Severance season 2 episode 2 review | Fetid moppets and fruit baskets

severance season 2 episode 2
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The plot thickens and more questions arise in this week’s episode of AppleTV+’s mind-boggling thriller. Here’s our Severance season 2 episode 2 review.


Fridays have quickly become my favourite day of the week. No, not just because it’s almost the weekend, but because it means there’s a new episode of whatever elite AppleTV+ series available on my telly-box. 

Severance made a triumphant comeback last week with an episode that confused as much as it delighted us. We returned to the severed floor of Lumon Industries and the episode gave us very few answers about the Innies’ trip to the outside at the end of season 1. Then again, Severance has never been a series to offer all the answers on a silver platter. 

This week, the action goes back to the moments after the MDR team caused chaos outside. Just like Silo dedicated its first two episodes to two specific locations, Severance gives us two different perspectives. Severance season 2 episode 2 picks up immediately after Mark S. (Adam Scott) dramatically shouted “She’s alive!”, referring to his outie’s dead wife Gemma. 

Severance season 2 episode 2 milchick
Credit: AppleTV+

After outie Mark regains control of his body, he’s understandably confused as is his family and friends. For one, he had to identify Gemma’s body, so how could she be alive? He’s desperately trying to convince himself he was talking about his sister Devon’s baby daughter, who went missing earlier that evening. 

At the same time, Helena Eagan (Britt Lower) is getting in serious trouble after her Innie announced at the fancy Lumon event that the company tortures its employees on the severed floor. Her father calls her a ā€œfetid moppetā€ and I applaud the originality of the insult. Lumon immediately goes into damage control mode. The company sends Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman) to visit all the affected employees for a brief chat, which turns sour very quickly. Additionally, Helena has to lie about being inebriated and lying about the severed employees after trying to convince Mrs. Selvig (Patricia Arquette) to come back to work to keep her quiet about what she knows.  

There’s a lot of moving parts to Severance, but creator Dan Erickson and executive producer Ben Stiller find a delicate balance between everything. Almost every episode introduces new ideas and mysteries; this week, it’s Cold Harbor. It’s something Helena says the company needs Mark, who is having doubts about his choice of employment, to return to work for. Could we finally find out exactly what the Macrodata Refinement team does? 

Speaking of Mark, Adam Scott is really wonderful. Known primarily for his comedic chops, he’s digging into something fresh here, especially as Outie Mark. He’s a man drowning in his grief over Gemma, ā€œchokingā€ on her ghost, but his doubts over Lumon and his severed self have the potential to bring him back to life. Will he choose himself over just pushing his doubts down deep in order to keep walking through life like a ghost himself? 

Severance is also a prime example of Apple’s production value. Silo consistently looked very handsome with its huge sets, but Severance is on another level. The bold cinematography and emphasis on symmetry has a touch of Wes Anderson to it and Mark’s bare fish tank with a blue and a red fish is a clever nod to The Matrix, with which Severance also shares a lot of thematic ground. 

The series has always balanced its unique tone between absurd and serious and episode 2 leans a little more towards serious. There’s still something thoroughly creepy about Mr. Milchick and Helena’s calm, emotionless voices but without a trip to the severed floor, the signature humour ā€“ which in itself adds to the chilling atmosphere ā€“ is missing from this episode. 

Severance premieres new episodes on AppleTV+ every Friday.

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