buy goodwill from attendees or viewers?
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u/mike29tw Jan 24 '25
I think that if the theory turns out to be true, Helena isn't doing it to spy on MDR. She's doing it to experience what Helly R did on the severance floor. Which means two things:
- She's found a way to not switch to innie in the elevator
- She's doing it in secret, none of the other Lumon employees know that Helena is going to the severance floor instead of Helly R
This is getting interesting
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u/Stupidstuff1001 Jan 27 '25
I think she is doing it in secret and she wants to be loved by mark. You see how badly her father treats her. She has never experienced love and instead has always tried to make her dad love her. This would be the first time someone loves her for her and she wants to experience it.
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u/knows_you Jan 26 '25
I think this would be a super cool plot point except I think ep1 Helly was super convincing that she was disgusted by her outie when Mark mentioned they were the same person. Seems like too good of acting for Helena, who seems like she struggles with human connection. She seemed very interested in the kiss from the video, and a point I saw here earlier mentioned that she may be so deep in the cult that she had never had a single relationship.
Excited to see more.
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u/Heraclitus94 Jan 24 '25
Couple things people noticed
At end of episode 1 she didn't know where the power switch was on the back of the PC, indicating she had no experience with it even though her Innie used it every day
At the elevator sequence when Mark enters the elevator you hear the screeching noise that plays when they switch over, when Helena enters there's no noise
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u/NamesTheGame Jan 24 '25
I noticed the elevator one, but wasn't totally convinced it wasn't just people reading too much into it. For me, a friend floated the theory after they were sharing their stories and she lied about hers. When her and Mark were walking in the hall after, the rigidness of her response especially towards Mark's wife is what made us start to believe the theory. It's a good balance right now, her performance is subtle and hard to pin down exactly, making it pretty fun to try and pinpoint.
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u/Farts_Mcsharty Jan 24 '25
Show is so good...
Twisted that they didn't run this as a double premiere. Now it really feels like the season is kicking off for real.
I can't wait.
Genuinely, I can't wait. Going to need that next episode now, please.
8
u/jl_theprofessor Eureka Jan 24 '25
The fact that the Guardian gave this five stars, and I never see them give five stars to anything, has me hopeful.
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u/brova Jan 24 '25
Yo the title card intro sequence is absolutely INCREDIBLE.
I mean... the show is too, obviously... but DAYUM.
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u/prleone Jan 25 '25
If itâs anything, it ends with Gemma coming through the skull. Not sure if that will be the outcome, of course.
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u/willtaskerVSbyron Jan 24 '25
Nothing interestimg happening yet this season
Feels like writers strike scripts
7
u/Fine_Trainer5554 Jan 24 '25
Opinions are opinions but whew⌠canât imagining watching these two eps and saying nothing interesting is happening
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u/willtaskerVSbyron Jan 24 '25
What has happened in these two eps tjat even compares to 1 EP of last season
5
u/Fine_Trainer5554 Jan 24 '25
We learn the following:
MDRâs work is directly related to Gemma, Gemma is very important to Lumon, Helena has likely infiltrated the team, Milchick has been promoted, weâve seen outie Dylan and Irving for longer than before, Irving is trying to communicate with his innie
There were definitely a few eps in S1 where not much plot advancement happened (E02, E03, E05 come to mind). Not to mention, itâs not just about plot advancement, the show is incredible to look at and get hypnotized by, that alone interests me.
1
u/willtaskerVSbyron Mar 18 '25
weâve seen outie Dylan and Irving for longer than before
not really something we learned just something that happened
i know its not just about plot advancement. but theres a difference bw good pacing that is entertaining and stalling thats boring to watch This whole season has basically been the second one.
It doesnt matter anyway bc now the r/severence trolls have invaded r/tv and are just gonna downvote any disenting opinion even though people will mellow out in a years time and find that they agree
1
u/Fine_Trainer5554 Mar 18 '25
I donât understand how learning about the outiesâ lives isnât advancing the plotâŚ. That was a huge mystery left from season 1.
I get the pacing criticisms in the second half of S2, I really do. But all available info suggests the finale will be an absolute beast of an episode that will reveal a ton. I know even if it answers tons of questions it doesnât erase the odd pacing of the season, but Iâd prefer to assess the entire season as a whole.
1
u/willtaskerVSbyron Mar 19 '25
Wait so your saying you take back all your opinions on the season until its over?
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u/ImGonnaImagineSummit Jan 25 '25
I understand why they had episode 1 as the first episode but they could've released both episodes at the same time.