S2E43-REWATCH10-PT02-Cold Harbor

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey Refiner, this is Alan As with a quick message
before we get into this all new episode. If you
listen in real time, you know I've put up several
reruns in the past few weeks. That's because, as you
might already know, I was down with COVID for a
big part of November. Thanks to everyone for the support
of emails and dms. When you feel lousy, it's nice
to know people are thinking about you. This podcast episode

(00:23):
is the very first thing I've recorded since being sick.
Sorry if some of it is rough. The voice is
coming back, but slowly. Here's what's up for the rest
of the year. A new Part two today, a rerun
on Monday, then an all new Part three, finishing the
finale rewatch on December eleventh. After that, I'm going to
keep posting reruns on Mondays and Thursdays. The reruns have

(00:44):
gone over surprisingly well. Hopefully that continues into the new year.
After I've rerun the rewatch episodes for season two, I'm
planning to head into a new origins breakdown covering the
movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Thanks for a
great year and for your continued support to the show.
Have a great holiday. Season and a happy New Year.
Now let's get to this all new episode.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Severed, The Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
Hey, they're Refiners, so glad to have you back on
the Severed Floor. Our full rewatch of season two is
almost complete. This is part two of the Severed breakdown
of the season two finale, Cold Harbor. You may be
here for part two, but I'm still gonna say it spoilers.
There are spoilers everywhere throughout this podcast. This is Severed,
the Ultimate Severance Podcast. I'm your host, Alan As we're

(01:42):
coming close to finishing up our full rewatch of season two.
If you're ready, Refiner, it's time to once again open
the file called Cold Harbor. Last time, we watched any
Marks storm out of the Demona birthing cabin. He made
a rather pointed threat as he exited. The message included
instruction for Audie Mark. Do you love your brother? Yes, well,

(02:04):
then you tell him that the next thing I see
had better be the severed floor, or I swear he
will never see his wife again. Devin and Cobell must
have taken him at his word. We don't know how
much time elapses between events, but when any Mark exits
the birthing cabin. The reverse cut reveals any Mark arriving
on the severed floor. This is most likely the next morning.

(02:25):
It's the day after what the gang at Luhman originally
thought would be the momentous day. We see the Zoli
transition as the elevator door opens. Any Mark slowly exits
the severed elevator. Something in front of him has his attention.

(02:47):
There's a cut to a reverse angle. Any Mark is
looking at a huge painting. It's replaced the previous work
in this spot, the one titled Cure Pardons His Betrayers.
This one might even be bigger. The lighting is definitely
more dramatic. This enormous new canvas is spotlet and the
rest of the room seems to be in darkness. Got
to tell your refiner, I love this arrival sequence for

(03:09):
any Mark. We're on the severed floor and in the
hallways we're familiar with, but nothing is the same. Several
times in these reviews, I've commented on how much of
Severance reminds me of a video game. Dan Erickson has
mentioned video games as being inspiration for the show. We've
even identified Dan as in nineties eer sr Online Graphic
adventure Gamer thanks to one of his old Twitter posts.

(03:30):
This arrival sequence feels a lot like the start to
a boss battle. When you've completed all the levels of
a shoot him Up, the final level will contain the
big Boss. He's the hardest coon to kill in the
entire game. Oftentimes, when you face the big Boss, weird
support sequences will kick in that change the game you've
been used to. Everything about the next few minutes has
the feel of a boss battle level. Before we leave

(03:53):
the lobby, we need to have a good look at
this new painting and the world of Lumen. It would
be the latest work of art to come out of
the O and D department in the real world. This
massive new vision is the work of talented Severance crew
painter Daniel of Eles. You can see more of Danny's work,
including this canvas, by following him on Instagram look for
user Danny Illustration and hit follow. Daniel has been wielding

(04:15):
his brushes for the production for quite some time now.
This new work may be his most impressive yet. It's
been dubbed the Exalted Victory of Cold Harbor. It depicts
any Mark as he has just finished the file Cold
Harbor He has an open palm up and a pose
offering praise. Mark is seated at his workstation at the
base of the tallest waterfall on the planet, you know,

(04:37):
the when we visited out at Woe's Hollow. His desktop
has snow on the corners and it looks like he's
sitting in water up to his waist. Posing behind him
and to either side as a huge group of people
who are also standing in the frigid waters of Woe's Hollow.
These are all the people from both the severed floor
and the outside world who have either had interaction with
any Mark or been discussed with any Mark. The Severance

(05:01):
Wiki describes the relationship with the people in the painting
as those either seen or known by Marx Any. These
descriptions have to add in the known by connection because
of Natalie, Woe and the Dancing Tempers. The four dancing
Tempers who appeared at Dylan's waffle party are in this painting.
Mark never had direct contact with these performers that we

(05:21):
were shown. Dylan might have discussed them with Mark, so
he was aware of them but never met them. Also,
we have Natalie in this painting. Natalie has appeared numerous
times on the severed floor, but only with Cobell or Miltchik.
Mark has never met with Natalie directly that we've seen.
The first time Mark had an audience with the board
in Cobell's office, Natalie was not present. Every other time

(05:43):
where Natalie has appeared with the board in tow, Mark
was not a part of those meetings. Natalie did tell
Devin that any Mark was one of her favorite macrodats,
but we've never seen Natalie interacting directly with any Mark.
If direct contact is the litmus, this painting could have
included all of the personnel from Mammalian's Nurturable. They all

(06:04):
had direct interaction with any Mark when he and Helen
have visited during the episode Who Is Alive. Lorne and
Wyatt from the Goat Room are represented here in the
painting instead of including the rest of the crew. It
looks like the goatthead guy from the Meadow is acting
as this stand in for the rest of mn. The
embodiment of the temper Woe is also depicted in this painting.

(06:25):
IRV was the only one who met Woe, and we're
pretty sure he only did that during a dream. Mark
was never directly in contact with the temper Woe. Interesting
point to note about Woe in the painting. If you
look at the distant shot of the whole canvas, Woe
looks very muted and blurred. When they go in tight
on that section of the canvas, Woe becomes very detailed
with the facial expression from the dancer mask. It has

(06:48):
been noted by several redditors that Judd, the severed elevator
guard is not included in this picture. I think that's
because jud never had any direct contact with any Mark.
We can see other folks from the outside world, like Denise,
rebecc Bolf, and Patten. They made the painting because they
were all at the book reading where any Mark appeared.
They all had a direct connection with Mark's any Denise, Rebecca,

(07:11):
and Patten all spoke to him. Fun little aside here
thanks to a script notation, we now know Rebec's last name.
You're ready, It's Gulk g u l K. The most
interesting group of folks in this painting is standing at
the top of the waterfall. There are nine shadowy figures
standing side by side along the top edge of the falls.

(07:31):
In the center of the nine is Helena Egan, looking
very androgynous. In a form fitting pantsuit with her hair
in a low bun. The other eight, all past Lumen CEOs,
are looking towards the middle of the group at Helena,
flanking her on either side or Daddy, Jame and Keir Egan.
The other six past CEOs are standing across, with Ambrose
and Gerhart furthest from the center. The past female CEOs,

(07:53):
Leonora and Myrtle, are arranged so one is on either
side of Helena, but neither is right next to her.
It is interesting to note that when Helena ascends, she
will be the ninth CEO of Lumen, interesting because this
is at a company which is quite openly ruled by
a set of guidelines called the Nine Principles. Pete and Grainer,

(08:14):
both dead, also made it to this very well populated painting.
Helena slish Helly R. Is the only one in this
group to have both her Any and Audi represented. If
you look to the far right of the canvas, back
up there behind Natalie, there are four people who look
like they might be the Macrodats. These are the shadow
guides from the woes Hollow trip. Even though they didn't

(08:35):
say a thing, they did interact with any mark. One
person I was surprised to see missing from this crowd
is Regabi. She's tapped on any Marx consciousness a bit,
as she's been tinkering with Audi Mark's chip. Maybe she
wasn't truly known to any Mark, or it's possible Luman
isn't yet aware of Regabi's involvement with Mark. Cobell was

(08:56):
alerted by Grainer, but I don't know if she passed
the info along. As Mark is taking in this painting,
the elevator arrives behind him. We cut to his side
angle shot, with Mark on the left and the newly
arrived Helly R stepping into frame on the right. There
was a lot of concern that this might be another plant,
another Helena posing as Helly trick. Both Dan Erickson and

(09:17):
Britt Lauer have said no, this truly is Helly. Look
at the way she wraps her arms around Mark with
no hesitation. She is truly happy to see him. There
are no words, just a long and warm embrace. We
cut to a look at Helly's face over Mark's shoulder.
She is just seeing the new painting for herself. Mark
turns to face it with her. They are holding hands

(09:37):
as they take in this massive scene.

Speaker 3 (09:39):
I'll have to tell you something me too.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
At that moment, the lights in the elevator lobby and
down the halls all cut out. The pair is plunged
into darkness. Mark does have a lot to tell Helly.
There's the whole meeting with his Audi at the Birthing Center.
He's got to tell her how Cobell is now working
with them. She's no longer some severed floor goon how
to get them, or at least he doesn't think she is.

(10:03):
What does Helly have to tell Mark? Oh, there was
the whole creepy run in with her Audie's father, CEO
James Egan. She also retrieved herb's note from the breakroom
and may have memorized how to get to the testing
floor elevator hallway. They'll talk later. Right now, lights in
the hallway are beginning to pulse and chase. They're indicating
which way these tour are supposed to go. Surprise, surprise,

(10:24):
they are being directed towards MDR. The two slowly follow
the lights down the hallway. They are hand in hand
as they head out. We see various shots of the pairs.
They make their way to MDR. Lights continue to chase
through the ceiling, showing them the way. There's a jump
cut to Marc s and Helly coming through the main
MDR doorway. The reverse angle through their shoulders reveals his
somewhat unnerving sight. Standing in the middle of the MDR

(10:47):
space is none other than here Egan fuck me, or
at least it's the statue of Cure Egan from the
Perpetuity Wing. Ben Stiller confirmed this truly is the stats
you created by Penko Platinkinov for the Perpetuity Wing. The
animatronics were added for these MDR scenes in the World
of Lumen. We've heard about the animatronics at Branch five

(11:09):
acts from gwendolen Y. According to gwendolen all the CEOs
and the Grand Rapids Perpetuity Wing do a little choreograph dance.
Ben wanted animatronics for this severed floor, but nothing too sophisticated.
We've theorized before that this is probably the first and
thereby oldest severed floor. Since it's so old it wouldn't
have the improvements found in newer severed floors like updated animatronics.

(11:33):
The lighting here is amazing and unnerving. Kre is under
a single square of the lighting grid. There are drums
pulsing in the background, adding to the tension. After pausing
in the mdr entrance, Helly and Mark slowly approach the
imposing figure of Cure. There is an envelope tucked into
the statue's left hand. Here's sparkling, but unseeing. Eyes are

(11:54):
eerie in the low light. Mark reaches for the envelope.
It does say marks on the front. Helly is why
watching Kere's weirdly following eyes. She keeps moving her head
back and forth as she stares into his face. Mark
opens the very satiny, high end envelope. Contained within is
a typeset note.

Speaker 4 (12:12):
Mark, the founder wished to witness the historic completion of
your twenty fifth file.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
We're talking about this statue, right. It's impressive to have
in the room, but it can't really witness anything symbolically.
I guess this statue gives the impression that Kere is
in the house. Helly r.

Speaker 5 (12:30):
Shaw also bear witness from.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
Our chair, which makes me wonder where's Dylan? Why isn't
he a part of this historic and momentous day? Did
Dylan really quit? The last we knew Dylan was retiring,
both his inyan outy seem to be in agreement about
the quitting thing. We'll get an update on both sides
of mister George in just a bit. At least, Splendor's
a weight upon your victory, love, mister Miltchik. Mark then

(12:57):
opens this unique greeting card to reveal the Severed Floor
definition of a goodly splendor. The inside of this card
is a pop up. When Mark opens it, we see
a plate holding a waffle. There are a knife and
fork to either side of the plate. The waffle itself
is three D. It pops up and expands as Mark
opens the card. Is Mark guess going to earn himself

(13:17):
a waffle party for his work today? Maybe? But I
don't think this is implying a specific reward as much
as it means something good in general. I get the
sense the waffles themselves have become a shorthand for anything
good or valuable that can be earned on the severed Floor.
We'll take a closer look at this waffle card in
just a moment. Right now, you should take this opportunity

(13:38):
to wash your hands. Refiner Severed will be right back.

Speaker 4 (13:45):
Hey there, This is Haley Ericsson, gelzer Dan Ericson's sister,
and thanks for listening to Severed The Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
I do This pop up paper waffle in Mark's card
is a five x five square grid, creating a total
of twenty five cells within the waffle. For those of
us who can't stop seeing puzzles and patterns, this was
obvious that twenty five cells of the waffle must be
directly referencing the twenty five rooms Mark will have created

(14:16):
once he finishes Cold Harbor. Right, surely that's got to
be it. According to Severn's lead graphic designer, Tansy Micheau,
that would be a big nope. Tansy told us in
an interview, the fact this waffle has twenty five compartments
was nothing more than a happy accident. The script called
for a printed card. The message from the face of
the card would have been fine, but Tansy felt there

(14:38):
needed to be more to this. Considering the importance of
the occasion, She considered other pop up options for the
interior of the card, like maybe a pop up of
the diamond desk. The detail proved to be too difficult
on that one. One night after type setting mister Miltchick's
message Tansy started messing around with a simple three D waffle.

(14:58):
Her design is ultimately what wound up inside the card.
It made for a great pop up. It was a
perfect severed floor representation of a goodly splendor and bonus,
it happened to contain twenty five cells. Ever since the MDE,
we've known the lights in MDR were very controllable. We
just didn't know how detailed they could get. As Mark
and Helly are considering the waffle pop up card, more

(15:20):
lights slowly fade up. In MDR, the tricornered diamond desk
is dramatically revealed in a pool of light. To frame left,
we can hear the digital flourish of the boot up sequences.
The terminals come on all by themselves. The Rolodex selector
graphic on Marcus's screen automatically turns over to the Cold
Harbor file. Mark clips on his desk lamp and has

(15:40):
a seat at his workstation. Helly also has a seat
at her desk, where she will witness Mark's accomplishment. She
glances over her shoulder before whispering to Mark, Jamiegan was here,
in all his creepy glory. They came to see me
as in he came to see any Helly r. There's
a great shot of britt eyes only over the top

(16:02):
edge of her monitor.

Speaker 2 (16:03):
He said some cryptic shit about the fire of Keir
being me that today is a special day.

Speaker 1 (16:12):
Wow, she was really listening. I don't know if I'd
been able to concentrate on what he was saying to me.
This whole situation feels like the end of a semester.
I remember in high school and especially college, how weird
things would get at the end of the semester. Schedules
would be different. People would show up to visit who
you hadn't seen in months. Dorms would clear out as

(16:32):
people finished finals and went home. Also, even though you
knew you were coming back in the spring or fall,
there was this sense of finality to the proceedings. Mark
considers Helly's report about Jame. I know why, after his
extensive discussion with his Audi Marquez, he's starting to pull
together the various pieces of this odd day.

Speaker 5 (16:53):
I know why they're doing this.

Speaker 1 (16:56):
But before we get to hear his explanation, there's a
cut to the hall coming towards us. He's none other
than mister Seth Miltchik. He comes into view around a corner.
Mister Miltchick raises a handheld remote and turns on a
few more lights right above his head. I got a
chuckle out of this framing. Look at Seth as he arrives.
He is buried in this frame. His head and shoulders
are barely above the lower edge of the screen. It

(17:18):
gives him the sense mister Miltchik might be in over
his head here. He has a lot going on this morning.
At first, it feels like Miltchik is arriving in the
MDR space. Instead, he stops and turns toward the elevator door.
He's out in the severed elevator lobby.

Speaker 4 (17:41):
Hello Dylan.

Speaker 1 (17:42):
A confused Any Dylan is standing in the severed elevator.
We get a POV shot with the new painting looming
behind a smiling mister Miltchik. Any Dylan is not happy,
he said no. Seth, as usual, does not answer direct
questions follow me. It sounds like if the state of
Dylan's retirement hasn't been completely settled. This would also indicate

(18:05):
that the AUDI veto is still in effect when it
comes to any retirement. The pass the nies were given
to decide for themselves on that first day. Back was
only offered for that day. Dylan is all in blue
Today's wearing a light blue shirt under a blue suit
coat with a dark blue tie. Dylan pauses as he
enters the elevator lobby. He's taking in the enormous painting

(18:27):
that now dominates the far wall. We get a good
side view shot showing the tremendous size of this new canvas.
I see something new each time I look at it.
Just now I noticed ms Wong is holding her Theremon
Miltchik is waiting in the hallway for Dylan to catch up.
As Dylan exits the elevator lobby, we're shown an inside
shot of the new title card for this piece, The

(18:48):
Exalted Victory of Cold Harbor. We slowly dissolve from the
title card to the closet in Jemma's testing floor apartment.
She opens it to reveal a great coat with a scarf.
Gemma physically react to this new outfit. We are given
a glimpse into her recollection. This is the same outfit
she was wearing the night of the car wreck. We
saw the scene where she wore it during the episode

(19:09):
Cheek I Bardo. This coat represents Gemma's last night as
a free person on the outside. Don't miss a great
detail here. The short post the hangar is looped over
includes a lumin water drop symbol pressed into the end
of the round cap. As Gemma is freaking about her
new outfit, we hear Helly and voiceover.

Speaker 5 (19:29):
So what happens when they extract the chip?

Speaker 1 (19:32):
Whoa what? Now? Who's talking about extracting a chip? We
cut away from Jemma to Helly's view of Mark over
the top edge of the diamond desk petition. He gives
her quite a look but doesn't comment. Helly is working
through what she's been told so far about Mark's recent
birthing cabin experience.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
How can we trust anything?

Speaker 6 (19:50):
Gobel says she's a for dice line.

Speaker 1 (19:54):
Well, yeah, but that's back when she was a mouthpiece
for the Evil Empire. She's a free agent now, But
she seemed different. Harmony Cobell now forty percent less intimidating.

Speaker 4 (20:06):
And she's the same but.

Speaker 7 (20:09):
The different same.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
I don't know sure. Without the trappings of the severed
floor around her, Harmony doesn't come off as threatening to
an Inny. The birthing cabin with its flickering fire was imposing,
but Harmony was just not as scary. She's the same,
but now without the power and authority backing her up.
We get an inside shot of Mark's hand on the
track ball. Some numbers undulate on the screen. The ninety

(20:33):
six percent completion bar is visible at the top.

Speaker 5 (20:36):
I mean I could just not do it.

Speaker 1 (20:38):
Yeah, but is that really gonna solve anything. Too many
people are closely monitoring your progress. I doubt they're going
to let you go for too long without accomplishing anything.
They were freaking yesterday when you didn't show up.

Speaker 5 (20:51):
I could just not finish the file, not get her out.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
And what sit here in a darkened MDR until the
end of the day. Helly can see the trail Luman
has set for them.

Speaker 4 (21:01):
She's telling the Dreathweer scrip.

Speaker 1 (21:04):
Sitting down here in MDR with a chip in your
brain does put you at the mercy of your employer.
We cut back down to the testing floor. Gemma consense
today is somehow different.

Speaker 5 (21:14):
What's happening?

Speaker 1 (21:15):
The new outfit was a hint. I'm guessing this is
the first time she's seen it from off camera. We
hear her nurse just get dressed. We cut to a
side view of Sandra Bernhardt. She can sense Gemma is
getting skittish.

Speaker 5 (21:28):
Everything's gonna be fine.

Speaker 1 (21:30):
Sure, welcome right up this ramp to the containment shoot.
Next stop the killing floor. Everything's gonna be fine. The
conversation happening in MDR is closely cut over the top
of the conversation happening down in Gemma's apartment. As Gemma
is retrieving the outfit from its custom lumen hook. We
can hear Helly r whispering and voiceover.

Speaker 6 (21:49):
But if you get her now, maybe that will take
till Luhman, like his sister.

Speaker 1 (21:55):
Said, and it'll take down this evered floor and probably
all the lives of the Innies along with it. This
was covered extensively last night. We cut back to the
view over the diamond desk petition. Helly is trying to
be supportive.

Speaker 2 (22:09):
I maybe you can do this combining thing.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
You mean, reintegration. Sure, because it's gone so smoothly up
to this point. Helly looks overly bright and super positive
as she's saying this. You'd almost think she means it.
Any Mark is taking all the hype with a grain
or two of salt.

Speaker 3 (22:26):
Well, yeah, but he could be a total.

Speaker 1 (22:28):
Liar along with a heaping helping of paranoia. Helly is
really trying to sell Mark on his oud East story.

Speaker 5 (22:36):
What if he's not.

Speaker 1 (22:37):
If it all works, if they're able to bring down
Lumen and Mark is able to reintegrate, we shall have
a chance of living. The unsaid part here is I won't.
No matter how successful reintegration might be. Helena Egan will
not be participating, thank you very much. If she never
returns to the severed floor. The part of her that

(22:57):
is Helly r Will go dormant for Mark considers this
for a moment. He is also very aware of Helly's
fate in this brave new world one Live with You.
Helly's eyes are glistening with tears. She is acutely aware
of her situation outside of the severed floor. Mark looks

(23:18):
over at her pain in his eyes. Mark considers the
inevitability of the situation. There's not a lot he can do.
Tears are running down Mark's cheeks as he turns his
attention back to the workstation. What can he do in
this situation? He can refine, because that's what he's good
at We see a close up of Mark's hand on

(23:39):
the track ball. We cut to the file completion bar.
Numbers start to undulate under the cursor. As Mark the
refiner gets to work, he starts to slam numbers into bins.
This is an actual working computer program that allows the
performers to really refine numbers. After a couple of groups
are dropped into the waiting bins, we see the tally
advance to ninety seven. Here there's a cut into doctor

(24:02):
Mauer watching Mark's progress from the watcher area. Drummond is
hanging over his shoulder as we're watching Mark's progress. Takes
over to ninety eight percent. He is racing through these
final refinements. There's a cut from ours intent stare to white.
Mister Miltchick's hand places a dark folio on the breakroom table.
The cut is then to a point of view shot.

(24:22):
We are now Dylan seated at the table. Miltchik is
speaking directly to us as the camera.

Speaker 5 (24:28):
Here Audi has responded to your resignation request.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
There's a Dylan reaction shot, then back to mister Miltchik.

Speaker 5 (24:35):
As it may yield an embarrassing emotional response in you,
and as I'm duly swamped, I shall leave you to
read it in solitude.

Speaker 1 (24:43):
In the two shot from the side, Seth slides the
folio across the table, A seated Dylan reaches for it.
Check out the breakroom. It's been stripped bare. The posters,
padded chairs, and projection TV are all gone. It's like
the entire severed floor is preparing to shut down after
Mark completes this file. What huge change is going to

(25:04):
happen after Cold Harbor? Does MDR cease to exist once
Mark has completed all twenty five files? MDR has always
seemed like an ongoing concern. This reaction to Mark completing
his files almost makes it feel like MDR is a
one off. Could this entire department have been created to
accommodate this single experiment. As soon as Dylan takes the folio,

(25:26):
Miltchik sprints for the door. He'd love to hang around,
but he is under a lot of pressure. Right about now.
The whole production happening over an MDR is under his
direction as well. Running out of the room was an
ad lib by Tremel Tillman. It wasn't in the script.
He felt like that's the sort of reaction Seth would
have to the pressure he's under this morning. The production

(25:47):
team loved his sprint out the door, so it made
the edit. They didn't do a second take with the running,
which is why he's not framed up exactly right. The
rough framing gives his sprint out of there a spur
of the moment kind of Before Dylan gets to his
audi's response, this would be a great time for you
to get a cup of Covee refiner. Severed will be
right back. Hey, this is Ben Stiller. Thanks for listening

(26:12):
to Severed, the Ultimate Severance Podcast. In the empty breakroom,
Dylan opens the envelope and pulls out the any resignation
request you filled out the other day in Miltchik's office.
Some of those other reasons for leaving Dylan checked include cowardice, jealousy, bitterness, selfishness,
and fear. We couldn't see those the other day. The

(26:33):
bottom half of the form is set aside for the
AUDI response. It looks like Dylan's AUDI has made good
use of the space.

Speaker 4 (26:41):
Dear any, I've read your request and organized my response
into three points.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
This sounds a bit too corporate and button down to
be Dylan Point one, fuck you okay, this sounds more
like Dylan. We also get a transition to Audi Dylan's
voice doing the narration. It makes more sense any Dylan
is tinted blue when we see him down on the
severed floor. We get some cut in flashbacks of Audie
Dylan as he's writing this response. These shots are definitely

(27:12):
sunnier and warmer than the breakroom shots.

Speaker 4 (27:15):
Gretchen is my wife and my beloved, and your actions
with her were deeply fucking indecorous.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
Decorus can be traced to the mid seventeenth century. Its
root is Latin. It means in keeping with good taste,
and propriety in decorus is, of course the opposite. I'm
pretty sure fucking is not regularly used to modify in decorus,
but in this case it does work. Point two, we're
seeing action shots from the George home as we hear

(27:44):
this voiceover. The lovely Gretchen is casually being a wonderful
mother as Dylan is writing this response. I get it.

Speaker 4 (27:54):
She's perfect and given our shared physiology, attracts that you'd agree.

Speaker 1 (28:00):
This whole situation has caused Audi Dylan to evaluate himself.
Here's a thing he's even willing to admit some painful
realizations to his any.

Speaker 4 (28:09):
I've never been an impressive person.

Speaker 1 (28:13):
Audi Dylan, remember, would rather be a pocket door. When
he's not working. He wants to be able to hide
himself away. This indicates a lack of self confidence. Audi
Dylan is not an aggressive go getter.

Speaker 4 (28:26):
So when Gretch told me that you're like this self
assured badass, I don't know. It's dune.

Speaker 1 (28:36):
Audy Dylan pauses while writing to reflect on these words.

Speaker 4 (28:40):
So I guess point three is I hope somedays she
sees in me.

Speaker 1 (28:47):
What she sees in you. Audi Dylan is okay with
trying to live up to the standard being set by
his Any, which all goes away if his Inny goes away.

Speaker 4 (28:57):
In the meantime, if I'm being really honest, I guess
I like knowing you're there.

Speaker 1 (29:05):
There'll be no more noodling with Gretch in the family
visitation suite or anything, but it's good to know his
innies there. You can catch a look at the lumenwater
tower toy in the background of these shots. As Audi
Dylan is getting ready for work. Audi Dylan tells his
any if he wants to leave, he can Audi Dylan
is not making that call, but I think you should stay.

(29:27):
Any Dylan has calmed down since he put in this request.
He was just coming off that tragic meeting with Gretchen
where he dropped to his knees and begged for her
hand in any marriage or whatever that was. It was
a heart wrenching and emotional scene. I'm still cringing just
thinking about it.

Speaker 4 (29:44):
Sinceres regards your outing.

Speaker 1 (29:46):
These final words include a shot of the any resignation
request form. We can see the tick box that says
I either approve or deny my innyes resignation. Audi Dylan
has not selected either by He's leaving the decision in
the hands of his any. Any Dylan puts the letter
back on the tabletop. He takes off his glasses and
contemplates this message from above. The music swells as we

(30:10):
watch Dylan's face. We aren't given an answer here, but
I think his Audi made a pretty good case for
any Dylan staying on as a refiner. This Dylan dynamic
requires both of them for it to work. His Inny
is the hard hitting, badass go getter who brings home
the lumen bacon. His Audi is the loving but sometimes
bumbling father who can bake the cookies from the tube

(30:32):
when necessary. If either part of Dylan isn't there, he
isn't delivering maximum Dylan. Zach Cherry discussed any Dylan's reaction
to this letter in a gold Derby interview. He said
it was a boost to any Dylan to realize there
are things about him that make his Audy jealous. Innies
don't often experience this sense of being valued or a

(30:52):
feeling they have an impact on the AUDI world. Knowing
how his Audi needs him makes any Dylan more willing
to continue his work out in the halls. Seth Miltchik
is making a costume change on the run. He's pulling
off his ties. He breaks into a jog slow dissolved
to Mark's refining screen shows ninety nine percent file completion.

(31:13):
Helly is watching over her monitor as Mark's eyes scan
the field of undulating numbers. Mark looks her way. He's
getting so close.

Speaker 6 (31:21):
Trying to think of other place names besides.

Speaker 1 (31:23):
Delaware, which was Helly's intake questionnaire answer. This is an
example of why Vinny p and I work so well
together as a research team. Vinnie included the following notation
completely unprompted. In response to Helle's musing, Delaware became a
US state in seventeen eighty seven, which was the year
of the Goat in the Chinese zodiac. Helly then lists

(31:44):
some of the retrievable locations still kicking around in her
chip depleted memory, bang I've got and Europe's nimbobwe. There's
a long pause as she struggles to come up with
one more, and the Equator. Her severan's adult recollections have
managed to retrieve a continent, a country in Southeast Africa,

(32:07):
and the imaginary line that circles the middle of the globe.
The equator is not so much a place as it
is a boundary. It's a twenty four thousand mile long
imaginary line that can be crossed between the northern and
southern hemispheres the Equator. Mark smiles at this.

Speaker 5 (32:25):
Is that a building?

Speaker 1 (32:26):
There's an intense close up on Helly's face.

Speaker 8 (32:29):
Our continent.

Speaker 1 (32:31):
It's probably more like a fuzzy concept. It doesn't really
matter what they're saying here. It's the fact they have
this one last chance to be with each other.

Speaker 5 (32:40):
Maybe it's just a building that's like so big.

Speaker 1 (32:45):
They both break into wide and delighted smiles. The moment
of levity is broken by the realization he's about to
finish this monumental file. Everything is about to change in
neither of them wants it to happen socially, When you
think about it, innies don't really know what they want.

(33:06):
They were out in fighting during the OTC, claiming this
life down on the severed floor as torture. Have things
really changed so much under mister Miltchik. Now Helly are
is wanting more time down here on the severed floor.
More time with Mark. Guest must balance out all the
unpleasantness associated with any life. There's a close up on
Mark's hand as he rolls the trackball. The numbers are

(33:29):
swirling and undulating under the cursor any Mark's eyes get
wide as he is corralling another set of numbers. Macrodats
seem to be able to sense when they are about
to finish a file. We saw it with Helly when
she hit her one hundred percent At the end of
last quarter. Mark selects the bin where this new group
will go. He then peers over the top of the
diamond desk divider. Helly catches his eyes. She realizes what's

(33:51):
about to happen. Mark nods slightly. We cut to a
view of Helly's hand. She slides the irving sketch out
from under her keyboard. The directions to the testing floor
elevator hallway are on the back. Helly folds the sheet
as she walks over to Mark's workstation. Helly gets down
close or cheek pressed up next to Mar' She stealthily
passes the note with Felicia's directions to Mark. Helly looks

(34:13):
at the screen where Mark has encircled the last batch
of numbers to be refinedly Sen's a happy one. Mark
must be corralling some of the temper frolic. It's the
only happy one. Helly puts her hand on top of Mark's.
Mark reaches for the bee which will bin the numbers.

(34:37):
A one percent animates out of the center of the screen.
On the watcher level, Drummond stands. We can see Mauer's eyes.
He looks distressed. Oh, mister Egan, Drummond has an assignment.
He grabs his coat and hustles out of the watcher area.
Maur is left sitting in his bright white lab coat,
looking at the screen mirror of Marx monitor. He opens
the drawer of the workstation and grabs the phone receiver

(35:00):
on the severed floor. The one hundred percent of Mark's
screen suddenly disappears. The screen shuts off, and the entire
room is momentarily in darkness. Intense green lights come on
in each corner of the room. A spotlight appears and
orients itself towards the front of the room, where the
statue of Kir is standing. In a nod to the
sound system that must have existed during the MD we

(35:21):
can hear music. It's an incredibly familiar tune for me.
I was a huge Chicago Bulls basketball fan during the
eighties and nineties. I used to tune in those Chicago
home games early just so I could hear this dramatic
announcement music. The tune is called Sirius. This version is

(36:04):
spelled sirius so a little bit of wordplay. It's an
instrumental written by Alan Parsons. It originally appeared on the
nineteen eighty two Alan Parsons Project album titled I in
the Sky. It runs about two minutes in segues right
into the title track. Chicago Radio legend and Bulls Stadium
announcer Tommy Edwards was the one who selected this track

(36:26):
for the iconic teen intro. He'd heard it being used
at a Chicago movie theater. Edwards liked the dramatic, pulsing
cut and thought it would work well under his voice
as the Bulls intro music. The cut made its NBA
debut in the fall of nineteen eighty four. It would
soon become a staple at stadiums throughout the United States.
The Bulls continue to use the original tune, but in

(36:47):
a reworked form. The original was redone in two thousand
and six, utilizing an arrangement by Ethan Stoller and Jamie Poindexter. Recently,
the cut Sirius has been heard as part of the
twenty twenty three sports drama Air about Michael Jordan. It
was also in a twenty twenty four promotional clip for
the movie Deadpool and Wolverine. As of this recording, the

(37:08):
last listing in the legacy section of Wikipedia shows it
being used here. In the season two finale of Severns,
kerr Is using the original of Sirius to introduce the
next part of the day's one hundred percent festivities, luman
Is celebrating the completion of a file which is going
to kill a person. Knowing the ultimate of fact Mark's

(37:29):
work is supposed to have makes the whole tone of
the next few minutes seem very inappropriate. The spotlight encircles
the very tall and staring statue of kir This statue
is a good five inches or more taller than Mark Geller.
Geller commented on the fact while prepping for these scenes.
He said his offhand comments one day had made their

(37:51):
way into the script. By the next day, Kerr's animatronic
right hand raises and he points in Mark's direction. Mark s,
it's the voice of friend of the podcast, Mark Geller,
coming from the statue.

Speaker 8 (38:04):
In completing your twenty fifth macro data file.

Speaker 1 (38:09):
The right animatronic hand turns over to hammer home the point.

Speaker 8 (38:13):
You have drawn my grand legendum nearer to fulfillment, thus
making you one of the most important people in history.

Speaker 1 (38:26):
The dramatic serious continues to punctuate his words. So, according
to animatronic here this work is supposed to have roots
in Cure's original vision for the company. I wonder how
true that is, or if the current management at Luman
likes the idea of adding this historical approval if Kre
was working on it, then we're justified in continuing his work,

(38:49):
even if it does mean killing innocent civilians. Since the
severance chip wasn't created until the early to mid nineteen
eighties and wasn't widely used until the mid aughts, I'm
pretty sure it wasn't part of Kure's original plans for Luman.
They might be making the case about something broad. We'll
hear about Kere wanting to eliminate pain. There are theories

(39:11):
about this Gemma experiment being based on relieving pain somehow,
the specifics of these theories are a bit fuzzy. Mark
Geller told us in an interview that he was sitting
around the corner with a microphone while shooting these animatronic
cure scenes. At first he was right in front of
the scene, but the feedback proved to be a problem.
He's really responding live to these comments. Once Miltchik joins

(39:34):
him on stage, Mark and Helly, bathed in green light,
are staring silently at this cure come to life in
front of them. I need to geek out a bit here.
I have issues with this voice coming from the animatronic.
It's really Kere. This is the voice we've come to
know as the actual voice of Cure. The last we
heard it was a recording made shortly before his death.

(39:55):
It's the one that plays down in the Perpetuity Wing.
When they needed a voice for the animated Cure here
who appears in the one hundred percent Completed File animation,
Luhman hired the actor Ben Stiller to record that voice.
We heard his take on the Cure voice when Helly
completed her file during the season one episode What's for Dinner?

Speaker 6 (40:14):
In refining your macro data file, you have brought glory
to this company and to me.

Speaker 3 (40:20):
Ker Egan, I.

Speaker 1 (40:24):
Love you. I'm sure you can see the problem. This
original voice of Kier is mentioning things like seth and
floor manager. If this is somehow a recording of the
real guy, they could never have predicted these responses back
in the nineteen thirties before Kere's death. Don't get me wrong,
I love hearing Mark Geller. He does a fantastic job.
But how do they have a new recording of Keure's

(40:47):
voice for this interaction? Is this indicating Cure might be
on ice somewhere, or maybe they've fed the old recordings
of his voice into some kind of AI voice synthesizer.
It's never addressed, but I'd love to know how we're
getting all new cure responses in Kir's actual voice, nearly
ninety years after his death. Okay, geek out over again.

(41:09):
Even though there's no obvious way they could have the
real cure, I'm glad they have Mark Geller because he
is killing it.

Speaker 6 (41:17):
Revel now in the fruit of your labor's fan Hail
your earth bound Stewart, your very own flo.

Speaker 1 (41:32):
Manager. The spotlight scans to the right expectantly, the music
fades out. There's an uncomfortable silence. Then mister Seth Miltchik
appears in the NDR entrance. The timing here is all off.
In silence, Miltchick pumps his fists and smiles to the crowd.
Canned applause covers Seth as he crosses in front of

(41:54):
Keir to take a spot on Cure's right. This means
he's to the left of frame from our vanity point.
Before we get into these Seth and Cure show, you
should take a moment to hit the vending machine. Refiner
severed will be right back.

Speaker 3 (42:10):
Hello, refiners, It's Mark Keller ker 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 (42:28):
Here's animatronic movements here in MDR are practical special effects
supervisor Doug Coleman added the electronics necessary for the movements
and the remote that controls them. The remote itself is
being operated by director Ben Stiller. His request was for
basic movement, nothing too fancy when you think about it.
This setup has to be heaven for a director. Instead

(42:49):
of offering suggestions and hoping they're interpreted correctly, here is
basically an actor with a joystick. The founder turns back
as Seth takes his position in the spotlight. Meltchik is
reading from prepared cards and he's making no attempt to
hide the fact. Thank you, kir. The sound of Cure's
servo motors is low key hilarious. He is moving and

(43:11):
gesticulating as Seth tries to make his way through the
pre printed greeting and.

Speaker 9 (43:16):
May I say you're looking very handsome, sir.

Speaker 1 (43:21):
With the grinding whirr, Here's head turns towards Seth like
he's an owl.

Speaker 8 (43:25):
Thank you. I'd say the same of you if not
for my favorite core principle.

Speaker 1 (43:32):
It's rough, but there's a Catskills kind of rhythm to
this pattern. They're like a third rate Laurel and hardy.
Seth checks his line on the printed card before responding
probity no.

Speaker 6 (43:45):
Vision.

Speaker 1 (43:46):
Cure telegraphs the punchline with a turn of his head
that canned laughter is riotous. Seth suppresses a grin as
the straight man, absorbing these barbs from Cure. Mark looks
to Helly with an expression that might sum up your
response to this scene, Refiner. His eyes are saying, are
they nuts? If you've never had to suffer through one

(44:06):
of these skits by high ranking corporate muckety MUCKs, you're
probably having the same reaction. To anyone who has been
a part of corporate life. You're probably chuckling right about now.
In any big company, you don't have to wait too
long before some horrible skit like this one is happening
on a conference room stage somewhere in the home office
or at a nearby hotel meeting room. It might be

(44:29):
during a quarterly sales meeting or a new product introduction
we saw Michael Scott put one together for a company
picnic on the office. I'm sorry to admit I've written
more than a few of these kinds of skits over
the years. The jokes are broad and usually so self
referential anyone outside the company would be hard pressed to
even get the gags. You'll know one of these abominations

(44:51):
is happening when you've got CEOs joshing with CFOs, or
department heads clowning with line workers. They'll all be nervously
reading bad inside jokes off file cards provided by the
PR department or more likely an ad agency. Seth is grinning.
He's riding high on the fake laughter generated by the
previous joke.

Speaker 9 (45:13):
Well, it's truly special to host a man so illustrious,
so sapient, so magnanimous.

Speaker 1 (45:22):
Ny over boose.

Speaker 8 (45:25):
Good thing you didn't write the first appendix, it would
have burst.

Speaker 1 (45:34):
It's a good line, nice wordplay here. This barb appears
to have hit Seth harder than it should have. It's
like in that moment he suddenly realized this is the
founder of the company, now also doubting him for his
word usage. He can't escape it. The laughter fades entirely
before Seth picks up the threat of the presentation. Their
timing is rickety and awkward, but I would bet they

(45:56):
did rehearse this little production beforehand.

Speaker 9 (45:58):
It's an honor to receive.

Speaker 5 (46:00):
Leave your barbs, mister Egan.

Speaker 9 (46:03):
The legacy you've left behind is truly and irrefutably larger
than life.

Speaker 1 (46:08):
It's a long walk, but Seth finally gets the setup out.

Speaker 3 (46:11):
You mean my company, of.

Speaker 1 (46:13):
Course, not we're doing insults here.

Speaker 9 (46:16):
No, I mean this wax statue that's five inches taller
than you actually were.

Speaker 1 (46:22):
Ooh, Miltchik lands one at cures expense. So by using
words like legacy and left behind, Seth is indicating he
knows he's talking to a dead guy. Ben Stiller told
Variety these lines between Miltchik and the cure statue were
some of his favorite interactions during the entire second season.
Listen to the crowd reaction here. If you caught our

(46:49):
interview with Bob and Jacob from the Severan Sound department,
you might recognize that voice. It's Jacob Ribakoff. They needed
some additional groans and cat calls to fill in. Jacob
went ahead and recorded himself doing it. I get it.
You're sitting at a console with a microphone. Just hitting
record is so much easier than going through the hassle
of finding talent and setting up a recording session. He

(47:13):
can't do it all the time, but for something like this. Sure,
This five inches taller line is the one that came
out of Mark Geller goofing around with his statue during
the pre production photo shoot. Pinko's creation is quite a
bit taller than Mark in real life. There's a long silence.
Kere doesn't seem to be handling this insubordination very well.
He pauses, staring forward. Seth reacts nervously. Mark and Helly

(47:37):
aren't sure what to make of this whole pageant. Finally,
Keer responds.

Speaker 5 (47:42):
Thank you for that feedback, Seth.

Speaker 1 (47:48):
He sounds peeved. The unseeing eyes and the pivoting head
are undeniably eerie. Miltchik ignore is the way his name
was spit at him by the founder. He takes a
couple of steps forward into the spotlight, and.

Speaker 9 (48:02):
Now, lady and gentlemen of MDR. May I introduce choreography and.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
Merriment. Yes you may. There is a pause as Seth
points to either side of the room. Then deep in
one of the severed floor hallways, we hear the snare
cadence of a marching band. Mark and Helly both react
to the distant sound of drumming. Meanwhile, in this spotlight
seth unceremoniously tips the Cure statue back and pulls it

(48:31):
off the stage. Cure's feet are mounted on a chunk
of green board. Miltchak continues to dazzle the crowd with
his smile as he is wrestling the founder out of
the way. Not sure if it was planned this way,
but volunteer producer and research of ANYP pointed out this
band performance happens at the exact midpoint of the episode.
It's like they're coming on for the halftime show. This

(48:53):
noise of the band is pervasive down in the breakroom.
We see any Dylan react to it. Finally, we're giving
a drumhead IV view of the Lumen Marching Band aka
Choreography and Merriment. Dan Erickson told Rolling Stone in an
interview that yes, Lumen does in fact have a department
filled with anise whose sole purpose is to perform in
a marching band for special occasions. He said, quote that's it.

(49:15):
That's their only job. He did not comment about how
often these guys were called upon to perform. When they're
not performing, I can only imagine they are practicing in
some distant corner of the severed floor. This huge glut
of people raises even more questions about how everyone gets
home each night. We've talked about this when it comes
to the goat people and even the gang over at

(49:37):
O and D. There's no way these huge groups are
using the single severed elevator we know about. It would
take all day to get them up and down. If
everybody must stagger their arrivals and departures. I do not
believe all these people are passing through juds Guard station.
So where are they going? I've developed a theory about
these other departments and how they're being transported to and

(49:59):
front work each day. Picture the severed floor like it's
the tunnels of a coal mine. The main elevator shaft
that delivers miners to the underground labyrinth is housed in
a single building. This building does not, by any means,
extend out over the area covered by the tunnels of
the mine. Some coal mine tunnels can extend for miles
under cities and way out into the countryside around where

(50:22):
the main shaft is located. I think the same thing
is happening with the severed floor. Dan Erickson has already
told us it goes on for miles. This means the
severed floor extends well beyond the confines of the main
lumen building where the macrodats start and end their days.
It's a big building, but no way is it as
big as the severed floor. We know. Mammalian's Nurturable is

(50:43):
so far from the severed floor elevator they have to
send a courier to make contact with mister Milchik. Miltchik
is still their floor manager, but he is a long
way from the m n department. I believe this surface
entry point for each of these other departments is well
away from the main building. Suppose just over a rise
beyond the main building, Luomen has a surface goat farm.

(51:04):
One of the buildings in that goat farm houses a
bank of elevators that arrive down on the severed floor
close to the Mammalian's Nurturable department. These severed goat people
don't report to the main building each day. They start
their day as Audi's arriving at the goat farm. Same
with O and D picture a surface workshop equipped with
three D printers and housing curated paintings. This workshop would

(51:27):
also include a bank of elevators that arrive on the
severed floor in proximity to the O and D department.
CNM might start their days gathering in some kind of
performance space. Again, a bank of elevators housed in their
building would be able to deliver severed CNM workers to
a spot near their severed floor office. These distributed arrival
locations and other widely separated severed elevator banks. So the

(51:50):
most logical way I can come up with to get
all these people down to the severed floor each day,
relying on the single elevator that serves the four Macrodads
for all severed floor traffic has never made any sense
in my mind. As the drum cadence explodes, we get
a quick look downstairs at Gemma. She's done the outfit
for today's room. Visit. This is her Cold Harbor outfit,

(52:13):
Dan Erickson told Deadline. This Cold Harbor room is different
because of where the pain is coming from. All of
Jemma's other testing floor rooms have introduced a painful scenario
to the newly created any whether it's the pain of
a dental visit or the perceived horrors of writing too
many thank you notes. The pains of the testing floor
have always been created by and contained within each room.

(52:37):
Cold Harbor brings a painful element from her Audi life
into the mix. Dan said, they're asking the question here
does the pain transfer from the Audi to the INNI.
As Jemma is exiting her apartment, we can hear the
drum line, let's get I'm not sure if Jemma is
also hearing the drum line. It's in the mix, but

(52:59):
it may not be diegetic. She and her nurse don't
seem to be reacting to it. We cut to more
action shots of the marching band out in the halls.
They are marching to across and moving quickly. The word
Lumen is on the front sash of each band member.
The back of the tunic includes a C and amper
sand than an M running down between the performer's shoulder blades.
The big bass drums also feature the Lumen World logo

(53:23):
on the drumhead. A fun, little real life logistical detail
emerged because of the glut of band members in the
halls with all these people running around, getting through the
hallway to the actual bathroom was difficult. The bathroom just
off MDR is a set. Sure, there are some very
real stools and sinks, but nothing is actually connected to plumbing.

(53:44):
Getting to the real York studio's bathroom had always meant
negotiating several hallways out around the MDR space. When the
actors were basically trapped by the band members, somebody realized
something important. Necessity is the mother of invention is victually
where the bathroom is concerned. Turns out, one of the
stalls in the set bathroom was backed up to the

(54:06):
real bathroom. It was possible to gain fairly easy access
to the real bathroom by pulling the back wall out
of one of the set stalls. The production had been
working in this space for nearly three years, and no
one had realized how easy it could have been all
this time to get to the bathroom. Now that they
were pretty much done for the season and these walls

(54:28):
were coming down here in York Studios, they were only
able to enjoy this new convenience for a few days.
The band is converging on MDR from two different directions,
as they enter the MDR space. The band members to
the left of frame are entering in green light. The
band members entering frame right are under blue lights. The
light grid above them comes alive as the band assembles

(54:48):
in MDR, A line of white lights cuts through the middle.
Coming from behind the group and wearing white gloves is
none other than mister Seth Miltchik drum major. He's decked
out in a suit coat and tie that ref alex
the colors of the lumen band. Seth must have been
rehearsing with the CNM department. The band breaks into a
rousing rendition of the Cure anthem. This musical signature has

(55:10):
been featured throughout the series. Most notably, we heard a
rather meditative rendition of this hymn performed with lyrics by
Harmony Kobell. She also performed it right here in MDR.
Cuts to Mark and Helly reveal their utter bewilderment. Their
grim expressions are not reflecting the joyous presentation happening all
around them. The rousing, high stepping, and very physical way

(55:33):
the band is performing was identified in several articles as
being reminiscent of HBCU bands. I was not familiar with
this term HBCU. Researching it has been an interesting trip
through some underappreciated avenues of American history. The abbreviation stands
for historically Black Colleges and Universities. Tremille Tillman has attended

(55:55):
two HBCUs in his life. He went to both Xavier
University and Jackie and State University. He never performed with
the bands at these schools, but as a student he
was very aware of the HBCU band heritage. He said,
this episode presented him with the chance to honor the agility,
the stamina, and the endurance of the drum majors who

(56:16):
lead these HBCU marching bands. We'll get into a brief
history of the HBCUs in a couple minutes. Right now,
you need to wash your hands refiner ten times a day,
just like the handbook says. Severed will be right back. Hi.
I'm Adam Scott.

Speaker 2 (56:33):
I play mark s on Severance, which you likely already
know since you're listening to sever did the Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 1 (56:43):
Here are some quick highlights when it comes to the
history of the HBCU marching band tradition. The origin of
the HBCU marching band predates the United States. As early
as seventeen thirty eight, in the Virginia House of Burgesses,
a statue was enacted requiring military service for quote free mulattoes, Blacks,
and Native Americans. They were required to serve, but the

(57:05):
government was worried about a domestic rebellion. No surprise, these
repressed and enslaved groups weren't allowed to carry arms. Instead,
these soldiers would serve as drummers, fifers, and trumpeters. Nearly
five thousand African Americans served during the American Revolutionary War,
and almost all of them did so as musicians. This

(57:26):
tendency to recruit African Americans into military service as musicians
continued on into the War of eighteen twelve. Following that war,
a number of all black civilian brass bands formed around
the United States. They were formed by and comprised of,
primarily black veterans. New Orleans had a number of these bands,
and many of them adopted a very theatrical performance style.

(57:49):
Their theatrics drew heavily from the minstrel shows which toured
the South after the Civil War. The very first HBCU
band to be established came about in eighteen ninety. The
Tuskegee Normal School later to be known as Tuskegee University,
established a very robust band program under student direction. They
didn't get their first professional director until nineteen oh seven.

(58:11):
From there, the establishment of HBCU marching bands took off.
The original HBCU style, which includes high stepping marches and
complex dance routines, can be traced to Florida, A and
M in the nineteen forties. Through the forties and fifties,
places like Grambling State University and Tennessee State University cultivated
a reputation for extravagant marching band performances. In nineteen fifty five,

(58:35):
Tennessee State U became the first HBCU marching band to
appear on national television. They provided halftime entertainment for Chicago
Bears NFL game. Tremil Tillman knows a little something about
the marching band. High school yearbook picks of mister Miltchick
and his band uniform have circulated online. He attended Eleanor
Roosevelt High School in Maryland, where he was a member

(58:56):
of the marching band. Tremail Tillman city was never allowed
to direct a full piece while in high school. Here
he gets to take center stage, directing and everything. This
first piece is building to a climax. Mark and Helli
are standing back to back looking thoroughly freaked out. Milchik
wearing a blazer with the choreography and Merriment patch on it,
is directing at this point when they shout Mark, we

(59:22):
cut to an overhead shot looking down at the diamond desk.
The band is a raid around it. On que these
band members pull out cards that create a large mosaic.
We can see it from the overhead view. The cards
create a white field on the left of the frame.
To the left of the diamond desk, there's a one
hundred percent made up of about a dozen of the cards.
To the right of the diamond desk is a very

(59:44):
passable illustration of Mark s He's smiling and got to say,
looking quite a bit like Tom Cruise in this caricature.
Tom Cruise has been named as providing the spiritual guidance
and support for much of Adam Scott's running throughout this season.
It's nice to see that Mark is emulating mister Kruz
in this line drawing. This mosaic of white cards flashes

(01:00:05):
by so quickly it's hard to key in on what's
happening here. The band is really there. They are performing
decked out in their lumen finery. When they hit the
mark part of the choreography, they all throw their hands up.
They do not have the final cards that we see
in their hands. Those were created by industrial light and magic.
ILM identifies this sequence as being done practically. What their

(01:00:29):
meaning is this is an actual band doing actual dance
steps which get them to the point where they all
reveal the card mosaic. Once the cards go up, ILM
takes over to make sure the mosaic looks right. ILM
calls it practical because they didn't animate the band or
create any band members. They only added the cards to
their hands and created the final mosaic. The ceiling of

(01:00:52):
the MDR space couldn't be removed. It can be raised,
but not high enough to allow for this straight down
view of the entire floor. They had to have the
camera way up in order to capture this entire group.
Since they'd taken it this far, they decided to move
the entire final shot to a studio space with a
lot of headroom. Eric Levin from ILM said they moved

(01:01:12):
to a spot where the camera could be high enough
to capture the entire final mosaic. That also meant moving
the diamond desk and laying down a lot of green carpeting.
If you're like me, might be wondering who exactly are
they doing this for. Normally, a card mosaic like this
would happen on a football field or in the stands
where other spectators could see it. These cards are being

(01:01:34):
flashed at the very low MDR ceiling. Don't worry yourself
too much about it. The writers certainly didn't. The end
of the piece feels like the end of a big
musical production number. We hold for a second on the
final mosaic, then we hear an elevator door opens. It's
Jane Egan, looking all smiling and bubbly. No, I'm kidding,

(01:01:55):
he's as sour and dower as ever. Jame is decked
out in a very dated looking blue tunic. It's the
kind of thing that might have been in vogue in
the late eighteen hundreds. Jaime is always giving off I'm
older than you think vibes. His wardrobe adds to the
overall sense of Wow, this guy's ancient. Jame is entering
what the script calls the Executive Viewing Suite. It's a

(01:02:16):
room serviced directly by an elevator, but we don't know
if it's in the main building in James Home or
somewhere below ground near the severed floor. The entire room
is the width of a desk. In addition to the desk,
this room contains a computer monitor with one of those
input control selectors like the Watchers use, and a portrait
of Cure Egan. There's also a low chair checking in

(01:02:39):
Down on the testing floor. Gemma and her nurse are
making their way to the new Cold Harbor room. Gemma
is dressed exactly the way she was the last time
she saw Audi. Mark cut back to the Executive Viewing
Suite and a slow push in on the portrait of Kre.
This is what I call early twentieth century Kre. He
has no beard, but a pretty full mustache. Is a

(01:03:00):
corporate length in the hairline is receiving a bit. He's
wearing a necktie with a shirt that has a deep collar.
Jame Egan seems to be regarding this painting when a
speaker crackles to life on the desk in front of him.

Speaker 3 (01:03:12):
Welcome mystery.

Speaker 1 (01:03:14):
It's maur Last we saw him, he was down in
the watcher area. He must have a camera view into
this room along with the intercom.

Speaker 3 (01:03:22):
The efficacy test will begin shortly.

Speaker 1 (01:03:25):
The word efficacy kind of flies by here. I didn't
know what it meant. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, in
a medical sense, efficacy is how well a particular drug
or treatment works under carefully controlled testing conditions. How this
applies to the Cold Harbor room is a bit vague.
It's certainly a highly controlled testing situation, but we're not

(01:03:45):
sure what outcome they're looking for. We can't know the
efficacy of the treatment until we know what they want
to accomplish. Jame has a seat looking at the big
CRT computer monitor. I love the shot of his comparatively
tiny head practically mounted on the top of the monitor.
The reverse of the screen shows the text message the
test will begin shortly. Yeah, they still need to get

(01:04:08):
Jemma to the room where the test is happening. Back
down in Mdr Mark and Helly are recovering from that
last number. They are standing back to back next to
the diamond desk. Thank you, C and m as Miltchik
is speaking. One of the band members helps him peel
off his drum major jacket.

Speaker 9 (01:04:25):
Let's keep the Mark s Love going.

Speaker 1 (01:04:27):
All of this Mark s Love seems to be designed
to keep him here in MDR I have to leave.
I'm curious as to why they think they need to
go to these extremes to distract Mark. Could they know
about his plans to try to make a run for
the testing floor? Could Kobel have place to call this morning?
We still don't know Cobell's motives or motivations. She knows

(01:04:50):
all about both Any and Autie Mark's plans. If she
were wanting to get back in the good graces of Lumen,
letting them know so they could thwart Mark's plans would
be a solid peace offering. The CNM show isn't over.
Miltchik was just catching his breath. Mark guest Love is
about to continue.

Speaker 9 (01:05:07):
With the Ballad of Ambrose.

Speaker 5 (01:05:11):
And Gunnell.

Speaker 1 (01:05:12):
The pause there before Gunneal was so Seth could catch
a drum major's baton. It's a huge thing with a
silver ball on top, and Stiller said this was one
of those moments where it became obvious what an instinctual actor.
Tremmel Tillman, is you put a drum major's baton in
his hand and just stand back. Tremmel knows what to
do with it. Do you recall hearing about Gunnell Egan.

(01:05:33):
She's the new Egan name we were introduced to during
this Wongs Wintertide Fellowship presentation. Gunnell founded the Empathy Center
in Svalbard, or at least its name for her. We
don't know for certain, but most severance researchers agree that
Gunnell is Ambrose's wife. This is almost entirely based on
this title, The Ballad of Ambrose and Gunnell. There are

(01:05:56):
some who believe Gunnell is a direct descendant of Kure,
which would make her possibly a sister to Ambrose instead
of his wife, and yes, knowing Cure's history, she could
also be both sister and wife. Do not miss mister

(01:06:17):
Tillman busting out some moves as the ballad gets underway.
Tremull Tillman said in a Vulture interview he was a
bit hesitant about doing more dancing in season two. It
was fun during the mde and season one, but he
didn't want to be the guy who quote dances in
every season. Tillman's created a character that's much more than
just the guy who breaks out some cool dance moves.

(01:06:40):
Then this marching band idea came along and T squared
was in. He said, he got excited. He sat up
and said, wait, what is this marching band? He wanted
to know if this band would be performing in the
HBCU style. As mentioned, Tillman has some band geek cred
from his high school days. How could he not want
to be leading some things cool as this CNM performance.

(01:07:03):
He said he was never able to direct a full
piece while in high school. He was thankful for the
tips from the band director and choreographer on this piece.
You might be thinking this whole marching band idea is
a bit crazy. Dan Erickson told Den of Geek there
was no metaphor or deeper meaning to having the band perform.
He said it quote just felt right. Also, word is

(01:07:26):
Ben Stiller loves marching bands almost as much as he
hates eggs. Introducing a marching band into a scene does
have roots in some very respected cinematic properties. There was
a marching band scene in the nineteen forty one American
classic Citizen Kane, as the band plays on why don't
You March? Yourself over to the coffee machine. Refiner Severed
will be right back.

Speaker 9 (01:07:51):
Hey, this is Penko, the sculptor from Severance.

Speaker 2 (01:07:54):
You're listening to sever the Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:07:59):
The Ballad of Ambrose and Gunnell plays on with mister
Miltchik in high gear. Tamuelle Tillman is next level. He
is killing everything about this scene. I want these dance
sequences on a loop. The first piece, the hymn was

(01:08:21):
done in a more straightforward marching band style. This second
piece is where the HBCU style kicked in. Tillman said
he was picturing himself as the drum major at Jackson
State University. Their program is referred to as the Sonic
Boom of the South. Tillman says it's one of the
best marching band programs anywhere in the world. Being able

(01:08:41):
to emulate these HBCU bands on the show was just
too much fun to pass up. The band we're seeing
in this episode was assembled for the show. It's not
a marching band from another place. One choreographer brought these
musicians together and created these sequences specifically for the episode.
Was a reprise of this scene at a special viewing

(01:09:02):
of the finale. For that performance, Tremmel Tillman led the
USC Marching Band into the event. In the midst of
the CNM chaos, Helly is getting conspiratorial with Mark Kennedy.
Mark's expression is serious and intense. Yeah. Helly calls back
their earlier discussion see you with the Equator. Mark echoes

(01:09:23):
the line. As Helly moves into position. She ducks down
and starts to pick her way through the energetic marching
band members. Miltchik is way into his performance. He is
so into it he's not ready for Helly to nab
his oversized cell phone from the holster on his belt.
Helly spins away from him and disappears into the band.
Miltchick's groove is interrupted. He is looking around for Helly,

(01:09:45):
trying to figure out what just happened. Miltchik stalks past Mark.
He's not paying any attention to Mark as he tries
to track down Helly and his phone. Mark starts to
head out of the department. Helly ducks into the bathroom.
Is also making his way towards the bathroom, so he's
moving away from Mark. The distraction worked. Mark is free.

(01:10:08):
He darts into the hallway. He then pulls out the
herb sketch and references the instructions, even though they are
clearly marked as starting at O and D. Mark seems
to duck down the hall based on the first instruction.
Maybe he's going to run to O and D first,
then start following the directions. We can hear the band
play on as Mark breaks into a run. He looks
over his shoulder, but no one has noticed him missing.

(01:10:30):
Miltchik roughly pushes open the bathroom door as Mark disappears
at a turn in the hall. Oops. Seth's phone is
at the bottom of a toilet with water draining around it.
No worries. This phone can handle quite a bit of water.
It can even be submerged. I don't think Helly was
actively trying to damage the phone. She just wanted to
distract Miltchik. Helly manages to slip behind Miltchick as he's

(01:10:53):
retrieving his phone. She pulls the main door closed behind her.
Seth sees her leave and steps to the door. Helly
intends to trap Meltchk in the bathroom. On the other
side of the door, She's frantically holding the knob. A
line of horns, including several trombones is right behind her.
Hey a little fine little side note here. When the

(01:11:14):
band was first hired, most of them had never seen
the show. They didn't know what it was about or
who these characters were. Tremuelle Tillman said the attitude the
band members had towards him changed over the course of
the five days. While they were rehearsing, one of them
told him they liked him. At first they thought he
was like them, a performer hired to be a part
of the band. Then the band member actors all watched

(01:11:38):
the show. After seeing Miltchik the hardass performing his severed
floor duties, the band decided they didn't like him as much.
Getting the band members to help Helly and Dylan stop
Meltchik was not a stretch. Speaking of Dylan, we cut
to a newly energized Inny Dylan, who is making his
way through the severed floor halls. He's somewhere between the
break room and MDR. When the camera catches up to

(01:11:59):
he's hustling down the halls to the sound of the
CNM marching band. We cut to a darkened hallway. It's
the testing floor elevator hallway. The elevator door opens to
reveal Drummond. The red down arrow tells us he's arrived
on the severed floor. Drummond's expression is grim as he
walks the length of the darkened hallway. He comes out

(01:12:20):
into the white halls of the severed floor. Drummond pauses,
turns to what we think is a wall, and pushes.
He opened something, but we don't get to see what
just yet. There's a cut to following running Mark Adam
Scott is getting an even more cardio here at the
end of the season. We have to remember any Mark
is headed for the testing floor elevator hallway. We just

(01:12:42):
saw Drummond emerge from that hallway. Whatever Drummond's doing, it's
happening right across the hall from the entrance to the
testing floor elevator. We are handheld and running. As we
follow Mark's progress through the severed floor, he keeps referring
to the directions on earth sheet. The pay down on
the testing floor is decidedly slower. We catch up to

(01:13:04):
Jemma and her nurse, who are both trudging along. In
the leading shot, I'd almost say they were moving in
slow motion. The camera pans to the left to reveal
the name badge for the room Cold Harbor. Gemma steps
up to the door, resigned to the fact she will
be visiting this room today. Her nurse gives her a
wand smile. There's a biometric lock on this door, like

(01:13:25):
the others we visited down here. Before the door is opened,
we cut to the back of a woman's head. The
hair is braided and complex, but also kind of messy.
As we follow her, there's a telltale goat bleat in
the soundtrack. We are following Lorn played by Gwendolen Christie.

(01:13:46):
She's the very tall and very serious mistress of the
department called Mammalian's Nurturable. We last saw Lorn in the
third episode of season two, Who is Alive? You remember
she's the lady who runs the goat department. Thanks to
the writer and actor strikes, Gwendolen Christie had a layoff
of a year and a half between her appearance in
the third episode and here in the season finale. Here's

(01:14:10):
a fun random fact from the set. Brittlawer's niece's middle
name is Brienne Yep. She's named after Gwendolen Christie's character
from Game of Thrones. The lovely and formidable Lady Brienne
of Ptarth. Lauren is pushing what looks like a very
small shopping cart. It's a goat transport, custom fabricated for

(01:14:30):
the show, and it is a baby goat, and it's
bleeding a lot. This goat, as will be told in
a bit, is named Emil in the show. In real life,
Gwendolen Christie said, this goat's name is Peggy. Gwendolen, who
is a true fan Obseverance, loved the crossover with the

(01:14:52):
writer of the Lexington Letter, who was also named Peggy.
Peggy is fourteen weeks old as we see her here.
Both the transport and the chamber will be seeing in
a few minutes had to be built to accommodate any
sized goat. Peggy hadn't been born when they started working
these items. They didn't know how old she might be
when they eventually would be able to shoot the scene.

(01:15:13):
The containers had to be able to handle goats of
all ages and sizes. We can tell in the hallways
we must be on the severed floor. There's a cut
to Lauren's face as she continues to push the cart.
Her expression is somber, her eyes are red rimmed, and
it looks like she's been crying. She might be on
the verge of tears again. Over an MDR, a blue

(01:15:34):
tinted Helly is still fighting the battle of the bathroom
door alone. Seth is determined to get himself out. Helly
is doing everything in her power to keep him in,
but she can't hold on for much longer, and the
band plays on. Suddenly, the door handle gives way. Both

(01:15:56):
Seth and Helly are thrown to the ground. That door
flies open, and they're looking at each other across the threshold.
Seth stands Helly. He's quickly crossing the bathroom floor. Where's Mark?
She looks frightened as she shouts back at him. I
don't know. Seth is about to emerge from the bathroom
when we hear a guttural scream. It's Dylan g He

(01:16:24):
assessed the situation upon arriving at MDR and decided you
should give Helly some assistance. Dylan is no longer worried
about angering the powers that be. He doesn't have any
oudy visitation minutes to worry about losing, so no need
to kiss up. Dylan pushes the vending machine across the
carpet and in front of the bathroom door. The vending

(01:16:48):
machine proves to be an effective doorstop. Meltchik kicks at
the door, but it's not opening. We're about to check
back in with the testing floor before we do. This
is going to make a perfect stopping point for this week.
Only got one more part to go. Next week we'll
finish off the finale in the episode called Cold Harbor
Part three. Stay subscribed to this podcast feed and keep

(01:17:10):
watching the severed social media pages for updates about origins episodes.
As always, a big thanks to volunteer researcher slash producer
Vinip for his contributions to this week's podcast. Also a
big thanks to those of you who are supporting the
podcast with your positive words. Thank you for your comments
on the Facebook page, Reddit or as an Apple podcast reviewer,

(01:17:30):
I do read all of the comments and your kind
words and encouragement are greatly appreciated. Your glowing reviews on
Apple Podcasts are also bringing new listeners to the podcast.
For now, it's time to put things away at your
workstation and shut down your computer. As you're putting things away,
a quick reminder you can still sign up to be
a part of the Severed Patreon page. It's an easy
way to support this Severed podcast by pluging five dollars

(01:17:54):
a month. It's also a fun place to hang. We
talk all things Severance and keep you updated on the
Severed podcast and the Severance television production schedule. Signing up
is easy go to patreon dot com slash Severed pod.
That's patreon dot com slash Severed pod. For now, Refiner,
It's time for you to get to the elevator. Thanks
for continuing to take this ride with me through season two,

(01:18:16):
and as always, please stagger your exits.

Speaker 2 (01:18:20):
You've been listening to Severed, the Ultimate Severance Podcast. Severed
is written, produced, and hosted by Alan Stair.

Speaker 7 (01:18:27):
Severed is not endorsed by Red Hour Productions, Endevor Content,
or Apple TV Plus. This podcast is intended for entertainment
and informational purposes only.

Speaker 2 (01:18:37):
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 7 (01:18:49):
Please make sure to leave a five star rating and
review for Severed at Apple Podcasts

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

SmartLess

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

.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;}S2E43-REWATCH10-PT02-Cold Harbor

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Stuff You Should Know

SmartLess

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

All Episodes

S2E43-REWATCH10-PT02-Cold Harbor

Stuff You Should Know