Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Severance Season 2.
Nothing inSeveranceis simple. From its very premise, the show consistently gives us things many of us will have never seen or thought about before, such as how love transcends innies and outies, withDylan G. (Zach Cherry)and Gretchen (Merritt Wever) becoming closer and more intimate during theirvisitation sessions at Lumon, as well as how the merging of two persons' memories would affect their perception of time. Somehow, these topics are becoming more complex even 16 episodes into the show, ramping upthe conflicting desires for love between Mark (Adam Scott),Helena (Britt Lower), their innies, and Gemma (Dichen Lachman)in this latest episode, “Attila.”
Severancegives us a thoroughly unsettling meeting between Mark Scout and Helena Eagan as Mark wraps up eating a huge meal at a Chinese restaurant. The motivations behind this meeting for Helena could reveal the multitudes of her character, and not only does the meeting briefly become flirtatious between them, but itcould create a more complicated inner conflict than ever for Mark as reintegration proceeds. With the nuanced dialogue that contains deep subtext, the potential setups for the rest of the season could show darker sides to Lumon than he has previously experienced.
Helena and Mark’s Meeting in ‘Severance’ Has Far More Chemistry Than We Expected
While Helena has been watching Mark leave work in previous episodes, with the showteasing a meeting between the two, it was shocking to see their outies interact so quickly afterward, andthe fact the conversation has any romantic tension is even more surprising. When Mark and Helena flirt at the restaurant, they use rather sarcastic and dry humor to connect. They mention Helena bringing Mark “home to dad” (to which Helena replies that he would be “the first”), which also feels like a reference to the fact that Mark S.’s “first” time having sex was with Helena.
It’s an encounter that also shares similarities to when Mark S. and Helena connected during the campfire at theORTBO. Helena makes fun of theDieter Eagan story by pointing out that it was really about masturbation, but it’s this brutal honesty that Mark seems to find attractive about who he believes is Helly R., hinting thatHelena’s sense of humor and personality are compatible withMark on multiple levels of consciousness. However, an undercurrent of tension keeps the restaurant scene from being a fully romantic encounter.
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“Well, technically it is brain damage.”
Helena’s Motivations To Connect With Mark Scout Are Fascinatingly Complex in ‘Severance’
Lumon enacts multiple plans involving the innies and their outie counterparts in the show’s latest episode, with Dylan G. becoming closer to Gretchen andDrummond’s (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson)infiltrating and snooping aroundIrving’s (John Turturro)apartment. However, it’s fascinating to wonder if this meeting is one orchestrated purely by Helena or with Lumon’s knowledge on a wider level. Her line saying she is “the head of the company” and therefore has full autonomy is false, as we know she was previously forced down to the severed floor when she didn’t want to go. Thispoints to Helena seeking more agency, and that meeting Mark is her own choice, implying a deeper connection was forged than Helena cared to admit between herself and Mark’s innie.
However, the fact that this isn’t a completely positive conversation points to a darker intention underneath a veil of innocence, and it’s something Mark picks up on too. Not only is the moment of their meeting not an accident, but Helena’s misremembering of Gemma’s name, calling her “Hannah,” could be taken many different ways. It’s entirely plausible this is her facade of kindness falling, and that Helena genuinely didn’t know Gemma’s name since she didn’t care. There is the other possibility that Helena knew exactly what she was doing, and was trying to provoke Mark into anger or just unsettle him. It’s a fascinating moment to think about as it could also be Helena trying to minimize Gemma,pointing to Helena being more manipulative in her seduction of Mark.
‘Severance’ Could Create a Love Square That Forces Mark Deeper Into Lumon’s Nefarious Plans
Helena and Mark’s playful banter and Helena’s dubious motivations set up an intriguing situation with Mark becoming reintegrated. If he is being seduced/manipulated by Helena, while his innie falls in love with Helly, while they both look for his wife, this could cause a tremendous amount of pressure on his desires, ashe will have to juggle the connection his innie has with Helly R., hisoutie has with Gemma (Dichen Lachman), and that both of his personalities have forged with Helena. If Mark struggles to focus on his mission of saving Gemma and becomes torn between the three women, who all offer slightly different outcomes that would be best for them, it will be difficult to see how everyone can leave satisfied.
Equally, Mark’s connection to all three of these women could help him with his goals, yet not in the way he’d expect, as with most things inSeverance. If he is looking for Gemma, then getting closer to the head ofLumoncould allow him to discover more about the company, as well as flipping Helena onto his and Helly’s side against Lumon. This would most likely require tremendous sacrifice on his part, asthe dialogue surrounding Mark meeting Helena’s father feels more like teasing for a future meeting rather than a throwaway joke, which could pull Mark deeper into the belly of the beast to get closer to the truth.
Overall, Mark and Helena’s meeting in this latest episode ofSeveranceis a scene we may look back on and realize was one of the most influential of the series, as we get the setups for numerous possibilities. What is clear is that if Mark and Helena’s chemistry continues, it will make his inner desires far more complicated, as his love is split three different ways between Helena, Helly, and Gemma. What is yet to be seen is just what Helena’s motivations are, as they could both be manipulative yet also apart from Lumon’s grand plan.As this love square plays out, it’ll be fascinating to watch how it raises the stakesfollowing Mark’s search for the truth about his wife and Lumon’s purpose.
New episodes ofSeveranceSeason 2 are released every Friday on Apple TV+.
