#yes! leave him! get with cobel!

[binomech]

Throughout the whole show, shame has been used as a punitive tool: From the unsevered staff to the innies (the break room), from the outies to the innies (Mark’s gateway to reintegration being the shame he felt at carelessly letting his dog and Gemma leave, meaning it was at the root of his severance), from the outies to themselves (Seth Milchick subjecting himself to torturous correction through the paperclips, through his own speech of penance to himself in the mirror). Shame at all the ways we could’ve acted differently to be in a better place than we are now.

It’s interesting how, when asked for the key to Charlotte’s room, Sissy refuses to give it because all Harmony will find there is pain.

“Charlotte’s room stays shut until all who remember her sit with Kier” because the only way to be useful is to build yourself a cage of shame, because if you remember, if you grieve, you will stop being as easily manipulated into compliance. Cold Harbor stays shut until all who remember Gemma sit with Kier.

Shame is a cage. Shame leads to denial, memory leads to grief.

Harmony still looks for the key because she wants to feel that pain, because she wants to grieve a mother she wasn’t even allowed to see off when she died because she was serving the Eagans at school. Grief is a key out of this prison of repression.

I’ve talked before about the way vegetation, sunlight and darkness are used in Severance to denote grief and the healing that comes through processing it, so I would like to point out that the wallpaper all over the house is flower-patterned, if slightly damaged, and the key Harmony finds in Sissy’s altar is hidden away behind an arrangement of dried (or possibly artificial) flowers.

The only item that was left in Harmony’s childhood bedroom is a worn plushie, well loved, perhaps a gift from a mother to a very small child. And in Charlotte’s room, in turn, a picture of her daughter, wearing the same braids she does at home even now, in the house where she keeps dolls in her bed and sings to newborn children that aren’t hers.

One of the rare shots of warm sunlight in this show happens this episode as Harmony Cobel enters her mother’s bedroom, and a bright warmth cuts the empty deathbed in two. Harmony presses her her hands to the mattress, like Mark to the tree, like Irving to the paintings, and sucks on an endotracheal tube like a child feeds on breast milk. She sleeps peacefully in the darkening room.

The scene transition is an aerial shot of ice floaters slowly turning into a shot of turbulent water, the split shards melted into wholeness, wild and dangerous though it may be. Pain, grief, letting yourself feel it, is the only true way to reintegrate. You can’t artificially do it through chip manipulation, but the possibility that one could turn off the severing block at will would mean that the person could have access to all their memories and would get the chance to truly grieve.

Cobel watched outie Mark for signs of acceptance and innie Mark for signs of recognition, she wanted to believe in post-severance reintegration that didn’t end in death, a procedure her own ideas made possible in the first place. She was happy that Mark felt like he didn’t need to be severed anymore, at Ricken’s party, and encouraged him to leave Lumon. Mark surviving chip reintegration means he could grieve freely, after all. That her grief-fuelled creation won’t necessarily make the world into a cage of shame.

Harmony says the Eagans’ mercy is murder, like how Sissy thinks it was an act of mercy to remove Charlotte’s respirator. Harmony had assumed her mother’s death was on her aunt, but Sissy admits with disgust that it was Charlotte who took out her own lifeline. It was her choice to die, and even to Sissy’s eyes, she looked grateful. Even when Sissy says her rage would’ve been less agonizing if she had faith, that doesn’t take from the gratitude. Because yes, she was angry, she had lost her faith and autonomy, she had lost her daughter, they took everything from her and death was merciful.

Keeping people alive against their will to extract profit is cruelty, not mercy. Gemma doesn’t get a choice. Hampton gives the people in the town choice: They can numb the pain with the drug, or just coffee, or just a warm place to be in, or they can die, but whatever choice they make is as free from Lumon’s control as he’s able to make it.

It was kind, not merciful, to make a choice to end her own life (like Helly’s suicide attempt in the elevator, like Irving B.’s willing execution, going to their deaths fully aware of what they were doing, freeing themselves from grief and exploitation.)

[roots-symphony]

Devon slander is going to be my villain origin story I stg

Why did she call Cobel?

Okay, well let’s take a moment to actually think of things from her point of view with the extremely limited amount of information she has managed to claw away at instead of assuming she knows the same as us and reading everything she does with bad intentions:

Starting with the otc, she and innie Mark are able to talk for a limited time, during which Mark tells her that lumon is treating them poorly and doing shady shit (or something along those lines because unfortunately it was not a conversation we were privy to). The only part of the conversation we do get to see is at the end. Devon tells iMark why it would be a bad idea to go to the police and instead says they can talk to journalists Ricken knows* who can break the story. And it’s only then, as an afterthought, that Mark brings up Cobel.

And the way he asks makes it sound like confused and vaguely concerned but not in ‘hey this lady abuses me on the daily’ way but more like ‘that’s weird wtf??’ And when Devon doesn’t know what he’s talking about, her voice gets more freaked out while she comprehends that information while his voice is much more neutral. So, the take away from that (from Devon’s point of view) is that in all the time talking (limited as it was) Cobel while a contributor is not what is torturing her brother.

Unfortunately she can’t find out more information because she’s (rightfully) concerned for the life of her child. Only to find out that not only did Cobel calm Eleanor down, she placed her safely in her car seat so she couldn’t get into trouble and out of the way of Ricken’s friends (i would not trust them with a baby either) before leaving.

After the otc, when they are trying to piece together the night, I don’t see oMark not mentioning that right before it happened he told Cobel he was quitting and she was not only glad, but told him to ‘get away from them.’ I mean, maybe he didn’t say it that night because Ricken was there and then Milchick came, but I have no doubt this information was relayed to Devon at some point, maybe while they were trying to get a message to his innie even. The second conversation Mark had with Cobel before she took off, I think could go either way in whether he told Devon or not. I mean, I think no matter what he kept the end part to himself even if he told her about how Cobel was disappointed in him for going back. But even if he didn’t tell her about, I absolutely believe he told her about the one right before the otc.

Now on to when Milchick showed up to talk to all of them. His reassurances are that it won’t happen again, to blame Cobel, and to say she was fired. Except Devon talked to iMark and it wasn’t Cobel he was telling her about, it was lumon as a whole. So it’s very clear to Devon that not only is he lying but that Cobel is being made to be the scapegoat.

All that plus Cobel has spent two years ingratiating herself with the Scout siblings. Mainly oMark, but Devon would have been a part of that as well because not just because they’re already close but also oMark just lost his wife so she would have been there even more often. It was shown to us in season 1 that she was really the driving force that would get him to go out and socialize (that terrible dinner, setting him up with Alexa) so Cobel would have definitely been friendly already with her and, considering oMark does not have memories of about 40 hours each week, she would’ve probably heard a lot about her from oMark. And yes, it’s was all a lie, but it’s also clear, especially with all the other evidence, that there is some kind of actual care there.

So Devon continued to find a way to communicate with iMark, not just accepting that the light thing would work, which is where she got the idea of using the birthing cabin. The only thing is to do that she would need the help of someone from Lumon. Unfortunately her only two connections to Lumon are her brother (who is only slightly less in the dark than her) and Cobel who had been ousted and scapegoated. She was already thinking of calling Cobel before oMark collapsed, before she even stepped foot in his house honestly because with the limited and terrible options available to her, it was literally the best one, the only one that made sense. She came that night with the intention to argue her case to oMark because obviously she wouldn’t just do it without his consent (unless something wild happened like a seizure that he then wouldn’t wake up from after).

Now why did she actually call Cobel when Reghabi was already there?

I feel like this should be obvious but she does not know Reghabi, all she knows is that she won’t answer her questions, she’s clearly used oMark’s grief and desire for Gemma to agree to experimental basement brain surgery (kinda like Lumon did), she has or had some connection to Lumon, but most importantly: she leaves. Like Reghabi doesn’t even give her an ultimatum, the minute Devon said she would call Cobel, she started gathering her stuff to leave. I mean I don’t blame her, Reghabi told oMark she was the only one who could do reintegration and if that’s the case, then unfortunately for oMark, she cannot take risks with her life. Reghabi already had to kill in cold blood and she may not want to leave Mark (her face was genuinely so worried when she looked back at Mark) but it’s bigger than just him or her or Petey, so she leaves. Which just leaves Devon with an unconscious brother with a hole in his head and she can’t take him to the hospital and she has no one to lean on or who can help. Literally there was no other option. She may not trust Cobel, but she had to trust in her instincts that Cobel would at least not wish Mark’s death.

Last thing I want to talk about is the birthing cabin scene with iMark because I’ve seen multiple times now people talking about how she’s using him or she’s being condescending or she’s why he shouldn’t trust outies, and like all other kinds of nonsense and I’m over it so here goes:

*First let me bring this back because she had said to iMark they would go to Ricken’s journalist friends before the whole ‘she’s alive’ moment. However I do not think that is an avenue that’s actually open to her any longer because Ricken is buying into the Lumon bullshit. Which means while worrying for Gemma and oMark and her newborn baby (which I swear we don’t talk enough about how she’s doing all this as a brand new mom which is already a very stressful thing), she’s now also worrying for iMark and what’s happening to him and if he’s being punished. She told him she would help him and she hasn’t been able to do anything except try to find a new way to communicate with, which she finally did.

She’s probably feeling so guilty and afraid for him and she doesn’t know what he’s been through, so she talks soft and reassuring and is gentle because he’s her brother and she wants him to know he’s safe and he’s okay.

The tragedy is that even though the love is there, she doesn’t know what he’s been through actually so she has no way of knowing how triggering her words are when she tells him if he leaves oMark will come right back in. But she knows her brother and when confronted with negative/overwhelming feelings, his m.o. is to distance himself either physically (getting out of the car after reghabi confirmed gemma was alive; leaving Irving’s funeral as soon as he can) or emotionally (both having said ‘[theyre] not dead, just not here,’ shredding Petey’s map, tearing Gemma’s photo, his confrontation with Helly in the bathroom after the ortbo) or both (attacking Devon at pip’s after she claimed Gemma as her family too and then immediately leaving). So she knows in this situation that he’s going to want to move, to go out the door and just have a moment, which is something he was able to do at the otc, so she’s telling him that it’s not something he can do here because if he goes out the door instead of getting the moment to breathe, he’ll just turn off and then turn on right back in the same spot.

Like Devon so clearly does care for iMark and she did her best to take her cues from him (reaching for him but immediately pulling back and apologizing when he moved away), and while their time may not be as limited as it was during the otc, they still don’t have a lot of it. So, she makes sure he seems good then leads him upstairs to where Cobel is.

Why didn’t she warn him about Cobel?

Because with the limited information she has, she did not know nearly enough to know that it could be potentially upsetting for him as it probably was. Because she knows Cobel cares about oMark so why wouldn’t that extend to iMark because it’s the same for her, Devon. Plus the fact iMark did not seem traumatized by her when they lasted talked and was just neutral (as I already explained), and because she was scapegoated so who knows how much power or control she actually had since she was so expendable. Like if Devon had any idea of how Cobel truly treated iMark, she would’ve gone about the whole thing differently but she doesn’t know.

Also, she had no idea Cobel was going to be auditioning for a role in a new shining movie when they got up there. But also after 2 years of hearing about Mrs. Selvig’s nonsense, I do think she chose to just roll with it.

————

Tldr: put some respect on Devon’s name, she knows the least out of everyone and is doing the absolute best she can for everyone with what she does know. And by everyone, I mean both oMark and iMark and Gemma. She loves them all and just wants them to be safe and happy.

[xv-step]

okay so i wanna have my thoughts down pat before the season 2 finale so here goes (also based off that one clip on reddit of remaining trailer footage for these last 2 episodes)

-cobel will come back to mark and devon and make a glasglow block of sorts that will allow innie mark and outie mark to communicate to them both because clearly reintegrated mark isn't in any shape to do that. both of them will probably fight over how to go about 'saving gemma' (and maybe saving helly which is probably where they would argue). cobel in all of this doesn't have a stance and is mostly interested in this all from an inventor/scientist sort of view. (because mark is in charge of completing cold harbor). outie mark will effectively win the fight between them if/when the glasglow block is removed

-a reintegrated mark will go down to the severed floor to go and find gemma where he is stopped by drummond and milchick. helly is confused over what's going on and finds irving's instructions to the exports hall and heads there. **mark will be probably be forced to choose between helly and gemma, and tries to do both somehow**

-***the reason why cold harbor is so important is because it is supposed to be the ultimate test of severance on people, to fully erase grief (an extremely strong emotion) from a person, in this way, severance will be able to be marketed to the public as a wider solution to strong emotions, thematically it removes the most humanity it can be destroying memory and emotion. it was always going to be mark and gemma for cold harbor. gemma at the end of cold harbor isn't going to be released out into the public hailing how good lumon is because she is (legally) dead and has been for years. only mark can complete cold harbor because he's coding away gemma's emotions and memories and who else would know them best. gemma's fear of death will be coded away by mark, which lumon will use to exploit more severed people who join after seeing that severance can fully mute trauma on a person***

-mark will probably save gemma but like orpheus, turns back in some way that leaves her unable to follow with him. she can't leave the severed floor physically. and when mark tries he realizes it and botches up gemma's head in which destroys her true and first mind. she won't die, but mentally she will. depressing shit

-also hellyna most likely won't be pregnant, it is something that is expected of her as the functional heir to lumon to provide them with the next heir to lumon. but helena is smart enough not to take any chances with helly considering that she is willing to do anything to assert herself against helena, even if it means miscarrying or aborting helena's pregnancy. also why on earth would the board and her father allow for helena to have the next heir to lumon or kier's reincarnation out of wedlock. yes mark is the specialist boy because of cold harbor but they clearly like mythologizing themselves and their story, why would they not do this for helena and her baby. when you look at all the pieces it doesn't make too much logical sense but when has severance ever been logical. i will be pretty surprised if they end off the season with hellyna pregnant or trying to get pregnant with mark's kid.

[tiger-is-a-certified-idiot]

OKOK im coping im coping MEGA SEVERANCE S2E4 SPOILERS:

Helena got SO jealous about NotHer kissing a random man she's never met that she stole her identity for like a week, fucked him, told him she hates herself, and then fucked off. In direct parallel to Ms. Cobel, who was fired under the lie that she was pervertedly stalking Mark. Helena not only stalked him, but flirted with, kissed, and manipulated him.

Meanwhile MARK, who is searching for "his" wife, HIS WORDS, said "oh fuck her who cares," fucked HELENA believing she was Helly and never, no matter what, even SUSPECTED she might not actually be Helly.

And then IRV, who KNEW FROM THE START, is just actually dead now. like probably forever. fuck.

meaning IRV, who is dead, loved Helly more than Mark ever did. My heart is breaking in real time. I did not think this show would be a tragedy. They have 6 episodes left to FIX EVERYHING.

and then Dylan, who loved Irv more than anything else in his entire world, has just lost.... literally all of his loved ones. Petey is long dead, Irv is gone, Mark is reintegrating, Helly is only back for as long as Helena gives a shit about Mark, which in itself is fucked up. Am I missing anything? OUCH. the show has thorns! teeth even! VENOM!

so Helena is absolutely in the wrong having sex with someone under false pretenses, but Mark is potentially in the wrong for his 'oh who cares about my wife im boutta Get IT' mentality which he has done twice now. hes conflicted, yes. but theres like, a conversation part of this that's supposed to happen before the fucking.... methinks...

i dont know. we have missing information. we dont know helena's intentions or feelings, we dont know if she's actually loyal to lumon, we dont know what lumon is, we don't know how mark s feels about gemma, we dont know if if he actually understands the concept of marriage, we dont know that irv isnt coming back, we dont know where gemma is or what the exports hall is, in fact irv is so connected to that particular piece of the story that i find it hard to believe he's actually gone for good even though he did probably leave the drawings with O&D so maybe he is idk.

[guillotineapprehensive]

What a GOOD FUCKING FINALE

Spoilers obv

Hell yes Mark S catching onto Mark Scout's selfish thoughtless BS immediately and not just immediately agreeing to the plan

Also the difference in their voices and affectation was so clear when side by side like that. It's subtle enough that I barely notice the rest of the show but so obvious in this scene.

The video camera back-and-forth Mark discussion scene was generally great. I also loved that they had to flip the screen back around every time to watch then record.... idk it felt poetic and fitting

I still wish we got some of that plan discussion with oMark, Cobel, and Devon in the previous episode.

Also confirmed oMark has no plans of completing reintegration if he gets

Still don't fully understand what they were going to do with Gemma after Cold Harbor. Just take out the chip and kill her for funsies?

Milchick was incredible the whole episode, mans was working his ass off and throwing it DOWN. but I was honestly hoping he'd heel turn and give up immediately when they trapped him in the bathroom

Helly's "I'm her" confused me ngl I had to rewatch to make sure I heard her right

I spent several seconds chanting GWENDOLYN CHRISTIE SHOOT HIM WITH THE GUN. That fight was brutal as hell, I understand the maturity rating.

Very glad no goats died. I was worried for a sec they'd straight up do goat slaughter on screen but as soon as the gun came out instead of like a butcher's knife and it was handed to Gwendolyn instead of Drummond doing it, I knew that gun had other uses. The single bullet dispenser in the wall is fucked up.

oMark immediately shooting Drummond in the throat was honestly hilarious and perfect and exactly what Drummond deserved.

The actual climax of Mark getting Gemma out went about as I was anticipating. The final scene was almost exactly what I would've guessed - i thought it would end on them holding hands so the following shots of them running through the red flashing hallways (basically the Tunnel of Love) was gorgeous

Gemma deserves so much better but sorry girl your marriage was doomed by the narrative

Miss Casey also deserves better. her last two experiences in life were Milchick sending her back down the elevator and then she woke up kissing Mark S who was covered in blood and then he made her run through the hallways and he didn't explain anything and now she's dead. She's dead right? Like. I guess maybe Gemma could pull a heist to try to save her husband if they don't let Mark S leave... but I doubt it. Miss Casey isn't getting another shot at life.

God what a good fucking love story. Two love stories really. But they can't both be the true love forever. Unless...

So Jame definitely wants to kill Helena and let Helly take over as his daughter / heir. He likes her. He hates his daughter. So Helly might get a life... at the expense of Helena and that's fucked up but the whole thing is fucked up, this is the Fucked Up Sci Fi Show.

TBH I'd be ok with this as a series finale if s3 was cancelled. I realize it didn't wrap up the characters' story obviously but it answered the 1 big mystery of What Those MDR Numbers Mean and gave us a love story with a tragic ending and a love story with a happy(?) ending

Some people already theorizing hard but I want to be content to just bask in that good television and enjoy what we have here for a while. This was so good. What a good episode.

[sangsaracycling]

ok scramble of thoughts on severance s2e6 sub cut

mr milchick break roomed! tramel tillman emmy NOW!!

pretty sure fields is an eagan, someone sent Drummond! to fucking irving’s house because they knew he wouldn’t be there!! and they also had insanely early access to the severance tech AND they’re religious as hell AND burt knew theoretically why his innie had to get fired, though i am confused as to the extent which burt is an accomplice

miss huang is apparently on some sort of internship? is she at that creepy ass school cobel went to growing up? does that school make ten year olds do lumon internships???

no let’s go back to seth and break rooming himself. i am assuming someone is forcing him to do all that but nobody else is in the room. anyway i know that’s not the point but it feels awfully like . idk when you’re Not Quite Not Autistic and you somehow get a hold of a concrete piece of feedback on why people don’t like you. and you go to stupid lengths to fix that about yourself . nobody is in there making you do it but if you don’t make yourself do it bad things will happen! spending hours in front of a mirror until you get eye contact right and your eyes are bloodshot and tearshot. memorizing small talk scripts. tying ace bandages around your waist so that you never let it out. who said all that not me.

devon bisexual. naturally. also yes she figured it out! severance versus severance if devon had a gun strikes again (although perhaps now that she and reghabi have met…)

re prev devon reghabi wives. leave ricken

helena truly got gemma’s name wrong on purpose didn’t she…

ok time to sever myself and focus on work now (: i suppose (((((:

[leporidaecervinae]

I do not think I'm ever going to be able to articulate why exactly the final plot beat of s2 made me so viscerally angry. Let me try. It's not just the 'selfishness', it's not as shallow as that. I understand Innie Mark's defense that he does not know Gemma, that they're essentially two different people in the same body pulling in opposing directions; that he lived with and loved Helly. That he was thinking with his dick-heart and not pragmatically. Looking past the emotional resonance of it all, though, it really felt like a spit in the face of both of the most important women characters. The linchpins of this entire emotional turmoil in the first place.

Let me try to get this straight. Helly told Mark S to leave her, to go and find that external life, to free Gemma, to believe in his outie even if she knew hers was basically an asshole. I'm extrapolating here, but it could well be because of the fact that she knows she's Helena Eagan on the outside, knows just how much social capital and leverage she holds, how much power. Knows what it would do to destroy anyone who dared to blow the whistle on Lumon even while she's trapped by the 'legacy' (clear indication of possible defection in the future—similar to Milchick, another point for another time).

Gemma finally got to see her husband after two years of torture, begged him to come with her even as he did not recognise her despite the fact that her 25th innie went with him without question. Gemma got to sit on the sidelines (as did we) and watch Mark walk away into the place that she had no memory of hurting her, in the grasp of another woman. Mark has always been selfish, lets not pretend he's the golden boy. He chose severance for a reason. He chose reintegration for a reason. He was lying to Mark S, treated him with about the respect that Helena treated Helly. Parallels, whatever.

But.

BUT.

These women and their lives are props to Mark's way of life. Even if you include Jame's horrific and (very) creepy mistreatment/abuse/neglect of Helena, even if you include Natalie's blatant capitulation with desperation in her eyes and a grimace of a smile while speaking For The Board, even if you tally up exactly how all of the women are mistreated horrifically (Cobel—who has her ideas stolen after working a child slave, Ms. Huang who quite literally was the next Cobel, working as a child slave, Gretchen the long-suffering wife shouldering the burden of raising three children—one of whom is her husband who is summarily punished for falling in love with the SAME MAN SHE IS MARRIED TO; "I saw you in him", including Devon who is married to a pompous, selfish, feminist-self-congratulatory idiot, including Gemma by Mark when she went into (possibly) suicidal depression after a miscarriage mind you!) YES you can argue that it's thematically appropriate to the commentary on the use of women's bodies under capitalism, YES you can argue that even Gwendolyn Christie's character being an archetype of 'matron' to baby goats is tied irrevocably to the "woman = motherhood" theme of the show but when these intersect specifically with a man's impulsive decision to run off with his new true love, it leaves absolute ash in the mouth.

These women are not allowed to make their own decisions, that's enough of a theme that's evident on a careful (if not critical) watch. But it's executed in the finale as part of the narrative, not as commentary. I don't know how to explain it. It endorses the choice (as we can see through people's reactions to it) and by leaving it on that wild 'running off into the sunset' moment, it leaves absolutely no room for the women to turn around and make their own choices. It strips the women of their agency in a way that the plot demands, rather than it being a choice that the characters make.

Remember, Helly told Mark S to save Gemma and to leave her behind. THAT was her choice of agency. (And yes, you can argue on a technical level, none of these characters have free will but we can go about ignoring the authorial strokes of the show for a moment) Gemma up until this point had no agency whatsoever, beyond what she tried to exert through violence (and was likely punished for) and Mark S took that choice from her. He is enacting the same violence that Lumon is enacting on the severed people's, just in an emotional capacity, all while claiming to be the exact opposite. His entire purpose was Gemma for near two seasons, and in a second, for a shocking twist cliff-hanger ending, the writers double-backed and committed to enacting the same level of autonomy-scraping that they've been thematically trying to critique this entire time.

Feels bad. Maybe that's on purpose, I don't know. The dissonance between 'running off into the sunset' (an image that provokes hope) into a sterile white office building that has been the cause of the innie's imprisonment and torture (evidently the opposite of hope) really irks me as well. I can't quite swallow that bitter pill, myself. Maybe someone else has more enlightened thoughts on it than I do.

[halfd3af]

Severance season two finale thoughts in no particular order

I kept screaming at Lorne to get Drummond like “KILL HIM, CAPTAIN PHASMA”, that whole scene was so awesome to watch

It’s wild how Drummond didn’t even hesitate to beat the shit out of Innie Mark, despite his achievement

I love that she got to keep her “kid” ☺️ Emile is apparently viewed as a name that can mean someone who is “industrious”…

Outie Dylan’s letter to his innie was so emotionally touching, it made me nearly cry… Innie Dylan being complimented 🥺

Absolutely fascinating that Jame was interested in Helly’s “Kierian fire” which is… very odd because this seems to be referring to her rebellious nature, which that isn’t something I’d associate with Kier 🤔 How much do we NOT know about Kier as a person, then?

How many half-siblings does Helena have?!?!? I wanna know! Will we meet any?

I love Helly nearly stabbing Jame, she’s so real for that

I knew that the conversation between outie Mark and innie Mark was going to lead to an argument, and ohhhh boy did the writers do such a fucking good job! I was rooting for how innie Mark was standing up for himself and the other innies! It’s such a good emotional pay off!!! He is in the right to tell off outie Mark with such a manipulative tactic of “oh I won’t forget you I swear, even though I’ve never cared about you until now 🥺”

I loved how Cobel confirms ideas and thoughts the fans have had for months or years, it’s such a good payoff, like how yes, the numbers ARE about Gemma

The massive fucking painting on the severed floor was insane… the fact that soooo many people were on it…

I’m so curious what the ‘we kill this person and a baby goat so it will guide the person’s soul to Kier” process is about because we (luckily) never got to see it fulfilled!

Mark accidentally shooting Drummond in the elevator is NOT what I expected, I imagined they would have fought over the gun…

Gemma’s attendant cursing Mark the fuck out was SO funny lmao

The crib dismantlement was such a fucked up thing to make her do, god 😭

I’m glad Crib Innie Gemma had no trouble leaving with Mark from that room

The way Outie Mark and Outie Gemma kissed and held each other 😭😭😭😭

Milchick’s Dance Scene #2 was wild, the crew must have had a great time recording all that haha I wonder if Traman did band in his youth

Dylan saving the day again AND instead of him being solo, he’s with Helly so they can tag team 🥺

Helly’s speech…

The way that Gemma was finally able to get outside, but her screaming at Innie Mark 😭

And at the very end, I dunno about y’all, but I love that he didn’t leave. I love that Innie Mark would stick to what he knows, and that’s MDR and Helly! I’m so curious if Season 3 will focus on Gemma on the outside primarily because… I don’t think Mark S is going to be leaving the Lumon building any time soon 😅

In the finale, instead of Mark losing Gemma like many had wondered about potentially happening, she “lost” him because she looked back Orpheus-style… and I loved that lol

I wonder how reintegration will resolve the conflict between Outie Mark and Innie Mark, because the latter is right—how WILL it work for two identities to share a body? Does Cobel know?

[binomech]

not to be a hater but innie mark is stupid only bc gemma could have absolutely been recaptured on her way out lol. and lumon is gonna beat his ass

to gemma being re-captured: not off the table, although i doubt that cobel and devon aren't prowling around the building. but it's a fair enough concern, his ass did not consider logistics. admittedly, he has never been outside a building for more than 3 seconds, ORTBO hike notwithstanding. still, impulsive plan will continue to be poorly thought out, because that's the mark special.

to lumon beating his ass: he knows. he knows, because when he asked to be sent to the severed floor, she asked devon if she loved her brother and she said yes. because devon said that if gemma got out, they would use any dirt she had on them to destroy lumon. because when he asked "so what happpens to the innies?" he got an "i don't know" from devon, an "i'm already reintegrating" from mark scout, and a whole lot of nothing from cobel and realized that whether he leaves and mark scout reintegrates or he stays and burns with lumon, he's on borrowed time. they cannot stay in the equator forever.

he goes back because he knows mark scout will come out but chances are mark s. probably won't. he wishes he had more time, he knows his outie will live on in either scenario, so he makes a selfish decision (selfish lover, selfish griever, this is both of them, and is that so wrong?) to get what looks to be an impossibly short amount of time with helly and dylan and whoever may remain on the floor that could help or kill them, including jame eagan and dr. mauer and all the ghosts of gemma's innies that were people, not parts of people, that died for her to get out, inculding ms. casey, whom he knew and searched for and still killed. when he dies, mark scout can get out, can go to gemma, to devon, to all the people he has that love him. but these are his loves, right here in a building that became a continent, a whole world, that they cannot leave without dying in some way. a life not only "to be had", a life that they have. present. whole and alive and dying like any living being that's been born, ever, and cannot cease to exist unless it's through death.

like, i don't think this is a honeymoon, i think this is mark s' moment of marching to his death with his head held high and hoping he won't have regrets, whatever may happen to him, or to helly, or to dylan, wherever irving b and burt g are, where ms. casey and all her sisters are, where petey k went, whatever happens to their gone. he stood in a hallway that lit up the same red the first time helly was sent to the break room and took her hand and they both turned their back to the world and ran headfirst into hell, which can be a hearth too, and it was not out of naivety.