This week on Severance, the group heads back into the office from the great outdoors. Though getting back to work will keep them busy, it’s not enough to take their minds off of the explosive events from the company retreat.
“Trojan’s Horse” is a more subdued episode that deals with the aftermath of the team building ORTBO. There is a palpable tension in the air due to all the lying and secrets keeping everyone on edge. It leads to intriguing dynamics both within Macrodata Refinement and Lumon upper management.
The entire severance program brings up philosophical questions about humanity that are reintroduced here. From the worker side, Helly feels violated having her outtie assume her identity without consent. Then, there is the entire fate of innie Irving after being fired. Technically, that version ceases to exist so is he dead? We receive glimpses of higher ups’ perspective and they don’t shy away from expressing how their severed workers are not people, at least behind closed doors.
Continuing with management, we begin to see more disharmony amongst their ranks. Helena Eagan is forced to be a team player and revert back to her innie for the sake of Cold Harbor. Milchick gathered the courage to question his racist paintings from “Who Is Alive?.” Poor Milchick must also fend off a passive aggressive Miss Huang gunning for his job. These little chinks in the unity armor could provide an opening for our protagonists in the future. Also, it seems the corporate culture is to rule your subordinates with an iron fist. That can keep people in line now, but there is only so much a person will take, severed or unsevered, before standing up.
The measured pacing of the episode serves well as Severance gradually advances some of the storylines in the background. The exports hall plays a significant role, and it can provide Dylan an opportunity to overcome his guilt to a lost friend. Irving might be fired, but he’s not completely out of the picture making mysterious calls from a payphone in the middle of the night. And, he has a familiar face take an interest in his activities. Finally, we have Mark S. glitching in and out from time to time. The series doesn’t revisit threads that aren’t important, and usually, everything is interconnected. It should be exciting to see how it all comes together.
“Trojan’s Horse” is a more restrained episode that allows the previous explosive events to settle in. Still, the measured approach isn’t lacking in intrigue as the aftermath shakes up the dynamics at Lumon while also highlighting key overarching threads.
New episodes of Severance release Fridays on Apple TV+.
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