S2E39-ReRun-REWATCH02-PT02-GoodbyeMrsSelvig

[NOTE: This episode is a Re-Run of a previously released podcast from May 15th of 2025. This version contains an added intro, otherwise it is the same previously released content.]

HEY, REFINER! NO MESSING AROUND...WE'VE GOT A FILE TO GET TO!!
Time to keep it going with Part TWO of the 'all outie' episode!! What were the outies up to as Mark and the gang were trying to get back to work? Mostly getting fired and re-hired by Lumon. We see Seth Milchick is a motorcycle guy. Dylan tries to get another job...but we learn being severed makes him undesirable in the work world. We watch Ms. Cobel get re-hired, but kind of turn it down. She then leaves the neighborhood in a blaze of glory that will not be matched for many years to come.

This is PART TWO, Refiner! You know what to do...it's time to open the file called "Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig."

***
A BIG 'thank you' to Research Volunteer/Producer Refiner Vinny P. Vinny has been providing outstanding research and information during the Season Two Rewatch Episodes. Vinny is also tracking down Interview Victims...er, Subjects!

Huge thanks to Adam Scott, star of 'Severance' and host of the Severance Podcast for recording a custom intro for "Severed." Make sure to check out 'The Severance Podcast w/Ben Stiller & Adam Scott" wherever you found this one!

A big 'thank you' to friend of the pod Kier Eagan, er I mean Marc Geller! Marc both sat for an interview (make sure to check it out) AND recorded some great bumpers as Kier himself. Follow Marc on Instagram @geller_marc.

BIG Thanks to Friend of the Podcast Hayley Erickson-Goelzer. She is Sister to creator Dan Erickson and also a listener. It took getting approval from Dan's Press Person, but thanks to her follow-through we've got a custom bumper from Hayley Erickson-Goelzer!!

Yes, that is really and truly Primary Director and Executive Producer Ben Stiller doing a custom bumper for 'Severed.' He actually did this bumper for the show while we were recording an interview for the Official Ben & Adam Podcast. Thank you, Ben for the Bumper and for bringing this incredible show to the screen!!

Support the Severed Podcast on Patreon! (Click here)

APPLE PODCAST LISTENERS: If you are enjoying "Severed: The Ultimate 'Severance' Podcast" please make sure to leave a 5-star rating (and, if you want, a review telling others to give it a try). Higher rated podcasts get better placement in suggestion lists. It helps more "Severance" fans find the show. Thanks!!! (Unfortunately, I can't respond to any questions or comments made in Apple Podcast Reviews. Send those to: [e-mail])

Season 2 of "Severance" kicked off 1/17/2025 and ran through 3/20/2025. 
The Second Season of the "Severed" Podcast Rewatch Episodes kicked off on April 24th, 2025. To support the Severed Podcast: (www.patreon.com/SeveredPod) 

Join the fun on our Facebook page @SeveredPod. I always try to keep page followers  updated on news about the show.

Also, let's talk!! Comments? Theories? Corrections? I LOVE 'EM!! Send to: [e-mail]

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO SHARE THE PODCAST WITH YOUR FRIENDS WHO ARE 'SEVERANCE' FANS. THE SHOW GROWS THROUGH WORD OF MOUTH!!

Needing your own copies of the Lexington Letter and Orientation Booklet? I've got you covered with downloadable PDFs of both documents:

LETTER: LEXINGTONLETTER-TheLetter.pdf
HANDBOOK: LEXINGTONLETTER-MDROrientationHandbook.pdf

You haven't completely watched 'Severance' until you've listened to 'Severed'.
  

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey the Refiner. It's Alan s. My audi was once
again forced to call in sick this week. I'm definitely
feeling better, but I'm just not up to performing and
editing a new podcast episode. I've been doing a lot
of scripting the past few days, so when I'm feeling better,
I've definitely got content ready to produce. Here's the programming
schedule for the next couple of weeks. This week a

(00:22):
rerun of Goodbye Missus Sellig Part two. Next Thursday, November
twenty seventh is Thanksgiving in the United States, so I'll
be taking the week off. The following week is December fourth.
I'm planning to deliver part two of the finale on
December fourth, then the final part on December eleventh. Plan
on reruns through the end of the year. Then starting

(00:43):
in early twenty twenty sixth I'll be digging into new
origins episodes. If I don't talk to you, I have
a great Thanksgiving Refiner.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Severed The Ultimate Severns Podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Hey there, Refiner, Welcome back to the Severed Floor. This
is Severed, the Ultimate Severance Podcast. I'm your host, Allan
as You're back for part two of Goodbye Missus Selvig,
So let's do it. Get that file open refiner. At
the end of part one, seth Miltchik had just left
the hails home. It's late still the night of the

(01:25):
OTC and Luminngala. We cut to a close up of
one of Irv's exports hall paintings. No, it's all of
Irv's export hall paintings. Out of IRV, now fired, is
scratching Radar's ears and contemplating the fruits of his obsession.
IRV pulls the city map out of his pocket. The
first thing visible is Bert Goodman's name written on the

(01:45):
face of the map. Irv Humpsen continues to consider. As
he's thinking. There's a slow dissolve happening from the lower
right of frame through to the upper left. We watch
Miltchik's motorcycle slice Irv's neck at a out of forty
five degree up angle. A number of viewers said this
was the moment they knew Erv was done for Miltchick

(02:07):
and his royal Enfield roar on into the night. He's
done the dirty work for the company. Now he's headed
back to the mother ship. We check in with the
other Macrodats through a couple of cross dissolves. Oudi Dylan
is sitting on his couch, stunned. What a horrible way
to start the weekend. Audi Helena is studying security footage
from the severed floor. She pauses on a shot of
Mark S as he's walking by the camera. Audi. Mark

(02:30):
is headed home. As he pulls into his driveway, he's
giving Koebelvig's place a hard look. The white rabbit is
back in her drive. She took it to the reading,
so this must mean she's home. After a few moments consideration,
Mark crosses the snowy lawn to Koebelvig's door. She may
be home, but there's no answer. Mark is pretty fired up.

(02:51):
It's probably for the best. She didn't answer. Mark slowly retreats,
but not before giving Harmony's Place another long look. You
can hear Hell's voice as we're still looking at Mark.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
You think we're bacam in our spouses.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
This is the conversation Mark S and Helly r had
in the elevator lobby just before leaving for the OTC.

Speaker 3 (03:11):
Maybe it's each other that do you hear?

Speaker 1 (03:15):
It sounds distant and a little tinny, like maybe it's
security footage and yeah, it's security footage, Addie. Helena is
rerunning those final moments with Mark and Helly r in
the severed elevator lobby. It's the conversation that led to
the kiss. Helena watching chuckles slightly at some of what's
being said. She watches as Helly gets on the elevator,

(03:36):
then pushes back through the doors to kiss Mark. When
Mark and Helly are kissing, Helena cuts between the various
camera angles. It's like she can't get enough of this
one scene. Helena is watching this footage on a vintage
nineteen sixty five Braun FS eighty television created by legendary
German Bauhaus designer Dieter Rams. It's on loan to the

(03:58):
production from the Braun Museum in Germany. It's a very
rare item. Even non working models of the FS eighty
in good condition can bring two thousand dollars at auction.
We'll see this same television again later down on the
testing floor. There are numerous interesting pieces designed by Rams
utilized throughout the production. Not to be confused with Deeter Egan.

(04:20):
We'll talk more about this Deeter Rams fellow when we
get to the testing floor. What is Helena doing with
this footage? Now it's intentionally left open to interpretation. She
may be working on her Helly R impression. Helena knows
she's going to have to go down there on Monday
acting like Helly. How does Helly act? We've got hours

(04:41):
of security footage over maybe you should scrub through that.
Or if she's not cribbing for her Helli performance, this
fascination with the security footage might mean she's pining for Mark.
Several folks believe Audi Helena is isolated and lonely. I
can see that her any seems to have fallen for
this guy on the severed floor, so it's possible that

(05:02):
maybe her Audie would see something in him too. This
explanation for what she's doing means lonely Helena is watching
her potential boyfriend. The big question she has to ask
herself can she fool him into falling for her too.
Don't miss a fantastic shot at the end of this sequence.
As Helena scrubs through the footage, we move in closer

(05:23):
and closer on her left eye. We are so close
and the eye is so large in the frame you
can see the reflection of the video footage in her eyeball.
It's a pretty amazing shot. The next shot is also
incredibly cool. I don't know about you, but I can
make a meal out of just the cinematography of severance shot, construction, lighting, angles,

(05:44):
elements they include in the frame. It all makes for
one amazing shot after another. This is an exterior looking
at the corner of the Home Dell complex. Through the window,
we can see Helena is sitting on the end of
the enormous quincy Ella's conference table. She's looking out into
the lighted and empty parking lot. As she's watching, we
can see Seth in his enfield roar into view. Helena

(06:05):
stands and heads for the door. There's a fade to black.
We come up from black in Mark's town home. It's
the next morning. Mark's enjoying a cup of coffee in
his bathrobe. He's looking over at Koebelvig's place through level
or blinds. The shot changes to outside the window looking
back in at Mark. We then get a rack focus.
They changed the depth of the focus from Mark to

(06:26):
the reflection in the window to frame right. The reflection
of the enormous lumen building is hulking in the distance.
How can Mark ever get away from it? It's always
just outside his window back in the apartment. Take a
look frame left. The rust orange sofa has a bit
of a story behind it. Unlike the incredible design pieces

(06:46):
over in the main building, this one is a bit
more modest. Andrew Baseman told Vulture he spent a long
time trying to locate just the right orange sofa. This
is a vintage piece he found at a shop in
New York. The idea was to find a sad genee
Eric's sofa that wasn't brown, but also wasn't too bright.
Mark checks his phone. There's a text from Devon. Last

(07:07):
night was weird? Can I buy you some shitty diner food?
The first time I saw this episode, shitty diner food
made me think, hey, that's gotta be pips. I was right.
We'll get out there in just a little bit. As
Mark is looking out the window, a song starts.

Speaker 4 (07:21):
Oh well, a young man ain't nothing in his world
these days, I said, A young man ain't nothing in
his world these days.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
This is young Man's Blues from jazz artist Mose Allison.
It first appeared on his nineteen fifty seven album Backcountry,
Sweet One. Of the most recognizable versions of this song
is from The Who on their Live at Leeds album.
The Who would perform young Man's Blues regularly in concert
from nineteen sixty eight through nineteen seventy. The song transitions

(08:02):
us to inside a minivan with Audi Dylan. Dylan lost
his job in the real world. That means you have
to go out and get another job. This is the
next day after Miltchik's late night visit, so it must
be Saturday. Dylan isn't letting any grass grow under his feet,
as my father used to say. He's out there hitting
the pavement looking for gainful employment. Even on the weekend.

(08:24):
Dylan is hitting the streets in what looks to be
a classic Dodge Caravan. The caravan was one of the
original revolutionary Chrysler minivans to be introduced in the nineteen eighties.
GM and Ford would quickly jump on board the minivan
bandwagon with their Astro and Aerostar models. The minivan would
be the go to vehicle for families for more than
a decade. In the early nineties, the suv nudged the

(08:46):
minivan out of the top spot for family transportation. The
Suv hasn't given up any ground since, even though the
suv now dominates in all categories. As late as model
year two thousand, more than a million minivans were sold
in the US. In twenty twenty four, that number was
downed only about two hundred and fifty thousand, but there

(09:06):
is still demand for minivans out there. Peter Dancy is
the head of the Severance Transportation Department. He is tasked
with casting cars for the show. Dancy has done an
amazing job filling out the world of Severance with cars
that are older. This is intentional. It was determined by
the production team they wanted cars from the nineteen seventies, eighties,

(09:29):
and nineties. Why well, For one, they look really good
on camera because of their clear, sharp lines and solid architecture. Also,
cars can date a production. If all of your vehicles
are from the last five years, you've dated your show
for all time. Severance is going for a more timeless approach.
A big part of Dancy's job involves finding multiples of

(09:50):
each vehicle. For each main character's car, he had to
find five total copies. It was a huge challenge for
some of the older models, like Marks ninety seven Volvo
or Kobel's Rabbit. Dancy said he got a Facebook account
for the first time in his life so he could
get on marketplace. They had the older and more odd
ball models he needed. Dancy was even known to stop

(10:12):
along the side of the road and put his business
card and a note under the wiper of a car
he thought he could use. When they would find multiples,
Dancy's team had to dress them all alike. Paint jobs,
wear and tear, even rips in the upholstery all had
to be duplicated from one car to the next. When
the cars are being used, it's possible one will be

(10:32):
rigged with a camera on the outside for driving. Another
version of the same car might have lighting and cameras
attached to the headrest for interior scenes. Another copy might
be used for its exteriors, sitting in a parking lot
so a character can get into or out of it.
Since they could be shooting in any of these vehicles
at any time, every detail had to be duplicated. Even

(10:54):
something as small as a wadded up napkin on the
dash had to be duplicated from vehicle to vehicle. Dylan
pulls up alongside a huge brick building the sign says
great doors. This building is actually in Kingston, New York.
This storyline is an easter egg from Dan Ericsson's life.
First the building, this is actually the Red Owl Collective,

(11:16):
located in Kingston's Midtown Arts district. The sign on the
outside wall is a CGI change. The Red Owl Collective
is a ten thousand square foot antique, vintage and design
store featuring more than eighty five vendors. They're open every
Thursday through Monday from eleven am until six pm. The
interior pictures make this place look like a total hoot. Somehow,

(11:37):
the Red Owl Collective only placed second for best Antique
shop in the Hudson Valley Severn's fans. If possible, we
need to change that for next time. They should be
number one. Now to the Danny E Easter Egg. Dan
Erickson told this story several times during interviews from season one.
His first job when he got to La was at

(11:59):
a door factory. He found it on Craigslist. It sounds
about as dreary and depressing as you can get, but
Dan says he is grateful to these people for providing
him with gainful employment. He was cataloging hinges or something
equally mind numbing. He was actually doing this tedious work
in a windowless basement Each morning. When he gets to

(12:19):
the parking lot, Dan said, he'd think, Man, I wish
I could shut my brain off for the next eight hours. Sure,
a lot of us have probably had a similar thought.
Big difference. Dan was an aspiring TV writer. The idea
for Severance was born. Fast forward to this episode. Dylan
needs to find a job, Dan said. He somewhat timidly
mentioned it to Ben Stiller. Erickson told the cider he said, Hey,

(12:43):
would it be dumb if Dylan went to a door factory.
It was intended as a shout out to Dan's storytelling roots.
Ben said, sure, do it. So here we are following
Dylan into great doors, hopefully his next gig after getting
canned lumen. Make sure to clock the light blue jeep
going in the other direction as Dylan parks. We're gonna

(13:04):
see this same vehicle again in a few minutes. I'm
also going to tell you about a theory tied to
this car.

Speaker 5 (13:10):
You got this.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
Dylan, who were later told is known to have trouble
keeping a job, is getting himself fired up for the interview.
Noure Be The power of positive thinking. Dylan tells himself
he is so awesome. Oh and remember to smile. Office
fans probably recognize this method of self confidence building. Dwight
Shrewd was known for having some crazy rituals to get

(13:33):
pumped before he'd go into a sales meeting. As Dylan
heads into this meeting, you need to head to the
kitchen at for a cup of coffee. Refiner. Severed will
be right back.

Speaker 6 (13:46):
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 1 (14:03):
The establishing shot in the Great Doors Offices looks familiar.
Dylan and his potential new manager are shoved into one
half of the frame. The director is telling us Dylan
also is not seeing the full picture of his life
because half of his life, for many years now, has
been lived in a severed state. They're wearing different colored suits,
Otherwise you'd think Dylan is sitting in front of a mirror.

(14:25):
Dylan's potential new boss is mister Saliba. Saliba is an
ancient Christian name of Arabic origin. It means cross and
is a reference to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Saliba
is being played by actor, director, writer, and producer Adrian Martinez.
Martinez has more than one hundred and twenty five acting
credits on his IMDb profile. His work dates back to

(14:48):
the early nineties, but his career really took off in
the early two thousands. He's done a lot of single
episode guest star work on shows like Elsbeth, Blue Bloods,
Only Murders in the Building, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. I
just happened to catch him in an impressive guest appearance
from twenty ten on Law and Order SVU. He was
playing a mentally challenged man accused of child molestation in

(15:09):
an episode called Bullseye. It's worth checking out just to
get a look at Adrian's range. Martinez had a named
role in twenty thirteen Secret Life of Walter Middy. This
is probably how he wound up on Ben Stiller's radar.
Adam Scott and Dary Olifson were also in that movie.
Dylan is visibly nervous.

Speaker 5 (15:28):
May I am ask about benefits?

Speaker 1 (15:31):
His interviewer is a bit of a wise ass.

Speaker 3 (15:33):
Is a coffee maker.

Speaker 1 (15:34):
Yeah, he meant more along the lines of healthcare benefits,
that kind of thing.

Speaker 3 (15:38):
Oh sure, yes, of course, for you your family.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
Saliba is flipping through Dylan's resume as they talk. Dylan
is kissing up to Saliba. He thinks this is going
to be a really good fit. He even claims he's
always had a thing for doors. This gets Saliba's attention.

Speaker 3 (15:54):
Oh are you when you knew that you would love doors?

Speaker 1 (15:56):
The reverse cut here is our first look at mister
s Wow. The facial hair, the glasses, the hair. This
is Dylan's doppelganger. Dylan answers hesitantly.

Speaker 5 (16:08):
Five.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
I can't help but be reminded of George Costanza's interview
at the bra manufacturer on Seinfeld.

Speaker 7 (16:15):
From the first time I laid eyes on a Brazil,
I was enthralled.

Speaker 5 (16:23):
Tell me about it.

Speaker 7 (16:25):
When I was fourteen years old, I was in my
friend's bathroom. His mother's Brazil was hanging over the shower rod.
I picked it up. I studied it. I thought, I
like this. I didn't know what way or on what level,
but I knew I wanted to be around Brazils.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
Saliba is dinghy about doors. He then asked Dylan a
question that sounds like it should be in a Miss
America pageant.

Speaker 3 (16:54):
I mean it could be any kind of door. What
would it be?

Speaker 1 (16:56):
Ooh, a big garage door, maybe an ornate front door.
What kind of door would Dylan aspire to?

Speaker 3 (17:03):
Ah?

Speaker 5 (17:06):
Pocket?

Speaker 1 (17:07):
You don't hear that much about pocket doors in modern architecture.
They are the sliding doors that go back into the wall.
Pocket doors usually have counterweights that can fail and fall
down into the wall. The maintenance on pocket doors has
made them a less popular option for a lot of
modern homebuilders. You do tend to see a lot of
pocket doors in Midwestern US homes from the early twentieth century.

(17:30):
Saliba is interested in this choice anymore. Dylan says, you
can be out there doing your door thing, but when
you're not.

Speaker 3 (17:37):
Needed, just take yourself away.

Speaker 1 (17:40):
There are a number of parallels between a severed worker
and a pocket door. The two states of existence is obvious.
The fact one option means you're entirely out of sight
and out of mind also hints at severance innies completely
disappear each day. This had to be a fun scene
to write. Saliba is drilling down on Dylan's choice.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
Go I finish your eggshow.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
Dylan pauses, then decides to go outside the box. Semigloss
good call Dylan. Saliba actually moans his approval. He sits
back in his chair and we get a side angle
view of these two. A clip of this facing shot
appeared in a promo before the season started. It set
off a firestorm of clone theories. No clone, just a

(18:22):
guy who looks a lot like Dylan interviewing him for
a position. The door factory itself is an incredible gift
from production designer Jeremy Hindle. The doors are flying by
in the background of this scene on a Pulley system.
The office itself is this simple box constructed on a
sound stage. This scene is very intentionally designed to look
like the doors from the Pixar movie Monsters, Inc.

Speaker 3 (18:45):
He remind me of me too, well, he should.

Speaker 1 (18:48):
You two could be brothers, but I think Saliba is
going beyond the physical similarities. He's looking inside at the
true heart of a dedicated door salesman. Saliba then takes
a sharp turn.

Speaker 3 (19:00):
You like kick call.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
A small part of me wishes he'd said dodgeball. This
confuses Dylan. Does he mean like as a skill or
does Dylan follow it professionally.

Speaker 3 (19:10):
You play on Fridays, is a fun prize if you win.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
Sounds like more fun than the ballgame they play at Lumen.
Saliba totally set Dylan up for this one. How could
he not take the bait?

Speaker 5 (19:19):
You mean a door prize?

Speaker 1 (19:21):
Uh oh? The corners of Saliba's mouth turned down, his
eyes dropped to his desk. Oops, you don't make fun
of doors at the door factory. Sorry, I love the
little cross parallel they're hinting at here. Saliba would consider
it weird to worship a dead company founder. He'd recoil
at the thought of what the enn he's put up with,
Yet look at how much he worships this product. Doors

(19:45):
are his cure in the real world. The same kind
of thing happens at Apple with the folks who sell
iPhones or Microsoft and the cult of windows. Saliba goes
back to Dylan's resume a.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
Short term employment and then Luman.

Speaker 1 (20:00):
Yes, of course Saliba would know the status of Lumen
when it came to their doors.

Speaker 3 (20:05):
And they make that at Doors in the House. It's
fucking humorous.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
I wonder if doors are something they can produce down
in O and d Dylan must not have listed all
the details about his position on his resume.

Speaker 5 (20:16):
Yeah, I was a severed employee.

Speaker 1 (20:19):
So he trails off. We get an over the shoulder
look at Saliba. His face has gone hard. You're okay?
So a severed doesn't sound positive? Dylan says he was.
But it's just him here now, so nothing to worry about.
You can see from Saliba's expression. The interview is.

Speaker 3 (20:38):
Over almoster George, thanks for coming in.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
We've been aware of severed bias going back to the
very first episode of season one. Rickens no dinner Dinner guests.
We're curious but also pretty judgmental regarding mark severed status.
Dylan is stunned. What happened, all the good vibes the
kickball game? What Saliba is ending things?

Speaker 3 (20:59):
Well? Considering application thoroughly.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
I don't think so. I get the feeling he's going
to write severed across the top of this application and
toss it in the trash. Dylan's getting the same vibe.

Speaker 5 (21:09):
That's it just because I'm severed.

Speaker 1 (21:11):
As Dylan points out, it's discrimination. Mister Saliba seems to
have a flawed understanding of the severance procedure.

Speaker 3 (21:18):
We need a certain kind of presson here. Mister George
is not a certain kind of two people.

Speaker 1 (21:22):
He's not two people unless you've got a severed elevator
somewhere in this joint. There's no way to access the
other person. As with anything or anyone who is different.
Fear drives rumors. Rumors create biases, Biases cause hatred, and
you get good old, full blown discrimination. It's the same
progression that led to the Goat department wanting to see

(21:43):
Mark and Helen as bellies. We'll get to it.

Speaker 3 (21:46):
You want to circricize your brain, that's your business, but
it doesn't mean I have to hire you.

Speaker 1 (21:50):
Wow. The PR department at LUMAN needs to be changing
people's perceptions of severance. This is not a great impression
to have out in the general public.

Speaker 3 (22:00):
I think it's abhorrent.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
Based on mister Saliba and some of the other reactions
we've seen, it feels like severed people are considered less
than or somehow flawed. We've seen how a lot of
the people who undergo the procedure are trying to escape something.
This may have led to society recognizing a type who
benefits from severance, like a guy who's going through a

(22:23):
really painful divorce. I can see one of his buddies
over a beer saying, hey, maybe you ought to try
that severance thing. The procedure gets a reputation as an
escape from problems, and the people who do it are
labeled losers who can't handle a little strife in their life.
This is just a theory based on what we've seen
of the non severed world. We cut away on abhorrent. Really,

(22:44):
how do you come back from abhorrent? Dylan is sitting
behind the wheel of his minivan with his seat tilted back.
His eyes are closed, tie loosened. His cell buzzes. He
sends it to voicemail. It immediately starts buzzing again.

Speaker 5 (22:57):
Read the room. I would have picked up the phone
if it was good news.

Speaker 1 (22:59):
On the phone, we hear Dylan's long suffering wife and
the mother of his children, Gretchen George. This is Merret
Weaver playing Gretchen. We get to meet her for real
and in person during the next episode.

Speaker 6 (23:10):
I'm sorry, you'll get the next one.

Speaker 1 (23:13):
She is such a stalwart supporter of her man. The
interview has left Dylan out of sorts. He kind of
snaps at her to stop being nice. He pauses before
changing the subject.

Speaker 5 (23:24):
Hey, do we need Do we need more baby wipe bees?

Speaker 1 (23:28):
Gretchen doesn't think so, but he says he'll get some anyway.
It seems silly, but it's the urge he's feeling to
provide for his family. It's an ancient primal response brought
to the four by this sting of getting fired. Since
modern society prevents him from going out and killing an antelope,
he'll track down some white bees and bring them back
to the cave instead.

Speaker 5 (23:48):
I'll be home soon.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
The exterior shot is lonely and cold as we watch
the George family minivan pull away from great Doors. As
we're watching Dylan drive away, we're hearing Devon in voiceover.
So he's your boss talking about mister Miltchek who she
met last night. We cut to the interior of Pips.
Time for some of that good old shitty diner food.

Speaker 8 (24:09):
And what about Colbelvik?

Speaker 2 (24:10):
Have you heard from her?

Speaker 3 (24:11):
Hey?

Speaker 1 (24:11):
This Cobelvig thing is really catching on. Mark said he
went by, but no answer. And know the woman in
the last booth down there to frame left is not Cobell.
Quickest side pointed out by volunteer researcher vinniep Is this
the only diner inn Kere. Pips is such a company joint,
it's named after a CEO, and they even hand out

(24:33):
VIP cards to severed workers. If Mark and Devon are
going to have a serious discussion about Gemma and Lumen,
you'd think they'd want to do it somewhere other than
at Pips. Maybe they don't really have other choices, or
maybe that diner food is better than Devon Let's on.

Speaker 8 (24:49):
I was just thinking maybe there was a way we
could confirm layer any meant.

Speaker 1 (24:53):
As in what She's alive was all about. Mark is disappointed.
She really needs to let this go.

Speaker 8 (25:00):
I know I'm not supposed to contact him.

Speaker 1 (25:02):
We find out Denise from the No Dinner Dinner party
is a lawyer. I was a bit shocked to get
this news. I was pegging Denise as either a yoga
instructor or somebody who made her own line of hemp clothing.
Denise claims Mark can petition Devon is launching into the
legal options when Mark cuts her off. Currently you can
petition quitting, so none of it really matters. This declaration

(25:24):
is met with a moment of silence.

Speaker 8 (25:26):
Then you're quitting.

Speaker 1 (25:27):
Yeah, quitting means no more any Mark. By extrapolation, this
also means there would be no more reason to fight
for the rights of any Mark.

Speaker 8 (25:36):
Have you called them already?

Speaker 1 (25:37):
In other words, how far into this process are you?
And can we reverse it? Mark says he was going
to do it tonight. I think he's hesitant to really
go through with it. He's also a little shocked Devin
is not on board with his decision. She's always wanted
him to quit.

Speaker 3 (25:52):
I was finally doing what you want.

Speaker 1 (25:54):
Well, yeah, but that was back before she'd had a
personal conversation with any Mark. Also, it was back before
Mark's any raised the possibility Jemma was alive. Devin wants
to know. Doesn't Mark think last night was strange?

Speaker 2 (26:08):
I mean, why was he so curious?

Speaker 1 (26:10):
The he she's referencing is Miltchik. It feels too much
like some kind of containment was happening. They were mopping up.
If there's really nothing to hide, what do they have
to contain? Mark's starting to get mad. The bedrock of
this entire discussion relies on Jemma being alive. Mark is
rejecting this idea as horrifying.

Speaker 3 (26:32):
You remember, I identified her.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
Right they drug Mark through a lot of additional hell
Devon never had to experience.

Speaker 5 (26:39):
I saw her body, Yeah, I know, No.

Speaker 1 (26:42):
You saw a body. Devin cannot let it go. My
thing is if we could just get like a half
step more confirmation, sure, a half step, then it won't
be something that continues to hunt them us. Yeah, us,
Devin says. Jemma was a part of her family too.

Speaker 5 (26:58):
Yeah, but she was my wife.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
Yes, she knows. But Mark is not the only one
affected by her death. The word affected doesn't set well
with Mark. He gets a little vicious.

Speaker 3 (27:10):
Did you have to tell her parents that she was dead?
How about her students?

Speaker 1 (27:14):
Did Devin sheets smell like Jemma for weeks afterwards? No,
he didn't think So this shuts Devin down like a
slap in the face. Mark continues preaching.

Speaker 2 (27:24):
You know what, Honestly, if Ricken died and his body burned,
I'd be sad for you, but I wouldn't be affected.

Speaker 1 (27:32):
Burned body was a significant new detail they slipped into
this conversation. We still don't really know anything about Jemma's wreck,
the aftermath, the condition of her body, how Mark identified her,
none of it. Finding out her body was burned here
in the second episode kept the body switch theories going,
since we're going to meet Jemma in episode seven, the

(27:54):
body switch obviously worked. Devin keeps needling she just wants
to be sure.

Speaker 3 (28:00):
I am sure.

Speaker 1 (28:02):
Waters arrived at the table, Mark realizes he's not getting
anywhere with Devon till later. Mark he quickly walks out.
She keeps calling after him, but he ignores her and
leaves Pips. Quick check the wide outdoor shot of the
Pips parking lot. Remember that jeep we saw passed by Dylan.
It's sitting at Pips to the far right edge of frame.

(28:22):
You can also see Marks Volvo and Devon's range rover.
Could this blue jeep be the vehicle Drummond is driving.
He swung by to eyeball Dylan before his job interview,
then came out here to Pips so he could eavesdrop
on Mark and Devon. It's been a busy Saturday for
mister d And yeah, Drummond is inside Pips. The cut
to close up is looking at him holding a coffee cup.

(28:44):
He has the word frolic tattooed on his right hand
at the base of his thumb. Sorry, but I just
do not associate Drummond with frolic. He raises the cup
to his lips. His ominous music plays. Devin just a
few seats over, has no idea she's being watched. Back
in Mark's town home, it's evening. Mark's feeding his separated

(29:04):
red and blue bed is. He also eyeballs Koebelvig's place.
We're about to cut over to Irv's place, but before
we do, here's an extra token refiner go nuts at
the vending machine. Severed will be right back. Hi, I'm
Adam Scott.

Speaker 2 (29:21):
I play Mark S on Severance, which you likely already
know since you're listening to sever the Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 1 (29:30):
We cut to the exterior of the Leonora Lake apartments.
This is where IRV lives. By the way, for location
details on these places where we've already been, make sure
to check the Severed podcast episodes covering season one of Severance.
I do a full breakdown on all of these real
world shooting locations. A lanky and solitary figure emerges. It's irving.

(29:53):
He walks to a phone booth. The fact here even
has a phone booth is another testament to the timeshif
happening in this town. There are still payphones in the world,
but not many. In nineteen ninety nine, there were about
two million phone booths in the United States alone. By
twenty eighteen, that number was down to less than one
hundred thousand, About twenty thousand of those were in New

(30:16):
York City. In June of twenty twenty two, New York
City officially removed its last free standing payphone. This phone
booth is actually a prop. The production set it up
on the street in front of the now closed Dynamic
Automotive shop in Kingston, New York. This is close to
the Word Street Bridge and celebration wedding chapel we visited

(30:36):
in the first season. We crossed the Word Street Bridge
with PD shortly before he died. If you're not familiar
with payphones, you might be wondering why IRV would go
to the trouble of calling from one. Payphones provide a
level of anonymity if you pay with coins, the user
placing the call is never identified. Authorities can trace a
call to a payphone, but how would you know who

(30:58):
was using it. I'm betting Earth is worried his home
phone is being bugged by lumin use of a payphone
also offers the promise of a clean line. IRV could
not look any more suspicious. He scans the street up
and down before lifting the receiver. I review the show
with headphones so I can hear him, but you might
want to put on closed captioning. He says, you're not

(31:19):
picking up. I get it. We don't know who he's calling.
Theories have identified either Bert Rigabi or a member of
the Whole Mind collective as being on the other end
of the line. He then says, I want you to
know my inny got the message. This is cryptic. How
is Audy IRV able to speak for his inny? Plus,
if he's referencing his inny being here on the outside

(31:42):
during the OTC, who else would have known about it?
A car rolls into frame and shuts off its headlights.
RV hangs up after leaving his message. He steps out
of the phone booth and pauses. I'm pretty sure he
saw it, but he doesn't acknowledge the car that's pointed
right at him. We get a cut to inside the car.
Audi Bert Goodman is behind the wheel. He gives HERV

(32:04):
a hard look. At this point, we know nothing about
Audi Burt's life or motivations. We cut away from Audi
Burt to Mark in his townhouse. He's finally finally getting
around to replacing the light in the hallway. You know though,
one Koblvig mentioned back when she was visiting. Don't miss
the light fixture through the door behind Mark. It's practically

(32:27):
the negative image of Irv's exports hall paintings. Just as
Mark is about to remove the burnt out bulb, there's
a knock at his door. Mark pauses his bul rejuvenation
work and gets down off the ladder. He's never going
to get that thing changed. As he's headed for the
front door, we cut to one of my favorite shots
of this entire episode. It's mister Miltchik has viewed through

(32:49):
the peepole on Mark's front door. His expression is passive.
In his hands, he's holding what looks like a giant
bird's nest. It's a fruit basket. The big placard in
the front includes the Lumen logo and the message thank
you valued Lumen employee. Touching How personal they get, isn't it.
The standout feature of this fruit basket is the enormous

(33:11):
fresh pineapple sitting to the back. It towers over the
rest of the fruit. This is another reference Lumen is
making to pineapples. We had a quick pineapple shout out
during the animated video last episode. Bobbing for pineapples is
somehow going to be a thing now on the severed floor.
Pineapples are unique in the fruit world. They're native to

(33:31):
Brazil and Paraguay, but currently most of the world's pineapple
production comes from Costa Rica. They got the name pineapples
in about fourteen hundred from early European explorers. The exterior
resembled a pine cone and the interior contained a sweet fruit.
The name is misleading because they are neither pine nor apple.

(33:52):
The fruit of the pineapple is actually a berry, or
more specifically, dozens of berries that have fused together to
form a fruit. Pineapples have always been considered expensive and exotic.
At one time, pineapples were so rare in the US
people to rent them to use as party center pieces.
They are also considered to be a sign of outstanding hospitality, warmth,

(34:15):
and welcome. We never find out what exactly pineapples mean
to Lumin, but they are obviously important. Before we leave
the pineapples, they have a couple of additional bits of
trivia about them. There has been a twist on the
hospitality aspect of the pineapple in recent years. And upside
down pineapple, especially when displayed in certain places, indicates a

(34:38):
couple that are in an open relationship. You might see
an upside down pineapple during a cruise on a stateroom door.
They also can be found in tropical resorts and full
service hotels. The pineapple indicates the occupants are open to
partner swapping or swinging the other. Fascinating pineapple detail I
wanted to share involves the end zyme bromolin. Pineapples contain

(35:02):
enough bromolin to break down proteins and amino acids in
the human body. The pineapple is effectively eating you as
you're eating it thanks to the action of bromolin. That's
why eating a lot of pineapple can make the inside
of your mouth feel scraped raw. Some laborers who handle
pineapples on a regular basis barely have fingerprints. Their fingers

(35:23):
have been worn down to smooth by the action of
the bromolin enzyme. Mark pulls his head back from the
peepole and hesitates. It's late on a Saturday night. His
boss from a job he's thinking about quitting. Is standing
on his front stoop with a huge basket of fruit.
What would you do? Mark decides to go ahead and
open the door, Ster Meltchk. When Mark opens the door,

(35:46):
Meltchik raises the fruit basket so Mark can get a
closer look.

Speaker 8 (35:50):
Compliments of the company.

Speaker 1 (35:51):
There's a cut to an exterior shot. Miltchik says they
got off on the wrong foot last night. This would
indicate it's now Saturday night.

Speaker 3 (36:00):
A minute.

Speaker 1 (36:00):
Mark reaches out for the gift. He's looking at it
a bit perplexed. Uh yeah, Miltchik has his seat on
Mark's sad couch. Listen closely here. Jacob Ribakoff, along with
folly artist, Alex Wang and Marco Costanzo, had a lot
of fun with the sounds of mister Miltchik's leather jacket.
It was audible back at beer house. You can really

(36:23):
hear it creaking in Mark's quiet living room. As he
lures himself to the couch, Mark sets the fruit basket
between them on the coffee table. Seth confirms Mark is
still weighing his decision to return to Luman.

Speaker 3 (36:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (36:35):
Seth wants to ask Mark a few questions. He claims
they might inform Mark's decision. Mark looks annoyed. He's made
his decision. He doesn't need to be strong armed by
a company mouthpiece.

Speaker 5 (36:47):
Is that all right?

Speaker 1 (36:48):
Mark isn't happy about it, but decides not to fight it. Okay,
Seth did bring a fruit basket, after all, So how's
the pay? You're good with your compensation? Mark responds with
an uh before Seth ups the antie.

Speaker 8 (37:03):
I asked, because our endearment to you is such that
a twenty percent bump is on the table as you return.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
Wow, twenty percent is a very healthy raise. I guess
canning half the department freed up some funds twenty percent? Wow,
so Irvin Dylan are so much roadkill, But Mark's getting
a raise. This is where Luman really first puts a
spotlight on this question. What's so special about mark s?

(37:29):
Twenty percent is just for openers? Seth wonders if a
full investigation into marx Any's claims and regular wellness checks
would have any impact on Mark's decision. Mark does not
dismiss this out of hand. It seems to get his attention.
He asks if this is something Luman is.

Speaker 8 (37:46):
Really doing that's the first step of many.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
Seth has Mark's ear, at least for the moment. He
then drills down on one of Mark's key reasons for
getting severed in the first place. Seth mentions Gemma.

Speaker 5 (37:58):
What about her?

Speaker 1 (37:59):
Seth asks Mark remembers what he said about Gemmo when
he applied for his job. He claims he doesn't, but
I'm betting he does.

Speaker 8 (38:07):
He said, since she died, every day feels like a year.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
Being able to knock the middle out of those days
makes them go by a lot more quickly. Seth then
says a line that for me illustrates the weirdly compelling
poetry of severance.

Speaker 8 (38:21):
That you felt like you were choking on our ghost.

Speaker 1 (38:24):
We as viewers, can instantly relate what an amazingly visceral
and accurate description of grief. Escaping those feelings would be
a very compelling reason for getting severed.

Speaker 8 (38:37):
Do you still feel that way, mister scout.

Speaker 1 (38:39):
Because if you do, you'd better think twice about leaving.
Are you sure you can handle those eight to ten
hours a day of additional grief you'll be experiencing. Mark
starts to answer, but pauses. Can he really give up
the relief he's getting. Seth leans forward on the couch.
More great leather creaks here. He starts talking to Audie
Mark about any the Mark.

Speaker 8 (39:00):
I've come to know it. Luhman is happy, he cares
for people, and he's funny.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
Any Mark is free from pain. Seth says he can
see it in Audie Mark right now, but it's not
there with any Mark. Mark's face hardens a bit. He
doesn't want to think about ending the existence of this
other part of himself. Seth then adds the whipped cream
to the any Mark Sunday He's found love. Not fair,

(39:29):
mister Miltchik. Seth doesn't say who Mark is in love with.
Since Mark just discovered his thought to be dead wife
could be down there with him. Is Miltchik implying any
Mark has found any Gemma with who Seth doesn't answer. Instead,
he redirects.

Speaker 8 (39:47):
The solace you have given him down there will make
its way to you.

Speaker 1 (39:52):
This hearkens back to Audi Bert's video where he claimed
to feel exhilarated some days. Peggy Kay and the Lexington
letter also mentioned the residual feeling she'd have after a
big or emotional day on the severed floor. Seth says,
experiencing those feelings up here can take time.

Speaker 8 (40:10):
I hope you'll give us that time, mister scout.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
He'll basically say, whatever it takes to get Mark back
down there. Something about Seth's pitch landed. We cut from
Mark looking sirius in his apartment to Mark looking serious
behind the wheel of his parked car. He's in the
Lumen parking lot. It's Monday morning. Whatever was in that
pineapple did the trick? Mark is hesitant. We get a

(40:34):
shot of his audid badge sitting there in the seat.
There's a cut to an overview shot of the parking lot.
We can see Mark getting out of his car. He's
parked in a grouping of vehicles that would fall in
the vintage category. There are about fifty cars in this shot.
This is a nice overview of the older cars assembled
for the production. When we do those long overview shots

(40:56):
of the parking lot, only Mark's car and a few
of the cars around it are real. The rest are
added later. Was CGI. When we do a close up
on a section of the lot like this, the cars
around Mark are usually real. According to property Master Catherine Miller,
every car you see in every shot, even in the
deep distance, was placed by the production team. Miller said

(41:17):
nothing was left to chance, and nothing was just what
a background person would bring to the set. She says
they carried this fleet of cars with them the entire production.
It was necessary because they always wanted to be able
to curate the frame. At any point they would be
able to give a shot the proper severance esthetic by
placing a vintage car in the frame. Miltchick and Helena

(41:38):
are watching Mark's arrival from the boardroom. Helena turns from
the window to address someone else in the room.

Speaker 8 (41:44):
He satisfied with this.

Speaker 1 (41:46):
Mister Drummond and Natalie are seated in the honey Apple
chairs along the side of the Quincy Ellis conference table.
Drummond responds but doesn't answer the question.

Speaker 8 (41:55):
Sister seems more up aty than he is.

Speaker 1 (41:58):
So he likes Mark, but not Devin Natalie. The PR
person is quizzing Miltchake about his personnel choices, So who
are you bringing in ten? Dr Seth then describes Mark, W.
Gwendolen and Dario.

Speaker 8 (42:10):
I've got a floater from overseas and the pair who
are laid off from five X.

Speaker 1 (42:14):
Drummond doesn't seem too happy about using people from five X.
Seth says he had forty eight hours to pull this together.
I guess five as will have to do. Hey, now
hold on a minute. Forty eight hours. I thought it
was five months. It's funny how quickly they've dropped the
five month claim and nobody ever goes back to it again.

(42:35):
Mark S does mention it to Dylan and Helena, but
that's about it. As Seth is talking, we get cut
ins of the replacement Macrodats arriving at work. Gwendolen swipes
a key card. Dario's getting things out of his locker.
Mark W is being wandered before getting on the elevator.
Behind Mark W, we can see the time is eight
o six am. This corresponds with his statement from last

(42:58):
episode about arriving an hour or so before.

Speaker 8 (43:01):
Mark s hopefully there will be some chemistry.

Speaker 1 (43:03):
Helena doesn't seem to care about Mark's co workers.

Speaker 3 (43:07):
We don't need chemistry.

Speaker 1 (43:10):
We need Marks back to work, but only until he
finishes the file Cold Harbor. It doesn't sound like they'll
be needing him after that. As we see Macrodats arrive,
make sure to take note of their locker numbers. This
appears to be a subtle but specific nod to the
numbers from Lost. It's no secret the Severance writer's room
contains a lot of Lost fans. They also are not

(43:33):
shy about slipping Lost Easter eggs into the lumen landscape
quick refresher and spoilers for Lost. When they discovered the
hatch on the island, they found a guy who was
tasked with inputting a series of numbers. These numbers, we
would later discover had far reaching implications in the lives
of the people who were stranded. This series of numbers

(43:55):
was four, eight, fifteen, sixteen, twenty three, and forty two.
Dario is opening locker number sixteen. We then see Mark
s getting scanned in for his first day back. It's
nine to oh four according to the clock above Jud's
guard desk.

Speaker 4 (44:13):
Sard, we're going to.

Speaker 1 (44:15):
Take the elevator from Mark's first three days back, but
this time we're only seeing his OUDI perceptions. The elevator
door closes. When it reopens, we're looking at Judd's desk
and the door beyond. Mark passes by. After his first day,
it's five twelve pm. You might remember he left from
downstairs when the clock in MDR said five ten pm.

(44:36):
We do see Mark as locker number fourteen. He's not
a part of the loss sequence. On the third cycle
of Mark's oudy arrivals and departures, there's a glitch. This
was the morning when any Mark grabbed the speaker from
Seth's office. Seth put him on the elevator and sent
him up. At the time, any Mark didn't know if
he was being fired up top. Audi Mark doesn't even

(44:59):
realize it's at the end of the day. He goes
trudging by Jud's desk as the clock reads nine to
fifteen am. He'd only been downstairs for about ten minutes.
Judd even has a question in his voice when he
sees Mark.

Speaker 3 (45:11):
Miss Scott, good night Jud.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
At some point Audi Mark must have realized he had
the rest of the day, but didn't know why. After
Audi Mark exits early on Wednesday, there was a cross
dissolved to a tiny Lumen branded cassette player. We're hearing
the recording of Mark's pleas to the board from Seth's desk.

Speaker 3 (45:32):
Hello, is anyone there is the board on Marcus from
Macrodata Refinement.

Speaker 1 (45:37):
I think this would be what Cobel means about scouring
the feed. Nobody was monitoring, but this still got recorded.
The cassette player is not actually a Lumen product. This
is a Phillips Pocket Memo LFH zero zero eighty five.
It's a microcassette recorder first produced in the late nineteen sixties.
The Phillips logo has been removed and the Lumen logo added.

(45:58):
It's also been repaid a lumin blue want your own.
According to Katherine Miller, who got this one for the production,
there are a bunch of Pocket Memo units available on eBay.
This recording is being listened to around the desk Star
conference table. Seth Miltchik has a look like he's been
punched pretty hard in the gut. Drummond gives Seth a
look of disdain. Helena is listening intently with no expression

(46:21):
at all. Wait, they're my friends.

Speaker 6 (46:24):
You can't just make them totemp.

Speaker 1 (46:25):
Can Helena shuts off to tiny recorder.

Speaker 8 (46:28):
Of course, A bear full responsibility.

Speaker 1 (46:30):
You really don't have a choice there, Seth. Who else
you're gonna blame it on?

Speaker 3 (46:34):
Ms?

Speaker 1 (46:34):
Wong? Drummond says the board is going to give Mark
s what he wants.

Speaker 3 (46:38):
Including helly Are.

Speaker 1 (46:40):
Helena looks a bit uncertain about this, okay, so maybe
they'll give him somebody he thinks is helly Are. The
real helly Are knows she's an Egan. They can't allow
that information to get in the hands of the Innies.

Speaker 3 (46:53):
They won't finish without them.

Speaker 1 (46:54):
No, it does not appear he will. Drummond gives Helena
a look. She swallows. There's a doorbell. We cut to
a door being opened. Mister Seth Miltchik, manager of the
severed Floor, is outside with a fruit basket. It's got
a huge pineapple in the middle of it, but that's
probably not a surprise. Seth smiles it out, IRV, it's
rehiring time. Dylan comes stumbling out on his porch in pajamas.

Speaker 5 (47:19):
Mister Melchick.

Speaker 1 (47:20):
Seth got another fruit basket featuring another pineapple. Mister George,
it looks like there might be some kind of a
hatchback parked to the left of Dylan's driveway. I'm starting
to wonder how Seth was transporting those fruit baskets on
his bike. It's possible he's in some kind of suv
for this trip out at the Mothership. This would be
Thursday morning. It's the first day back for the old

(47:42):
Mdr crew. We get a long slow pan of Mark
walking up to the main building. As he's climbing the steps,
we can hear a door opening Bob Balaban as Mark
W's oudie is unhappy.

Speaker 8 (47:54):
This is unheard of.

Speaker 1 (47:55):
The security guard apologizes to mister Wilkins. So that's what
the W stands for.

Speaker 7 (48:01):
Three days of woarter I broke a fucking lease in ground.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
Rapids, which must be the location of five acts. Mark
ass is looking over Mark W's way, but there's no
recognition between Oudi's oudie. Mark W is mad. He lets
fly with the chorus from Fisherman's big hit Fuck You Lo.
Before Mark checks in for his first day back with
the old crew. You've got time to grab one more
cuff of coffee refiner. Severed will be right back.

Speaker 6 (48:30):
Hello, Refiners, It's Mark Keller kier Egan on severnce. 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 1 (48:48):
It's nine oh four as Mark gets wandered in for
his first day back with the old crew, Mark gets
on the elevator of the door closes, and we hear
his ding. Jacob Ribakoff said some of the elevator dings
were sourced from airplane call buttons. As Mark's elevator is descending,
the camera pans over to Dylan at his locker. Dylan

(49:11):
is also a part of the loss sequence. He has
locker number twenty three. Dylan gets wanded and inserts his
key card into the now returning elevator. Ben Stiller said
this sequence at the top of the elevator was timed
out to match the arrivals down on the severed floor
from the last episode. These refiners are very close together,

(49:31):
but they never do overlap or see each other. We've
been told the refiners are supposed to be staggered there
should be a full five minutes between arrivals. I think
things have gotten a bit lax, as everybody is at
ease with the arrival process. These oudies are getting here
with barely a minute between them. A couple of refiners
with YouTube pages have taken this sequence and cut it

(49:54):
together with the arrival sequence from the last episode. You
can find these mashups on YouTube. Interesting to see just
how closely the two sequences do match. As Dylan's elevator
starts down, the camera tracks over to IRV. Now it
is locker. IRV is also part of the loss sequence.
With locker number four, IRV pauses for the wand and

(50:15):
gets on the elevator. There's another pan, this time to Helena.
She's arriving at the locker room in the garb of Helly. Interestingly,
Helena goes to locker number sixteen, so she is also
a part of the loss sequence, and I guess with
Dario gone, sixteen must have opened up. As Helly's getting
ready at her locker, the mood of the music changes.
This is the same melancholy piece we heard the night

(50:37):
of Helly are A's suicide attempt. Helena gets wanded. She
calls the elevator with her key card. The door is closed.
We hear the motors start to whirr as the elevator
and makes its way down. Did you hear it or
I guess not hear it. Helena didn't get her second ding.
There's always a ding when you call the elevator, and
a ding when it arrives. Normally, when it's on the

(50:58):
way down, we get an another ding, Just as the
white light shuts off, Helena's elevators started down without a ding.
As we'll discover, Helen is protected from switching on the
severed elevator by the Glasgow block. When the block's in place,
she can pass through severed barriers without switching to her
any The block must also suppress the ding. Slow dissolved

(51:22):
to evening. We're looking at the depressing hallway and staircase
that leads to the severed elevator. It's just below the
main level of lumen. Mark climbs the stairs. We catch
up to Mark on his drive home just as he's
getting to his house. Across the way, he can see Cobelvig.
It looks like she's packing up the white VW rabbit.
This must be the first time she's been around all week.

(51:44):
Mark is agitated even before he gets out of his car. Hey,
Cobell is just Cobel. No sign at all of missus Selvic.
She ignores Mark's shout as she continues to lock her
front door. There's a large suitcase at her feet. When
she's ready, then she respond Hella Mark just back from
what Mark looks a little manic. He takes a few

(52:05):
steps through the snow of his yard. Where do you
think you're going? Truthfully, she has no idea. She wonders
why Mark would even care. Mark then says a line
we've heard many times before. Who are you? This is
a question Mark should be asking a lot of people.
Helly are included. Cobell doesn't respond. She says she thought
Mark was quitting. Mark feels betrayed. He trusted this woman,

(52:28):
this next door neighbor who he thought was named Selvig.

Speaker 7 (52:31):
I told you what I'd gone through these past two years.

Speaker 1 (52:35):
He had issues. She was a sympathetic ear. Mark can't
even describe this level of betrayal. You're in my house.
You the apex of the deception had to have been
her baking.

Speaker 3 (52:47):
I ate your shitty fucking cookies.

Speaker 1 (52:50):
Yeah, I never did think he really liked those cookies.
Cobell is leaning up against her car. She's pretty much
ignoring Mark's freak out. She asks if they convinced him
to stay.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
Was a pineapple involved?

Speaker 1 (53:02):
Hopefully someday someone will explain the significance of the pineapples.
This is it. We don't get another pineapple reference. The
entire second season theory I liked involved the pineapples as triggers.
This theory says the chip has some sort of receptor
that responds to the image of a pineapple. Possibly it
was even some kind of a post hypnotic suggestion. Perhaps

(53:23):
seeing a pineapple has the power to make a severed
worker more agreeable. This is all conjecture. Nobody has a
clue as to why the pineapple became such a big
deal and only for this one episode. In a Decider
interview with Dan Erickson after this episode aired, he was asked,
what's with the pineapples all of a sudden? His response,

(53:44):
there's always a deeper significance. Okay, Yoda, that may be,
but it's not something we're going to find out in
the second season, is it. I also kind of doubt
you'll be getting back to it anytime soon. Whatever the
pineapple mystery is, Kobell knows.

Speaker 8 (53:59):
About it, so easy to.

Speaker 1 (54:00):
Sway conversation over harmony gets in her VW rabbit. What
so that's it? You're just you're you're leaving? Oh yeah,
she is out of here. Without thinking, Mark jumps into
the street in front of Cobell. She was about to
gun it on out of there when Mark blocked her path.
He's screaming at her out in the street. Why did

(54:21):
you do this?

Speaker 3 (54:22):
What the fuck is this all about?

Speaker 1 (54:25):
I think Mark is speaking for all of us here.
Cobell silently stares Mark down. You can tell she's had
about enough of this insolence from a severed worker.

Speaker 5 (54:34):
Do you know something about she Emma?

Speaker 1 (54:37):
This causes harmony to freeze. She's staring at Mark, her
breathing getting heavier. You can see the stress she's under.
Without saying a word, Cobell explodes. Mark jumps out of

(54:59):
the way as Cobell's white rabbit roars down the street.
That was an incredible freak out from a lady who
has proven she's pretty good at freaking out. When asked
if there's a part of Cobell that is dying to
come clean and save Mark, Patricia Arquette said in an interview, Yeah,
I think there's definitely a part of that in her,
and she does have this fondness for him. There's a

(55:21):
thread of her own personal story that she's projecting onto
his experience. So who's behind the wheel of that white rabbit?
According to prop master Catherine Miller, it's really Patricia Arquette
roaring around the corner and out of sight. In an
interview with the Drive, Miller called Arquette a force of
naturely said they all love her and she does her

(55:42):
own driving. They even upgraded the brakes on the vehicle
used for Cobell's more aggressive driving moves. After her car
screeches around the corner at the end of the block,
we cut back to Mark. He's out of breast, still
looking after Cobell. We cut to a long shot, then
to black and roll credits. That's it for the episode,
but I'm going to back up for a second to

(56:04):
talk about the big freak out. The sound design, there
is a layered confection of panic. Cobell is screaming, she's
honking her horn, her tires are screeching, and her engine
is revving. Layered in with Cobel's screams are screeching birds
and a clip of one of the most famous sound
effects ever produced. Jacob Ribakoff confirmed they use the Vilhelm

(56:25):
scream as a layer over Harmony's actual scream. This is
the Vilhelm scream. You may have heard it before. It's
famous in certain circles. I first learned about it in
a class called History of Broadcasting. My sophomore year of college.
Here's a quick overview. The scream was first recorded in
nineteen fifty one as this sound effects session for the

(56:48):
movie Distant Drums. The session was slated like this, the.

Speaker 3 (56:52):
Man getting bit by an alligator and he screams.

Speaker 1 (56:56):
Six short screams were recorded in the space of thirty seconds.
The fourth is considered the classic Villhelm, but the fourth, fifth,
and sixth ah have all been used in various movies

(57:16):
over the years. All three versions of the scream are
sometimes referred to as the vill Helm. The actor, writer, producer,
and singer Chebb Woolly is supposed to be the performer
who actually does the screaming. Shabb was an extra on
Distant Drums, but he was also known to be a
solid voice performer. If the name sounds familiar, he's the

(57:36):
guy who would have a number one hit in nineteen
fifty eight with the novelty tune Purple People Leader.

Speaker 3 (57:42):
It was a one eyed, one horn flying Purple People Leader.

Speaker 8 (57:45):
One horn ti p.

Speaker 3 (57:48):
One eyed, one horn flying Purple People Leader.

Speaker 6 (57:51):
Sure looks strange to me, So.

Speaker 1 (57:53):
Why is it called the vilhelm instead of the wooly?
It's kind of a roundabout explanation. Making sound effects in
the fifties was a time consuming and expensive process. There
was no real field recording, microphones were touchy out in
the wild, and none of the recording equipment used batteries.
Not a lot of movies had the budget to produce
their own folly content, so most productions would borrow sound

(58:16):
effects from the studio library. The distant Drums Alligators scream
was available in the Warner Brothers production library. It was
a great scream, so it wound up in dozens of
movies throughout the fifties and sixties, including twice in the
original Star Is Born from nineteen fifty four. Sound effects
editor Ben Burt, along with his movie making friends at

(58:37):
USC recognized this scream when it would appear in various movies.
They even included it in a student film they made
in the early nineteen seventies. Bert would be hired a
few years later to create all of the sound effects
for the original nineteen seventy seven Star Wars film. As
part of his job, he was able to do research

(58:58):
in the sound departments of various studios. While at Warner Brothers,
he tracked down the original distant drums scream. He founded
in the nineteen fifty three movie The Charge at Feather River.
In that movie, a soldier named Private Wilhelm lets out
the scream. This is why Bert dubbed it the Wilhelm Scream.

(59:18):
Bert made the scream a part of his personal sound signature.
He included it in all three of the original Star
Wars movies. He would also include it in all of
the Indiana Jones movies. Listen for it in the truck
chase from Raiders. Although the Wilhelm scream has never been
offered as part of a commercial sound effects package, at
last count, it can be heard in more than four

(59:39):
hundred films and now in severance. Okay, refiner stime to
shut things down for the day, I want to say
a big thanks to volunteer researcher refiner VINNYP. Quick reminder
get to the Severed Patreon page. Support the Severed podcast
by pledging five dollars a month. Signing up as easy
go to patreon dot com slash severed pop. That's patreon

(01:00:01):
dot com slash Severed Pod. Patron refiners have access to
commercial free versions of all Severed podcast episodes. Next up,
we'll be breaking down episode three of season two who
is alive make sure to join me. Until then, it's
time to shut down your workstation and get to the
elevator refiner. Thanks for listening to Severed, and as always,
please stagger your exits.

Speaker 2 (01:00:23):
You've been listening to Severed, the Ultimate Severance podcast. Severed
is written, produced, and hosted by Alan Stair.

Speaker 6 (01:00:30):
Severed is not endorsed by Red Hour Productions, Endeavor Content,
or Apple tv Plus. This podcast is intended for entertainment
and informational purposes only.

Speaker 2 (01:00:40):
Severance, the Severance logo, and all video and audio of
Severance and Severance Characters are registered trademarks of Red Hour,
Endeavor Content, Apple TV Plus, or their respective copyright holders.

Speaker 6 (01:00:52):
Please make sure to leave a five star rating and
review for Severed at Apple Podcasts