Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Severance Season 2 Episode 5.
Last week’sORTBO (Outdoor Retreat and Team-Building Occurrence)at"Woe’s Hollow"inSeverancechanged the dynamic of Macrodata Refinement forever, asIrving B. (John Turturro) was terminated from Lumon, leaving his innie dead, for all intents and purpose, to his now former coworkers. The show’s latest episode, “Trojan’s Horse,” not only marks the halfway point of Season 2 but also confirmsa turning point for the three remaining members of MDR.
Helly R. (Britt Lower) returns to the severed floor for the first time this season and is quite lost with the goings-on post the Macrodat Uprising, that took place in the Season 1 finale. Mark S. (Adam Scott) oddly seems focused on his work, which is a win for Lumon, but it seems the ORTBO broke the innie of Mark’s spirits. Dylan G. (Zach Cherry) is rightfully angry that he will never see his friend again, and demands that Irving receive a funeral. Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman) approves his request, but it’swhat happens when the bereavement ceremony is overthat proves intriguing.
Irving Left Clues for Dylan To Solve ‘Severance’s Biggest Mystery
During the funeral for Irving’s innie, one that includes a strange 8-bit animation of Irving playing during the entirety of the ceremony, mugs customized with Irving’s face, and a nightmare-fuel-inducing watermelon shaped to look like Irving’s head,Dylan notices a poster hanging in thenewly refurbished Break Roomthat echoes Irving’s final words. When Dylan tried to apologize for not believing him during the ORTBO, Irving simply stated, “Just remember, hang in there.” At the time, it seemed like a simple phrase of encouragement in a time of need, butSeverancejust uncovered much more to Irving’s final words, setting up Dylan to pick up where Irving left off insearching for answers about what the Exports Hall might be. The “Hang in There” poster is a nod to the many inspirational posters seen commonly in corporate offices that usually feature a cat, but this one features Dylanholding onto both switches to enact the Overtime Contingencyin the Season 1 finale. Behind the poster is a drawing of the ominous elevator with a red light at the end of a dark hall, aka the Exports Hall, with directions on how to get there written on the back of the drawing.
Earlier in the season, while Irving was helping in the search for Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman), his trip to Optics & Design (O&D) confirms to him that the paintings his outie has been obsessively working on are a real place in Lumon, and his conversation with Felicia (Claudia Robinson) verifies its exact location. Knowing that his suspicion of Helly actually being Helena Eagan pretending to be her innie might land him in some trouble,Irving must have stashed the drawing and directions in a place that was confirmed to have no cameras, so the rest of the MDR crew could continue to uncover the secrets Lumon is hiding.
One question about Irving that has yet to be answered is:how was his outie able to draw something that exists on the severed floor?Since he was an employee at Lumon for so long, it’s possible his version of theseverance procedureresulted in more overlap in the memories of his innie and outie self, explaining his visions of black goo in Season 1, which earned him punishment for “dozing off” at the time. In the cold open ofSeason 2 Episode 5, we see an unknown man retrieving surgical tools from O&D as he heads to the ominous elevator at the end of the Exports Hall, adding more mystery and intrigue to what occurs on what seems to be the Testing Floor of Lumon.
If You Love ‘Severance,’ Watch (or Revisit) This Hit Series Full of Plot Twists
Few comedies have the guts to take on life’s biggest questions.
The Search for Ms. Casey Is Back On in ‘Severance’ Season 2
The ORTBO really put a wrench in the hunt for Ms. Casey, which only cements in Mark S.’s mind that Lumon will always be two steps ahead of them after the realization that the CEO’s daughter had been spying on them as a mole.Mark seems to have abandoned his attachments within the workplaceto solely focus on the work at hand, and rather than being hurt again by the corporate hammer known as Lumon,his sights are set on the completion of Cold Harbor. With Dylan reeling from the loss of Irving, his anger can now be channeled into getting answers about what Lumon could possibly be doing below the severed floor. Even though Mark’s cold demeanor toward the remaining members of MDR adds to Dylan’s anger,this new information is a tipping point in uncovering the biggest mysterySeverancehas offered the audience. Not to mention Helly now knows that Ms. Casey is the presumed dead wife of Mark’s outie, and it’s no secret that Helly is always down for an act of rebellion.
This new information could bethe spark to ignite the fire in Mark to continue his search for Ms. Casey, as she was sent to the Testing Floor, where she entered the same elevator they now have directions to. With each new episode ofSeveranceSeason 2, the series gifts the audience a tiny piece of the puzzle for its biggest mystery, and more than ever it appears that the Exports Hall, the Testing Floor, Ms. Casey, and Cold Harbor are all connected in some way. Dylan just needs to get Mark on board and the team can devise another scheme, much like their previous Macrodat Uprising, torescue Ms. Casey from the grasp of Lumonand finally uncover what is really being produced on the severed floor. All paths lead to that mysterious elevator at the end of a dark hallway; MDR just needed the map that Irving delivered as a final parting gift.
New episodes ofSeveranceSeason 2 premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.
