After spending an episode completely away from the usual activities to give us an idea about Harmony Cobel and her life before the severance program, Severance season 2 episode 9 brings us right back into the thick of the action. Along with this return, the series also resumes its style of being too vague and confusing, which has been particularly noticeable this season. The episode shows us what happens with Outie Irving and Burt Goodman, while Helly and Dylan’s lives also see some significant developments. Lastly, Harmony Cobel finally meets with Mark and Devon and ultimately takes them to the supposed Innie cabin in the forest, which perhaps sets us up for a grand finale next week, but I’m too confused to know.
Spoiler Alert
Why does Innie Dylan decide to quit his job at Lumon?
Among various other matters, Severance season 2 episode 9 finally has Gretchen admit to her husband, meaning Outie Dylan, that she had actually lied about her last visit to Lumon, and for a very specific reason. Gretchen had earlier told Dylan that she had not been able to meet his Innie self for a second time, apparently because the authorities had canceled the meeting. However, Gretchen had kept the matter a secret because she had kissed Innie Dylan, which had left her feeling guilty, to some extent. With time, she perhaps came to the conclusion that Innie Dylan was just the severed consciousness of her husband, and so her action should not be considered an instance of adultery. Mustering up confidence, she finally admits to Outie Dylan about this kiss, but he is absolutely livid about it.
Outie Dylan completely ignores the fact that he has been too blind to his wife’s emotional needs for quite some time now, because of which Gretchen felt seen and loved while with Innie Dylan. He tells her off for cheating on him, since he considers his severed consciousness a different entity altogether. Outie Dylan’s insensitive reaction towards Gretchen is noteworthy, though, and he even threatens to resign from his job at Lumon so that she cannot follow him to work and then get intimate with his own severed self. This hurts Gretchen quite a bit, and she is also very affected by her husband’s reaction, because of which she returns to Lumon Industries once again, this time to take a determined decision.
Gretchen visits the Lumon office once more and meets with Innie Dylan for a third time, and she tells him about her confession to her husband about their budding romance. Innie Dylan is confused about why his Outie self reacted so strangely, for he feels himself to be a part of Outie Dylan, and therefore feels there should be no problem. He simply cannot fathom the fact that the man for whom he is technically toiling so hard throughout the day wants to restrict him from having any sense of respite or enjoyment. To make matters worse for him, Gretchen announces that she does not want to come visit him ever again, meaning that no relationship between them is possible. Despite Innie Dylan begging her and even groveling to make her stay back, Gretchen walks out, even after hearing how he had felt a purpose in life only after meeting her.
This experience leaves Innie Dylan immensely bitter and frustrated, because of which he cannot return to work again. At one point, Helly tries to convince him to retrace the steps mentioned by Innie Irving before he was fired so that they can reach the Exports Hall together and get some revenge against their cruel employers and self-centered Outies, but he refuses to be a part of any such mission. Out of sheer misery and a certain sense of hollowness because of the absence of Gretchen, Innie Dylan decides to quit his job at Lumon, and he hands in his resignation to Milchick. Surprisingly, it is Miss Huang, the intern deputy manager, who expresses some sorrow at his decision, and she even apologizes for her shortcomings in making Gretchen stay.
At the end of the episode, Innie Dylan is seen walking into the elevator after having resigned from the company, which is essentially the equivalent to committing suicide for an Innie. Since Outie Dylan will be informed of the resignation, and he will not be able to return to work, his Innie consciousness will simply cease to exist. It is difficult to gauge whether Innie Dylan will make a comeback or somehow return to the show, and the only possibility of this happening would be if Outie Dylan refuses to accept the resignation and somehow forces the company to take him back.
What happens to Outie Irving?
Outie Irving is seen returning home the morning after his dinner with Burt and Fields, when he is rather surprised to see his pet dog behaving a certain way. Soon, Outie Irving realizes that Burt Goodman has broken into his home and has been going through all the things at his desk, seemingly looking for some evidence or information. Based on the conversation that the two men have throughout the episode, it seems like Outie Irving had been conducting his own research, or even an investigation, into the malpractices of Lumon Industries, and he had come to the conclusion that Burt was some kind of a low-level thug or enforcer working for the company. This can make one wonder whether he had established a sort of communication channel with his Innie self and exactly how he had been led to Burt working for the company, but nothing is made clear in this regard.
However, his recent interactions with the man had made him change his opinion on Burt, or at least he says so, possibly to avoid any dangerous confrontation. It can be felt that Outie Irving fears that Burt has come to his home to hurt or kill him upon the orders of their ex-company, and so he tries to convince the man that he no longer holds such an opinion. Burt, however, seemingly confirms that he was indeed once a henchman for Lumon, and it is suggested that he was the one responsible for making dissenters against Lumon disappear. Therefore, Irving is naturally very nervous when Burt asks him to take a ride with him, but the end of their journey does not go as expected.
Burt does not ultimately kill or hurt Irving, but he helps him escape the town of Kier, which has become extremely dangerous as Lumon wants to get rid of him. Burt expresses that he feels a special connection with Irving because their Innie selves had grown so close to one another. There is also a suggestion that Burt was actually one of the few employees at Lumon who was not severed, meaning that he did have a romantic relationship with a version of Irving. Because of this, Outie Irving even tries to convince Burt to leave Kier with him so that they can settle down and spend the rest of their lives together. However, Burt disagrees, and ultimately it is Irving who leaves town with his beloved dog and seems quite happy, or enriched, by his recent experiences.
Although Burt is seen traveling away on a train, the last shot of the train in the episode is merged with a shot of the long dark tunnel leading up to the elevator in the Exports Hall. This might seem to suggest that Irving does not actually leave Kier, but there might be some more mystery regarding the matter. Based on what we saw in season 2 episode 7, it is highly possible that the severed employees at Lumon had gone through multiple severance procedures, meaning that there are more than just two versions of them. Perhaps the Outie Irving we see leaving is not the real man, per se, but one of his severed consciousnesses, and we can only expect to get answers to all this in the season finale.
Can Helly reach the Exports Hall by herself?
Helly’s fate is also left shrouded in mystery, even more so than Irving’s, by the end of Severance season 2 episode 9, as she is seemingly caught in the act by Jame Eagan. After failing to convince Innie Dylan to use the directions left behind by Innie Irving and reach the Exports Hall to uncover the mystery of Lumon, Helly sets out to find the place all by herself. She gets hold of a small chit hidden behind the framed poster and brings it back to the MDR cubicle to study it. Hours after the work shift has ended and everyone has left the office building, Helly is still seen at the cubicle, trying to memorize the directions mentioned on the chit, when Jame Eagan appears at the doorway and remarks how he has been cheated by the woman.
Although Helly seems surprised at seeing the man, Jame’s words seem to suggest that there is one more twist waiting to be revealed about the identity of Helly. It seems most plausible that the Helly we have been following is actually Helena, and this is why Jame seems to be talking to his daughter and not her severed self when he mentions being cheated by her. It might be that Helena had developed a genuine romantic interest for Mark during her brief interaction with him earlier in the season, and this is seemingly hinted at even at the beginning of this episode. When Helena is seen having breakfast with her father, the plate that she uses has an image of two women trying to take control of a man in the middle. As the two women are wearing a red and a blue outfit, respectively, they seem to resemble the Innie and Outie selves of Helena, since the colors have been used earlier as well to differentiate between the Innies and the Outies.
This theory then means that Helena is actually back at the Lumon office to find out more about the company’s secrets, which she herself is unaware of. Or, it could also be that Jame Eagan is severed as well, and he has a version of himself patrolling the halls of his office after work hours. Either way, Helly (or Helena) seems to be in significant trouble at the end of the episode, and what happens to her at the hands of Jame will be interesting to watch next week.
What makes Milchick finally speak up?
Finally, in the penultimate episode of Severance season 2, Seth Milchick stands up for himself and does not hesitate to speak up against his superiors when they continue to be too controlling of him. When Drummond and the board had asked Milchick to be more stern with his employees and take his responsibilities at Lumon more seriously, the floor manager seemed to have been inspired to be tougher on just about everyone. Therefore, when Drummond now admonishes Milchick for the absence of Mark at the office on the day when Cold Harbor was supposed to be completed, he decides to not take the disrespect any further. While it is not clear what exactly makes Milchick react in such a manner, it is definitely satisfying to see him tell off Drummond, a direct representative of the board, in such a fashion.
When Mark calls up Milchick to inform him about him simply taking a day off work, on the advice of Harmony Cobel, he also grants the employee a leave without creating any problem. This signifies that the floor manager is really controlling things as he sees fit. We also see Miss Huang having to leave Lumon after her internship suddenly comes to an end, although she did not expect to leave just yet. It could be that Milchick’s sudden rebellious nature is related to the young girl leaving, and it might even turn him against the company ultimately, which would surely give the series a new turn.
Where does Mark reach in the end?
Severance season 2 episode 9 also sees Mark and Devon finally meet with Harmony Cobel, who had agreed to help them at the end of the previous episode. As they meet, Devon asks Harmony to take them to the supposed cabin in the woods where all the Innies can be accessed without getting into the Lumon offices. Their plan is to save Gemma, or Ms. Casey, from the place, but Harmony firmly states that they must wait until dark. When the right time comes, she drives her truck to the Lumon facility in the woods and makes it seem like Devon is being taken to meet with one of the Eagans. Mark, meanwhile, stays hidden at the back of the truck and successfully sneaks into the place.
However, Mark suddenly seems to wake up from a slumber, and he seems to experience severance, just like when going down to the MDR floor through the elevator, and he also seems a bit disoriented, as if he does not recognize Devon. This probably suggests that this is only one version of the several severed Marks that Lumon had created, as he appears to be literally an Innie stuck inside a cabin. In the end, Devon takes him up to a room where Harmony is waiting, and he seems to recognize her as the evil boss at his company. What Harmony intends to do with Mark is left unclear, and it might be that all these different versions need to be removed first in order to help the real Mark reunite with Gemma. Whether this can ultimately be achieved remains to be seen, and the Severance season 2 finale next week will surely provide some answers, if not all.
