Severance Season 2, Episode 3 recap: Basically one WTF moment after another

If you ask me, the title of the newest Severance Episode — Who is Alive?, the third episode in the Apple TV+ show’s second season — could just as easily have been something like Hey there, you on the table ... is your head spinning yet? Seriously, from Milkshake’s perplexing gift from the board to innie Dylan getting a, shall we say, taste of the outside world, not to mention that hillside-like floor full of goats, this episode had me basically wondering WTF every couple minutes or so. Not that that’s a criticism, mind you; I’m more invested in this series than ever.

Let’s dive in to what happened in Episode 3 of Severance Season 2. Standard warning, spoilers to follow.

Mark tries to get a message to his innie

Mark’s outie meticulously times his morning routine, but as soon as he enters the elevator, his innie takes over. He was trying to figure out how much time he might have to get a message through to his innie — actually, not a message but a question. Remember what the innie yelled to Devon in the Severance Season 1 finale? “She’s aliiiiive!” The obvious question Mark tries (and fails) to feed to his innie: Who is alive?

Inside Lumon, Mark’s innie steps up and prints out missing posters in an attempt to uncover Ms. Casey’s fate. Helly works with him on the quest, but Dylan hesitates when Mark asks for his help — remember, Milchick has Dylan on side, via a perk that no one else knows about.

Image source: Apple

Irving, still haunted by his past, revisits Optics & Design despite Burt’s absence. Helly reassures him, but something in her demeanor feels … off. She and Mark share a moment of understanding, though she seems unconvinced by his simple plan to rescue Ms. Casey.

Mark, meanwhile, is so desperate to get the message to his innie that he tries the drastic technique of “retinal imprinting.” Reghabi, however, intercepts him and, seeing what he’s trying to do, warns him that it won’t work. She tells him that reintegration is actually the only viable option. Aka, the same thing Petey died from. Mark consents to the process, and Reghabi (who still creeps me out and doesn’t at all reassure me that she can do this procedure successfully) straps Mark in, guiding his brainwaves into sync. We see his reality start to flicker.

Innie Dylan meets his outie’s wife

Irving asks Dylan to help find the mysterious hallway from his paintings, but Dylan declines. Before he can explain, Miss Huang escorts him to a newly established visitation suite where he’s granted an 18-minute meeting with his outie’s wife, Gretchen (an oddly specific time, 18 minutes, no?)

Dylan is instantly smitten, though Gretchen finds it odd that he only knows her from photos. She reassures him that his outie isn’t in trouble but that he's struggled to find his place in the world. “My husband has had trouble keeping other jobs,” she tells him. We get classic Dylan snark in reply: “He dumb?”

As they talk, she shows him a picture of their children in Western attire, prompting Dylan to ask if they live on a ranch. He promises to make her proud, but when she tells him she loves him, he awkwardly struggles to respond, highlighting the strange disconnect between innies and outies.

The goats, and Milchick's gift from the board

As Mark and Helly are searching the halls of Lumon, they return to the goat room but find it basically empty. Crawling through a tunnel — and dodging poop scattered around them, as one does inside a corporate office complex — they come upon a strange pastoral floor filled with goats. It seriously looks like a rolling green hillside inside the office, and the manager (Gwendoline Christie) is clearly annoyed by their presence.

Image source: Apple

As weird as this scene is, it gives us two big reveals:

The manager acknowledges that Ms. Casey conducted wellness sessions there before leaving for her (air quotes) retirement. Also, the staff of this department ask to see Mark’s and Helly’s stomachs. They’d been told a rumor, you see, that the MDR team members have pouches filled with larvae. Part of management fomenting rumors to keep the departments mistrustful of each other.

That brings us to arguably the most controversial scene in all of Severance to date.

In appreciation of Milchick’s recent promotion (his “betterment”), the board decides that he needs a stronger connection to the company’s history. The board thus decides to gift him a box of “re-canonicalized” paintings showing various scenes from the life of Kier Eagan — only, they feature a major alteration; Kier is now depicted as a Black man. “Oh my,” Milchick replies, impassively. It’s clear to the viewer, however, that he’s uncomfortable, as is Natalie — even though she insists she found the gift moving.

Image source: Apple

Harmony vs. Helena

I'd be remiss if I didn't also touch on the chilling confrontation in this overall pretty trippy Severance episode between Ms. Cobel and Helena, which takes place in the parking lot at Lumon.

Ms. Cobel confronts Helena, demanding reinstatement at Lumon and control over the severed floor. “I need to finish the work that I started,” she coldly declares, adding that Milchick isn’t up to the task.

Helena, unimpressed, reminds Harmony that arrogance leads to pain. "I think you’ve overestimated your contributions and underestimated your blessings,” she tells Ms. Cobel. Nevertheless, Helena calls the Board to discuss the request. As they approach the building, Harmony freezes and abruptly drives away, leaving her future uncertain. It looked like the driver/bodyguard dude who was accompanying Helena spooked her, but we'll have to wait till next time or longer to get that mystery answered.

The post Severance Season 2, Episode 3 recap: Basically one WTF moment after another appeared first on BGR.

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Severance Season 2, Episode 3 recap: Basically one WTF moment after another originally appeared on BGR.com on Fri, 31 Jan 2025 at 18:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.