5 Things You May Have Missed, From “Hang In There” To The Glasgow Block
Severance Season 2, Episode 4, “Woe’s Hollow,” was a masterpiece unlike anything we’ve seen from the acclaimed workplace thriller before. Rather than directly follow up on Mark’s (Adam Scott) major reintegration cliffhanger from Season 2, Episode 3, the Apple TV+ series took an icy, completely unexpected detour and allowed its severed innies to leave the office and roam free in the great outdoors.Major Severance Season 2, Episode 4 spoilers ahead.In the breathtaking installment — written by Anna Ouyang Moench and directed by Ben Stiller — Milchick (Tramell Tillman) and Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) took the core MDR four on a two-day Outdoor Retreat Team Building Occurrence (ORTBO) to Woe’s Hollow, the place where Kier is said to have tamed the four tempers.During their snowy excursion, the team learned a twisted tale of Kier’s late twin, Dieter Eagan. Helly had baby goats (code for “sex with Mark S”) in a tent. And after realizing that Helly’s outie, Helena Eagan, took her place on the Severed Floor after the Overtime Contingency debacle, Irving nearly drowned the CEO in waiting. As punishment for Irving’s actions, Milchick executed his “immediate and permanent dismissal,” effectively ending his innie’s life. Noooooooo!Since Severance is such a meticulously-crafted show, every Friday until the March 21 finale, Decider will be taking a closer look at each episode and highlighting five moments that deserve to be put under the microscope. Whether they’re blink-and-miss-it details or major scenes that need to be talked through in greater depth, we’re here to obsess, hypothesize, and dissect the series alongside you.From those creepy MDR twins and Irving’s Eagan dream to the Glasgow Block and more, here are five things you may have missed from Severance Season 2, Episode 4.
The MDR Twins
Photo: Apple TV+
Theories that Lumon is involved with cloning have been circulating since Season 1, with some fans convinced that “Lumon is creating artificial human bodies and that the true purpose of severance is to learn how to transplant a consciousness into one of the fake bodies.” Though we don’t get definitive answers in Season 2, Episode 4, we do see creepy “twins” of Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dylan that make the clone theories feel more possible than ever.
When Milchick sent the MDR four on their journey to Scissor Cave, he promised there would be help along the way. Moments later, Dylan asked, “What the fuck is that?” and the team saw a Mark lookalike (suit and all!) creepily standing across from them, pointing his finger in the direction they were meant to travel. Later, a Helly lookalike pointed them in the direction of the cave, and when they read Kier’s sacred text, it revealed that the founder “shared the womb” with a twin brother called Dieter. As the group continued on their journey, a Dylan lookalike helped guide them to a Milchick, who pointed to the top of a waterfall, where all four “twins” were standing.
“Kier’s twin was always with him. That’s why we provided the very same for each of you,” Milchick explained. Respectfully, WHAT?! Are those lookalike actors hired for the day? Can they speak? Are they cold in the icy Woe’s Hollow winter without coats?! And crucially, are they Lumon-crafted clones?!?? The episode doesn’t answer these questions, nor do we see the MDR twins again! So put them on your brain’s back burner, but don’t forget.
Irving’s Eagan Dream
Photo: Apple TV+
After fighting with his teammates and getting lost in the woods, Irving spent the night outside in the snow. He’d been suspicious of Helly ever since she told her “night gardener” story in the Season 2 premiere, but he couldn’t figure out exactly what was up with her. When he woke from his slumber in Season 2, Episode 4, however, he suddenly had all the clarity he needed. He sprinted to the waterfall and confidently confronted Helly as an Eagan. (For those in shock, the signs were there from the start!) Wondering how exactly Irving had that epiphany in his sleep? He put two and two together because his computer monitor switched from solely displaying numbers to displaying the letters E-A-G-A-N and form an image of Helly’s face.
Irving’s dream (or rather, Kier-coded nightmare) also showed his dearly beloved Burt (Christopher Walken) serving looks, and the temper Woe (a gaunt bride, half the height of a natural woman). Irv and his dream team were working on a file titled Montauk, which was 3% complete. And though this detail didn’t play a major role in the episode, it did make me wonder — if Mark’s Cold Harbor file has to do with Ms Casey/Gemma, what, or who, are everyone else’s MDR files associated with?
The Glasgow Block
Photo: Apple TV+
After Irving met up with Helly by the waterfall, he confronted her about the “cruel” comment she made about him and Burt the night before. “Helly was never cruel,” he explained. “So if you’re not her, then who are you? Who would have the power to send their outie to the severed floor?”
Helly apologized, but it was too late. Irving grabbed her, led her to the edge of the waterfall, and dunked her head in, trying to drown her just like Kier presumably drowned his twin. Irv screamed, “Turn her back, Mr. Milchick! She’s an outie! She’s been an outie the whole time! She’s a fucking mole! I’m gonna kill her, Mr. Milchick. She’s not Helly, she’s an Eagan!” And as Mark, Dylan, and Milchick struggled to process Irving’s actions and words, Helly — or should we say Helena — screamed, “God damn it, Seth! Do it!”
In response to her demand for assistance, Milchick grabbed his walkie talkie and said, “It’s Milchick. Remove the Glasgow Block. NOW!” Just then, we heard the familiar ding that indicates a severance chip has been activated, and the real Helly R. returned.
So what exactly is the Glasgow Block?! Or perhaps, what happens when the Glasgow function is blocked? Clearly, one’s outie can descend to the severed floor (or in this case, attend an innie field trip) without their severance chip being activated. How? We’re not exactly sure. But Eagle-eyed fans first learned about Glasgow back in Season 1. If you, like me, paused on Season 1’s security room scenes, you may have noticed that the Overtime Contingency wasn’t the only system function listed in the controls.
Photo: Apple TV+
While my initial prediction — that the “Glasgow” feature was could send severed people into comas — wasn’t entirely on the nail, perhaps some of my other guesses listed here are correct:
Beehive – Group mind control? Hive mind? Summons all severed workers to Lumon? Am I getting warmer?!
Branch Transfer – Please let this be as simple as moving severed employees to different departments.
Clean Slate – I fear this may be used to completely wipe (or reset) severed employee memories.
Elephant – They say an elephant never forgets, so maybe this function restore full memories to Innies or Outies.
Freeze Frame – I assume this feature stops a severed person in their tracks.
Goldfish – Ted Lasso would probably say this feature either gives severed employees short bursts of memories or makes them frequently forget.
Lullaby – This feature likely puts an Innie or Outie to sleep on command.
Open House – If overtime awakens the Innies outside Lumon, does open house bring the Outies inside? Pure chaos.
Here’s hoping we learn more about other functions — and the extent of Lumon’s control over severed minds — as the series continues.
Mark And Helly Helena! Having Sex
Photo: Apple TV+
Baby goats! Baby goats! This is not a drill! In Season 1, “baby goats” was Dylan and Helly’s code for “sex with Mark S.” — a thing I never imagined we’d actually see, considering Mark and Helly only exist in an office! But alas, the ORTBO opened Severance‘s sex window, and in true Severance fashion, the scene was incredibly layered and complex.
At the end of Season 2, Episode 4, we learned that Outie Helena Eagan had been pretending to be Innie Helly ever since Helly learned about her ties to Lumon during the OTC chaos. Before Helena Eagan descended to the Severed Floor, she watched footage of her innie interacting with her colleagues and took special interest in Helly and Mark’s big kiss. (She rewound and replayed the footage! She seemed genuinely captivated by her innie’s confidence and romantic connection!) All the flirting, sexual tension, and deep chats we saw between Mark and Helly during the first four episodes were actually between Mark and Helena (pretending to be Helly), which means that despite his desire to hook up with Helly R., Mark actually had sex with Lumon’s future CEO in Episode 4.
Helena’s deception was an APPALLING violation of Mark’s autonomy, which renewed Season 1 concerns related to the Severance procedure and consent at large. (Remember that news report about a newly severed woman whose innie got pregnant?!) It also reminded us that Severance is crafting one of the most complex TV love triangles — or hexagons — of all time. Helena, Helly, and Mark’s innie are directly involved here, but Mark’s Outie — not to mention Gemma and Ms. Casey — are also connected, as stressed through Mark’s reintegration flicker, where he sees Helly as Gemma for a split second.
That said, Helena’s decision to sleep with Mark — something he and Helly R. will undoubtedly have to process and heal from in future episodes — also told us a great deal about Lumon’s leading lady. Lying next to Mark in the tent, Helena (as Helly) admitted, “I didn’t like who I was on the outside. I was ashamed.” Some might see the comment as a way for Helena to let Mark in just enough to safeguard her lie after Irving called her out again. But the fact that she didn’t have to say this makes me think it’s true. Helena Eagan doesn’t like who she is as an outie, as Jame Eagan’s daughter, and Lumon’s protector. So why did she sleep with Mark? Perhaps she’s lonely, isolated, and craves romantic companionship. And perhaps she longs to be more like Helly, who boldly stands up for her beliefs and lives life — despite her Severed Floor limitations — with a level of freedom that feels foreign to Helena. The fact that Mark replied, “I don’t care who you are out there. I care who you are with me,” may also have given Helena a rare feeling of security and acceptance.
“Hang In There!”
Photo: Apple TV+
After Irving “threatened collegial murder in the pond of Woe’s Hollow,” Milchick called for his “immediate and permanent dismissal” and Irving said goodbye to his bestie, Dylan. “Irv! I’m sorry! I should have listened to you,” Dylan shouted. “It’s OK! It’s all OK! Just remember — hang in there!” Irving replied.
The words “Hang in there” seemed to catch Dylan off guard, as he shrugged his arms up in confusion. While we don’t fully understand the meaning behind Irving’s seemingly motivational farewell, we do recognize the saying from one of the new posters in the break room! The purple and white poster features an image of Dylan holding both levers to activate the OTC. So what’s Irving trying to communicate to Dylan in his final moments as an innie? We’ll have to wait and see. As for now, “permanent dismissal” essentially means that Innie Irving is dead, and Outie Irv is likely fired once again. We miss you already, Irv! Here’s hoping MDR burns the place to the ground on your behalf!
New episodes of Severance Season 2 premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.
