#severance s2 e4

[agir1ukn0w]

holy shit I just realized they've never seen fire before

[sweet-bazzle-bean]

We process so much while we sleep, and the fact that all Irving B needed was one long sleep with his own innie thoughts and innie memories and innie questions to put the pieces together is making my brain twirl.

[okayidontcare]

The Issue of Consent and Severance Discourse as a Whole

Spoilers for S2E4

So, I never post on Tumblr (and barely on other platforms for that matter). I am a lurker, and, as such, I see a variety of different takes about different things on a daily basis. I am prone to hyperfixations in media as a whole and, right now, I am obsessed with Severance.

So, I watched the new episode as soon as it was out and as soon as I watched the Mark/Helena sex scene and the reveal that it was in fact Helena all along, I knew it would create a discourse that would be unbearable, not because of the discussion itself but by the way people engage with this show (more on that later),  and I feel the need to express my feelings and my view on the subject.

Was SA or Wasn’t?

It… I don’t know. No one does. That’s the point. 

The show wants us to ponder about the autonomy of the innies and the outies, it raises this question not only in relation to the narrative of the show but in a sort of philosophical conundrum. And I think the way to discuss this has to be done with two things in mind: (a) with respect for other opinions and interpretations and (b) that we will never get a clearcut answer.

We can’t affirm Helena is a rapist, we can’t affirm she isn’t. What we can do is debate about it. Engaging with it with logic, as in, thinking that there is a logical explanation for something that is emotional in nature is counter productive. Let me demonstrate:

If Helena and Helly are different people then it’s SA. Then innie Mark didn’t cheat on Gemma and Irving saying that to him was wrong.

But, if Helena and Helly are the same person, it isn’t SA. So Mark cheated on Gemma and Irving was justified in what he said.

Do any of these sentences feel true to the show? 

Frankly, I don’t think so, because it doesn’t feel true to the emotional truth of the show. Because it is weird that Mark slept with someone else, but it is because this version of him doesn’t really know Gemma. But he also has a connection with Ms. Casey, because of the outie life. He also has a connection with Helena, because he knows Helly, but it’s weird because Helena is different from Helly. It’s a bit hypocritical of Irving to imply that Mark and Helly’s relationship is wrong when he was ready to blow up Burt’s marriage in the season 1 finale, but he is also right to point out it’s off putting to see them flirting. It is all these things at the same time. 

Because, from my point of view, they are different people and the same person at the same time. And I don’t think any of us can wrap our minds around this concept, it’s like Schrödinger’s Cat but about human nature instead of quantum physics. That’s what makes it fun, because not even the characters know what to make of it, so we see the emotional fallout of Severance rather than the ethical/moral one. And, to me, that is more interesting.

So we should discuss it, but also know that we’ll never reach a conclusion, because that would be oversimplifying the show and I think it just makes our conversation around Severance shallow. It’s a detriment to the show and to us. 

Let’s hear each other out, give different opinions, have productive debates about the show and what is saying about identity and humanity, about how it reflects on us. Don’t say to someone that has a different opinion than you that they are “watching the show wrong”, that they are “media illiterate”, like your interpretation is the only right one. If you do that, I’m sorry, but I don’t think you are actually engaging with the text, I think you are using Severance as a way to feel smarter than other people.

Let’s not treat our fellow internet users as the outies treat the innies. It’s easy to dehumanize people that we only perceive by their words on a screen, but behind each MDR profile picture is a real person with their own perspective that may not always align with yours and that’s okay, they are worthy of the same amount of respect as everyone else.

So I’ll say, at last, you are free to disagree with me. You are free to say that there is a definitive answer, that it was SA or wasn’t SA, that the innies and outies are the same person or they aren’t. I actually want to hear your take, I just ask that, when you type it, be respectful and understand that I have the right to disagree with you just as you have the right to disagree with me.

[jjcattt]

okay so in irving's dream sequence he finds a computer working on something labelled "Montauk", so I googled "montauk" and

psychological warfare??? time travel??? we're so back.

[hellioneagan]

weirdest baptism I've ever seen

[hoidmadeittoearth]

Ok I just watched s2 e4 of severance

(Spoilers for that episode)

WAIT SO IT WAS HELENA THE WHOLE TIME. NOT JUST THAT EPISODE BUT THE WHOLE SEASON???

[soiputmyusernamehere]

I was wondering why the hell the innies ended up where they were at the beginning of woes hallow, like why would lumon endanger Irving by placing him on the ice like that?? Then I thought it’s not completely unlikely that Lumon just dropped their blindfolded outies in the woods, told them not to wander, and Irving walked onto the ice himself because his outie is just Like That.

[sweet-bazzle-bean]

The camera panning back to the waterfall like

the "tallest waterfall in the world" thing is by far the funniest lie told by lumon im genuinely not sure it can be topped

[agir1ukn0w]

yeah media literacy is fun n all but sometimes you just gotta bask in the glory of mark s and hel(ena)ly r having hot sex in a glamping tent in the middle of the woods

[xek-xek]

The severance EP dropped early and it was completely insane

[sweet-bazzle-bean]

"Helly was never cruel"

Means that Helena's cruelty was a learned behavior from her father 🙃

[spookacola]

What’s yours is mine

[jjcattt]

ok i was wrong about helly. sorgy guys

[bbygrlmarkscout]

The littlest guy to ever fella

[lizziestudieshistory]

Sooo... With the fate of Rhaenys and my beloved Eve Best not being around going forward, does this mean I'm now only watching House of the Dragon for Aegon? Honestly, this is a bigger plot twist than anything the writers have managed to come up with so far...

[emptyjunior]

Severance S2/e4 shadow selves in the forest... Anyone else reminded of a Fetch