Severance drops a head-spinning cliffhanger

Well, shit, Mark Scout and Mark S.’s (Adam Scott) reintegration has commenced already. This is a huge turn of events most TV shows might’ve built up to and saved for a wild finale. Instead, Severance hurriedly runs through it in the final few minutes of this season’s third episode. It’s not a complete shocker because this was the only way for both versions to figure out the Gemma/Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman) of it all, but it is a little abrupt as it robs us—and Mark, for that matter—to ponder the consequences of merging his innie and outie. It’s a huge step to bring them together and we get to see how it’ll play out over the remaining seven installments. 

There are no long, heartfelt discussions with his sister or any internal debate about whether he should go through with it. Still, Severance completely sells Mark’s instant decision to reintegrate when he’s vulnerable because it’s well-established that this man runs on (and from) his feelings. Adam Scott has aced the wordless portrayal of grief and how it can numb you, and his character’s tragedy is so palpable onscreen. When Mark couldn’t bear the thought of missing Gemma anymore, he inserted a chip in his brain to help him forget the pain for eight hours of the day. Now, with the possibility of seeing her again, his haste to go through with reintegration is scary but ultimately unsurprising. 

Mark doesn’t question former Lumon employee Asal Reghabi (Karen Aldridge) about whether or not she’s perfected the surgery yet. The last time she operated, her patient Petey (Yul Vazquez) eventually dropped dead. But dying is a better alternative than never getting to see Gemma when Mark knows she’s stashed in Lumon’s grasp. What he doesn’t know yet is that his innie is also on a mission to find the woman he knows as Ms. Casey. It’s out of the goodness of his heart, but, deep down, Mark S. also wants to assure Helly R. that he wants nothing to do with Gemma. (He didn’t buy the ring after all.) Either way, both Marks want the same thing; they just don’t know it yet. 

In fact, Mark S. has a plan to hunt down Ms. Casey, enrolling Helly R. to help him distribute missing posters with her face drawn on them. Just the notion of doing something like that in the workplace is very funny and also telling in terms of the innies’ naivete. Irv’s job in this mission is to face his fear and visit a Burt-less O&D to see if anyone has information on their wellness counselor, but we’ll get to Irv in a minute. Let’s first talk about what is truly one of Severance’s most confounding mysteries yet: livestock, a word referenced a couple of times in season one that grows more and more relevant. (Remember that when Helly R. awoke in the series premiere, she asked Mark S. if she’s livestock. His jokey response: “Do you think we grew a full human and gave you consciousness?”)

The goats have been the subject of jokes, memes, Reddit threads, and theories about why they exist. Are they clones? Were human souls transferred into them? Are they 3-D printed? Are they a metaphor for how Lumon rears employees only for them to mean nothing or have no individuality? The suspense intensifies in “Who Is Alive?” because the goats have multiplied and now live in a room covered in grassy dunes, being taken care of by a horde of people in the Mammalians Nurtable department that’s led by Gwendoline Christie’s mysterious figure.

I’m curious about how long these MN employees have worked here and how it’s affected their mental health because they seem, um, cuckoo. Overprotective of the many goats, they’re suspicious of Mark and Helly. At one point, they ask to look at both of their bellies and are relieved the MDR duo have “pouches.” Christie’s character says things like “We don’t abide by such fripperies here.” What’s going on? Have they been too sequestered from other departments to function? Maybe it’s what happens when you spend your nine-to-five with goats in a fake pasture within four bright walls. These folks become slightly less weird once Mark brings up Ms. Casey, positing what they would do if one of the goats was taken away. Visibly shaken at that prospect and grateful for Ms. Casey’s gentleness, MN agrees to get out of the way. 

It’s interesting that a not-so-silent rebellion is growing beyond MDR. How many departments are down there, waiting to be turned against Lumon? Is this going to turn into a Silo-like uprising? Irving has already secured O&D. He reunites with Felicia (Claudia Robinson) and instead of sticking to his Ms. Casey agenda, he reminisces about Burt (Christopher Walken) with her. This man is so lovestruck. All these years, innie Irv’s goal was to be a moral, hardworking cog in the machine. One sensual forehead touch in a tiny garden is all it took for Irv to recognize the value of a partner and now, bam, that’s gone. Irv roams around Lumon with the kind of heaviness that Mark does on the outside. Loneliness can claw away at you, no matter how hard you try to escape it. 

There’s an innate despondency in Dylan’s (Zach Cherry) quieter outie as well. He can’t keep a job or properly help out his wife with their three kids. He’s surrounded by family and yet he’s alone. There’s unspoken friction between Dylan and Gretchen (Merrit Wever), who go through the motions of a married couple without much of a spark. Instead, Gretchen weirdly bonds with innie Dylan. (It turns out that Milchick wasn’t lying about a visitation center.) Dylan G. meets his outie’s wife, and the two hit it off. Zach Cherry is so, so sweet here, and it’s hard not to be charmed by how earnestly he portrays the character’s excitement. 

Dylan G. has seen love bloom between Irving and Burt and Markand Helly, living with the knowledge that a version of him has it outside Lumon’s doors. Now, he experiences it with Gretchen in a tender conversation about their relationship and sees his kids’ photos. I don’t know if I can handle the emotional gymnastics of Severance turning this into a love triangle between Gretchen and two Dylans. I’m already taking deep breaths about the Mark Scout/Helena Eagan/Mark S./Helly R./Gemma/Ms. Casey dynamic I’m certain Severance will use to hurt my heart. 

Speaking of this bizarro love circle, I remain in awe of the version of Helena that is on the severed floor. At times, like when she’s grossed out by goat poop or when she has to crawl and do any normie things, it feels like this is Ms. Eagan. Then again, only Helly R. would tell Irving “We’ve got you” when he’s nervous about venturing to O&D. Plus, why would Helena allow Mark to go as far as the goat room? However, I think both versions want Mark to give them a smooch, which explains the eager way she looks at him when they almost kiss. (Although, again, whoever it is is quite hesitant to make the first move and we know Helly R. would just go for it). Folks, my head is spinning. 

Perhaps reintegration is the solution to simmer so Mark can find out who he is romancing. Reghabi confirms to outie Mark that there's no other way, dismissing his goal to send his innie a message by burning the words “Who Is Alive?” into his retina using UV rays and a screen. The elevator going down the severed floor dilates his pupils, so Mark can stare at a screen for as long as he likes and the message won't stick for his innie. Those Eagan freaks have thought of everything. No matter, a seemingly new and improved Reghabi begins syncing the waves of his five brain frequencies together so that the chip separates. In a stellar final scene (aided by a pulsating score), Mark’s innie and outie keep swapping places in his head, depicting that the reintegration has likely worked. Cue Petey's voice as he asks Severance's favorite existential question, "Who are you?" Yeah, the wait for episode four is going to be torturous.  

Stray observations 

• • Milchick looks creeped out by Lumon's actions when Natalie gifts him a series of portraits to celebrate his promotion. (The board is “jubilant at his ascension.”) In these paintings, Kier’s face has been replaced to look like Milchick in different stages of his life. It’s so jarring and offensive, even he’s unnerved enough to store them out of his sight. Heck, Natalie looks like she hates those paintings, too, but she just can't say it. 
• • Natalie has been busy. She visits Ricken, asking him to do a version of his The You You Are book for Lumon with verbiage to calm the innies. Devon isn’t too happy about it, but Ricken is interested. 
• • Cobel (Patricia Arquette) briefly returns to Lumon. She demands Helena Eagan give her back the severed floor so she can see through Cold Harbor. Her other non-negotiable is Milchick’s firing. When Helena convinces her to sit down with the board, Cobel leaves Lumon’s premises instead of sticking around. She’s not going to let any pineapple sway her anymore. So if she’s leaving Lumon, where is she going next? 
• • When Cobel is on the snowy roads, she stops at a sign that reads “Salt’s Neck 238 Miles.”
• • Dylan refuses to help Irv find the hallways from the paintings. But Irv gets a clue from Felicia about what those black drawings might be: a path to the Exports Hall, where O&D could previously go to send shipments. Now they send “a guy.” It’s a throwaway line that, given Felicia’s seriousness, probably has more meaning attached to it. 
• • Sure, hall passes are a thing now, but Irving, Felicia, Mark, and Helly have spent a bunch of their day doing no actual work. I support this, but Lumon definitely will not. 
• • I’ll be thinking about Felicia’s reveal that Burt spent two hours doing his hair before going to see Irving in MDR in season one. Swoon.