Hi, I'm Adam Scott. I play Mark S. on Severance, which you likely already know since you're listening to Severed, the Ultimate Severance Podcast. Severed, the ultimate severance podcast. Hey there, refiner. Why are you squinting and blinking like that? Welcome back to the Severed Floor. It's time for another quick look epic app. Big changes are coming. Oh, and yes, this is Severed, the ultimate severance podcast. I'm your host, Alan S.
It's time for our third Epic Cap of the second season. Remember, Epic Caps are quick episode recaps covering the week's new Severance episode. This is not a rewatch. My shot by shot, moment by moment, full rewatch of season two won't happen until... The entire season is out. A reminder, EpiCaps are jam-packed.
with spoilers. Episode three of the second season, Who is Alive?, was delivered to us Thursday, January 30th of 2025. This week, we're still identifying the objective. Is Ms. Casey really down on the severed floor or even... below it. If she is, can she be saved? Is she really also Mark's wife, Gemma? The open to this one looks like we're watching an episode of Fargo.
How the mighty have fallen. When Harmony Cobell left her townhouse last night, she didn't have anywhere to go. She slept in a cold car out on the highway. That's a rough way to spend the night. Cobell pops a cassette into her 80s-era rabbit radio. Thank you. Love spreads from Stone Roses, takes us from Cobell to Mark getting dressed. He's got a different watch today. Mark is timing his trip from the parking lot to the intake desk. Good morning, Mr. Scout. He looks...
guilty. Audi Mark may not be great at this corporate espionage thing. At the point where he no longer has the watch, Mark counts. By the time his Audi has switched, he has a number. This number will be the last thing he thought of when he went down, so it should be the
the first thing on his mind when he comes back up. After last week's supersized 12-minute cold open, this week we're into Extra Wags animation in well under four minutes. After the intro, we're looking at the drawing of Ms. Casey we've seen multiple times in promos. Word missing is written over the top. Mark is distributing copies of the sketch to other members of MDR. It's nice to see them actually using some of that paper they have in storage. The sketch is not a leave-behind item.
Mark and Helena will try to find the goat guy again. Irv is hesitant about going to O&D. Dylan doesn't want to be a part of any of this. He claims he's in a groove. You can tell there's something else on old Dylan Gee's mind. Can they really be out roaming the halls? We can go wherever we want. Lumen is listening, remember? He took that in a very naive and positive way. I thought that meant they were listening to our conversation. Yeah, same here. Even Irv caught the... double meaning.
be discreet they're wearing green pins marked hall pass this is some more double meaning in lumen's vernacular a hall pass is literal it's a thing that lets you walk around out in the halls in modern culture hall pass has a newer slang meaning
We'll get into during the rewatch. Before they hit the halls, Helena awkwardly pats Irving. We've got you. Irv's not buying it for a second. His mouth is saying thank you, but his eyes are saying, who the heck are you, lady? Dylan keeps clacking away as the other... Out in the halls, Helena is doing more fact-finding. What's the endgame here? Say we get to the goat department and they're like, yes, Miss Casey's here. She's in this goat cage.
What do we do then? If Helena were undercover in a drug gang, she'd have been shot by now. Mark has the extraction part of it all worked out. Well, we get her to the south stairwell. I'll go with her. The one with the barrier door. Once they're through the door, Mark claims his Audi will...
what to do sure easy mark stops at a corner he's interpreting this line of questioning a little differently you sure you're okay helping me out with this it is kind of a weird role for the other woman mark and helena awkwardly make eyes at each other. The lump in Mark's throat is the size of a grapefruit. Helena doesn't pull back, but she doesn't move in either.
And without making his move, Mark stumbles away. Elsewhere in the halls, Mr. Milchick has arrived. He's carrying his magnificent helmet and checking his watch. He's headed towards the balloons Mark released after his first day back. They've drooped a bit. but are still floating in the hallway. Milchick angrily grabs them as he passes by. I don't know why he's so mad. What was Mark supposed to do with them? We cut to Dylan's workstation. The close-up is a reminder. They are filling five bins.
becomes important in a few minutes. We've always known there are five bins, but the four tempers kind of overshadow this other number. I've recreated the paintings, the ones I told you about, the ones my Audi was working on. I'd say recreating one of them would be enough. They are all the same. Irv thinks the hallway he's been painting is down here somewhere. He wants Dylan to help him look for it. Or maybe you go yourself.
Like, for stealth, you know? Or, like, I don't want to go with you because I've got something else on my mind. Speaking of stealth, they are interrupted by Ms. Wong. As Irv passes her, he flashes his new hardware. Hole pass. The innies are pinning a lot of hope on this newfound freedom. Irv exits off to O&D. Dylan G, come with me, please. As Dylan and Ms. Wong leave MDR, there's a cut to Seth arriving at his office where he finds Natalie waiting for him. Good morning, Seth. Natalie.
If possible, Nat's more chipper than ever in a form-fitting black dress and ear-to-ear smile. She has the board with her. Of course. Seth pauses to thank the board for his recent betterment. According to Natalie, the board says you're welcome. The board is jubilant at your ascendance. Which is a very Lumen-speak thing to say. Do you feel appreciated, Seth? I do. The board wants Seth to feel connected to Lumen's history.
Natalie steps away from the desk to reveal a large, hard-sided portfolio. Please accept from the board these inclusively re-canonicalized paintings intended to help you see yourself and cure. our founder we will talk more about this term re-canonicalize during the rewatch seth opens the portfolio to reveal a painting of cure it's much like what we've seen before only this cure is very definitely of an
lineage. It's not just skin color. Facial features have also been adjusted to more accurately help Seth see himself in the founder. I have no idea how to interpret this gift. I don't think Seth... either. Oh. Oh my. Natalie says it's the whole Keir cycle. There's young Keir in bed battling consumption. Although his parents who are praying still appear to be white, young Keir is most definitely black. Natalie is trying to sell this gift.
seems put off by it. Nat claims she got the same gift when she ascended to her current position. And found it extremely moving. Milchik's mouth says he's grateful. His eyes are saying, what am I supposed to do with this? Seth tries to say something profound, but just trails off. The board has concluded the call. So the board doesn't really care how Seth feels about his gift. They've given it. Now they're out of here. Delivering the painting seems to be Nat's own...
Only reason for stopping by this morning. Seeing Natalie so breathless and bright-eyed while talking to Seth reminds me of Idris Elba when he was a guest on The Office. His character was making the ladies swoon. In one of his talking heads, he said, I'm aware of the effect I have on women. Congratulations.
Back out on the most desolate highway in America, Harmony approaches a sign that says Salt's Neck, 238 miles. Normally a remote mileage sign like this one shows you the closest city, then a couple of further... large cities. So the next closest city out here is over 200 miles away. Salt's Neck is a fictional location created for the show. It's been theorized this might be Harmony's hometown.
When you're down on your luck and nothing's going right, you head to the comfort of your childhood home. Unless it's more than four hours away. Harmony stops at the sign. She considers the Charlotte breathing tube in the passenger seat. next to her. She then does an aggressive U-turn and heads back to Keir. We cut to Mark and Helena. They're back in the light sensor hallways. They once again found the goat room, but neither goat nor goat wrangler is home.
As they enter, they immediately notice a small door in the wall to their left. It's a chute about three feet high. It's lighted like the rest of the hallways. It's just half height. This is the same room where Mark and Helly first found the goats in the episode.
and barbarity of optics and design. In those first season Goat Wrangler scenes, they did not let us see this wall. The tunnel must have been there, but neither Mark nor Helly noticed it because they were busy talking to the Goat Wrangler. following any of the Origins episodes of the podcast, this scene should be shouting Being John Malkovich at you. It's definitely a goat tunnel. Mark immediately starts to crawl through it. Helena hesitates.
but then follows. At the other end of the tunnel is an overhead hinged door. It looks like a really big dog door. Mark and Helena pause to take in an incredible sight. It's a hilly, grassy meadow filled with baby... be goats. I was fascinated by this goat room. As in, how did they do that? Ben Stiller said they had to take this one on the road. The land is a section of a Brooklyn golf course.
tented the hilly grassy area where the goats would roam. Inside the tent, Jeremy Hindle's crew put up lumen walls to about 15 feet. Everything else is CGI. The lighting grid and finished walls were all built in the computer. The goats are all very real. Mark and Helena are passing by both real goats and at least one guy dressed like a goat. Suddenly, a formidable woman dressed in what has been called a fishwife outfit comes over the hill. Are you here to kill me? What a line. What an...
entrance. This is new cast member Gwendolyn Christie as Lorne, mistress of the goat department. Gwendolyn Christie said she spent weeks hanging out in meadows with sheep and goats preparing for this part. Mark assures her nobody's getting killed. Which to me sounds like mammalians, comma, nurturable. Like there could also be a mammalians, comma, edible. Lauren abruptly walks away. Please, we mean you no harm. We just want to talk. She pauses and we transition to Irv, now making his way to O&D.
Irving. So warm and friendly. As far as we know, the only interaction Felicia's had with Irv was that one time in the hallway after the egg drop challenge and one of the times Irv came to visit O&D. She wasn't very pleasant. either time. Here, they're sounding like old friends. She puts her arms around him. Maybe this is just since Irv's most recent interactions with Bert, but it feels like a deeper history. There's a transition to a desktop.
Mark slides the sketch across to Lauren. Her desk sits in the middle of a meadow with both a phone and a computer on it. Mark mentions Miss Casey was their wellness director. We don't abide such fripperies here. a word from the mid-1500s. The meaning, since about 1568, is a silly decoration or unnecessary object. The language of the severed floor is, as usual, pretty weird. Although her face is smudged and her clothes are filled,
Lauren manages to keep some lipstick on for work. Mark senses Lauren's hiding something. He pushes and she grabs her lumen bell. She's summoned both goats and the full contingent of goat department employees. Elsewhere, Dylan is trying to keep up as he's following Ms. Wong through the halls.
Is it rude to keep asking why you're a kid? He's just worried about child labor laws being violated. They turn a corner and Dylan holds up short. Why are we going to the security room? Dylan spent 39 long minutes in this room just a couple of weeks ago. The security office has been renovated. On the screen wall, we see Dylan with an unidentified woman. Somebody went to the Sears Portrait Studio. This is actress Merit Weaver playing Gretchen George. And hey, there she is for real.
in the next room. This is why Dylan was acting so weird to Mark and Irv. He had his outie family visit for today. Through good behavior and output, you've earned an 18 minute visitation event with your Audi's wife, Gretchen G. I'm guessing the 18 minutes was accrued like they do at fast food joints where you get so many cents towards your meal for each hour worked. Annie Dillon thinks this woman's really cool, but he's nervous. She is a stranger. Should we sit?
Gretchen, on the other hand, is looking at her husband. This is the guy she kissed this morning before he came into work. She says Seth told her this might be weird. Please refrain from sharing information that may be privileged or sensitive. Whoa, the whole no cameras or microphones promise must not extend to the family visitation room. Okay, who is that? Really good microphones, too.
Gretchen refers to Audi Dillon as he, even though he's sitting right there. Gretchen tells any Dillon about his Audi. She shows him pics of their kids. Dillon is so tickled at seeing his family and so excited about news of his... Audi, Gretchen kind of seems to be falling for any Dylan. Hey, grab a cup of coffee, refiners severed. We'll be right back. Hi, I'm Adam Scott. I play Mark S. on Severance, which you likely already know since you're listening to Severed, the Ultimate Severance Podcast.
Felicia and Irv are laughing. They're telling Bert war stories in the O&D area. Felicia claims the only time she ever saw Bert afraid of anything. He spent two hours on his hair the first time he went to visit you. So maybe this is referencing their most recent relationship. Herb shows her a flip book of pictures he drew of Bert's face. In the back, he's drawn a recreation of one of his paintings. When Felicia gets to it, she rec...
recognizes it immediately. How do you know about the exports haul? O&D sends shipments there, or at least they did. Now they send a guy. Do you remember? Where it is. Back at Goat Central, the crew Lorne assembled looks... Pretty intimidating. Mark and Helena are standing inside a circle of goat room workers. Helena starts to question them. Excuse me, have you seen this woman? Mark is preaching. He's as fired up now as he was that day in O&D. They just disappeared her.
And if we let this happen to Miss Casey, then who's going to step up when it happens to us? Mark's plea gets through. Miss Casey did do sessions with the goat people. She said my Audi excels at stargazing. And a great deal to me. The GOAT department also heard she retired. They can't provide any help, but they say they won't get in the way of MDR's search. But before you go, we would...
I'd like to see your bellies. I really thought they were looking for belly buttons. Clones don't have belly buttons. But nope, it was a callback to the larval pouch. See? The guy she's talking to is Brian Rock, the original goat wrangler from season one. Proves nothing. Some rumors die hard. Back at Audi Family Visitation, the 18 minutes are up. I love you. Any Dylan doesn't know how to handle the hug or the I love you.
We cut from the end of the family session to outie Dylan at home. The kids are parked in front of the TV and Gretchen is leaving for a night job. It looks like she's either a cop or a security guard. It's also their week for cookies in Jim's class. I did not do the cookies. They're in a tube, Dylan. You can handle this. He asks about the thing. You know, with him, how was it? Well... It was good. Weird good, but good. Any Dylan may have had a pretty good handle on Audi Dylan. So he's actually...
Kind of a fuck up. Over at Beer House, Natalie is reading from the UUR. But surely beer and juleps cannot fill the void left by love. Indeed, only wine can achieve this. But it is famously costly, which is why sadness is among the most recurrent issues facing the poor. We discover Natalie's last name is Kalen.
The powers that be at Lumen are interested in creating an any specific version of the UUR. I did notice Rickon is using the word innies instead of workies around Natalie. Devin is not thrilled about Natalie being. here she's also curious what's wrong with the current version there's a certain verbiage to which
Innies respond more favorably if we just tweak it here and there. This whole thing feels like a way for Natalie to spy on Rickon and Devin. Devin excuses herself. She doesn't say it, but she's off to meet Mark. At Mark's place, the siblings are chopping up.
felt. This is the reason for Mark timing his entrance, and it's something we figured out from one of the promos. They're going to try to imprint a message so Mark's innie sees the after image on the lens of a trouble light they've written, who is a alive in felt. Seth is working at his computer. It's the end of the day. As he's putting on his leather jacket, he considers the board's gift. Seth repackages the paintings and places the box up high on a shelf in the back of his closet.
where rural Mark is testing out his device. He's shining it in his eyes, then counting. He needs to determine how long to look at the positive image so the after image stays with him until he's at the bottom of the elevator. At the mothership, Audi Helena's driver is picking her up in a vintage 60s Lincoln Continental limo with suicide doors. This is the hardtop version of the car Kennedy was riding in when he was assassinated. Before she gets in, Helena notices a figure standing out.
in the parking lot. It's Harmony Cobell and her white rabbit. Helena steps over to Harmony who is pretty demanding considering her situation. MDR.
Non-negotiable. Harmony claims she must be floor manager. Milchick isn't cut out for it. She mentions Mark and Cold Harbor, which I have a lot of questions about. We'll get to them in the rewatch. Helena hears ego and hubris in what... cobel is saying cobel takes a nepo baby shot at helena harmony claims she earned everything she's got not because i was born into it ouch they have a bit of a showdown in the parking lot. Helena only sees one way to settle it.
For Jamie Egan's daughter? Sure, the board can see you right now. Let's go speak with them together. Cabal follows Helena to the front steps but won't go any further. Has she lost her nerve or is she worried this might be the last time she ever sets foot in Lumen? These people can make you disappear. Harmony. Cobell reconsiders, then hops in the rabbit and roars out of the looming lot.
Mark is still quietly counting in his car. He's trying to figure out this afterimage thing. At one point, when he opens his eyes, Ragabi is standing right in front of his car. Jesus Christ! Where did she come from? Don't ask questions. She already knows about the afterimage trick and why it won't work. The switch briefly dilates the pupils. Clean slate. Yes, she used the term clean slate, which is also one of the routines available for the chip. Mark should be using this woman.
as a resource. She's been there, done that when it comes to every possible any contact trick. I love that Rigabi is back. I do wish we hadn't wasted so much of this episode on the afterimage trick. We went through the timing, creating the light, testing the light. All of those minutes of this episode could have been used for other... storytelling. We've been following a dead end, and if they'd have just talked to Rigabi, she already knew it.
Ragabi claims there's an easier way. Didn't seem particularly easy for Petey. Hey now, come on, she's gotten better at it. Ragabi heard about the OTC. Mark said his innie spilled quite a bit to Devin. Did he tell her your wife is alive at Loma? She knows. Ragabi has seen Gemma firsthand alive at Lumen. Well... She was the last time I saw her.
This is too much for Mark to bear. He gets out of the car. This choice to actually get out of the car was Adam Scott's on the day of shooting. He told Ben Stiller it was just too much emotion to keep it all inside the car. him out she says it again the only way to get information in or out is reintegration she then says the scariest line in the whole episode i'm better at it now
Lady, you'd better be. Devin softened him up. Regabi closes the deal. It takes no pressure at all to get Mark to agree. Yes. Do it. No preparation necessary. No setting an appointment. Rigabi is ready to do this right now. Mark doesn't even have to go to Gann. She sets her gear up in his basement. Check the light in the landing as Mark heads downstairs.
has been noted this light looks a lot like Herb's hallway with the door in the middle of it. I had envisioned the reintegration process as being more invasive. I'm really glad it's not. Regabi is monitoring the five brainwave... frequencies through leads on mark's scalp i figured the five brain waves were something they made up for the show nope there are actually five measurable human brainwave frequencies. They are called, from lowest to highest frequency, delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma.
I don't think it's a coincidence our refiners are placing numbers in five different bins. Think these might coincide with the brainwaves? I do. Mark places his head in a white frame. Ragabi is monitoring output frequencies as she's asking some weird and probing questions. The first try goes sideways. Mark's hand cramps and shakes. When she tries it again, this time it locks.
Check those four pools of white sand or salt. We've seen these same images on the Gemma Cold Harbor page. What does MDR stand for? What? MDR. Mystic. That's wrong. Mark's perception flickers. The sine waves are getting closer together. What is your first memory? Mark is confused. Then he's on the conference table. We hear Petey's voice. He's wanting to ask Mark five questions. Start out, who are you?
We see Mark on his back in his suit, then in his red shirt. He flickers back and forth while laying on the table. The reintegration seems to have worked. Roll credits and cue the Who. Okay, refiner, Epic Cap over. I'll be back with a new one next Monday, then full rewatches at the end of the season. Quick reminder, get to the Severed Patreon page. Support the Severed podcast by pledging $5 a month. Signing up is easy.
patreon.com slash severed pod. That's patreon.com slash severed pod. Right now, we're doing Thursday night chat room viewing parties when the new episode drops. We'll talk again next Monday about episode four of season two. Woes Hollow. It's considered a standout, possibly the best episode of the entire series. Make sure to join me. Until then, it's time to shut down your workstation and get to the elevator refiner. Thanks for being here, and as always, please stagger your eggs.
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