#Helena Egan

[harmonicpearl]

Something i don't know how ppl still dont understad is how OBVIOUS it is that no Mark is gonna outtake the other, no love (neither for Gemma nor Helly) is gonna outgrow the other. And it's not only a matter of if that is possible (it is, its a tv show) it's a matter of narrative and thematic ideas.

The writers have briliantly gave Mark and Gemma a 5-year marriage and Mark s and Helly a half life relationship (because even if they are very young they have known each other for a huge portion of their concious life). This balances the stakes and validation for each Mark, and makes their battle so interesting, because they are literally equally deserving. And since they are equally deserving, having one of them "win" would be contradicting that claim. It doesn't matter if you as an individual have a preference, as liking one of the Marks more (hell, i myself like one of them more, that's human) but ethics dont work like that, ego death doesn't work like that either and obviously the show is trying to say that. This opens two crucial themes to discuss:

First things first, this impossible-winner situation is the fucking dramatic drive of the show. I wouldnt phrase it as Helly and Gemma because they're characters in their own right, but Mark's relationship with Helly and Gemma is there to represent a battle of the ego and conflicted desire. I really think the show chose to make this a romantic conflict because, yeah who doesn't love romance, but most importantly because we are so monogamous as a society that it was the clearest way to show how these two Marks are different people. We can't fathom the idea that you can love more than one person romantically at the same time (it doesn't matter if it's true, it's the predominant thought of our society). And i think they use this aknoledgement of how society works and they were so right to do so because look what everyone is talking about. That's why im so really shocked that some people are trying to bend the laws and philosophy of this show to theorize which Mark will win or which love will he choose at the end. Neither will, and both will. And simply because narratively, thematically, thats the only coherent choice. One of the Marks "winning" or Mark choosing completely either Helly or Gemma, would destroy the very points this show is trying to make. The love for Helly needs to be a rightful pushing force just as equal as the love for Gemma, just as Mark S needs to keep existing as a foil to Mark Scout. The show is trying to say that (to put this coloquially) doesn't matter how shitty or brief or undeserving your life is to a system or to others you are deserving of human rights, freedom and autonomy.

Which gets me to the second point: This goes both ways. Because even if Mark Scout belittles Mark S's experience, lumon did the same to him when they kidnapped Gemma and lured him into severance. They are both being used. After all, i very much think this is a postmodern show dealing with the residue of modern capitalism. This is a show about the problematic and complex relationship between revolution vs establishment. A modern show made in the past century would have framed this as a straight up victim vs victimizer problem but this is different. Capitalism creates this micro-power relationships. Corporations expoit the white collar worker and the white collar worker exploits the cleaning lady. And even if they are both clogs in a machine, the white collar worker and the cleaning lady may have different ideas on how a revolution should play out, or even if a revolution should occur in the first place. And sometimes revolutionaries can have disregard of the lower classes in the name of grater good. With all the shipping stuff (that i also fully enjoy) we forget that THIS is also the conflic that's taking place between Mark Scout and Mark S. Even if they clearly arent aware of all this shit at the moment.

Even so, they, again, are equally deserving of happiness and compensation. And to put Mark Scout in the position of opressor and opressed at the same time is amazing. They both need to win. But how can they both win? Will they both win? And how would a win-win situation look like? This is why i think severance really is something else. I'm at the edge of my seat because i don't have a fucking clue how they will resolve this. But i trust this show to be better than simply make him choose one of his loves or make one Mark overrule the other. They won't do that, mark (jk) my words. Both Marks need to truly work as one, to understad the other's struggle and see it as equally valid and well, negotiate. Just as the white collar worker will have to negotiate with the cleaning lady if they truly want to make an impact should a revolution actually happen. Both Marks need to understad they are not the real enemy and even more, that the real enemy is the cause of this friction in the first place, a friction that only diverges them from the real goal. Helly's and Gemma's love is only the cathalyst to put in motion this conflict. A GREAT choice because just as the Marks, they too will have ideas of their own on how to navigate this situation, yes, but they will also have a say in the innies vs outies vs lumon conflict and well i think these four are gonna surprise us.

[runaeveena]

helena, waking up in the elevator with her thighs sore and her underwear damp as hell: i should follow him to a nearby town restaurant and crash his dinner plans and mention his dead wife by a wrong name

[fraudue]

are our lives truly ours to undo?

[ehlihr]

helly

[aingeal98]

Helena and Mark awkward silent laughter one of the best scenes from last episode. He thinks she's feeling nervous and giddy because of the kiss but that they're on the same page and meanwhile she's trying to figure out the right password to get him to kiss her again. Is there a button she has to press or something? She's smiling and nodding and saying nice things mostly so why is he not kissing her like he kissed Helly? She's stuck here for hours hunting for his not so dead wife while posing as his current lover and she's not even getting any fun brand new experiences like kissing someone who cares about you. (Or thinks he cares about you because he thinks you're the version of you that you consider subhuman)

And of course she's not getting that kiss. Helly was decisive and always ready to take risky action meanwhile Helena is too scared to even say anything slightly mean because it becomes way too hard to stay in character if she lets that bitterness escape for more than a few seconds. So instead it's just she and Mark staring at each other for a embarrassingly long pause while she tries not too look too angry/hungry/anything but sweet and nice.

I do want Helly back but I'm loving Helena's adventures in pretending to be a good person. She's terrible at it and it's so entertaining.

[normalaboutmediaa]

Not a Mark x Helly shipper or a Mark x Gemma shipper but a secret third thing (pretty certain there's no such thing as a happy ending here and just hoping to God or Kier they all make it out of this alive)

[kyown]

Can we talk about how Lumon and Helena were obviously trying to instigate a rift between the core four by collectively punishing all of them for “Helley” and Mark laughing at the Dieter story? It was so twisted seeing Helena push it further by hitting Irving where he hurts most. Fuck, Lumon is the pinnacle of “smart but not too smart” bc while they almost succeeded in breaking up their friendship/family they didn’t account for Irving being willing to go that far to bring them back together.

[harmonicpearl]

guys i'm on a completely different train here but i really need for devon to aknoledge mark s as a person but also as his weird new brother truly i need that shit all over me i need her to hug him and tell him we are brothers now and this is weird but you are my brother and i'm sorry i treat you like you weren't and you're so young to this world but you're not alone in this because we're family in a way, lumon wants to create the idea that innies not only don't have lives of their own but are also this kind of familyless, sons of no one, brothers, mothers, sisters of no one, that they don't have a safe house, a home, an origin, a lineage, that they are not safe anywhere, that they don't have anyone to turn to when life's too hard and i need devon to wreck that idea off mark s i need her to tell him, you are protected, you come from some place you have a sister that cares for you

[inthewildcrness]

two halves, becoming one

[butterflykisses86]

Helly said “if Helena got to fuck you, i get to fuck you too — it’s only fair.” You Go Girl!

[cicatrixtwigs]

Not seen anyone talking about the fucked up Helena / Mark S power dynamic. She really used her exec power for a full Girlfriend Experience. Gross as fuck.

Fantastic character choice for a woman who has clearly never been loved and holds too much control over her life to ever let herself be loved... But. Ew.

[kinneys]

WHAT AM I; MY SHELL?, a helly r x helena egan mix » spotify | lyrics | download 

01. losing all sense - grizzly bear 02. need a line - other lives 03. the cage - vera sola 04. the mall & the misery - broken bells 05. flea - st. vincent 06. skin - marika hackman 07. hate crime - austra 08. underground - death machine 09. the last one standing - ladytron 10. shadows of my name - emma ruth rundell 11. for my crimes - marissa nadler 12. wrecking ball - interpol 13. surrounded by spies - placebo 14. exit music (for a film) - radiohead

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TO SPOIL MY SOUL WITH FIRE, a helena egan x helly r mix » spotify | lyrics | download 

01. prime - shearwater 02. cold - french for rabbits 03. golden green - agnes obel 04. the choke - austra 05. settle - vera blue 06. green gloves - the national 07. if you say the word - radiohead 08. antechamber - emily jane white 09. breaker 1 - interpol 10. centipede - wilsen 11. today dear - warpaint 12. destiny's upon us - JFDR 14. marrow - thao and the get down stay down

[abortionado]

[barbie2023]

reputation (helly r’s version)

[caps-clever-girl]

i wonder if helenas work on cold harbour affected the file at all? like did she find certain numbers 'scary' that helly wouldnt and vice versa? could you imagine commiting subterfuge for your families centuries old company and almost dying for it and finding out that the few weeks actual work you did fucked up the most important file of that company?

[aingeal98]

The thing that gets me about "Helly was never cruel" is that he's completely right but also. Helly never had the opportunity to be? From the moment she came into existence everyone around her had power of some sort over her, she was the newest severed employee and all her older coworkers were men. Everything she did was geared towards defying the cruelty that those in power, including Helena, subjected her to. She was aggressive and angry and brittle and witty but she never had enough power to be cruel.

What's fascinating to me about Helly/Helena is that we know everything Helena is capable of is something Helly is also capable of. Their limits of defiance and will and their capacity for good and evil are the exact same. Helly was put in an environment where all that fire and no nonsense cut the bullshit attitude could only be channeled into rebellion. Helena grew up in an environment where those same traits were either stamped out or refined into sharpness and ruthless cruelty.

There's no wiggle room when it comes to wondering "What if the roles were reversed?" because we know exactly what would happen. They're the same person by nature and completely different due to nurture. What a weird feeling it must be, to know the person you despise most in the world is someone you know beyond a shadow of a doubt you could have been exactly like if things were different. I am all you could be and you are all I am terrified of becoming.