Review of 'Severance' 2.1-2.2

A thoroughly disconcerting -- and therefore, excellent, because that's what it's supposed to be -- episode 2.1 of Severance, the return of this cuttingly bizarre series on Apple TV+.

First, I really enjoyed the long opening sequence of Mark S. running through the severed hall at the opening of this episode. It was on the extended trailer which I watched a good couple of times, and I enjoy more every time I see it. In part because it reminds me of the halls on the ground floor (I think) of CBS on 57th Street in Manhattan -- I was watching a debate (on TV) there between John Kerry and George W. Bush in the 2004 election, that I was supposed to comment on -- and I stepped out for a moment to get a sip of water, walked down a hall and around to find a fountain I thought I saw when I was coming in, and it took me way too long to get back to the room with the debate. It also reminds me of some hallways in hospitals, which makes it even more unlikely that I liked it Severance 2.1, though I very much did.

[Now there might be a spoiler of two ahead ... ]

As to the story, it was nice and funny seeing Mark S. in a severed room with a new team, including a new old guy (played by Bob Balaban) named Mark W. -- which is why I'm calling our innie Mark S., because you never know, especially in a series like this, when a character like Mark W. will come back. (Actually, that applies to any and all of the characters in this series.)

But it was reassuring to see our Mark reunited with his innie team, and also reassuring to see how much Milchick -- aka Milk Shake -- lies all the time. In fact, it struck me that Severance from the very beginning was a series about the ultimate fake news, about news so fake, it's about your very self and being, split into two, with one not knowing what the other is doing. That's why notes passed back and forth between the inside and the outside hold such power.

And it was good to see Miss Huang, a new character, in the series. She clearly has a lot of importance, and at this point it's possible that she may be running the show. "And a child shall lead them" may be a central part of the story this season.

***

And it was an extraordinary second episode of the second season of Severance -- mostly a prequel to the first episode -- pushing this season to be well on its way to exceeding the first in sheer ideational power, which is high praise indeed.

Severance, it can't be said often enough, is about how the same person can be two people, expressing different emotions, living two different lives. We see this powerfully played episode 2.2 in Helly/Helena (fine acting by Britt Lower). Mark's innie is falling in love with Helly, who kisses him in Season 1. Helena the outie turns out to be the daughter of Jame Eagan, CEO of Lumon, and a direct descendant of the almighty Kier who started all of this back in the 19th century (and, yes, there's a Big Love-ish flavor to Severance). Jame shows his appreciation of his daughter by calling her a "fetid moppet," one of the nastiest things I've heard a father call a daughter on a TV show or anywhere else. Maybe because of this, and who knows what other reasons, Helena takes great interest in the video of her innie kissing Mark's. As Milchik tells Mark's outie, the good emotional things that can happen to an innie eventually seep through to the outie.

But this doubleness, if that's a word, is both multiplied and lampooned with Dylan G. in this episode. First, we see a character -- on the outside, pretty high up in Lumen -- who looks a lot like Dylan. That would be Mr. Drummond. Then, as Dylan's outie goes looking for a job, he's interviewed by a Mr. Saliba, who looks so much like Dylan that he (Saliba) even says so. In fact, I thought for a moment that Saliba was being played by Zack Cherry (who plays Dylan) -- same for Drummond -- but it turns out Saliba is played Adrian Martinez, and Drummond by Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (whom I first saw in The Widow a few years ago). So, I don't know, but this had to be deliberate. Or, it could be, at least in part, because Severance's creator and writer Dan Erickson looks a little like Dylan, too.

There's also great dialogue, as always, in this episode. For some reason -- maybe because I gave a lecture there a few years ago -- my favorite line was delivered by Mark W., who, fired after his very brief employment at Lumon because the company wisely decided to rehire not only Mark S. but all his original innie colleagues, at least until "Cold Harbor" (whatever that is) is completed, Mark W. angrily says, "I broke a lease in Grand Rapids".

And, just to top off this brilliantly entertaining episode, we're given a big hint at the end by Harmony that she may know something about how and why Mark's wife Gemma died. The way Harmony drove away, there's a chance she killed Gemma, or knows who did.

Add murder mystery to the mix.