This week’s episode of AppleTV+’s strangest show includes goats. A lot of goats. Here’s our Severance season 2 episode 3 review.
Warning! These reviews are spoiler-free for this week’s episode but will discuss previous episodes in detail.
Here’s the thing about Severance. Just when you think things can’t possibly get any weirder, things get so much more weird.
That’s saying something, considering the entire premise of Severance includes a controversial procedure – the titular severance – that separates your work self from your outside world self by a very dodgy company, Lumon. Episode 3 of season 2 leans a little more on the sci-fi element of the premise and the mysterious goats are back too. If you’ve never watched Severance, I can understand why you might now be very confused, but also, why are you reading this instead of watching Severance?
Last week, Mr. Milchick convinced our favourite Macrodata Refinement team to return to work at Lumon. They were given special liberties to assure them Lumon wants them there, but little do they know, they’re also working on the secret Cold Harbor project. In fact, Helena Eagan mentions that Mark S. is so close to completing it. Do we find out what Cold Harbor is? Not this week, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Showrunner Dan Erickson and director Ben Stiller have never favoured giving you all the information, instead leaving you little bread crumbs and clues.
Watching Severance is like having an itch you can’t scratch. More specifically, it’s an itch right in the middle of your back that you can almost reach, your fingernail just about reaching the edge of it, but not quite. It’s frustrating, but the ever so slight satisfaction is enough to keep you going. Week after week, Severance gives us just enough to keep us intrigued as the mystery deepens and we question everything that has been told to us in season 1. It’s hard to imagine another series currently on streaming or TV that’s this ambitious and excels at what it aims to do.
But yes, back to the goats. Mark and Helly – more on her in a moment – set out to find anyone who might have an idea of where Ms. Casey or Gemma is. They find the room that once housed goats in it, but find it empty, the goats seemingly having disappeared into a long, miniature hallway. Of course, the rational thing is to squeeze in there and find out where it goes.
Let’s just say they find the goats and then some. Gwendoline Christie makes an appearance as a new character teased in the trailers and there is talk of husbandry tanks. As always, Severance flirts with absurdity, but skillfully toes the line between silliness and seriousness. It’s a unique tone and certainly not for everyone.
Helly, then. I might be proven wrong, but something tells me that might not be Helly we’re seeing in the office. Could that be Helena herself? We saw her watching her Innie self kiss Mark and letting her Innie announce to the whole world that they’re being tortured got her in deep trouble. Perhaps this is her way of either addressing the situation, doing some damage control or maybe she’s simply intrigued by her work self finding something real down there that’s so unattainable for her in the real world?
I’m relatively certain none of our questions will be answered next week, but that itch I mentioned? Well, the episode’s end only made it stronger. I can’t wait for next week’s episode.
Severance premieres new episodes on AppleTV+ every Friday.
