S2E15 - REWATCH03-PT01 - Who is Alive? - Severed: The Ultimate Severance Podcast

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Severed The Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome back, Refiner, So glad to see you've chosen to return.
The Severed. Full rewatch of season two continues. If you've
made it this far, you probably know, but I'm going
to say it anyway. Spoilers. You must have seen all
ten of the season two episodes before listening to Severed.
And yes, this is Severed The Ultimate Severance Podcast. I'm

(00:35):
your host, Alans. The rewatch continues. We're pulling apart every
episode of Severn Season two, Episode three, Who Is Alive,
was released for download on January thirtieth of twenty twenty five.
This episode was directed by executive producer Ben Stiller. It
was written by Dan Erickson and producer Winning You. Winding

(00:55):
has a half dozen writing credits on our IMDb profile
dating back to twenty fifteen. She's been writer, story editor
and executive story editor on multiple episodes of gen V
The Dropout and Brier Patch. This episode takes the narrative forward.
The last two episodes have covered the same time period,
the week after the OTC. Now that Mark and the

(01:17):
Macrodats are again settled in MDR, it's time to move
things along. Remember at the end of the last episode
when Cobell quietly drove out of the neighborhood. There don't

(01:37):
seem to be any motels or airbnbs scattered around. Keir
Harmony spent the night in her car out by the highway.
The truck rushing through this scene is CGI. I think
this sign on the side says myrtles munchies, so it's
also a CEO reference. Creating a truck in the computer

(01:57):
just made sense. Otherwise you'd need to drag it truck
and driver out to this remote spot. You'd also have
to arrange calm with the truck and run the truck
through the shot multiple times in order to get the
long shot and the shot from inside the car. Additionally,
running a big truck by a small car on an
icy road is dangerous. You'd probably need a stunt person

(02:19):
in the car for the pass. Instead of going through
all of that, it's a lot easier to run a
computer generated truck through the shot and let Jacob Ribakoff's
crew create the very realistic sounds associated with it. Harmony
sits up with some difficulty. It's been a long cold

(02:40):
night out here on the road. In her VW Rabbit
check the exterior shot as Harmony pops her seat back up.
If you happen to own a VW Rabbit back in
the nineteen eighties, this move probably rings false to you.
Rabbit seats did not spring up like that. They were
on a crank system. In order to put the seat up,
you had to crank and crank and crank. The seat

(03:02):
came up slowly. It was an awkward system, but very sturdy.
Rabbit seats definitely stayed in place once you had them set.
Here's the thing. Cranking a seat makes for a boring shot.
It takes a long time and the seat comes up slowly.
Propmaster Catherine Miller and her crew felt the seat had
to pop up on a spring for this shot to work.

(03:22):
This is where Peter Dancy and his auto crew swung
into action. On a smaller show or a show without
so many cars, the care and coordination of the picture
cars would fall to the propmaster Catherine Miller. Catherine has
a lot of experience with caring for on screen vehicles,
which is why she is quoted so heavily in articles
about the Severance fleet. Now, since Severance does maintain such

(03:46):
a huge fleet of vehicles, it was necessary to add
Peter Dancy to the crew. As the picture car coordinator
turns out, they kept Dancy pretty busy. The day before
this shoot, Dancy's team found a comparable seat that you
use deliver and spring and would also fit in the Rabbit.
They swapped out the original VW seat with this new
one so Harmony could pop her seat back up behind her.

(04:09):
Sounds like a lot of work for a two second
bit in a single shot. Miller said it was a
small price to pay for getting it right. This shot
just would not have worked otherwise. It's this level of
dedication and a willingness to do whatever it takes to
get every detail exactly right that sets Severance apart. In
the streaming TV world. Harmony gets her gloves wet as

(04:30):
she wipes the fog from inside the windows. She sets
the wet gloves on the seat beside her. She pauses
considering something in the seat. We don't see it in
this shot, but she's got the breathing tube from her shrine.
It's riding shotgun with her here In the Rabbit, Cobell
Popsick is set into the analog VW radio. The tune

(04:59):
is Love spreads from the British alt rock groups Stone Roses.
It comes from their second album called Second Coming. The
single was released in November of nineteen ninety four. Love
Spreads did have some chart success throughout the world, including
a number two spot on the US Alt Rock Airplay Chart.
The lyrics are a retelling of the passion of the Christ,

(05:21):
only reinterpreting Jesus as a black woman. Harmony puts the
rabbiting gear and pulls away from the shoulder. If you're thinking, wow,
that driver looks a lot like Patricia Arqutt, you would
be right, Catherine Miller said, Patricia does all of her

(05:42):
own driving. As Harmony leaves the frame, we cut to
a large framed picture of Gemma Scout. The Stone Roses
tune continues. This picture is on Mark's dresser. He's getting
ready for another day at Lumen. Mark puts on a
different watch this morning. He's got a mission. About three
quarters of this episode is going to be spent trying

(06:02):
to make the after image idea work. I don't know
who came up with it, but in a nutshell, if
Audi Mark can stare at alight long enough to create
an afterimage on his eyes, rods and cones his INNI
will be able to see this ghosted image behind his
eyes and read the past message. The trick is to
make sure Audie Mark has burned the image in long

(06:25):
enough that it lasts until any Mark can see it
down on the severed floor. This is the reason for
the new watch. It's a timer. From the moment this
burn in idea was put forth, I had some concerns.
The message can only be a few words with no explanation.
If the ny even sees it, will they know who
it came from and what's being asked. They might interpret

(06:48):
it as a trick or a trap. Also, even if
they do figure it out and want to respond, how
is the INNI going to return the message. They don't
have the burn in light rig like the one we'll
see Mark and day Evan create later this episode. They
also won't know how long to do the burn in.
It's a plan with a lot of holes, but Mark
and Devin are excited about it. They do expend a

(07:10):
lot of effort this episode trying to make it happen.
A wide down angle shot of the lumin lot reveals
Mark's volvo as he's getting to work. It's a testament
to the power of the stone Roses, even though Volvo
looks cool with their music playing under it. Once out
of the car, Mark runs through the parking lot. Poor
Adam Scott. Not only do they have him logging miles

(07:31):
running down on the severed floor, he also has to
run here as an audie too. He's trying to cut
down the elapse time of his trip into work as
much as possible.

Speaker 1 (07:41):
Good morning, mister Scoup.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
This call down time is probably always going to be
a variable. Mark looks nervous. He's checking his timer right
there in front of the desk. A minute and three
seconds have elapsed. We see Mark scurry down the stairs
to the level of Judd's guard desk. Fun movie making
detail here, there is there is no locker room in
the Bellwarks building. When they are in the stairwell and

(08:04):
the hallway leading to the locker room door, that's at Belworks.
The rivers cut to continuity from inside the locker room
is happening at York Studios in the Bronx weeks or
even months later. The severed elevator is also a part
of the York Studios set. Mosha Grows from Reset Locations
pointed out how the severed elevator had to be a prop.

(08:26):
You'd never find an elevator as narrow as the one
used by the severed workers In a modern office building,
ADA rules dictate an elevator with a minimum width about
twice as wide as the severed elevator. Production designer Jeremy
Hindel is well aware of this violation, and he doesn't care.
He said the severed elevator was designed to purposefully feel

(08:47):
small and claustrophobic. Mark stops the timer at a minute
and forty two seconds. He continues the timing by counting two,
which isn't very scientific because he's not saying Mississippi between
the numbers. By the time he's on board the elevator,
he's into the thirties. He makes the switch, saying thirty seven.

(09:10):
When he comes up this evening, the first thing he
says will either be thirty seven or thirty eight. He'll
know to add that to the minute and forty two
seconds it took to get to his locker. This means
he will need to burn an after image that lasts
at least two minutes and twenty seconds, but probably more
like three minutes. There will need to be some discovery time.

(09:30):
The length of an after image can vary widely from
person to person. Some people have reported negative after images
from very strong light sources of up to ten minutes.
There is no set formula for creating a burn in.
Testing and timing for each individual is the only way
to do it. These Zalie sound squelches the stone roses.

(09:52):
After Mark has passed through the elevator barrier, everything is
quiet and he marks size and we are launched into
our theme. The Swag animation begins after the twelve minute
cold open the last episode. This one is checking in.
It is sprightly four and a half minutes. I'll talk
to you after the open. To come back from the open.

(10:26):
Looking at a copier collection tray, a page with a
rather good pencil sketch of mss Casey is rolling off
the coff Here above it is the word missing. Mark
is taking full advantage of the new hall passes. He's
making search party assignments.

Speaker 3 (10:41):
Okay, me and Helly, we'll find the goat man and
other possible goat people.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
Helena is sporting a blue turtleneck with a blue skirt.
She's also trying really hard to look like Helly are
Mark tells Dylan he should check out the new break room.

Speaker 3 (10:56):
Maybe some of the other departments use it to It.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
Is the hot new place to be on the severed floor.
Dylan is not enthused about this assignment.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
Yeah, maybe later.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
He's distracted by his computer monitor. You know, the actual
work these people are supposed to be doing down here.
Mark says this is kind of important. Well, yeah, to Mark,
this finding miss Casey Slish his dead wife thing is important,
But to Dylan not so much.

Speaker 1 (11:23):
Yeah, I'm in a good groove here, but don't worry
about it.

Speaker 4 (11:26):
I'll get to it.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
Dylan has his own kind of important thing going on
right now. He's earning outy family time. We don't get
a specific schedule or anything, but it appears Dylan is
accruing family visitation minutes based on the time he spends refining.
Dylan looks worried, almost agitated. Seth has definitely found the
right button to push when it comes to controlling Dylan.

(11:50):
Mark is still working on getting the troops fired up.
He reminds Dylan, just in case, we'll just.

Speaker 3 (11:56):
Show them the sketch, do not leave it behind.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
Before Mark hans out the rest of the assignment, says
to be a good time to wash your hands. Refiner
Severed will be right back.

Speaker 4 (12:10):
This is Mark Geller kier Egan on severns. When I
want to hear the latest details about the company I founded,
I listen to Severed, the Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (12:23):
IRV approaches Mark but hesitantly. Sure he knows where it is,
but wow, O and D is a source of very
fresh and very painful memories.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yes, Earth, you can do this.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
I hope he's right. Herb's gonna give it a shot.
He takes the one sheet.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
You guys really think they're gonna let us run around?

Speaker 2 (12:44):
Good one Helena way to remind them you can't trust
these egans as far as you can throw them. As
Mark is crossing the room, we can see it's nine
to forty am. Mark is mister positivity. He quotes the video.
Didn't it say they can go wherever they want? Remember,
for most people this phrase would be a scary threat,
but not for Marc s.

Speaker 1 (13:05):
How that meant they were listening to our conversation.

Speaker 2 (13:07):
Even company apologist and former cure acolyte IRV caught the
double meaning. We can see both Mark and IRV are
wearing the pale green over blue lumen hall pass pins
on their coats. Helena's hall pass is pinned to the
waistband of her skirt. This attitude about the company positioning
statement doesn't put Mark off his plans. Peta screet, he says,

(13:30):
if they don't know we're doing it, how can they
punish us? Well, I've got some bad news for you, Mark.
You're doing it with an unswitched Helena egan, as if
to remind us, this is not helly r. Helena awkwardly
approaches IRV.

Speaker 1 (13:44):
You haven't been back there?

Speaker 2 (13:46):
You No, he hasn't. In an incredibly odd showing of
corporate support, Helena grabs irv's hand.

Speaker 4 (13:53):
Got you.

Speaker 2 (13:54):
IRV looks uncomfortable, maybe even a bit weirded out. He
thanks Heley, but you can tell he's thinking this is helly.
The scene ends with an interesting shot of Dylan's head
in the foreground. He is splitting the frame, putting Mark
and Helena on one side. IRV is isolated on the other.
Dylan just keeps refining out in the halls. Helena is

(14:14):
looking far to at ease on those heels. She wants
to know an endgame. What if they get to the
goat department of Ms. Casey is there in a goat cage.

Speaker 1 (14:23):
Why don't we do that?

Speaker 2 (14:24):
Mark outlines a plan we'll actually see get put into
action much later this season. He says they need to
get her to the south stairwell. It's the one with
the severed barrier. We saw helly R trying to leave
through it the very first episode.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
And once we're out the door, my Oudy, you'll know
what to do.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
A couple of things to note here. Early in the season,
Mark s has a pretty high opinion of his OUDI.
He's trusting him to know what to do on the outside. Also,
Marks is only working for the goals of his OUTI.
His wants, needs and desires as an any aren't a
part of the equation at all, at least not yet.

(15:00):
This is how innies have been conditioned. They don't count.
The INNI has been taught to regard their AUDI as
the important part of the organism. I don't think any
Marks fully realized even what he's saying at this point.
Getting miss Casey off the floor is the objective. It's
very simple and direct. It's an easy objective for the
INNI to comprehend the emotions involved in this maneuver aren't

(15:23):
obvious yet. What does an any know about emotions or
self determination? In an LA Times interview, Adam Scott addressed
his Inne's changing attitudes throughout the second season. It isn't
until later in the season that his Innie begins to
advocate for himself. At this point three episodes in the
Innie is working for the Audi without really knowing anything

(15:44):
about their Audi. The Audi seems to get respect merely
because they are the Audi. It's basically Helena's attitude from
her video.

Speaker 3 (15:53):
I am a person, you are not.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
Make the decisions.

Speaker 2 (16:03):
You do not, Adam said. The finale scene where his
Inni was able to communicate with his Audi changed a
lot of his Inni's attitudes. After sort of meeting his
Audi Marx and he decided he wasn't such a god
on earth after all. It was after the birthing cabin
video camera discussion that Mark's Inni began to make decisions

(16:24):
about his own well being.

Speaker 1 (16:26):
All right, okay, well it sounds like you've got to
figure it out.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
Well, sure, as much as an inny can plan for anything.
The way she says this causes Marques to pause. He's
suddenly realizing who he's talking to about these plans for
his thought to be dead wife, well at least his
audi's thought to be dead wife.

Speaker 3 (16:46):
Sure you're okay helping me out with this.

Speaker 2 (16:49):
It is a bit of an odd assignment for the
other woman. Helena has no problem with it. Yeah, of course,
I'm curious.

Speaker 5 (16:56):
As to what helly R's attitude might be. She would
want to help Mark, I'm sure, but I don't know
how fired up she'd be about finding his wife. There's
a long, weird and awkward pause at the hallway corner.
Helena and Mark are facing each other. Helena has her
back to the corner. She smiles a crooked smile as
Mark is hemming and hawing. They are almost dancing as

(17:19):
they shuffle their feet back and forth. The director might
as well have flish the word kiss full screen in
all capital letters right here. But no.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
As close as they come, Mark does not make a move.
I'm curious what it is about Helena that puts him off?
Can he maybe just a little bit tell this isn't
helly R? When he finally turns and continues down the
hall I do think Helena looks a bit disappointed when
you combine her actions around Mark with her obsessive viewing

(17:48):
of the kiss video. I can buy into the idea
that Helena is developing a thing for any Mark. He's
a sweet and vulnerable guy who's trying to do the
right thing for his wife.

Speaker 5 (17:59):
What's not?

Speaker 2 (18:00):
Mark stammers, swallows hard, then heads off down the hall.
We cut to another area of the severed floor. Mister
Miltchik seems to just be getting to work. He's carrying
his magnificent helmet and checking his watch. It has to
be nearly ten o'clock. This makes me wonder where has
Seth been this morning? Where does Seth go during his
off hours? So far, we've been home with every audi

(18:23):
from MDR, including Ms Cobell. We'll get to Bert's Oudy
home this season. My question when are we going to
see what mister Miltchik does when he's not being mister Luhman.
According to the Severance Wiki, he lives in the Bird
Creek Townhouses, but we've never been home with him in
In April of twenty twenty five interview, Jeremy Handel told

(18:44):
MPAA blog the credits he's already got cess domicile drawn
up he's scouted the concept and claims to already know
what it is. We didn't get to see it in
season two, so I guess it's something to look forward
to in season three. We've really only ever seen Seth
Miltchik down on the severed floor. When he's in the
outside world. He's still doing Lumen's bidding, just like he's

(19:08):
an inny. I'm sure Miltchik is not severed. Both Seth
and others have mentioned he's not IRV quite memorably.

Speaker 1 (19:16):
You smug motherfucker. They're not severed.

Speaker 2 (19:21):
I don't know if not being severed is such an
important distinction. If you don't have another life, what would
Seth Miltchik switch to as an audie? Can you imagine
Seth with the family. His whole existence is tied to Lumen.
As Seth approaches the camera, he pauses. He's looking at
something beyond our perspective, and he's not happy about whatever

(19:43):
he's seeing. The reverse cut reveals the bunch of blue
mark faced balloons. The bauquet has lost some buoyancy since
we first saw it Monday morning. If continuity is correct,
it's been five days since we first saw these balloons.
The blue cluster is now hanging about halfway down the
wall and looking pretty sad. There's a fun side shot

(20:04):
as Milkshake gets to the balloons. They are floating at
the exact height of Seth's head. He could dance with
him if he wanted. In a fit of exasperation, Seth
snatches the offending helium bags out of the air. We
get a few seconds of a follow shot of mister Miltchik.
He has his magnificent helmet in one hand and the
sagging bunch of balloons in the other as he storms

(20:25):
off towards his office. I don't know what he's so
mad about. What did he expect Mark to do with
those things? I'm reading the bunch of balloons as a
visual representation of Seth's week. It started out flying high,
full of hope and promise and helium. Then Seth had
to fire Mark's old MDR team. Then any Mark tried

(20:46):
to sabotage his new team. Then Seth had to go
hire the old team back, and he had to fire
the new team. Miltchik's week is turned into a saggy
mess right along with the balloons. We cut to a
fining screen. This must be Dylan's screen. He is the
last one still working down here in MDR. No file

(21:07):
name is visible, but it's definitely a new project. The
bins are all at five percent or less. This is
a nice wide shot of the refining screen. It's a
reminder the Macrodats are filling five bins. We've always known
they were trapping the four tempers, but not as much
as said about the five bins. We're gonna learn a

(21:27):
new detail about brain waves later this episode, which I
think explains the five bins. IRV approaches as Dylan keeps
trapping numbers. IRV really should be getting to O and D,
but he has something important to tell Dylan.

Speaker 4 (21:40):
I've recreated the painting.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
Dylan pauses his work to look up at IRV the.

Speaker 1 (21:45):
Ones I told you about, the ones my Audi was
working on.

Speaker 2 (21:49):
Any IRV has been giving this some thought. Maybe the
hallway that haunts his Audi is actually down here somewhere.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
Maybe that's what my dreams have been.

Speaker 2 (21:59):
Er is looking for a riding buddy. He wants to
try to find the hallway of his nightmares.

Speaker 1 (22:05):
We could look for Tim, We could go today or not.

Speaker 2 (22:09):
Dylan is avoiding eye contact as he answers. He's also
looking down into the right, which behaviorists tell us strongly
signals a lie. He can't go or he might miss
out on an Oudy family visitation session. But he can't
tell IRV what's happening.

Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yeah, maybe or maybe maybe you go yourself like for stealth.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
You know, IRV is confused about the need for stealth.
Dylan is saying he can't really explain. When they are
interrupted this Wong, I love this shot over the diamond desk.
Check how the dividers are positioned so they are creating
a shallow funnel. Dylan's head is at the focal point
of the funnel. It's a visual cue telling us he's

(22:50):
completely consumed by the work. Seth very neatly has him trapped.
MS Wong's arrival breaks up RB and Dylan's discussion. Or
quite kind infinitely strides over to mis Wog. He indicates
the pin on his lapel pocket whole past. Remember as
a kid, how you thought crosswalks somehow made you invincible
to cars. These guys seem to get the same sense

(23:12):
of protection and infallibility from the hall pass. John Tturo
has to be relieved that erv is leaving MDR. According
to Jeremy Hindle, to Turo quite famously dislikes the MDR
set because of the low ceilings. They are only seven
feet nine inches tall. The average height of a residential
ceiling in the US is between eight and nine feet

(23:33):
if you're not in the US as between two point
four and two point seven meters. Johnny t could touch
the low ceilings in MDR. It gave him a bit
of claustrophobia. If Hindal had gotten his way, the ceilings
would have only been seven feet six inches tall, or
about two and a quarter meters. After RV has left MDR,
Dylan looks at mis Wong with unease. Viche mis Wong

(23:58):
is standing silently. She then favors Dylan with a dimpled grin.

Speaker 1 (24:03):
Dyren g come with me, priese.

Speaker 2 (24:06):
Aserv leaves and we cut back to Miss Wong checked
the large channeled filter in the corner of the room.
It runs Florida's ceiling. We're going to see something similar
in a bit. I wanted you to have a frame
of reference. Ms Wong steps out of the shot, headed
for wherever she's taking Dylan. We cut to the interior
of mister Milkshake's new office. He storms through the door

(24:27):
still holding these sagging mark head balloons. The reverse cut
inside Miltchik's office reveals the lovely.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
Natalie Good morning, sir.

Speaker 2 (24:35):
She's casually leaning against the front edge of Seth's desk
centered in the shot. She's wearing a black dress with
white shoulder highlights and a lumin water drop pin. Natalie
has proven both with Harmony and with Miltchik that this
office is in no way private or off limits. She
comes in here whenever she wants. She's also plugged in
the speaker from mister M's credenza so the board can

(24:56):
join in on this meeting. Since he got his file
boxes cleared out, Seth has been able to add another
very cool element to his office furnishings. Look far to
frame left in the wide shot. The very low item
with the multicolored boxes sitting on it is a really
cool all in one retro stereo system. This is the
r R one twenty six Radiogram, designed by Italian architects

(25:21):
and designers Pierre and Achille Castigliani. Radiogram is an old
term that meant a radio and a grammophone in this
same unit, The RR one twenty six was designed in
the mid nineteen sixties for the legendary Italian electronics company
Brion Vega. They had a reputation for producing futuristic TVs
and audio equipment. These days, original RR one twenty six

(25:44):
units are incredibly rare if you can find one in stock.
The average selling price for an RR one twenty six
in working condition at First Dibbs is seventy one hundred dollars.
This unit is still being manufactured. Modern units are radio
Phonographo instead of radiogram, but they're basically the same unit

(26:05):
with updated electronics. The modern radio Phonographo is available in
a variety of colors. You can find this unit for
sale in the New York Museum of Modern Arts MoMA
gift shop for non members. One of these will run
you eighteen thousand, five hundred dollars. There's a twelve hundred
dollars shipping fee, and you'll be waiting ten to twelve

(26:25):
weeks for delivery. Seth is cautious as he closes the
office door. Natalie, the balloons are completely dead hanging down
in front of him.

Speaker 1 (26:35):
Looks like your balloons could use some coffee.

Speaker 2 (26:37):
Miltchake is stammering some excuse for the balloons when Nat
cuts him off.

Speaker 1 (26:42):
They were they I've got the board.

Speaker 2 (26:44):
Of course she does, doesn't she Always a redditor ask
this question, what if Natalie is just messing with them?
This could be a huge security issue. What if half
the time she's claiming the board is saying things they
really aren't. It kind of feels like Natalie could take
control of the company and no one would even know.
While we're looking at ces Backwall, volunteer researcher vintp wanted

(27:07):
to relay a fun fact from set decorator David Schlessinger.
Miltchik's Iceberg painting, which we talked about extensively in episode one,
is the only piece of art on the Severed floor
that was purchased. Everything else we've ever seen, all of
the kere pictures, the posters, the statues, all of it
was created by the Severance production team. Even the statue

(27:30):
of the duck rabbit optical illusion was created internally. Before
Seth begins his meeting with the board, you should probably
grab another cup of coffee. Refiner Severed will be right back.

Speaker 4 (27:44):
Hello, Refiners, this is your beloved leader Keer Egan. Actually
it's Mark Keller who plays Ker Egan on Severance for
the latestn Stopping the MDR Rebellion. I like to check
in with Severed, the Ultimate Severance podcast.

Speaker 2 (28:04):
There's a close up on it. Then Seth addresses the
speaker on his desk, HUO, we hear static, but Natalie translates.

Speaker 1 (28:12):
The board says hello.

Speaker 2 (28:14):
NAT's smile is huge. Somehow, I don't think the board
was quite that chipper with their greeting. In the wide
shot from behind Natalie, we get another glimpse of Seth's style.
Here in his office look far frame left, next to
the Fardo's chair, Seth has placed a brute Barkart. This
is an all stainless steel design created by Studio Ananzi.

(28:37):
It was produced in collaboration with best Case, a Long
Island furniture brand specializing in sheep metal designs. According to
the description on the site Unseen website, this design references
brutalist architecture with the hard rawness of brush stainless steel.
You could have a Brute Barkart in your office for

(28:57):
only six eight hundred and forty four dollars. Production lead
time is eight to nine weeks, and shipping for this
item is six hundred dollars anywhere in the US. Something
to be aware of regarding the brute Barkhart, it intentionally
does not have wheels. The designer felt no wheels gave
the cart more permanence and a sense of foundation. It

(29:19):
also means you're walking to the drink cart. The cart
is not coming to you. Seth repositions himself. So he's
standing directly in front of the board speaker. I don't
think they can see him, but he's standing like they can.

Speaker 1 (29:33):
Hello. I want to thank the board humbly for my
recent betterment.

Speaker 2 (29:37):
He's been bettered. All the way up to floor manager
Natalie holds up a finger as the board processes this statement.
There's a long pause, then Natalie tells Seth he's welcome.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
The board is jubilant at your ascendance.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
Ah, such an understanding and supportive group of well, whatever
the board is made up of.

Speaker 1 (29:56):
I guess it wants you to feel appreciated.

Speaker 2 (29:58):
So, Seth, are you feeling a appreciated I do, yeah,
But do you feel connected to Luman's history?

Speaker 1 (30:05):
The board austerely desires for you to feel connected to
Luhman's history.

Speaker 2 (30:09):
And just how do they hope to accomplish that. Natalie
steps away from the desk and motions to a portfolio.
It's been on the desk the whole time, but Natalie
was standing in front of it. She motions to the
large flat box like she's Vana White. To that end,
Seth could not look more surprised. He's still unsure how
to process this visit. Is he in trouble or is

(30:31):
he really receiving some kind of a commendation.

Speaker 1 (30:34):
Please except from the board. These inclusively recanonicalized paintings.

Speaker 2 (30:40):
To canonicalize something is normally a mathematical process. It means
to bring data in line with existing data. Though word
Natalie might have intended here is recnonization. It's the process
of reevaluating and reshaping a literary canon to include previously
marginalized voice is This process particularly applies to women and

(31:04):
underrepresented groups like minorities. Since the board isn't even sure
what term to apply, it would make sense they are
tone deaf regarding this attempt at reaching out to a
minority within their ranks. Natalie is trying to explain the
gift even before Seth opens.

Speaker 1 (31:20):
It intended to help you see yourself and here our founder.

Speaker 2 (31:24):
Natalie's smile is just a bit too wide and her
eyes are glistening with a manic intensity. Seth tentatively approaches
the portfolio sitting on his desk. He and we have
no idea what to expect when it comes to this
unexpected gift. As he unties the string holding the portfolio closed,
Natalie does a weirdly unblinking turn around him. Watch the

(31:47):
camera work here. This appears to be steadycam in a
very tight space. Seth opens the portfolio and moves tissue
paper away from the top item. It's a painting of cure,
a portrait facing the viewer. We've seen several like it
around the offices, including the one on the wall in MDR.
The big difference here this keere is very definitely of

(32:08):
an African heritage, skin color, facial features. Everything has been
changed about this keere to more accurately reflect mister Miltchik.
Seth and I had similar reactions to this gift. Oh
oh my yeah, he doesn't know what to think, neither
did I. I really need to disqualify myself here. I

(32:30):
am a white male of European heritage. I in absolutely
no way can speak to the black experience in America.
I found this gift weird and insulting, but I do
not have the background or experience to explain why. Thankfully,
Tremmel Tillman is both eloquent and thoughtful. He also made
himself very available to the press to talk about this

(32:53):
situation and his character's response to it. In a Decider interview,
he called this gift an awakening for Miltchik. It's also
completely tone deaf on the part of Lumen.

Speaker 5 (33:04):
He says.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
He sees this as a situation where they are both
managing to desecrate Kir and at the same time insult
Seth by redressing Kere in blackface. This gift also spotlights
the fact there is very little to no diversity at LUMEN.
The Perpetuity Wing confirms it. There have been nothing but

(33:25):
white men and the occasional white woman in charge of
LUMEN since its founding. Now that mister Miltchik is a
member of management, he's just beginning to realize the inequities
of this situation. Miltchik maintains the strength of character which
allows him to continue to serve, but Tremmel, Tillman said
cracks are spreading in his Veneer. Tilman asked Ben Stiller

(33:46):
a telling question when he was first cast as Miltchik.
He wanted to know if Seth knew he was black,
meaning is he aware of prejudice, racial injustice, and the
four hundred years or so of racial politics that have
shaped the United States. If Seth knows he's black, then
he also knows he's a minority without representation. How does

(34:07):
Luman get Miltchik to buy into a world where he's
not represented? I can guarantee you it won't be through
these paintings. In a Vulture article, Tillman said these blackface
paintings were series creator Dan Erickson's idea when Dan approached
Tremmel with the scene Tremmeell wanted to know how Miltchik
was supposed to respond to this gift. According to Tillman, quote,

(34:28):
if he receives the paintings with glee, then he does
not understand the weight of these paintings. He is not
quite aware of his blackness in this world unquote ah,
but he is aware of his blackness, so he does
question the paintings. According to Tremmel. Questioning these paintings puts
Seth Miltchik on a much different journey within the world

(34:50):
of Lumen. This scene spurred some extensive conversations among the
writers and producers about how race is being infused into
the world of the show. Natalie is trying hard to
polish up this turd of a gift.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
You'll find the whole care cycle.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
That's not making it any better. Miltchik grabs up the
second canvas. This one is a recanenicalization of the youthful
convalescence of Kir. We've seen this in the original version.
It includes a young bedridden Keir, surrounded by his praying
parents and attending nurses. Everyone around the bed is still white,
but the patient in bed is now most definitely black.

(35:28):
There is static on the speaker. Natalie touches an index
finger to her earpiece. The board may be wanting to
know how Seths reacting to the present. Miltchik is now
silently looking at a copy of Kiir invites you to
drink of his water. Keir still has his thick gray beard,
but it is most definitely on the face of a
black man.

Speaker 1 (35:48):
The board wishes to express that I Natalie received the
same gift upon receipt of my current position.

Speaker 2 (35:54):
So what misery loves company? Natalie says she found the
gift extremely moving. She is, of course saying this knowing
the board is listening. Natalie is not blinking a whole
lot in these scenes. Several viewers have noted similarities between
Natalie and the Georgina character played by Betty Gabriel in
the twenty seventeen horror film get Out. Georgina is also

(36:17):
trapped in a system she doesn't agree with. She also
knows what's going on but can't say anything. Sidney Cole
Alexander hasn't mentioned Georgina as an influence, but she is
very method on the severance set In order to stay
in the Natalie mindset, she has a special music playlist.
She also listens to psychology books between takes. Sidney said

(36:38):
she watched a lot of documentaries about cults as preparation
for this role. Seth says he's grateful. He's trying to
say something more, but trails off.

Speaker 1 (36:49):
It's meaningful to see myself reflected.

Speaker 2 (36:53):
And he so doesn't believe it. He can't even finish
the thought. He's not seeing himself at all. Thankfully the
board didn't hang around to hear SE's flailing acceptance. There's
static on the line.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
The board has concluded the call.

Speaker 2 (37:07):
Seth is looking at Natalie with this very intense expression.
He might be offended. He's definitely confused. Natalie is still
not blinking. You can tell she's got a bit of
a crush on mister Miltchik. Her face breaks into a
big but nervous smile.

Speaker 1 (37:24):
Congratulations, sad.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
There's an almost desperate tone to her delivery. Without another word,
Natalie leaves the office sas head is spinning. We then
check in with Harmony Kobell out on the most desolate
stretch of highway in the United States. There's a sign
in the foreground of the long shot. The reverse angle
from inside the rabbit reveals a single town listed on

(37:47):
the sign. It says Salt's Neck two hundred and thirty
eight miles for you refiners located outside of the United States,
that's three hundred and eighty three kilometers. The fact this
sign shows miles is another indication that Pe is located
somewhere within the United States. Normally, when you see a
sign like this out in the rural US. It will

(38:08):
list miles to the next closest town, then miles to
a couple of larger towns on beyond it. This sign
is telling us there's nothing between here and Salt's Neck,
which is a more than four hour drive away. Salt's
Neck is not a town in North America, at least
that I could find. Unlike Kere and Gans, which both

(38:28):
have real world counterparts in Pennsylvania, salts Neck is its
own thing. How is it possible the city of Kere
is both in the United States but also so isolated.
We know Gans, where Mark and Jemma both taught, is
less than half an hour away from Kere. Other than that,
Kre stands alone out here in the country around Kere,

(38:49):
We're seeing nothing but desolate snowscape for miles and miles
in all directions. Plus we've got this Salt's Neck sign
indicating there's nothing else out here for over two hundred miles.
I've subscribed to a theory for several years now that
explains this situation. This theory is so old I don't
remember if I came up with it or if it's
something I read, but I do kind of think it's mine.

(39:11):
The theory says Kre was enough of a war hero
and business negotiator he came away with something extra. After
the Civil War, Kre was given a land grant of
several hundred square miles. A lot of people have suspected
PE stands for Province of Egan. Could the province sit
within the United States. According to the theory, this large

(39:32):
tract of land here was awarded sits in the northwestern
corner of Pennsylvania up into southwestern New York. The province
starts north of Pittsburgh and goes almost to Buffalo, New York.
This explains the extreme winters in Pe. Kre was a
patriot who fought for his country. He wasn't looking to
secede or anything. He just needed space so he could

(39:54):
conduct his experiments and a place where he wouldn't be
bothered with things like child labor laws or government regulations.
The Province of Egan considers itself a part of the
United States and uses US currency. Roads inside the Pe
are circular. Nothing connects up anywhere outside of the province.
If you've heard the Origins episodes about the movie Dark City,

(40:17):
this should sound familiar. It's possible Pe is receiving some
funding from the federal government, and there are rumors that
Luman holds several very lucrative government contracts. This land grant
theory goes a long way towards explaining the unique geography
of Kre. The isolation also helps to explain the lag
when it comes to things like digital electronics or more

(40:40):
modern cars. Harmony stops at the mileage sign. She's studying it,
deciding what to do. As we'll learn in the episode
Sweet Vitriol, salts Neck is where Harmony Cobell grew up
and joined the cult of Kre. Cobell glances down at
the passenger seat. This time we're allowed to see the
breathing tube coiled there. The long shot look like we're

(41:00):
on another planet. There's a single farmhouse sitting alone in
a field of snow. There aren't even any visible roads
leading up to it. The power lines are the only
indication this isn't the ice planet hath And Yeah, I'm
betting if you're listening to this podcast, you're probably cool
with random unexplained Star Wars references. Harmony studies the sign

(41:22):
for a few more seconds. She then throws the rabbiting
gear and makes a wide U turn. She's heading back
to Keir. You probably already guessed, but stunt driving for
Patricia Arquette on that turn is Patricia Arquette. The reason
it looks like she's the one turning the car around
is because she is actually turning the car around. We
cut from Harmony back to the severed floor. Mark and

(41:44):
Helena are out in the halls, headed to the goat room.
They're walking through the areas where the lights are on
motion sensors. Fun behind the scenes detail here. The lights
aren't really on motion sensors. They're being turned on and
off by a light tech as the two walk by.
The real sensors are too random, the production would have
no control over when they came on or clipped off.

(42:06):
This way, the light tech can make sure Mark and
Helena are always front lit. Helena looking way to at
ease on her heels, pauses at an intersection. Potentially Helena
has never been here. In that case, this is a
pretty good guess. Mark's also not entirely sure if this
is the right place. It's possible. As daughter of the CEO,

(42:28):
young Helena was able to visit the goats at various
times in her life. So she may have already known
where they were going. Helena knocks, shrugs, then enters. The
reverse shot is from inside the goat room we visited
in season one. There's the unpainted white model of a barn,
the small bales of hay, and the white picket fence.
No goats or goat wrangler are visible. Helena bends down

(42:51):
to look at something. The reverse cut reveals a tunnel
in the wall opposite the small picket fence. You may
be saying, hold on, that wasn't here when we visited before.
I had the same reaction, so I did a scan
back through grim barbarity of optics and design. It's the
episode where we first visited the goat room. They never
show us the far wall of this room. We only

(43:14):
ever see the wall directly across from the entrance door,
the wall behind the bales of hay, and the wall
that includes the entrance door. The fourth wall, the one
with the short tunnel, is never shown during Mark and
Helly's first visit to this room. This seemed like far
too much planning on the part of the production. Did
they really hide that wall from us in the first

(43:36):
season because of the tunnel? No, they did not. It
was total luck. Dan Erickson told the story in a
Vulture article. The creatives did know in the first season
there was a bigger goat room somewhere. Ericson called it
Goat Central, where everybody would gather. When scripting the first season,
they hadn't addressed the specifics of this bigger room. They

(43:58):
just knew it existed. When they got to this script, Ericson, Stiller,
and Hindele all noticed the corner of the initial room
we as viewers didn't see. This sparked the idea for
placing the goat tunnel in that wall. If you were
with me for the origins episodes covering being John Malkovich,
this tunnel should look familiar. It's cleaner and better lit.

(44:19):
But this goat room tunnel looks a lot like the
tunnel behind the file cabinet that leads to John Malkovich's brain.
And trust me, that movie can't be spoiled. You've just
got to see it. There are heavy strips of clear
vinyl hanging down over the tunnel entrance. They look like
what you'd find in the freezer section of some grocery stores.
Mark pushes back the strips of vinyl to get a

(44:41):
better look. It's obvious he's considering going in. He said,
she is in a skirt. This has been pointed to
as another Helena hint. I don't know that helly r
would have been all that gung ho about crawling in
a skirt either. Mark starts on. It's true great leading

(45:03):
camera shot. As Mark crawls towards us, there's straw and
maybe a bit of careful if I could take a
tiny detour here. I am constantly amazed at the incredible
expertise of the listeners to this podcast. It's not only
that each and every refiner is of the highest caliber,
but also how incredibly varied you all are when it

(45:24):
comes to the storehouse of knowledge you're willing to share.
Podcast listener Luke McGinnis volunteered at the Zoo Atlanta Petting
Zoo for multiple years in a row. He doesn't like
to brag, but Luke knows poop. Luke looked at what
Mark was about to put his hand in, and I'm
proud to say his first thought was of me. Luke
said a note to severed pod at gmail dot com

(45:46):
to tell me, goat poop is very distinctive. He has
cleaned up after numerous goats of various subspecies for many hours.
Luke claims they all emit small round pellets. Even if
multiple goats passing through the tunnel it's stomped on them,
they still would not look like what we are being shown.
This raises the question where is the production crew getting

(46:08):
it's poop fun goat fact, the most common term for
a group of goats is a herd. A couple of
less commonly used collective nouns for a group of goats
is a tribe and a trip. We're headed to the
goat room, but before we do, you should probably head
to the vending machine refiner Severed will be right back.

Speaker 3 (46:31):
Hi, I'm Adam Scott. I play Mark s on Severance,
which you likely already know since you're listening to sever
the Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (46:42):
Helena is gamely crawling along behind Mark. When Mark reaches
the end of the tunnel, he encounters what looks like
an enormous dogdor and has a hinge across the top.
He flips it up as he enters. Both Mark and
Helena are wide eyed looking past the camera. The echoed
sound of goats can be heard when the camera shot reverses.
We are in an amazing room. This is the department

(47:05):
known as Mammalians Nurturable, or more commonly, the goat room.
It defies all logic. You can't put a pasture in
a building, can you. No, actually you can't, but boy,
they sure make it look like they did. Bringing the
outside in causes all sorts of problems with humidity, ventilation, mold.
Ask any zoo with an indoor habitat, it requires constant maintenance.

(47:31):
Instead of bringing the outdoors in, the Severance production crew
made the outdoors look like it's inside. The ground you're
looking at is on the back side of the Marine
Park golf course in Brooklyn. Finding this golf course was
not some random chance. One of these set illustrators on
Severance also happens to be a whiz with Lydar drones.

(47:51):
LDAR uses ultraviolet and near infrared light to do three
D mapping. About a half dozen locations were lightar scan
so the production team could create scale models. They used
these models to select the location with the best goat
recreation spaces. Once selected, the area of the pasture room
was tented. Ericson said the final build measured one hundred

(48:13):
and twenty feet wide by two hundred and forty feet long.
It's more than half an acre, roughly the size of
a football field. Jeremy Hindle and his crew installed lumen
looking walls up to about fifteen feet around the edges
of the tent. Everything above those walls was standard tent
with fluorescent tube fixtures hanging on cords in the ceiling.

(48:33):
The tops of the walls and ceiling with the light grid,
tile and vents was all added during post. Also check
those Florida ceiling air exchangers in the walls. They're just
like the ones I pointed out in MDR earlier. Real goats,
about fifty of them were released into the space and
allowed to roam around. Catherine Miller said the goats were
both baby and pygmy goats from Pennsylvania. An auxiliary pen

(48:57):
was constructed to house the goats when they weren't on set.
As Mark and Helen across the pasture, we realize there's
at least one man also dressed like a goat. Goat
gods and goat demons have been a part of theological
discussions going back centuries. The Egyptians and other nations of
antiquity were known to worship goats as gods. In Biblical narratives,

(49:21):
descriptions of goat demons highlight the struggle caused by the
allure of false gods. Later into the nineteenth century, the
name of Baphomet as the goat headed demon, was associated
with the occult. I don't think this guy is representing
any particular goat god. Here and the Luman organization are
good at co opting religious iconography for their own cult uses.

(49:43):
They tend to use the icon but then don't include
any of the lore or legend that goes with it.
Jared Johnston is the actor playing the goat Man. He
currently has thirty one performer credits on his IMDb profile.
His most recent role is in another Apple TV Plus series.
Jared played a named character in five episodes of Dope Thief. Interestingly,

(50:06):
the featured review on IMDb four Dope Thief says the
only reason they found the show is because it auto
played after severance, oh, and they liked it. As Mark
and Helena are climbing a low rise, they are met
by a tall and imposing woman. She is opening and
closing scissors or some kind of shears as she walks

(50:28):
towards them.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
You had to kill me.

Speaker 2 (50:30):
This, as we'll discover, is Laurene. She's in charge of
this entire department. Heads up, the folks in this department
are weird. Lauren is being played by the towering and
hilarious Gwendolen Christy. Gwendolen is a London based actress with
thirty six performer credits on her IMDb profile. She was
a fan of Severance even before getting the call about

(50:51):
this part, she told the Hollywood Reporter when they asked
if she would be interested. Before she even knew anything
about the role, she was really hoping her part would
have something to do with the goats. When Ben Stiller
told her about the character on a zoom call, Gwendolen
is just sure, she screamed. She was trying to stay
cool and professional, but she remembers not being able to

(51:12):
hide her delight at discovering she would be playing Lorn
mistress of the Lumen Goats. If Gwendolen Christy has a trademark,
it would be her height. We talked about Darry Olifson
and how he was considered towering at six'. Three gwendolen
is also six feet three inches. Tall for NON us,
listeners that's one hundred and ninety point five. Centimeters if

(51:33):
you Know, wendolen it's probably for her amazing turn As
Lady briann Of tarth in THE hbo Epic game Of.
Thrones she has an interesting crossover With. Severance Both wendolen
And Merritt, weaver who Plays Gretchen, george were in a movie.
Together they both appeared in the twenty Eighteen Robert zemecka's
film Called welcome To, marwin Starring Steve. Carell don't beat

(51:56):
yourself up if you don't remember. It Welcome tomrwin only
did thirteen million dollar worldwide gross against a budget of
thirty nine. Million mark is taken aback by this unusual.
Greeting kill.

Speaker 3 (52:09):
Her no, no, no, no no.

Speaker 2 (52:12):
NO i, Sorry.

Speaker 3 (52:13):
Hi I'm mark And helly and we're With Macrodata.

Speaker 2 (52:18):
Refinement, yeah but you got to REMEMBER mdr has a
reputation for being. VICIOUS i bet copies of those violent
paintings have gotten. Around there's a long. Pause lauren is standing,
silently scissors held. Aloft mark looks, around still steimied by
this amazing. Room when is this?

Speaker 5 (52:37):
Place we cut to a medium shot Of Lorn mammalian's.
NATURBLE i don't remember that one in the department list
from the security. Office in the close up, shot we
can See lauren's wearing a pale green key card on a.
Lanyard this would indicate she does. Leave we will also
hear other members of the department mentioned there, oudies it

(52:57):
feels weird to consider this group leave this strange place
and going out into normal. Society lauren seems to lose
interest in these. Interlopers they aren't a, threat so she doesn't.
Care lauren lowers the shears and heads back down the
far side of the. Bluff the goats just randomly wander
in and out of shots as they. Please Dan erickson

(53:18):
said sometimes this would ruin a, shot but usually having
a goat wander into the screen just made the shot.
Better mark And helly start after this weird and kind
of frightening. Woman please we mean you no.

Speaker 3 (53:30):
Harm we just want to.

Speaker 2 (53:32):
Talk lauren seems to consider this. Request as she. Does
we cut to another part of the severed floor. Hallways
we're Following, irving who is making his way to THE
o AND d. Department he's taking it, slowly building up his.
Courage as he, goes he stops in THE o AND d.
DOORWAY a reverse shot from inside the room reveals the
painting The courtship Of cure And imagen sitting next to

(53:54):
a work table facing the. Camera there is also what
looks like a portrait Of cure in military. Unit herb
scans the wall of flat drawers before he. Enters he
comes in slowly looking at items on the. Worktables, finally
he comes around to the front of The courtship canvas
and gives it a long. Look this is the very
questionable scene Of kure as a stew man and an ether.

(54:16):
Factory AS i pointed out another podcast, episodes ether is
a highly, flammable very unstable. Substance no one has ever
cooked ether in a pot over an open. Flame if
you were to even, try the race would be on
between you passing out from the fumes or dying in the.
Explosion AS irv is appreciating the detail of this fanciful,

(54:36):
Canvas felicia appears from between the. SHELVES irv Turns Felicia.
Hello he says he's sorry to be popping in after
all this. Time sulia must be very. Busy all this
time might be a reference to the five months THE
mdr crew was told had. Elapsed in, reality it's only
been a couple of weeks SINCE irv was last here

(54:58):
out in the, hallways and even the last TIME irv was,
Here felicia was not all that friendly towards. Him she
seemed to be a bit protective Of. Bert she could
also be cutting with her tone of voice and facial.
Expressions not. Today, Today felicia is both welcoming and even.
Comforting it's good to see. You she steps over and

(55:18):
puts her arms Around irv's. Shoulders they share a long.
Hug we can Hear mark's voice before the.

Speaker 6 (55:23):
Cut her name's Miss.

Speaker 5 (55:25):
Casey we see.

Speaker 2 (55:26):
A close up of The Miss casey missing posters slide
across a. DESK a, desk, Yep lauren has a desk
right there in the corner of the. Meadow she's our
former wellness. Director in the medium, shot we can also
see a vending machine over her shoulder against the, wall
standard issue for any severed floor. Department it would seem

(55:46):
As lauren is considering the one. Sheet we cut to
a long overview shot of this corner of the. Room
we need to pause here for a few moments to
drink in the details of this. SHOT i just love
the Fact lauren has a. Desk if you think about,
it it even makes. Sense we are inside a building
under the dirt and. Grass you have to figure there
are electrical communication and plumbing. Systems of, course lorn is

(56:10):
plugged in at her desk so she can do the
work any lumen department head has to. Do whatever that.
Is lauren's desk is a nineteen Sixties alivetti. Design many
of the chairs seen here are Also. Olivetti this desk
was never sold in THE. Us David schlessinger chose it
because it would visually feel a bit off TO us.

(56:31):
Viewers for, me the best detail about the desk is
the square plastic carpet guard under it instead of protecting the.
GRASS i think this guard is there So lorne can roll.
Around the Chairs mark And helena are sitting in were
powder coated for the. Show the production has about twenty
of these. Chairs they fold flat for easy. Storage we'll

(56:52):
see more of these folding chairs At irv's. Funeral the
idea is in the world of the. Show luhmann has
hundreds of these chairs scattered throughout the. Building anytime extra
chairs are needed for an, event somebody can just grab
a few from the closest storage. Closet check the doors
in the back. Walls there is a full height human
looking door directly Behind. Lorne to either side of the

(57:14):
human height door are two of the half. Doors like
the One mark And helena arrive. Through these two small
square doors are located one in each. Wall if these
are more goat, shoots this might indicate there are other
feeding rooms like the One mark And helly are initially
discovered in season. One the large floor to ceiling vent
to the right of the desk was custom produced for the.

(57:37):
Show i'm not sure how tall it is or where
THE cgi takes over from the real, item but this
is an actual physical prop fabricated for this. Scene speaking of,
fabricated have a look at the vending machine in the
lower left corner of the. Frame this was one of
the very first Things David schlessinger fabricated for the. Show
schlessinger is the guy who took over From Andrew baseman

(58:00):
as set decorator for season. Two creating this vending machine
did not go, well But david says he did learn
a Lot to begin, with the piece was a nightmare to. Produce,
Also david was not accustomed to the open communication around
The severn. Set he didn't check in during the fabrication
process to make sure he was on the right. Track
when the item was delivered to, set it was declared

(58:23):
not up to. Standard no details on what was, done
But david said this piece had to hurriedly be remade
at the last minute in order to be camera. Ready
it must have been fine Because gwendall And christie report
she couldn't stop fiddling with the lumen vending. Machines gwendall
And christie loved everything about this, shoot but she especially

(58:45):
loved the. Goats she Told ben And adam on their
podcast how she would spend hours out in fields preparing
for these. Scenes she wanted to be at ease in
a pasture and around. Animals she asked friends who were
sheep farmers questions about. Goats she even read several books in.
Preparation we cut to a medium shot Of lorn over her.
Desk she is regarding the one sheet. Wellness there's a long.

(59:08):
Pause we even cut To mark And helena for. Reaction
it's like she's deciding what story to tell.

Speaker 1 (59:16):
We don't abide such frippery is.

Speaker 2 (59:17):
Here, okay so they're just too tough here in mammalians nurturable.
Wellness we don't need, wellness will walk it. Off it's
just a. Scratch frippery is a word from the mid fifteen.
Hundreds the meaning going all the way back to about
fifteen sixty eight is this silly decoration or unnecessary. Object
the language of The severn floor often has a dark

(59:39):
ages feel to. It although her face is smudged and
her clothes are, Filthy lourn manages to keep some lipstick
on for. Work she's also got a pretty nice looking,
manicure so she must be experiencing some out e. Time
mark holds her gaze after The frippery's. Line he may
not be buying the goat lady. Story helena, says even

(01:00:01):
Though Ms casey's been, retired she may still be somewhere
on the.

Speaker 3 (01:00:06):
Floor are you sure you don't know?

Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
Her, yeah he picked up on something in the way
she denied even needing. Wellness the mood of the meeting
suddenly gets.

Speaker 1 (01:00:15):
Chilly maybe you should take that page of paper and
be on your.

Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
Way without, WARNING mn is closed to. Outsiders mark isn't
going to be pushed around so, easily.

Speaker 3 (01:00:26):
Not until you've answered my.

Speaker 2 (01:00:27):
Question, Careful, mark you have no idea what a goat
person might be capable. Of lauren And mark are in
a stare. Down helena is feeling the Pressure. Mark lauren
has had. Enough she grabs a lumin branded cow bell
that was sitting on her. Desk mark And helena look
back across the pasture with. Alarm goat people and even

(01:00:49):
a few goats are assembling at the sound of the.
Bell from this, angle make sure to look closely at
the ground directly Below lauren's. Computer staying with the, idea
we are actually inside a. Building there's a port of
some kind mounted in the. Ground it's where she's plugged.
In even the goat wrangler from season one comes through
the door Behind lauren's. Desk this Is american Actor brian

(01:01:11):
rock back for his second of two episodes in the.
Series according To, IMDb his character also now has a.
Name this Is.

Speaker 5 (01:01:19):
Wyatt although the action Around lauren's desk seems all tense and,
edgy we heard the truth from Both gwendolen And christy
And Adam scott in interviews after the.

Speaker 2 (01:01:29):
Episode. Dropped gwendolen said she had an adorable baby goat
headbutting her under the desk through many of her. Takes
it was all she could do to keep from bursting out.
Laughing Adam scott said his shoelaces were almost constantly being munched,
on even when he was. Walking he had to stop
one take because a goat was nibbling his. Ear lauren

(01:01:50):
keeps ringing the. Bell, Wow mammalian's nurturable has quite the.
Staff the dude in the goat head is pretty. Intimidating
several of the workers headed Towards lauren's desk are carrying
some scary. Pitchforks Mark s might be in over his
head when it comes to goat department. Diplomacy he should have. Left, okay,
yeah that's. Intimidating in the wide, Shot i'm counting twenty

(01:02:12):
four members of THE mn team plus Lorn. Oh come,
on are they really staying with the twenty five count here?
Too just like the testing floor, rooms this has to
be a. Coincidence SO i just noticed something while tallying
up their. Crew what happened to GoAhead Guy in one
of the earlier, shots While louren was ringing the. Bell
we could see him coming over a rise in the.

(01:02:33):
Meadow when we cut to this wide shot from Behind lauren's,
desk he's. GONE i THINK i see the guy playing,
him only he's not wearing the goat. Head from this,
angle we cut away from THE mn gang to Mis
wong Leading dylan through the severed floor halls before we
find out where they're. Headed it's time to shut things
down for the. Day we've had quite an exciting. Session

(01:02:55):
we've tried out the hall, passes been to the goat,
room and experienced those weird recanonicalized. Paintings we are halfway
through episode Three Who Is. Alive we'll finish this episode next.
Time in part, two don't miss. It we'll be visiting
The audi family visitation, suite where we'll Meet, Gretchen dylan's oudy.
Wife we'll also run Into, regabi who is still pushing

(01:03:18):
reintegration as the only way to communicate down on the severed.
Floor she will Convince mark to start the. Process but
that's all next. Time for, now you need to shut
down your. Workstation. REFINER i want to say a big
thank you to volunteer Researcher Refiner vinnie p for his
outstanding help on these season two rewatch. Episodes quick reminder

(01:03:39):
get to The Severed patreon. Page support This severed podcast
by pledging five dollars a. Month signing up is. Easy
go to patreon dot com slash severed. Pod that's patreon
dot com slash Severed. Pod patron refiners have access to
early and add free versions of the. Podcast we'll talk
again Next thursday as we've finish up episode three of season.

(01:04:02):
Two make sure to join. Me until, then it's time
to shut down your workstation and get to the elevator.
Refiner your contributions to the ongoing work of Lumin industries
are greatly. Appreciated here would be proud. Now as, always
please stagger your.

Speaker 7 (01:04:16):
Exits you've been listening To, severed The Ultimate Severance. Podcast
severed is, written, produced and hosted By Alan.

Speaker 6 (01:04:23):
Stair severed is not endorsed By Red Hour, Productions Endevor,
content Or APPLE Tv. Plus this podcast is intended for
entertainment and informational purposes.

Speaker 7 (01:04:33):
Only, severance The severance, logo and all video and audio
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Speaker 6 (01:04:45):
Holders please make sure to leave a five star rating
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