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Mark S. (Adam Scott) and Helly R. (Britt Lower) in Severance
Apple TV
Season 2, episode 5 of Severance sees the beloved Helly R. (Britt Lower) return to the severed floor, only to feel confused and isolated, as Mark S. (Adam Scott) and Dylan G. (Zach Cherry) are going through something.
Last week’s episode, “Woe’s Hollow,” delivered a major plot twist, revealing that Helly was really Helena Eagan, masquerading as her innie.
Helena was spying on the group, but also living the life she’s always wanted through Helly, finding love and friendship in the fluorescent hell of the lower levels of Lumon.
In the wake of the plot twist, Britt Lower’s nuanced performance deserves praise, as Lower’s rebellious Helly is immediately recognizable now that she’s returned, but Helena’s deception was perfectly portrayed, as her version of Helly was just ever so slightly “off.”
“Trojan’s Horse” marks the halfway point of season 2, and gives the characters some breathing room after the tumultuous events of their camping trip, as they struggle to process their feelings.
Irving B. (John Turturro) has been forcibly retired (but his outie is still around, as we see in this episode), and Dylan is still hurting, demanding a proper funeral for his friend. Helly agrees, but Mark is surprisingly sullen, and wants to leave the funeral as quickly as possible.
Not to mention, he seems deeply uncomfortable around Helly, and still suspects her of being Helena. Or rather, it’s just his excuse to keep his distance.
From Helly’s perspective, she went from ruining Lumon’s press conference to being drowned by Irving, reappearing in the severed floor surrounded by suspicious coworkers—disoriented is surely too soft a word.
In Helly’s last encounter with Mark, the two shared a quick kiss, but now, Mark seems somewhat hostile. She doesn’t know that Mark unknowingly slept with Helena, and he certainly doesn’t want to tell her; however, there might be more to Mark’s discomfort.
What’s The Matter With Mark?
While Mark S. is struggling to untangle his own feelings regarding the Helena/Helly situation, his outie is undergoing reintegration, and the treatment involves mountains of pills and gooey medicine, leading to Mark S. suffering coughs and headaches.
On top of that, Mark is coming close to completing “Cold Harbor,” the unknown task that the higher-ups of Lumon seem to think is a game-changer.
Severance first introduced the seemingly pointless work of the innies as “mysterious and important,” which initially seemed like a parody of dreary office paperwork, but now we know that there really is a deeper purpose to the number sorting.
We have no idea what the task really is, and there’s plenty of fan theories, but the Cold Harbor mission might be affecting Mark on a subconscious level, as the number sorting appears to work through intuition.
While Mark is getting closer to both reintegration and completion of his great task, there’s also a very uncomfortable truth that he seems to be suppressing—he genuinely liked Helena Eagan.
Mark spent far more time with Helena than his coworkers did, and while he thought he was interacting with Helly, this was him at his most flirtatious. The two talked, laughed and became intimate with one another, which surely led to Mark developing serious feelings for Helena.
Mark may have felt a spark of romance with Helly, but he truly fell for Helena Eagan; it was only Irving that noticed something was wrong. Mark didn’t seem to think that anything was off with Helena—if anything, he liked who she was.
This partly explains why Mark feels hostile towards Helly—he’s not just struggling with the fact he was deceived, he’s struggling with his romantic feelings for Helena. Mark probably feels shame for falling for Helena, and grief for losing her (not to mention, all the other strange feelings about Gemma leaking in from his outie).
Thanks to Milchick, Mark now knows who Helena really was, and understands that he has to tell Helly what happened on the camping trip. Helly already feels betrayed and disappointed that Mark couldn’t recognize her outie, but the revelation will only worsen the situation.
Mark’s outie is desperately searching for Gemma, but his innie might just be pining for Helena Eagan. Once the two personalities fully collide, Mark’s complex feelings are going to overwhelm him.
No wonder he just wants to shut down and focus on work—but what will happen when he doesn’t have “Cold Harbor” to distract him?
