SPOILERS for Severance Season 2, Episode 5 ‘Trojan’s Horse’
Following last week’s narrative departure and ORTBO expedition, one which we don’t get much more clarification on, Trojan’s Horse brings us back to familiar territory inside Lumon’s severed floor. The series is in such an interesting and exciting state right now – it feels like multiple character arcs and subplots are on a knife’s edge, with impending implosions and chaos about to unfold at any moment. They’re also not slowing down when it comes to providing answers, updates on big mysteries and dropping little revelations about Lumon’s inner workings. The writers continue to surprise me, episode after episode, by maintaining the rapid pace at which this season is moving. It’s still giving its mysteries room to breathe and allowing audiences time to ponder and get predictions incorrect, but it’s pushing along with a pace that’s electrifying and making me eager to get through the week and to the next episode.
Just what the doctor ordered.
The episode opens with a mysterious man wheeling a trolley through the corridors of Lumon’s severed floor while whistling an eerily happy tune. Immediately I made the connection that this is most likely the guy Lumon sends from the Testing Floor through the Exports Hall to collect goods from O&D. Within seconds we get exactly that confirmation – he meets up with Felicia (Claudia Robinson) and another O&D employee to collect trays of dental equipment and take them back. He goes back down the Exports Hall and returns to the Testing Floor.
It should be noted that this entire time they’re intentionally obscuring his face, showing him from behind or from afar to where you can’t make out his identity. His silhouette isn’t reminiscent of anyone we’ve seen before, but perhaps someone we’ll see soon enough. All we can call him right now is the Doctor, as the subtitles described.
The post-vacation blues.
Cutting to Mark’s (Adam Scott) outie, he’s sorting through a bunch of pills while also downing a vial of the most unappetising soup. This is all seemingly part of Reghabi’s (Karen Aldridge) reintegration procedure. As he’s on the phone to Devon, we learn a few tidbits of information; first of all, he hasn’t mentioned his reintegration to her, which is sure to cause some sort of conflict down the line. Second, he starts talking about the “weekend thing”, which we know as the ORTBO expedition through the snow. So it seems Mark and co. did agree to sacrificing their entire weekend, but we don’t get any more insight beyond that. Mark’s motivation to accept that would’ve been to keep his war against Lumon under the radar and not alert their watchful eye. Apparently Lumon informed Mark that his innie fell off a rope, hence why he’d have been drenched, but neither of them is buying that. We also get confirmation of something that I speculated last week – that reintegration is a longer process than just a single session, meaning he probably has to keep doing procedures and taking pills until we get to the point of complete clarity.
Back with Helena (Britt Lower), she’s meeting with Natalie (Sydney Cole Alexander) and Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), whose name we finally learned in this episode so I can stop referring to him as “henchman”. They made the executive decision not to let Jame Eagan know about the fact that Helena almost died… again. After some talk about Helena’s tempers rebalancing quickly and the necessity for another obligement session, whatever that is, Natalie expresses that they need to send Helly back down. With Mark 81% of the way through completing Cold Harbour, they know they need Helly there in order to get Mark to comply. As is understandable, Helena isn’t too keen when you consider the fact that she’s almost been killed twice. When Mr. Drummond said “the work is mysterious and important, so we must give him her”, I thought that was hilarious. Why is he reiterating that it’s mysterious and important to the company’s future CEO? It’s a strange line, but one of many when it comes to Lumon management.
And then there were three…
Finally, after five episodes, we have Helly back home on the severed floor… and this time it’s actually her. Her first words back being “who the fuck are you?” in relation to Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) is the perfect reaction. Helly, Mark and Dylan (Zach Cherry) go into Mr. Milkshake’s (Tramell Tillman) office and all hell breaks loose. Dylan wants to know what’s happened to Irving, Mark wants to know whether Helena was spying on her, and Helly is distraught at the knowledge that Helena was using her body down there. I think that last point is such an interesting take because we think of the bodies as belonging primarily to the outies, but of course to the innies that’s them. It’s an intriguing dynamic I think we’ll get more of an exploration of down the line.
But anyway, amongst all the chaos, Mr. Milkshake starts actually explaining the Glasgow Block to the innies. It’s a strange moment of transparency because we’re not used to Lumon telling the truth. It’s short lived however, because he disregards Helena’s actions as “conducting research” and informs Dylan that Irving’s outie has since departed on a cruise vacation… aka bullshit. He then spins this elaborate historical tale about a King of Sweden and a Gråkappan, tying it to Helena’s actions to make them seem like a harmless bit of research to detect disobedience.
When they return to MDR, they’re met with a new desk arrangement that gets rid of Irving’s desk. In other words, his work can’t have been important if they’re not going to replace him – cementing the idea that Mark’s work is the only important one. By the way, “what in the abominable fuck” is how I want to react to anything heinously surprising from now on.. so thanks Dylan. Dylan then demands they let them have a funeral for Irving… to which Mr. Milkshake obliges.
This whole time, Mark has been acting way out of sorts. He’s been rude, brash and seemingly entirely unmotivated in fighting Lumon. He’s not working with the team, being dismissive and only wanting to get back to work. He’s being especially rude towards Helly despite her being back in the flesh. Part of me was thinking maybe the reintegration is getting to him and so he’s playing things a lot cooler than usual to not alert Lumon, but I doubt that’s the case. It seems at this point like he feels betrayed and is pissed off that he can’t trust Helly, and thus is directing his anger towards her.
I want a watermelon head at my funeral.
There’s an eerie conversation between Miss Huang and Mr. Milkshake while readying Irving’s funeral that I’m diving deep into at the bottom of this review, so I’ll skip it here. After a quick bit of preparation, Irving’s hastily thrown-together funeral has arrived, and it’s perfectly morbid in the most Lumon way. I mean, there’s a watermelon shaped like Irving’s head… a wonderful way to remember someone. Dylan even prepared a speech, one which was actually quite sweet, and gave us another piece of dialogue brilliance; “he put the dick in contradiction”.
There’s a brief, interesting moment when Mr. Milkshake and Miss Huang leave the room, one that shouldn’t be glossed over. She’s annoyed that Mr. Milkshake forced her out of the room and changed plans, preventing her from performing a musical piece. While he’s dismissive of her concerns, she seems pissed off. It’s clear from this season’s first episode that Miss Huang sticks perfectly to the script and doesn’t veer from it for any reason, while Mr. Milkshake is cutting corners left, right and centre. It seems there’s a conflict there and Huang might come out on top in the end.
Back at the funeral, things get tense when Mark seems entirely disconnected from the group and leaves early. However not before dropping an intriguing line – “he’s not dead, he’s just not here” – keep that one in mind for now. As Helly confronts Mark in the hallways, he expresses how none of their efforts matter. He feel defeated at the fact that Lumon is always one step ahead and knows everything that they’re doing, and thus directing all his anger at Helly. On one hand it’s understandable, but on the other hand it’s damn heartbreaking. If he’s putting on an act, it’s a damn good one, but I think he’s genuinely hurting and acting as an asshole.
Closing out the funeral sequence, Dylan makes his way out, but on the way he notices the poster on the wall with “hang in there” written in bold. Immediately Dylan notices something, but it’s not exactly clear what. He reaches behind the poster and finds the Exports Hall sketch that Irving drew, only now it has a series of directions on it that Felicia no doubt wrote back in episode three. This is a great tie-in to Irving’s final words to Dylan, which were more than just for motivation… they were a clue.
A 6-hour performance review?!
En route to his first performance review as Department Chief, he runs into Natalie and takes the opportunity to bring up the ‘inclusive’ paintings of Lumon’s history. It’s clear from the moment he received them that he wasn’t all too thrilled at the not-so-subtle racism in the gesture, but that’s even more clear now as he asks Natalie about how she really felt when she received hers. Her look of dumbfounded shock and contemplation speaks volumes – she also wasn’t too thrilled by the gesture, but she knows better than to speak ill of Lumon on company grounds.
In his review helmed by Mr. Drummond, one which somehow requires up to six hours and a lunch break, we learn that someone has anonymously reported contentions against him. The first two contentions are hilarious and very clearly reported by Miss Huang, who doesn’t like the way he goes about his work. Both issues – using too many big words and installing paper clips back to front – are things only Huang would be there to pick up on. The third is a little bigger, with him being grilled on the chaos of the ORTBO and instituting pointless kindness reforms. The intriguing part of this scene actually revolves around Mark, where Mr. Drummond mentions his work will be remembered as one of the greatest moments in the history of the planet. That sentence alone indicates the work needs to be something huge… like cloning, reanimating the dead or building a new personality from scratch. Or even all of the above.
Following the meeting, Mr. Milkshake vows to tighten the leash on Mark, catching up to him in the elevator as Mark curiously decides to leave work six minutes early after experiencing another reintegration glitch. What entails is a neat scene which sees Mark and Mr. Milkshake go toe-to-to with taunts, threats and tongue-in-cheek shitstirring. Part of Mark’s behaviour is certainly a result of being deceived by Lumon time and time again, but I believe he’s also starting to take on some of his outie’s personality traits as the reintegration gets stronger.
Fired but not forgotten.
Before getting into the content surrounding Irving’s outie, there’s a lone scene where we catch up with Devon (Jen Tullock) and Ricken (Michael Chernus), and it’s fine. It’s neat to see where they’re at, with Ricken deep into writing an innie-specific version of his book, but it’s out of place. Anyway, Ricken is still an idiot, he can’t see through the smokescreen that Lumon has cast in front of him, while Devon knows there’s a lot more going on.
I’m astounded that the writers wasted absolutely no time giving us more Irving (John Turturro) after they ended last episode on such an emotional high. As we all knew, his outie isn’t sipping cocktails on a cruise, he’s coming to terms with the fact that his war against Lumon might be over. We see him trek back to the payphone we saw him at back in episode two to let whoever he’s working for know that Lumon fired him. We still don’t know who it is he’s calling, but I suspect that reveal is well beyond anything we’ll get in this season. Once again Burt (Christopher Walken) has followed him to the booth, but this time Irving spots him and confronts him. As they talk, Burt explains that he followed him to find out why he showed up on his doorstep shouting his name. He also explains that he didn’t quit – Lumon fired him when they caught wind of his innie’s relationship with Irving. Not only that, but when Burt’s husband, Field, caught wind that Irving and Burt had a thing at work, it put them in a difficult spot in their relationship. The scene ends with Burt inviting Irving over for dinner. I love that we’re going to be getting a lot more of both Irving and Burt going forward despite their retirements.
“She’s not dead, she’s just not here”
Closing out with Mark and Reghabi, she’s sorting through Gemma’s belongings to find things that might rattle Mark’s memories and assist with the reintegration. This is where Mark drops the line “she’s not dead, she’s just not here”, which is exactly what his innie said about Irving earlier in the episode. This is a clear indication that the reintegration progress is gaining steam and we’re starting to see more of that subconscious blending. Either that or he’s already more integrated than we think and Mark’s outie is playing coy… I don’t think that’s the case, but I wouldn’t count it out.
There’s also an interesting section of Mark and Reghabi’s conversation that could be nothing… but also could be something. Reghabi mentions that “usually that’s best” in regards to when to progress the reintegration, to which Mark clarifies she’s only done this once. It’s a moment that’s not touched on further, but could be a sign that Reghabi hasn’t been entirely truthful. Perhaps Petey wasn’t the first person she tried to reintegrate – maybe there’s more she’s attempted in the past, which could mean she’s hiding another motive.
The sequence ends with the first big bleeding of Mark’s innie and outie. He starts hearing Gemma (as Ms. Casey) saying quotes from his wellness sessions before his subconscious is transported to the Break Room hallway. As he leaves into the white corridors he comes face to face with Gemma, and that has an immediate, profound impact on his emotional state. I mean, he’s just seen his dead wife in the flesh (kind of) for the first time since her death.
Lingering thoughts
Is Huang becoming more human?
Miss Huang is quite possibly the most intriguing mystery in the show right now. As far as characters go, I feel like we know the least information about her. I’ve speculated that she’s an outie child who was brainwashed at the Myrtle Eagan School For Girls. I’ve speculated that she’s just a severed employee like everyone else. I’ve speculated that she’s a clone of someone, a clone of Gemma, a young girl who died and has been reanimated. Any of these things could be true, or none of them could be true, but based on this episode I’m leaning in one specific direction. Throughout the season, Miss Huang has been undeniably robotic in her actions, behaviour and dialogue, to the point where her complete devotion to Lumon’s company policy lacks humanity. Not only that, but Mr. Milkshake doesn’t really talk to her like a person, at least not like how he’s converse with another outie, or human.
Then we get to the scene preceding Irving’s funeral, in which Miss Huang first confuses the idea of a question and an opinion. I get that she’s a kid (supposedly), but that’s not an error even someone of her “apparent” age should make. Then the opinion she drops is equally worrying, expressing concern that having a funeral will “make them feel like people”. In a moment that looks as though she’s learning, she hits back at Mr. Milkshake with a snarky question… an actual question this time. This whole sequence is eerie, but I think it’s telling us that Miss Huang, whether she’s a clone or a new identity built into a previously dead person, isn’t exactly human. Time will tell, but that’s where I’m leaning.
What’s on the testing floor?
The opening of the episode is an interesting one. Assumedly, most or some of what O&D creates is sent to the Testing Floor. From watering cans and hatchets to cards displaying fighting moves, and now dental equipment, they’ve got it all. We’ve only actually seen dental equipment, a doctor and Gemma go down that lift, but maybe some of the others have too. If cloning or building people up from scratch is the goal, perhaps the dental equipment is being used on them. And maybe the combat cards are used to teach them basic motor functions. This is still early stages of the mystery, but I can’t help but speculate.
In the end, Severance has continued to stick the landing episode after episode, and hasn’t missed here either. After lasts episode’s wintry detour, even more big strides are made with various character arcs both inside and outside of Lumon. Innie Mark’s feelings of defeat, woe and rage are a turn I didn’t see coming, but it makes sense for what he’s just experienced… if that is indeed the case. Either way I have a feeling his current mental state is about to shift again once the reintegration process moves forward. While the innie revolt is still well and truly underway, it’s the war outside Lumon that is even more intriguing. From Irving and Burt linking up to Mark’s reintegration, even the inner conflict of Helena, there’s so much I can’t wait to see more of. Plus we haven’t seen anything of Cobel in a minute, so I suspect she’ll pop up next week.
9.4/10
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