S2E30 - REWATCH08-PT01 - Sweet Vitriol - Severed: The Ultimate Severance Podcast

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Severed The Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hey their Refiner, so glad to have you back on
the Severed floor. Our full rewatch of season two continues
with one of the most controversial episodes of Severance yet produced.
It's called Sweet Vitriol. A stern spoiler warning, Refiner, you
must have seen all ten of the season two episodes
before you even think about listening to this podcast. There
are spoilers everywhere. You have been warned. Welcome to sever

(00:38):
The Ultimate Severance Podcast. I'm your host, Alan As. Episode
eight of the second season, Sweet Vitriol was released for
download on March sixth of twenty twenty five. Sweet Vitriol
was directed by executive producer Ben Stiller. It was written
by Dan Erickson, Adam County, and K. C. Perry. Adam
County is a writer and producer with a dozen writing credits.

(00:59):
His career got going in twenty ten when he wrote
four episodes of Community and worked as consulting producer on
seven episodes. Adam has a lot of smart, groundbreaking comedy
in his background. Aside from Community, he's written multiple episodes
for The MINDI Project, Silicone Valley, and Vice Principals. Adam
is co executive producer on nine of the ten season

(01:20):
two severance episodes. He must have been on vacation for
some reason. He was not listed as co executive producer
on episode five Trojan's Horse. He didn't do anything on
episode five. Casey Perry is a writer producer with six
writing credits. Casey's most notable career output was his writer
on seventeen episodes for the twenty seventeen twenty eighteen TV

(01:43):
series The Originals. Casey also worked as consulting producer on
all ten of the season two severance episodes. It's amazing
they needed three writers. This is the shortest episode of
Severns ever produced at clocks in thirty seven minutes. It
is also one of the most maligned and hated episodes

(02:04):
of the series. On IMDb, this episode is rated the
lowest of the nineteen so far, with a six point
six out of ten. The next highest rated ep as
a seven point seven. Why did this one take so
much abuse? It was just too different. For one thing,
We're nowhere close to the severed floor for the entire
thirty seven minutes. We never interact with a macrodat, we

(02:27):
never ride an elevator. The only character we already know
in the whole episode. Is Cobel just being a different
kind of episode was a gamble. When you add on
top of it the cold, ethereal and dreamlike production values,
it's a very different episode. There was also a lot
of comparison to last week, which is unfortunate. It's an
apples to bowling balls comparison. A lot of viewers were

(02:50):
still riding high on the euphoric blast of Cheek I Bardo.
They weren't ready for the cold and harsh bringdown of
a trip to Salt's Neck. The whiplash change in tone
and pacing left a lot of viewers feeling chilled or
reports indicate they were also bored. A Yahoo News article
from right after the episode's release sighted fans who called

(03:10):
the up boring as hell and quote the worst episode
of the series to date. One armchair reviewer said it
could have been an email. I'm somewhere in between on
this one. I did enjoy the episode for what it was,
but I was also thinking just how much different it
was compared to the previous week's EPP, or for that matter,
any other episode of the series. Getting used to the

(03:31):
pacing is an important part of understanding the message. It's
the difference between enjoying a car ride versus a bike ride.
You can have very positive reactions to both a car
ride and a bike ride, but they will be for
different reasons. Bikes aren't nearly as fast, but cars don't
allow you to take in nature. You can't really compare
one to the other directly because they are very different

(03:53):
ways of getting around. This episode is a bike ride.
Cheek I Bardo was a car ride. This episode is
a rocketing along with creative transitions from one timeline to
another that happens in the car. This EPP is linear
and laid back, soak in the atmosphere as you pedal along.
All of the action happens in a single afternoon and evening.

(04:14):
Much of it is contemplative and quiet. There are only
three main players in the entire episode, and we're just
meeting two of them for the first time. Oh, stop
making that face. This episode isn't some mold covered jar
of salsa you found in the back of the fridge.
If you let yourself get into it, I think you'll
enjoy it. So if you're ready, Refiner, it's time to
open the file called Sweet Betriol. We open on a

(04:38):
down angle look at cold blue serve crashing against rocks.
This one shot should tell you everything you need to
know about the pacing of this episode. We hold on
this look at the rocks for sixteen seconds. I haven't checked,
but I doubt you can find a single shot in
all of Cheek i Bardo where we held on anything
for sixteen seconds. We're weaving production cards in between beauty

(05:00):
shots of the rugged scenery around Salt's neck. Some seagulls
are wheeling in the sky. Then there's a cut to
a sweeping beauty shot along the coastline. Out in the water,
we can see bright white chunks of snow and ice
floating in the steel gray. The shot is tracking a
small white Volkswagon Rabbit lower frame right. In what might
be another nod to Stanley Kubrick, this Chili drive has

(05:22):
the look of the family's trip to the Overlook Hotel
in nineteen eighties. The shining Jack Nicholson was also driving
a Volkswagon. Now, hold on, that wouldn't be Harmony Koebell's
Volkswagon Rabbit, would it. The last time we saw Harmony
with her rabbit was towards the end of the third
episode of season two, Who Is Alive. After a scare
in the Lumen parking lot that included Helena Egan Cobel

(05:44):
decided to exit the property and quickly we watched as
she backed out of a parking spot and left Helena,
Helena's driver, and the lighted Lumen parking lot in a
squall of tires and exhaust. Previously, we had seen Harmony
out by the Salt's Neck mile age sign it two
hundred and thirty eight miles plus from Kier. At first,
she decided against making the trip. She did that big

(06:06):
U turn and headed back to the Luman headquarters instead.
Since her parking lot meeting with Helena didn't go so well,
it looks like she did decide to make the trip
to Saltsneck after all. We tracked the car for a while,
then cut to some sweeping coastline shots. In the world
of Lumen, this is salts Neck. It's an area located
to the northeast of Kier according to Ben Stiller, but

(06:29):
still in the state or province of Pe. In reality,
this is an area of Newfoundland called the Banabasta Peninsula.
It includes the city of Banabasta Bay, where a lot
of the episode was shot along with areas of Port
Union and Fogo Island. It was Jessica Liganye who suggested
the area as his stand in for salts Neck. She
had done work on Fogo Island about ten years prior

(06:50):
to this shoot. Apologies if I'm messing up the naming
around this area. In Newfoundland based on the maps I've
looked at, they like to name towns and bays and
ports and islands. Sometimes they will also name a town
after a bay or name a port after a town.
Towns are also named after islands, and those towns usually

(07:12):
are located on the island of the same name. Fogo
Island includes the town of Fogo. It's probably no big
deal if you live there, but it's incredibly confusing to
an outsider. When was the Severan's production there. This is
another one of those questions with multiple answers. It reminded
me a little of the confusion surrounding the woes Hollow
Shute schedule. According to Kat Miller, they were there for

(07:34):
five weeks over March in April of twenty twenty three.
They lived in airbnbs. Edith Samson, who helped arrange the
shoote from the Bonavista side of Things said they were
there in two May. Edith also said they'd been scouting
the area for more than five months. Patricia our Cat
loved this area, but she did say it was cold.
Edith claimed they had a very mild spring. The production

(07:56):
had to bring an ice to create some of the
snow in certain scenes. The mild thing might be a
matter of perspective. Keep in mind Edith lives there year round.
Patricia Arquette is originally from Chicago, but she's owned a
home in la since two thousand and three. The definition
of mild might be up for debate. Just how remote
is Fogo Island Pretty remote. It's located just off the

(08:19):
northeastern shoreline of Newfoundland at forty nine point seven degrees latitude.
Fogo is one of the oldest named features on the
Newfoundland coast. Fogo Island was identified on a Bertius map
dated sixteen o six. You can drive there from New
York City. It takes more than thirty hours and includes
a significant international ferry ride. Make sure to have your

(08:40):
passport with you. Flying was the preferred means of transportation
for most of the cast and crew, except for the
car wranglers. The picture. Vehicles had to be transported all
the way to Newfoundland. This group included multiples of Hampton's
pickup truck and of Harmony's rabbit. Driving was a bear,
but even the air travel took more time than you expect.

(09:00):
The shooting location was still a three hour drive from
the airport. We're talking very remote. Is it as remote
as the Ort Bow? It must be. Ben Stiller told
a story on the official Ben and Adam Severn's podcast
about finding an actual dead seal along this shoreline. He
says he did take a picture of it. One of

(09:21):
the things that made this location attractive was the smaller scale.
According to director Stiller, this area is rugged and beautiful,
but you don't have the gigantic mountains to contend with
like you do in Iceland or Greenland. You can see
in this leading shot the hills in the background are shootable,
not overpowering. You don't have to be miles and miles
away to get them in the frame. The camera tracks

(09:42):
along the guardrail following the rabbit. As the rabbit passes
by on the right, we can see the goodbye sign
for the fictional town of Salt's Neck. If you were
going the other way, they'd be thanking you for visiting.
Cobell has made the two hundred and thirty eight mile
plus journey from Kier. I'm hoping she had a full
tank before she left. I don't see there being a
lot of gas stations along that route. I'm also wondering

(10:04):
where she's going to fill up to get back home.
She hasn't passed a gas station yet that I've seen.
A closeup of Harmony at the wheel reveals a tired
and determined Cobell. She's on a mission. She might still
be riding the adrenaline high of running away from a
threatening Helena Egan and her driver. Again, note the pacing.
We never would have held on that headshot of Cobel

(10:26):
for as long. During Cheek I Bardo, the rabbit is
making its way between the buildings of what looks like
a dilapidated fishing village. These are some of the most
historic buildings in the Bonavista Bay area. These structures once
house the John Quinton Limited Fishing Venture. The Quinton started
fishing off Newfoundland in the late seventeen hundreds. These buildings

(10:47):
were built starting in eighteen forty. They are considered good
examples of intact historical outport fishing structures ilm created. Snow
lines the streets and covers some rocks sitting frame left.
The cold waters of the ba come right up to the
edge of the road. The sewing machine hum of the
rabbit's engine is very recognizable. In the next couple of minutes,
we watch the rabbit's route through creative spy and distant

(11:09):
shots of the rabbit's progress. The director is revealing this
town to us. It's old and decrepit. Many of the
buildings sag or don't have a roof. There's no industry
or commerce here, only the ghosts of workers passed. The
dramatic crane shot lifting up over a bluff reveals the
full breadth of this sad, cold little town. This scene

(11:30):
is heavily altered using CGI. Buildings have been aged and moved.
The former fish plant, which stands in for the Ether factory,
has been made over completely using computer graphics. The whole
town has also been dirtied up and given a pallor.
I've seen picks of this place, the ones the Chamber
of Commerce puts out. It's not nearly this drab, sure,

(11:51):
even in the beauty shots it looks cold, but the
houses are colorful. It's not really so grungy and depressing. Hey,
so did you notice this snip of cures Him woven
into the soundtrack. After the long, slow and dramatic crane

(12:21):
reveal from behind the slag pile, the music builds to crescendo.
You should be easing yourself into this slower pacing refiner.
It's going to define the rest of the episode. Once
the full grandeur of Salt's neck is revealed. There's a
crust dissolved to white. It's a full screen reintegrated severance logo.

(12:41):
It extrudes out of the white background. The r is
all in one piece. This might be because we're hanging
with Harmony for this entire app and Cheese not severed.
We also won't be dealing with or meeting anyone who
we know to be severed the entire thirty seven minutes.
All of the Macrodets and Chick have this episode off.

(13:02):
This is the third time this season we've opened an
app without the extra wegg animation. The first episode because
Ben wanted to do it the same as the pilot.
Then there was no animated intro for Wo's Hollow and
now none for sweet vitriol. When we go on field
trips during the episodes, we don't get the animation. They
could have added a full minute to the runtime of

(13:22):
this episode if they'd used it, but I don't think
anybody was too worried about padding the time. Oh and
by the way, as I'm writing this script extra Wegg's
new animation for season two has won another Emmy. Congratulations
to Oliver Lada. Can you believe that was just the
cold open before we get to the meat of the story,
You should wash your hands, refiner. Severed will be right back.

Speaker 3 (13:49):
Hey there, this is Haley Ericson gelzer Dan Ericson's sister,
and thanks for listening to Severed, the Ultimate Severance Podcast.
I do.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
Coming back from the logo screen, we are looking at
Harmony Kobell, former head of the Severed floor at the
lumin Home office in kir now reduced to brushing her
teeth in the street. There is a cut to a
wide overview shot. Harmony has the rabbit backed up in
a little patch of snow just off an angled street
and Salt's neck. You'll notice zoning is not a big
issue around this place. Streets run at weird angles to

(14:24):
each other in buildings are a jumbled mess. The directive
seems to be build it wherever you want, face it
wherever you want, and we'll make it work, you know.
Cobell looks very at ease brushing her teeth in the street.
We're going to learn a lot about Harmony's upbringing an
early life during this episode. Poverty on the verge of
homelessness does not seem to be out of place around here.

(14:44):
Harmony may have been in the same situation herself at
one time. Speaking of homelessness, Cobel looks over the roof
of her car. A noise got her attention. It's a
man sitting in the open door of a rusted out
and abandoned RV, maybe thirty feet or so so from her.
As Harmony watches, he pulls the stopper out of a
small glass bottle. He then pours the contents into a

(15:06):
paper bag and puts the opening of the bag over
his nose and mouth. There's probably a rag in the
bottom of that bag. What Harmony is watching is an
ether addict huffing a fix. This would be a good
time to address the title of this episode, Sweet Vitriol
is a nickname for ether. Vitriol is a chemical name.
It describes the sulfate form of certain metals. Vitriols are

(15:29):
corrosive compounds, which is why vitriolic has become a general
adjective meaning harsh or corrosive. Copper, cobalt, aluminum, zinc, and
iron can all form sulfate compounds or vitrioles. Ether is
not a sulfate, but it is referred to as sweet
vitriol or sweet oil of vitriol because it is compounded

(15:51):
from sulfuric acid, which is a vitriol. Sulfuric acid was
referred to as the oil of vitriol by early chemists
because it evaporate the way other vitriols did. When you
synthesize sulfuric acid with ethanol, you get ether. The resulting
compound has a sweet odor, hence the term sweet vitriol.
The ability to synthesize diethyl ether has been around since

(16:15):
the thirteenth century. Ether is highly flammable and very unstable,
but early physicians realized its anesthetic properties. As early as
eighteen forty. Ether was often prescribed along with opium for
pain relief. Ether was used for the first time as
a general anesthetic during a surgical procedure in Georgia in
eighteen forty two. Early physicians preferred ether to chloroform because

(16:38):
it had a much higher therapeutic index. This means there
was a bigger difference between an effective dose and a
fatal dose. It was far too easy to kill a
patient with chloroform. True, you had to be careful not
to blow them up or burn them when using ether,
but an accidental overdose of ether probably wouldn't kill the
patient since ether created a high, highly euphoric state, and

(17:01):
it was hard to die from an ether overdose. Ether
abuse became hugely popular in the US in the late
nineteenth century. Parties called ether frolics were organized. These gatherings
were considered save because even doctors would attend. Attendees huffed
both ether and nitrous oxide during these events. You could
almost call ether a chemical form of severance. Usually, attendees

(17:25):
had no memory of what occurred during an ether frolic.
Ether was even available by prescription until World War One.
A product called Hoffman's Drops was very popular in the US.
These drops were one quarter ether mixed with three quarters ethanol.
That's right, we're talking a blend of twenty five percent
ether and seventy five percent ever clear. No wonder they

(17:46):
were so popular. Hoffman's drops were removed from the US
Pharmacopia listing of recognized drug compounds in nineteen seventeen. Ether
does not create a physical addiction, but it does cause
very acute side ecological dependence. This irrational need for ether
among users is referred to as ethero mania. The only

(18:06):
thing the ether addict can think about is getting more ether.
Deranged but insightful Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson referenced ether
addiction in his nineteen seventy one novel Fear and Loathing
in Las Vegas. In the nineteen ninety eight Terry Gilliam
directed film adaptation of the novel, Johnny Depp plays Raoul Duke,
the fictional protagonist who stands in for Thompson. Depp as

(18:29):
Duke has a great voiceover, which really sums up the
effects of ether.

Speaker 4 (18:35):
A devil ether. It makes you behave like the village
drunkard in some early Irish novel all Right. Total loss
of all basic motor skills, blurred vision, no balance, no tongue.
The mind recoils in horror, unable to communicate with the
spinal column, which is interesting because you can actually watch
yourself behaving in this terrible way, but you can't control it.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
Harmony Cobell has arrived at a town that appears to
be in the midst of an ongoing ether binge. The
citizens of Salt's Neck got a taste for it back
when Lumen ran the big ether factory in the middle
of town. These days, the factory is closed and the
ether production has been shuddered. Yet somehow these ether freaks
are still getting their fix. Harmony rinses her mouth with
a swig from a plastic water bottle. Is it lady

(19:20):
like to spit on the boulevard? Probably not, But this
is Salt's Neck. Niceties are put aside here in these
harsh environs. Cobel litters by throwing the plastic water bottle
on a snow drift. Hey, what happened to Lumen recycles.
Harmony is just not in a Lumen mood right now.
If anything, she's probably anti Lumen. She also might be

(19:41):
anti Salt's Neck. You can sense a bit of contempt
in Harmony's actions. Cobell's cell phone is sitting in the
seat of the rabbit. It's vibrating with a call. The
display tells us Devin Scout is trying to reach miss Cobell.
This is tying our sweet vitriol timeline to the mark
is unconscious timeline from Cheai Barda. Oh, we saw Devin
dial Cobell with no answer a number of times during

(20:04):
that episode. Several viewers were upset about Harmony leaving her
phone on. It's surprising there is actually service in this
remote place. Yeah, I guess it's hard anymore to find
a place that doesn't have at least some LTE bars.
But wow, this is remote. No idea who has the
service contracts in Pe? But in Newfoundland the best cell

(20:26):
coverage is provided by either Bell or tell Us. Kudo
and Rogers also offer cell plans in the area. The
other concern about leaving the phone on is Harmony's safety.
She left Lumen in a bit of a panic. If
she's really that afraid of what they might be up to,
wouldn't she want to take away any chance they might
have of tracking her. Turning off her phone would make

(20:47):
it at least harder for Lumen to track the GPS chip.
Then again, Harmony may be assuming Luman already knows what's
going on in Salt's neck. No need to hide her
activities if they're already watching her. Aunt is going to
mention talking to Lumen operatives, so being surveilled by Lumen
in this place is probably unavoidable. The ether huffer is
staring at Harmony. I think our huffer is being played

(21:10):
by actor Don Tripe. He's identified as ether Addict in
the cast list. Don has thirty one performer credits dating
back to nineteen eighty eight. His first professional appearance was
in two episodes of a television reboot of War of
the Worlds. It lasted one season. Harmony's gray hair is
blowing in the wind as she gets back in her rabbit.
We cut to a close up on a coffee pot.

(21:32):
The song that can be heard in the background is
a tune called who Knows. It was written in nineteen
sixty nine by Columbus, Ohio soul singer and songwriter Marion Black.

Speaker 5 (21:42):
Who Knows what The motto I'll brain maybe sunshine and
maybe a rain. But as for me, I'll wait a
scene and maybe it'll bring my love to me.

Speaker 3 (21:57):
Who Knows?

Speaker 5 (22:01):
No.

Speaker 2 (22:04):
Black's version didn't go mainstream but it did score on
the Best Selling Soul Singles chart. Jimmy Hendrix recorded a
live version of the song in nineteen seventy. The lyrics
talk about trying to find connection in a world that
feels foreign. It's a perfect comment on Harmony's situation. Who
knows has had a bit of a resurgence lately. It
was also heard during the closing credits of episode six

(22:26):
of the Netflix series Griselda, and it was used in
a TV commercial for The Farmer's Dog. Another closeup as
a coffee cup is set on the counter. The first
person we see in this new venue is Rose. She's
the woman with the weathered face, wearing supplemental oxygen. She

(22:50):
might be eating a piece of pie. During the Ben
and Adam Official Severance podcast, this woman was identified as
being a local from the area. That's kind of true,
but also misleading. They made it sound like she's someone
without performer training or experience. The woman playing Rose is
the very accomplished actress Claire Colter. Claire has sixty three

(23:10):
performer credits on her IMDb profile, dating back to a
television playhouse performance as a school child in nineteen fifty six.
Claire was born in Ontario, So I guess you could
say she's kind of a local from the area. Maybe
she moved to Bona Vista later in life. A guy
with silver hair swept back in a pompadora is sitting
at a back table. The person with the pot of

(23:31):
coffee approaches.

Speaker 3 (23:33):
Here about that clusterfuck up on North Pot.

Speaker 2 (23:35):
Well, yeah they know everything here at the drippy pot
to Stevens Kidd. Neither of these fellows is too impressed
with the Stevens Kid.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
On the fuck you flip of Teuton.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
Snow blow, mister Pritty, You've got to figure snow and
the removal of snow are popular topics around these parts.
The guy with the coffee pot is Hampton. He owns
this place, but I don't think it's his primary means
of financial support. As the tour talk Yinghampton casually places
a small green bottle on the table. It's wrapped in

(24:06):
paper and has a rubber stopper pushed into the top.
This is a vial of ether. Everyone in town is addicted.
It's the reason Rose has to wear the oxygen abusing
caustic ether. No surprise will destroy your airways. The guy
he's giving it to has the character name Magnus, that's Condu.
He's being played by comedy writer and actor Jerry Stall.

(24:28):
As I mentioned in the epicap Stall has a unique
tie to Ben Stiller. A Pittsburgh natives, Stall was a
hardcore heroin addict early in his career. In nineteen ninety five,
he wrote a book about his addiction and his adventures
in Hollywood called Permanent Midnight. The book was optioned to
be made into a movie in nineteen ninety eight, with
Stall also co writing the screenplay. In the movie, the

(24:49):
character of Stall is played by none other than Ben Stiller.
This was actor Ben Stiller in the days before he
was behind the camera and executive producing. At this point
in his career, Ben had only a zek produced the
TV series The Ben Stiller Show. This connection between Stiller
and Stall would lead to a lifelong friendship, both personally
and professionally. Stall wrote the screenplay for Escape at Dana

(25:11):
Mora and appeared as a reporter in Zulander. Jerry has
a lot of his own stuff going on, but he
and Ben do like to collaborate whenever possible, Like here,
it's a drippy pot. Who better to play an addict
than a former addict. Hampton says the bottle is on
the house, before turning away from the table. Check the
monochromatic look of this coffee shop. David Schlessinger said, there

(25:34):
are a total of only three colors in this place.
It's how Luhman does color schemes. He said, they were
wanting to show that Luhmann has their hands in everything,
maybe even this rundown cafe in this tiny little town.

Speaker 4 (25:48):
Heroes.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
Hil Rose may be frail, but there's a glint in
her eye.

Speaker 6 (25:53):
It didn't tap me off anytime.

Speaker 2 (25:55):
You can tell these two have a long history.

Speaker 4 (25:58):
I like the du.

Speaker 6 (26:01):
Tray sheet.

Speaker 2 (26:02):
Rose is quite pleased with the attention. Out in the
cold scrabble world of Salt's Neck, the White Rabbit continues
its trek through snow covered buildings in front of harsh Seas.
There's a cut in here of the exterior of the
coffee shop we were just in. The sign confirms this
is the Drippy Pot Cafe. It's a fixture here in
downtown Salt's Neck. This is a real building and it

(26:25):
is really a coffee shop in the real world. This
is the Bonavista Bicycle Picnic Cafe, located at thirty four
Mackbeggar Road in Bonavista. I give the address only because
I really like saying mock Beggar. The actual cafe is
quite a bit nicer looking than what we're shown here.
The real place is maintaining a very respectable four point
four rating out of five on trip Advisor. The breakfast

(26:48):
sandwich is a hot item. It must be lumin approve
because it features scrambled eggs with aged cheddar. The warn
spots and the Drippy Pots paint are all part of
the Salt's Neck CGI makeover. The Bonavista Bicycle Picnic Cafe
is a well appointed establishment with a fresh looking dark
green paint job. It should also be noted I didn't

(27:08):
see a single abandoned car on the streets of Bonavista
in any of the pictures I could find. Bonavista is
actually a very neat and well maintained place. Salt's Neck
is not. We see burned out car bodies and sagging
buildings everywhere, thanks to the work of industrial light and
magic harmony. Cobell is about to arrive at the Drippy Pot.
Before she does, you should probably go get your own

(27:31):
cup of coffee. Refiner Severed will be right back.

Speaker 3 (27:39):
Hey, this is Chandy Micheau, the lead graphic artist from Severance.
You're listening to Severed, the Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (27:48):
Harmony's rabbit rolls into the frame from left and parks
our perspective moves to inside the drippy pot, looking at
the front doors. Gunslinger Harmony Cobell pushes her way into
the saloon. At least that's what it feels like. I
expected to hear a little bit of the good, the bad,
and the ugly as she entered. The world behind Harmony

(28:19):
is white and wind swept. It looks very cold and
desolate out there. Hampton pauses to have a look at
this new arrival. This is the first time we've gotten
a good look at Hampton's face. He's being played by
veteran character actor James Lagroux. I didn't realize it until
I was doing the research for this episode, but I've
been a James LaGrow fan for years. It's possible you

(28:39):
are too. The Minnesota native has one hundred and thirty
nine performer credits, so I'm betting you've at least seen him.
He had a four episode character on Blue Blood's which
I do remember. He was also the sheriff in a
Hulu original series from twenty eighteen called Castle Rock. It
was a series spotlighting the fictional main town where Stephen

(28:59):
King sets many of his novels. King and JJ Abrams
were producing. I'm a big Stephen King junkie, so I
was definitely there for Castle Rock and the work of
Sheriff James Lagreaux on Friends. Do you remember the kind
of creepy guy who took Rachel on a date in
one of the eighth season episodes? It was James. He
was a judge on The Good Wife. He was a

(29:19):
doc for three episodes of Er. He did guest shots
on both Law and Order and Law and Order SVU,
because you're kind of required to do that if you're
an actor who lives in New York. He's been in
a couple of high profile movies like Zodiac and several
not so high profile ones like Boys or Don't Do It.
James has been a ubiquitous character actor, going back to

(29:41):
a nineteen eighty four appearance on Night Writer Hampton and
Harmony Locke eyes as she closes the door behind her,
the drippy pot regulars sense a disturbance in the forest.
Both Rose and Magnus glanced nervously towards the door. James
Lagroux and Patricia Arquette play these characters as old friends.
There is a leavability here that might have something to

(30:02):
do with real life. James LaGrow and Patricia Arquett have
known each other going back to the late nineteen eighties.
James did a great interview with Vulture talking about how
he got this role and his connection to Patricia. James
had auditioned for a part and escape at Dana Mora.
Rachel Tennor is a favorite collaborator of Ben Stillers, which
is why she was also the casting director on Dana Mora.

(30:25):
James didn't get the part, but said he got a
really nice note from Ben after not being hired. Ben
told James this one didn't work out, but they would
get together on something in the future. LaGrow claims he's
gotten a lot of notes like that one over the years,
but this is the first one which really did result
in future work. James remembers getting at text from Ben

(30:45):
Stiller months later. We've got this part, thought of you
give it a read. James had heard of the series
but didn't know a thing about it. He read the script,
which he loved. Then Binge watched season one. After seeing
the level of quality and storytelling, he of course said yes.
Getting to work with Patricia Arquette was a bonus. James
had met Patricia in nineteen eighty nine in California. He

(31:08):
owned a pickup truck. Back then, too, James had a
surfing buddy who was dating Patricia Arquette at the time.
One day, this guy asked James for help. It's the
curse of owning a pickup truck. The surfing buddy needed
to move some stuff out of his girlfriend's mom's house.
His girlfriend, Patricia was there. James said he remembers her
making them cookies. Patricia Arquette, in a separate interview, also

(31:31):
recalled making thank you cookies for James because he quote
helped me move all my boxes out of my mom's house.
So we go way back unquote. Patricia Arquette also told
Vulture how she always loves working with James. She might
be mistaken there the thank you cookie story, I definitely believe,

(31:51):
but I couldn't find any place where She and James
Lagroux have appeared on screen together in the past. They
were both in CBS school breakspace, but not the same one.
They both did guest shots on Law and Order SVU,
but James was in a twenty ten episode, while Patricia
was in a twenty twelve episode. Unless they've been on
stage together or I'm missing a credit on IMDb, I

(32:14):
think this is the first time these two have ever
appeared on screen together. There is definitely a familiarity between
these two, but I don't think it's because they've acted together.
Harmony moves to her right and takes a seat. She
never takes her eyes off Hampton as she's moving. Hot
soups seem to be popular here at the Drippy Pot.
Not a surprise, I guess, considering the climate. Tomato soup,

(32:35):
clam chowder, split pea, beef stew, chili, and a sea
bisk are all being offered on the menu hanging behind
Hampton's head. Hampton approaches Harmony at her table, coffee pot's
still in hand. He stops and looks down at her silently.
It's like he's seeing a ghost. He doesn't smile, and
he doesn't speak. I don't think he even knows what

(32:56):
to say. With a bit of a smirk, Harmony decides
to help him out.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
Harmony Koppel.

Speaker 7 (33:04):
Well flip my to fuck.

Speaker 2 (33:06):
I wondered if flip my toboggan might be a phrase
used in Washington State that Dan Erickson was cribbing here.
According to Dan's sister, Haley Erickson Goldser, she's never heard
that phrase and she grew up with Dan. It must
be a writer's creation. Hampton keeps staring at Harmony's stone face.
There's a moment of recognition, but he tamps it down.
It's like if he were to let on that he

(33:28):
knows or likes this person. It is somehow going to
make him vulnerable. He's keeping his guard up. You want coffee,
Harmony meets his gaze. Hampton is frozen. He hasn't blinked
since he approached her.

Speaker 4 (33:41):
Tables are pre paying customers.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
I love the lighting on Harmony here. Half of her
face is in total darkness. Is this pointing up the
duality of her nature. She can be caring and vulnerable,
like when she's Miss Selvig, the lactation consultant, but she
can also be tough as nails. Harmony cobell ran the
severed floor with an iron fish. Harmony has a workaround
for the paying customers rule.

Speaker 1 (34:04):
I'm a lineman coffee.

Speaker 2 (34:06):
Rushing her teeth in the street, begging for a cup
of coffee. My how far harmony seems to have fallen.
If she was tossed out of company housing, then she's homeless.
But she also broke Hopefully she didn't keep all her
money at the lumin employee's credit union. Hampton flips her
cup over and pours. Jerry Stall is taking in the
scene from across the drippy pot.

Speaker 1 (34:26):
The town is older than I remember.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
Hey, time marches on, how long has it been since
you visited? It doesn't seem like you're a regular around here.

Speaker 6 (34:35):
Frail.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
There's an inset shot of Rose. She is the visual
epitome of frail. I don't know that Hampton has yet blinked.
He responds to this assessment of the town with what
must be a prepared speech. I think he got a
laugh out of this line at some point, so now
he pulls it out whenever he gets the chance.

Speaker 7 (34:53):
Round with the marker readjustment from a few years ago
in a fluctuating interest rate, so there was a retrenchment
from some of the core infrastructure investments.

Speaker 2 (35:02):
He is still not blinking. So what he said there basically,
we were going to invest in this town. Now we're not.
This line might be a quote from the Lumen press
conference when they made the announcement the Ether plant was closing.
It's his story We've seen play out time and again
in company towns across the US. City leaders try to
keep it from happening, but when the plant closes, so

(35:24):
does the town. What is the connection between these two
There's nothing official, but Patricia Arcat has created her own
backstory that includes Hampton as Harmony's first serious love, his addictions,
not being a company man, and a general lack of
ambition all combined to get in the way of their relationship.

(35:44):
When you add in Harmony being whisked away to the
Myrtle Leagan School for her Wintertide fellowship, it's easy to
see why this love affair never blossomed. The friendship has
remained strong for fifty years, but nothing more. There's a
long pause after Hampton's econs speech. Jerry Stall is watching intently.
He's trying to look like he's not but this little

(36:04):
scene between Hampton and Harmony is just too entertaining. Based
on his age, I would also guess Magnus can remember
Harmony from back in the day, and he knows what
she means to Hampton, I need a favor somehow. I
didn't think this was a social visit.

Speaker 3 (36:21):
I'm not here.

Speaker 2 (36:22):
Harmony stands dismissively, anti factory. No coffee, no scrambled egg sandwich,
no seafood bisks. She gets up and walks out. She
does so with the certainty that mister Hampton will be
following her. The wind whips Harmony's gray hair around as
she steps out into the cold. Hampton is watching after her.

(36:44):
She gets in the rabbit and fires it up. If
nothing else, that thing is very dependable, at least on screen.
Picture car wrangler Pete Dancy said keeping these old carbureted
engines going in the cold weather was a constant challenge.
The allure of Harmony Cobell is too great. Hampton tosses
a dish towel on the counter up close up and ring.

(37:07):
According to the captioning, He says, hey, Dot, did you
catch Dot? I have to admit I did not volunteer
producer of vin EP clued me into the existence of Dot.
There is another server moving around inside the trippy pot.
She moves behind Hampton just as he comes up to
Harmony's table. She refills Magnus's coffee. When Harmony leaves, she

(37:28):
is a silhouette in the background behind the counter. We
do hear her say sure, but I truly did not
see her, even after going back for a closer scan
of the scene. Since she spoke, she got a credit.
Dot is being played by Emma Troke. I couldn't find
any bio info on Emma, and I have no idea
as to the pronunciation of her last name. She does

(37:50):
have an IMDb entry showing four credits, including severance. Emma
was theater gal in five episodes of a twenty twenty
two series called Astrid and Lily Save the World. You
should probably check it out for a chance to actually
see Dot. We cut to a bit of a driving
montage under a song. The tune is where Do We

(38:10):
Go From Here? By Charles Bradley, not to be confused
with the Allen Parsons song of the same name. Bradley
is an American soul singer who didn't break through in
his career until he was in his fifties. His claim
to fame was having that throwback sixties sound. He's been
compared to otis redding when it comes to voice quality
and delivery. This cut comes from his second studio album,

(38:31):
Victim of Love, released in twenty thirteen.

Speaker 7 (38:34):
Who doflm Me? When do we golflumm Me?

Speaker 2 (38:55):
Hampton gets in his jeep Comanche pick up and starts
out through the streets of Salt's Neck. A couple of
these comanches made it to the shoot. There's a fun
story about these trucks in the last scene. We'll discuss
it then continuity error. Background performers are great. They really
add life to a scene. A lot of times these
performers are given a route. Walk to there, turn and

(39:15):
walk back. Keep doing that throughout the scene. Check the
guy walking to the left of the truck going in
the same direction as Hampton passes by. He's carrying a
couple of parcels. We cut into a close up on
James Lugrow behind the wheel, then to a reverse angle
looking from the front as the truck is coming towards
the camera. Oops the guy with the parcels and now

(39:36):
going the other way. Not an error on his part.
He's just running his route as an extra and this
is a perfect chance for you to make a rondo
wash your hands. Refiner Severed will be right back.

Speaker 3 (39:51):
Hi.

Speaker 2 (39:51):
I'm Adam Scott. I play mark s on Severance, which
you likely already know since you're listening to sever did
the Ultimate podcast Steve frozen for a few seconds on
this leading shot where we saw the extra going the
other way. The ILM influence on Salt's neck is everywhere.

(40:12):
Look to the upper left of this frame, there's a
large dilapidated building that looks like it might have had
a red paint job at some point in the last
forty years. If you look closely on the flat back
wall of that building, the one facing the camera, you
can see the washed out remains of words. At one point,
the side of this wall said, in bright white over
red Kere Egan's lumen Ether, there is a miracle cure

(40:36):
for man and it might actually say mankind, but it's
really washed out. Would there have been a sign this
recent promoting cure ether? I thought ether was long dead.
Turns out ether was used as a general anesthetic by
doctors and surgeons until well into the nineteen sixties. It
was eventually replaced with newer inhalable anesthetics that were more

(40:58):
stable and less flammable, but the transition was slow. Once
doctors started using a tool they like, it's hard to
get them to change. A lot of doctors, especially rural practitioners,
were comfortable with ethers, so they continued to use it
throughout their practice. According to the Wood Library and Museum
of Anesthetics, ether wasn't completely replaced in medical situations until

(41:19):
into the nineteen seventies. The Squib Pharmaceutical Company was one
of the first to develop a reliable method for the
distillation of ether. Squib was founded in eighteen fifty eight.
At the time, their only product was anesthetic ether. Edward
Robinson's Squib, the physician in chemist who started the company,
may be partial inspiration for the character of cure. Their

(41:42):
careers followed a similar trajectory, minus the cult for Squib.
Of course, this painted sign on the wall would indicate
Lumann was producing ether right up until the bitter end
of medical use. Ether does have applications as a solvent
and in various other industrial situations, so some distillation of
ether still takes place even today. Just don't get any

(42:03):
ideas about inhaling industrial grade ether. It's not safe for
human consumption. Just after passing the building with the Lumen
sign on it. Hampton passes a black VW rabbit parked
along the street. It sits to the left of frame
as he passes. I'm not reading anything into this second rabbit.
I do have an outside the box symbolism theory about

(42:24):
this one. Harmony's rabbit is white. She has brought the
white rabbit to this place where she is looking for
completeness and answers. This black rabbit may represent the yang
to harmonies in Salt's Neck, completes her being. Yeah, okay,
I may have been huffing a little ether when I
thought of that one. I don't know how to explain
this second rabbit other than the people of Salt's Neck

(42:47):
are suckers for German engineering. There's a long shot of
the plant as Hampton passes by. In reality, this is
the Trinity Bay North Fish Plant. The old fish plant,
like the Ether Factory, has been closed for years. There's
a smear in the middle. It looks a little like
the older Lumen logo. It's the same world logo we're
familiar with down on the severed floor. Tanzy Micheau, who

(43:08):
designed these logos, told us in an interview the world
Design was the generation before the current lumen logo with
the water drop as the o. When talking to GQ
about this episode, Jeremy Hindle said, all of the buildings existed,
but we made them look like they were falling apart.
In post, he said, they have so much control thanks
to the work of industrial light and magic. They can

(43:29):
alter everything in the world of Severance to exactly what
they wanted to be. In reality, there are no smokestacks
on that building and no lumen logo. It's not nearly
that dilapidated or run down. The stacks, the logo, and
the corrosion were all created in the computer. The Bonavista
Chamber of Commerce did get calls the days they were

(43:49):
shooting down there. People were wondering what was happening at
the old fish plant, and more importantly, any chance it's reopening.
Charles Bradley continues singing as Hampton pulls into an open
so spot down behind the plant. He's facing Harmony's Rabbit.
We cut to a wide side shot showing the two
vehicles and the backdrop of the plant. The smeared logo
to the left of Hampton's truck says lumin Industries industries

(44:13):
seems to have been dropped in more recent decades. The
music phades. These two old friends remain in their vehicles.
Birds can be heard screeching in the background, but nobody
is moving. This was a scene that caused some mental
chafing for a lot of people. It's the shortest episode
of the season, and then you sit on shots for
long periods of time like this where nothing is happening.

(44:33):
They sit for a long time too. It's a good
forty five seconds from when Hampton parks until Harmony opens
the door of her rabbit. The long pause fits with
the pacing and feel of this episode, but for a
lot of viewers it was pretty annoying. What you don't
see in Salt's Neck that I just love our clean cars.
The cars we see are all realistically covered with grime.

(44:55):
You can tell they've lived a rough life out here
in the chilly, salty, dusty frontier of Pe. If you've
ever noticed unnaturally clean and shiny cars and TV shows,
those cars were probably provided by the manufacturer. When Chevy
or Dodge or Hyundai provides cars to a production, they
want their vehicles presented in the best light. That means

(45:15):
keeping them polished in pristine. Some shows like The Walking
Dead do insist on being allowed to dirty up provided
sponsor cars, but for the most part, when you see
cars and TV shows, they look like they just drove
off the lot. Harmony walks into the halfway point between
the two vehicles. She's tough. She's forcing Hampton to meet
her halfway, even though she's the one asking for the favor.

(45:37):
Hampton obliges. Eventually, Harmony has to stare him down for
a few seconds before he gets out of the cab
of his commanchee. Hampton pauses, standing face to face with Cobell.

Speaker 6 (45:48):
You know how fuck did is they ask me to
come here?

Speaker 2 (45:51):
I think that's the point. She's wanting to take you
out of your comfort zone and make you squirm at
least a little bit. Cobell doesn't respond to his question.

Speaker 4 (46:00):
I need you to drive me assists I don't.

Speaker 2 (46:02):
Think Hampton was expecting this request. He utters a bewildered
oh and gives it a few seconds thought. No thinks Harmony.
It turns out is worried about big brother kir If.

Speaker 1 (46:13):
They're watching the house, they'll recognize my car.

Speaker 2 (46:17):
I really already think they're aware you're here. Harmony believes
getting a ride will make her movements anonymous.

Speaker 6 (46:23):
How much trouble are you in?

Speaker 2 (46:25):
Possibly more than even she knows, and Hampton smirks and
looks out across the bay. He doesn't want to do this,
but it's Harmony, one of his oldest friends, his first love.
Hampton then says something that proved confusing to a lot
of people, and where she still lives by the Nine.
I heard more than one of the YouTube insta rewatch
people asking she lives by the what is if it

(46:48):
were a place? These YouTube scavengers drop their quick turnaround
observations the same night the episode airs. I sampled them
sometimes just to see what they're saying. I've found a
lot of them don't really know the show, so they
thought he was talking about a place, as in she
lives out there by the Nine. What he's really talking
about is her continuing cure discipleship. Cissy still lives her

(47:11):
life by the nine principles. In order to know what
those are, you'd have to be an actual fan of
the show. The YouTube rewatch people are looking for clicks.
They don't have any real love for Severance. Cobell is
not surprised to hear Sissy still follows the old ways.
The rest of the town has moved on. Actually that's
putting it nicely.

Speaker 7 (47:31):
And you know she's a fucking pariah here.

Speaker 2 (47:34):
The rest of the town hates Luman and the Egans
because they got the town addicted to ether then abandoned
the place. Harmony is not going to be put off.
She doesn't care what the town thinks. She's on a mission.

Speaker 1 (47:46):
You can stay in the truck.

Speaker 2 (47:48):
Hampton remains stone faced. I need to get something, sure,
a quick errand up to Sissy's in bag. No problem.
Sissy lives out by the nine.

Speaker 1 (47:57):
You know.

Speaker 2 (47:58):
Yes, the pacing of this eppisode is languid, you could
even call it slow. But I really like the interaction
between Hampton and Harmony. These two are great together. You
can just feel their history. I would I help you
with anything because you love her. She's had you wrapped
around her little finger since you were eight years old.

(48:19):
You just don't want to admit it. Harmony gets in
a bit closer.

Speaker 1 (48:22):
We want chumps.

Speaker 2 (48:25):
I think Hampton considers it more than that. But nice
of you to acknowledge your shared history.

Speaker 1 (48:30):
Oh, colleagues, lift each other.

Speaker 2 (48:32):
Enough, Harmony may have been huffing something other than ether
around the mother ship. That sounds like some serious corporate speak. Hampton,
here's it, Collige, he saw their past is something a
little different, childfucking labor. Harmony breaks her gaze with Hampton
and looks over to the abandoned factory.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
Care and I'm a chum.

Speaker 3 (48:55):
I don't think he's her mouth.

Speaker 2 (48:57):
Well, if you believe his stories, I'm very sure he
wasn't stirring anything over an open fire. But maybe they
did meet at the ether factory.

Speaker 6 (49:05):
You know that.

Speaker 2 (49:06):
Oh sure Hampton knows, but he has a less than
romantic take on the situation.

Speaker 3 (49:12):
She hurking up alone at the time.

Speaker 2 (49:14):
Harmony calls him out as a hypocrite. He's taking swipes
at Imogen when he himself is a slave to the
sweet vitriole. I can spell it on your broath that
it may be true, but Hampton is not proud of
his addiction.

Speaker 4 (49:28):
Fuck you.

Speaker 2 (49:29):
Harmony has had enough of Hampton's complaints. He should call
the Home Office if he wants to discuss this stuff.
Don't be taking it out on Harmony.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
You can help me or not, but I'll not be
the punchy dummy for your resentments.

Speaker 2 (49:45):
Her voice cracks with emotion. She doesn't want to let on,
but I think Cobell is feeling a bit stressed. There's
a great hold on James Lagrou's face as Harmony steps
out of the shot. He's chewing his lower lip. This
woman is going to be the death of him. Harmony
and Hampton are about to make their way out to
Sissy's place. Before they do, why don't you hit the
vending machine refiner? Severed will be right back.

Speaker 6 (50:10):
Hello, refiners, It's Mark Keller kier Egan on Severance. Don't
let your dreary, dead end job get you down. Do
what I do for a workday pick me up. Listen
to Severed, The Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (50:27):
We cut to a shot that could be the surface
of the moon. A rough gravel road has been hewn
out of the even rougher surrounding landscape. The commanche is
making its way towards the camera, bouncing over the rough terrain.
As it approaches, we can see Hampton is alone in
the cab. A leading shot looking into the cab gives
us a hint as to what's going on. Hampton does

(50:48):
a slight glance into the rearview mirror. Where is Harmony.
We cut to a view from just over the back
lip of the tailgate. There are a number of items
in the bed of Hampton's truck. A couple of them
look like tarps or blankets. An inset shot shows us
a close up of Harmony under one of the covers
in the bed of the truck. It's a bumpy ride.
We can see her jostling along as the truck bounces

(51:10):
over the rough road. Hampton is not taking it easy
on her. If anything, he's cowboying his way through the
rough terrain. As Armony rides along, hidden in the bed
of Hampton's truck, her phone vibrates. Looking down, we can
see it as once again devon scout Hail looking for
help with her unconscious brother. Cobell can see who's calling,

(51:31):
but decides it's not the best time to answer. Hampton
continues to roar along the rough road. The camera follows
his progress, then sweeps out to the right to show
us the rocks surrounding the cold blue waters of the bay.
The camera continues to track to the right. We're looking
more intently at the line of rocks there way out
on the point just before the last bluff. Overlooking the

(51:53):
sea is a house. It's very tiny, dwarfed by the
rocks as it comes into view. A foxy clapboard kind
of thing with the design that screams Seaside and New England.
It's very old and very much of the area. This
has to be Sissy's place. The sun is low in
the sky when the comanche makes its final approach. Hampton

(52:14):
pulls up alongside the solitary blue house and gets out
of the truck close to Claire. Harmony throws back to
cover as Hampton drops the tailgate. Kudos to Patricia our
cat for even climbing up in the bed of that truck.
Hampton gives her a hand down she gets close enough
to catch a whiff of his breath.

Speaker 1 (52:33):
Is higher than a bearded vulture.

Speaker 2 (52:35):
This reference caught my attention so thoroughly during the eppicap
i had to look it up. The bearded vulture is
a large bird of prey found throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe.
It has a wingspan ranging from seven to nine feet.
Their diet can be up to ninety percent bone, and
they've been known to fly at up to twenty four
thousand feet, so Harmony's right, a bearded vulture can get

(52:58):
pretty high. Harmony walks away quick, disgusted with the hold
Hampton's addiction has on him. Surprisingly, someone actually does live
out here. Harmony makes her way to the door of
the blue farmhouse. Illa go to drop dead for me.
He'll be waiting in the truck. As Harmony approaches the house,
the camera reverses to reveal a ghost opening the front door.

(53:19):
A ghost who wears reading glasses. Now, hold on a minute,
not a ghost. This is Cissy, Harmony's aunt. She's very pale,
plus she's dressed all in white with white hair. The
ghost thing was an honest mistake. Sissy and Harmony's mother
were sisters. Surely Aunt Cissy will be glad to see Harmony.
You are not welcome here or not. The woman in

(53:40):
white is blocking Harmony at the door at first glance.
Who might think she's wearing a nightgown. What Cissy's wearing
is more like a nun's robes. These are the robes
Cissy wears when she is doing her Egan devotionals. Costume
designer Sarah Edwards presented Ben Stiller with the number of
options for Cissy's wardrobe. She had everything from sweater to
a nightgown. This one stood out to Ben. He claimed

(54:03):
it made perfect sense. She lives out here all alone.
No one in the town likes her. Of course, she
would try to keep herself in the sphere of cure
by wearing this ceremonial outfit. If this outfit looks familiar
to you, it might be because we've seen something like
it already. And the cold open to the season one
episode Hide and Seek, we saw Harmony at her cure shrine.

(54:26):
She had her hair and pigtails, and she was also
wearing a white outfit, much like Sissy's. Cissy Cobell is
being played by legendary stage and screen actress Jane Alexander.
Jane was considered one of the finest new actresses to
hit the movies in the nineteen seventies. Since her television
debut on the Schlitz Playhouse Theater in nineteen fifty two,
Sissy has notched eighty one IMDb credits. In case the

(54:50):
Math Isn't working out for You, she was five years
old during that playhouse appearance. She wouldn't be back on
TV again for seventeen years. In an episode of YPD
from nineteen sixty nine. Jane has had four Oscar nominations.
She's also won two Primetime Emmys and a Tony. Looking
at her IMDb credits, I kind of think Miss Alexander

(55:12):
had retired in twenty twenty. She is more than eighty
years old. Plus, Jane hadn't done anything for five years
prior to this appearance. She said she got this role
because Ben chose her. She's known Ben Stiller since he
was a boy. Ben's parents and Jane and her husband
used to hang out when they were younger. Interesting to
note in Jane's biography, she played Nurse Edna in the

(55:35):
nineteen ninety nine Oscar winner cider House Rules. This means
Jane has had two roles in her career where huffing
ether was a central theme of the story. Sissy is
Harmony's aunt. Charlotte was her sister. They don't ever specifically
say it in the episode, but this relationship is confirmed
by Dan Erickson in the post show wrap up. Kudos

(55:56):
to Severance forgetting the relative ages right. Jane Alexander is
actually twenty nine years older than Patricia Arquette. Harmony was
ready for Cissy's resistance. At the door. Without a word,
She pushes right by Sissy and heads upstairs. This is
not a social call. Harmony is on a mission.

Speaker 4 (56:13):
This is us post.

Speaker 5 (56:16):
I have a line to call the authorities.

Speaker 2 (56:18):
Harmony could not care less. She pushes through an upstairs
bedroom door. Don't miss the lines and notations on the door.
Jam Harmony grew up here. Literally. Those are each of
her heights, showing her growth from age eight through twelve.
At age twelve, Harmony was whisked away from her home
and sent to the Myrtle Egan School for Girls. Uh oh,

(56:40):
Cissy has seen Hampton's truck.

Speaker 5 (56:42):
I do not want that puffthedler on my property.

Speaker 2 (56:45):
Jane said she chose to play Sissy with high drama.
It fit the character, plus she saw it as a
counter to the more subdued Harmony. In Hampton characters, Ben
still are encouraged to approach to the character. She said.
He also wasn't afraid to tell her. When dial it back,
we get a reverse angle on Harmony's room as a girl.
There's a metal twin bed frame with a stuffed ticking

(57:06):
for a mattress, and that's it. This explains the stark
look of her downstairs bedroom. I'm betting the accommodations at
the Myrtle Egan School for Girls weren't much different. Cissy
is looking out the front window with the posture of
a concerned old Bitty. Hampton's presence has her upset. She
also can't abide one of those huffers hanging around her property.

(57:27):
You get him his third for it. I'm not sure
about this reference, but it did cause a whole scenario
to flish into my brain. Since we do have a
generational age difference, I'm wondering if Cissy might have been
a manager at the Ether factory when Harmony and Hampton
were workers. Keeping your young charges huffing a little of
the product during shift would make them docile and easy

(57:48):
to control. We'll see some more support for this theory
in a minute. Harmony is taking a memory tour of
her room. It's very stark and empty, but she does
find a fluff ball. He picks it up off a
shelf lovingly. She seems to have fond memories of this
faded toy with the crossed googly eyes. This has been
identified as a dog toy. Its official name is the

(58:11):
go Dog fur Ball's chew Guard squeaky plush dog toy
in Rainbow Chew. He has him for fifteen seventy five
with free shipping. Your dog or future Wintertide Fellowship recipient
will love it. As Harmony is leaving the room, she
sees the annual growth notations on the door jam. She
runs her hand over the record of her time in
this room.

Speaker 4 (58:32):
Do you want to come down here and tell me
what this is all about?

Speaker 2 (58:35):
Harmony is not in a talkative mood as she leaves
her old room and steps down the hall. Don't miss
the plaque on the wall. It's up high to the
right of frame. Luman awarded Celestine Sissy Cobel with the
Quarterly Striver Award. A lot of things that Lumen are
based on quarters, you know, refiner of the quarter. This

(58:56):
one was awarded for the fourth quarter of the year
of Vision. Also likes to name years after the principles
rather than counting them. It's the same way the Chinese
name years after animals. I'm sure the year names here
in Pe are on a nine year cycle before they repeat.
The name Celestine is derived from the same Latin root

(59:16):
that gives us celestial. The plaque says Cissy's position with
the plant was youth apprentice Matron. I believe this title
supports my theory about Sissy managing a bunch of brats
like Harmony and Hampton. Sounds like she also taught them
how to get high off the company's supply. Harmony pauses
at the next door down the hall. This is her

(59:36):
mother's bedroom. It's the room where she died. Harmony steals
herself and grabs the door handle. It's locked. Harmony stomps
down the stairs. She confronts Sissy in the living room.

Speaker 1 (59:50):
What have you done with my things?

Speaker 2 (59:52):
Cissy has an attitude that I would call imperious rape.
Stevens had a recurring character in some of his songs
he named Bertha better than you. Cissy is definitely a
Bertha better than you sold to the poor. Wow, that
is harsh. Things are so bad around Salt's neck. You
don't donate to the poor, you sell to them. This

(01:00:13):
says a lot about the economy of this former company town.
Harmony has an issue with this transaction.

Speaker 7 (01:00:19):
They weren't yours to sell.

Speaker 2 (01:00:21):
This is the mission Harmony is on. There was something
in her old room that she needs. At this point,
we don't know what or why, Sissy says, she's the
one who sits in this house. You do not, So
if you wanted it, Harmony, you should have come for
it before. Now, what's it been forty years? You could
have rented a U haul for the weekend and picked
up your stuff a long time ago. I bet Hampton

(01:00:42):
would have let you borrow his truck, hey, just like
he did back in nineteen eighty nine. Harmony is maintaining
a healthy sense of paranoia.

Speaker 4 (01:00:50):
Has that anyone been here?

Speaker 2 (01:00:51):
Considering where she worked all those years, Paranoid is probably
a good way to be. Sissy cocks her head to
one side dismissively. No one comes here, It is out
of the way. Telephone, oh right, there are those modern
communication devices which can reach out two hundred and thirty
eight miles. Almost instantly, Cissy hesitates. She's not wanting to
admit it because she knows this is going to set

(01:01:13):
Harmony off. A mister Drummond, Ah, we know that name.
I'm sure Cissy was honored to have been contacted by
someone from the Home Office. Harmony is instantly suspicious.

Speaker 3 (01:01:24):
I want does you want?

Speaker 2 (01:01:25):
Sissy doesn't answer directly. She realizes how serious things must
be if someone from the Mothership is reaching out to
lowly Salt's neck. Cissy steps closer to Cobell.

Speaker 3 (01:01:36):
What have you done, little mouse?

Speaker 2 (01:01:40):
A pet name I'm sure from back in the days
when Harmony was marking her upward progress on the door
jam I'm sure it's also calculated to make Harmony feel
small and weak and loss. Harmony is frantic. This horrible
woman has probably already sold her out to the home office.
Harmony pushes through the house to the kitchen. She grabs
the landline phone off the kitch encounter and yank's the

(01:02:01):
chord out of the back Harmony, I don't see Cissy
being much on cell phones. This is most likely her
only connection to the greater world of Pe and beyond.
After yanking the phone cord out of the wall, Harmony
confronts Cissy.

Speaker 1 (01:02:15):
I want the key to mother's room.

Speaker 2 (01:02:16):
Cissy has sealed off her mother's room as some kind
of shrine.

Speaker 1 (01:02:21):
That room stays shut until all who remember her.

Speaker 3 (01:02:24):
Sit with Keir.

Speaker 6 (01:02:25):
You know this.

Speaker 2 (01:02:26):
I don't think we've ever met a character so fully
immersed in the cult of kre I thought Harmony was
quite an adherent, but she's practically a cure heretic compared
to Cissy. Eventually, Harmony will get the key and enter
the room where her mother died. But I'm afraid that's
gonna have to wait until next time. Refiner, our work
day is over. It's time to shut down your workstation

(01:02:47):
and make your way to the Severed elevator. As always,
a big thanks to Volunteer Researcher producer of vin ep
for his contributions to this week's podcast. Also a big
thanks to those of you who are leaving comments on
the Facebook page read it or or as an Apple
podcast reviewer, do read them all and your kind words
and encouragement are greatly appreciated. Quick reminder before you leave,

(01:03:08):
get to this Severed Patreon page. You can support this
Severed podcast by pledging five dollars a month on Patreon.
Signing up is easy. Go to patreon dot com slash
severed pod. That's patreon dot com slash severed pod. You'll
be supporting the podcast and supplementing my retirement income. Now
it's time to shut down your workstation and get to

(01:03:29):
the elevator. Refiner, thanks for returning to the Severed floor.
We'll continue our discussion next time now As always, please
stagger your exits.

Speaker 1 (01:03:38):
You've been listening to Severed, the Ultimate Severance Podcast. Severed
is written, produced, and hosted by Alan Stair.

Speaker 3 (01:03:45):
Severed is not endorsed by Red Hour Productions, in Never Content,
or AppleTV Plus. This podcast is intended for entertainment and
informational purposes only.

Speaker 1 (01:03:55):
Severance, the Severance logo, and all video and audio of
Severance and so Verance characters are registered trademarks of Red Hour,
Endeavor Content, Apple TV Plus, or their respective copyright holders.

Speaker 3 (01:04:07):
Please make sure to leave a five star rating and
review for Severed at Apple Podcasts

All Episodes

S2E30 - REWATCH08-PT01 - Sweet Vitriol

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

The Joe Rogan Experience

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}S2E30 - REWATCH08-PT01 - Sweet Vitriol