S2E48-ReRun-REWATCH06-PT01-Atilla

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

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hey, their Refiner, Welcome back to the Severed floor. Our
full rewatch of season two is rocketing right along. Even
though we are more than halfway through season two. I'm
still going to say it spoilers. You must have seen
all ten of the season two episodes of Severance before
you begin this podcast. There are spoilers everywhere. Welcome to Severed,

(00:34):
the Ultimate Severance Podcast. I'm your host, Alan Ash. You
found yourself somewhere deep in the Severed full shot by shot,
moment by moment rewatch of season two. We're mercilessly digging
into every detail, identifying all the interesting set decoration, and
checking out some of the crackpot theories. Not all of them,

(00:54):
because some of them are kind of scary. Episode six, Attila,
was released for download on February twenty of twenty twenty five.
It was written by Aaron Wagner along with creator Dan Rickson.
This episode was directed by Uda Bresuwitz. This is our
first episode both written and directed by a woman. You
may have noticed more and more female involvement in both

(01:14):
the directing and scripting of these mid to late season
two episodes as the story's focus moves more towards Gemma
and her struggles with pregnancy. It seems to be the
ladies who have the insight. In the next episode, Jessica
Iganie is going to take this female involvement to the
pinnacle of creative excellence with her take on Chekai Bardo.

(01:35):
We couldn't find a comment from anyone confirming this move
to female leadership, but it is definitely happening. Uda Brezowitz
is no stranger to the director's chair. She began her
career in twenty ten by directing three episodes of the
HBO comedy series hung She also picked up an episode
of Weeds at about the same time. Directing for HBO

(01:57):
isn't like directing for network television. Huda was making TV,
but she was doing it like it's a movie.

Speaker 3 (02:03):
She's not.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Thirty four director credits that include helming Epps for high
profile series like House of Lies, Orange Is the New Black,
This Is Us, and Fear the Walking Dead. In twenty eighteen,
she directed two episodes of Altered Carbon. During one of those,
she had the chance to work with Deechin Lockman, who
was an Altered Carbon co star. Writer Aaron Wagner lists

(02:24):
this episode is one of six writing credits on her
IMDb profile. Her career got underway in twenty sixteen on
the series Caring. Aaron does list herself as being both
writer and director on a short called Awakened from twenty ten.
It shows a release date in April of twenty ten,
but no box office or budget info. I'm pretty sure

(02:46):
this was a college project. You may have noticed Dan
Erickson gets a writing credit on every episode. Is he
really writing that much? Is he really that a tune
to the female psyche? No, not so much. I know.
So Dan is very involved with the overall arc of
the story, but he's probably not writing something for every episode.

(03:07):
According to the WGA rules, as the creator of the show,
Dan has a right to some writing credit for every episode.
He gets this credit even if he never boots up
a word processor or adds a single line to a script.
This is because Dan created the characters and the world
in which they appear. If this structure weren't in place,

(03:27):
the writer of the specific episode couldn't do anything with
any non anthology TV series. The specific episode writer is
taking existing characters in an existing world and writing them
into new situations. Dan automatically gets some recognition for creating
the characters and the world. You'll notice his name usually

(03:47):
comes second in the credits. This is because the WGA
specifies name should be listed based on the percentage of
involvement in a particular script. The writer with the most
involvement is listed as the first writer on that script.
Dan also sometimes does not get an on screen credit
at the end of the episode, but he will be
listed as a writer on IMDb. This would indicate he

(04:10):
didn't do anything specifically for the episode, but this listing
allows him to get his payment due as writer creator.
As fascinating as all they says, I know you didn't
come here for a dissertation on WGA rules. How about
we pop open the file called Attila. The audio track
is bubbling over black. We can see the Apple original

(04:34):
and fifth season logos dissolve on we hear Mark sounding distressed.

Speaker 4 (04:38):
There's this gray hall.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
He's recounting his vision from the end of the last episode.
This is just a few minutes later. He Andry Gabby
are in the living room of his townhouse. Mark has
pored himself a cup of coffee. The bubbling is his
fish tank.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
Everything was so white.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
Yeah, we've kind of gotten used to to it, since
we're down there all the time. But those halls are
intensely white. They have to be a bit off putting
to someone who spends his life here in the shadows
of this dark and depressing townhouse. Regaby is unusually subdued
and supportive.

Speaker 4 (05:14):
We're making progress, hmm.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
You think one quick snippet of what was probably a
hallucination does not feel like progress.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
It's not just waking up on a table. It's human interaction.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
You might be a little free with the word interaction there,
Ms Casey said half a phrase to him before blinking
out of existence.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
Still feel human? This fulic a nightmar.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
Mark wants to know why his wife is tasked with
rattling off a bunch of facts.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
What are they doing to her?

Speaker 2 (05:43):
Little does he know the whole miss Casey thing is
a reprieve from what they're really doing to her. I'm
sure if Jemma were able to choose, she would much
rather read a whole list of Oudy facts before she'd
willingly go back for another minute with doctor Mauer and
the dentist chair. If Regabi was down there working with Maer,
he kept her in the dark about Gemma.

Speaker 4 (06:02):
All I know is she's essential, which.

Speaker 2 (06:04):
Isn't a lot to know about somebody you've been doing
tests on for more than two years. Mark is concerned
because the woman in his vision didn't recognize him. Regabi
understands he was interacting with a switched persona did Jemmy,
you know is still in there, she just wasn't on
the right level to be accessed. Regabi is uncharacteristically quite positive.
She says, when Mark gets Gemma out, it will be

(06:26):
the two of them out here together. From our point
of view, this also means the show will be over.
Where would the storylines go if these two are reunited,
Mark and Jemma returned to teaching and living together as
a happily married couple. We get to follow them into
the classroom for lectures on Russian literature and World War One.
We can share their joys and sorrows as they continue

(06:47):
trying to get pregnant. We never returned to Luman. We
never ride the severed elevator again. Oh sure, maybe we
could hang with Milt Chicken Kobel down on the severed
floor with a new group of innies, but that would
probably feel like the ill faded ninth season of Scrubs.
There's no way around it. If Gemma and Mark are reunited,
severance is over. Check the fish tank behind Mark's head,

(07:08):
Remember how it was red at one end and blue
at the other. They're kind of missing with this lately.
Their red half of the tank here is in darkness.
Red in season two represents warmth and love. Blue and
green represent the severed floor and work in general. Mark
SIPs his coffee then says a single word, bargaining. He's
referencing the much praised Kubler Ross model of grief.

Speaker 3 (07:31):
Yeah, what that is.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
Bargaining is one of the stages. Swiss American psychiatrist Elizabeth
Kubler Ross published the model in nineteen sixty nine under
the title The Five Stages of Death. The Kubler Ross
model applies to those who have experienced sudden grief, like
you know after a car accident. The stages aren't necessarily
experienced in order, and not everyone experiences every stage. The

(07:52):
identified stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance.
It sounds like Mark fatated on bargaining as he wrestled
with the loss of Gemma.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
You think about all the things you do all the
ways you change to get that person back.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
He claimed he'd drink less and listen more. This would
indicate Mark's drinking problem is maybe not entirely a result
of Jemma's death. It may have gotten worse after, but
it sounds like he was battling alcohol abuse issues even
before he lost Gemma.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
It's dumb, but you do it anyway.

Speaker 2 (08:31):
Regaby is so weirdly supportive here. She says it's normal
Mark brought it up because of the weird twist in
his particular case. Bargaining in the midst of grief is futile.
It does not.

Speaker 1 (08:44):
Work, but for me it might actually happen.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
Regaby nods sympathetically. As Mark and Regaby are looking at
each other, we can hear Dylan in voiceover was a.

Speaker 1 (08:53):
Sketch of a black hallway with a black elevator that
only goes down.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
As Dylan is talking, we cut to a slowly moving
pan shot in the severed floor kitchenette. As soon as
the shot comes up on the mirror image, do not
miss the countertop appliances. The low white rectangular box with
the dark window on the front of it is probably
one of the coolest desktop appliances ever invented. This is
the incredibly expensive, highly popular, super gourmet Balmuda toaster. It's

(09:21):
also sometimes referred to as a toaster oven. The Balmuda
is going to run you three hundred and nine dollars
no matter where you buy it. Yes, it's pricey for
a toaster, but this is no ordinary toaster. What makes
the Balmuda such a game changer steam. This little beauty
uses steam alongside traditional heating elements to deliver bread that's

(09:41):
crispy on the outside, fluffy and moist on the inside.
The Balmuda can even take an old, dried up piece
of bread and give it new, moist, fluffy, toasted life.
You also need to take note of the mirror image.
Remember last episode how we had the shot of dual
helly in the bathroom mirror. That theme has been picked
up and and Uda is running with it. We're going

(10:01):
to see a number of duality reflections of the ENnies
throughout this episode. This one is really cool because it
captures all three Macrodats in dual form. Mark realizes from
Dylan's info there's a floor beneath them. I must be
with the keeping on OUTI Helena actually knows this information
any Helly can only guess at it. There were direction

(10:22):
on the back, well fantastic. Kelly says, let's see it.
What are you waiting for? Dylan, It's time to go
fine ms. Casey left it there by the poster. Mark
wonders why he wouldn't just take it. Dylan can't be
too specific as to why. He says he just didn't.

Speaker 1 (10:36):
Okay, I don't want to get in trouble right now.

Speaker 2 (10:38):
Because he'd hate to jeopardize those minutes he guess with
his Audi's wife. Helly is talking fast and sassy. She
says she doesn't care about getting in trouble. She'll go
get the note.

Speaker 1 (10:49):
He said he's buying the poster of you actually been great?

Speaker 2 (10:51):
Ooh, Helly r burn. It's like Helly is going out
of her way to prove she is who she says
she is. Would stick in the mud, Helena egan be
able to bust balls like this, No.

Speaker 1 (11:01):
Way, yeah, fuck you.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
You don't know everything.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
Mark says he should tell them it's okay, No, it
really isn't. Dylan can't go any further with his conversation
or he's going to give something away. He shouldn't. Instead
of falling into a verbal trap, he makes a disgruntled noise,
grabs his coffee mug, and exits the kitchenette. Helly is
fired up. She's making up from missing out on those
first four episodes of the season.

Speaker 5 (11:24):
Okay, well, I saw the all of pass, so I
can go to break her now and then we can
start off a lunch.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
Mark turns away and says, maybe this sets Helly off?

Speaker 4 (11:32):
Maybe did everyone sever their balls in the elevator this morning?

Speaker 2 (11:36):
Mark isn't really concentrating. He's thinking about food. The reintegration
process makes you ravenous. No wonder Pete was at the
gas station shouting about tokens right before he died. Quick
as side about Helly and the hall pass. How would
helly R know about the hall pass? They were an
innovation introduced in the animation video. Helly ar wasn't around

(11:57):
for the introduction of hall passes. She's talking about it
here like it's one she has left over from when
she was using it as Helena. Mark or Dylan must
have explained the whole pass concept to her. Mark is
about to check the fridge for a snack, which seems
like a great idea. Why don't you take this opportunity
to visit the vending machine refiner. Severed will be right back.

Speaker 6 (12:20):
Hey, this is Ben Stiller. Thanks for listening to Severed,
the Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
Mark yanks open the fridge and bends down to see
what's available. When he does, we get a reintegration tremor.
The contents of the fridge change, then snap back. When
we cut to Mark's POV, He's now looking at the
contents of his fridge at home, the snap beans on
the top shelf, the little bottles of reintegration goo. This
is his fridge, then it isn't. Suddenly we're looking at

(12:49):
a top shelf full of TetraPak water containers down in
the main area of the fridge. Or two brown bag lunches.
The one on the right is clearly marked for Dylan
g The one on the left is maybe from Mark
s I can kind of see it. Others were more
adamant about it being Marx. So where is Helly's lunch?
You know, the poor girl had an egg for breakfast

(13:10):
and that was it. She's got to be starving. Maybe
she's already eaten. Since we glimpsed Mark's goo bottles. I
wanted to throw in an update on the goo. Propmaster
Catherine Miller gave us the lowdown on the goo during
the Ben and Adam podcast. What's in it? The Reintegration Elixir,
as she called it, is a proprietary blend of pinaclotta
protein shake with apple sauce mixed in to thicken it.

(13:32):
The lovely white strips that made me think of tapeworms
are suspended chunks of coconut. There was a discussion in
props about whether the goo should actually taste nasty. The
script calls for it rather than torture. Adam Scott was
something disgusting. They decided to leave it tasting okay, and
he could just act disgust it. He is an actor,

(13:53):
after all. While we're in the fridge, if we could
also take a brief lunch detour all the way back
when Mark first took over his department chief, we saw
one of his morning duties was to quote, check on lunches.
Other than this cryptic bit of direction, we've never really
known how Lumen handles any lunches. Some folks have even
theorized anys don't eat. No, they do, but they handle

(14:16):
how lunches are selected in the most lumen way possible.
Dan Erickson gave us some additional details about the lunches
on the Ben and Adam podcast. He said, Audi's order
lunch for their any every week. It's like selecting lunches
for your kid. Take care. By the time lunch rolls
around each day, whatever was ordered has been delivered to
the refrigerator in the severed floor kitchenette. Any of course

(14:38):
has no say in the matter. Lunch is ordered for
them and they have to eat whatever their Audi says.

Speaker 1 (14:44):
I am a person.

Speaker 5 (14:46):
You are not. I make the decisions you do not.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
Mark stands with a bit of a shocked look on
his face. There's a swell of low energy sound as
Mark ominously look up. The camera is shaking like there's
an earthquake. The reverse angle shows us the copier nook
and then Mark's couch. Mark's sad orange couch is sitting
there in front of the copier for a second, then
it's gone, Then it's sitting in his living room, and

(15:15):
the copier is gone. The room is flipping back and
forth between Mark's living room and this space on the
severed floor. Helly notices Mark is freaking a bit. There's
a pause are we home? For several seconds, it looks
like Mark is standing at the counter in his kitchen.
He's in his audy lounge around the house clothes. We
get a great look through Mark's fish tank at a

(15:35):
beta silhouette, and we snap back to the severed floor
kitchenette or do we The background is flipping behind britt
Lauer as she says this. She's standing in the kitchenette,
then she's in Mark's kitchen. Her hair moves slightly when
she's in Mark's kitchen, but it's still down in the
helly cascade. We cut back to looking at Mark from

(15:57):
inside the refrigerator. He looks down eyebrows, arched of this
sudden unmooring of reality and decides the best way to
make it stop is to close the refrigerator door. When
the light goes off and the screen goes to black,
we get our theme and extra wag animation. Enjoy the
momentary calm Refiner, I'll talk to you on the other side.

(16:28):
We come back from the opening animation looking at the
side of mister Miltchick's head in close up. His head
is to the right of frame. Looking back left. This
shot is very tight. We're only seeing from just above
his chin to just above his eyebrows. It looks like
he's in deep and serious thought. The depth of field
is very short on this shot. Seth is crisply in focus.

(16:49):
When there's movement in the background, it is blurred out.
It's Miss Wong. Seth turns when she speaks. The rack
focus brings her into view. Just inside Miltchick's office door.

Speaker 3 (17:00):
Have a seat.

Speaker 2 (17:01):
Miss Wong is looking unsure of herself. This is not
a normal look for her. She steps into the office
and has a seat in want obsess olivetty office chairs.

Speaker 3 (17:10):
I had my performance review yesterday.

Speaker 2 (17:12):
Let's pause here for a moment to play a quick
round of continuity. Devil's Advocate just saying, but doesn't it
look like the suit Sess wearing today is the one
he was wearing during the performance review. The suit he
was wearing at the funeral and at the end of
the day yesterday was at the blue one he likes
to wear with a turtleneck. It really looked like he

(17:34):
was wearing this suit with the white shirt and necktie
for the review, But the other blue suit with turtleneck
the rest of the day. Hey, I'm just making an observation.
This has been continuity Devil's advocate. When Ms Wong hears
about the performance review, she gives Seth a tiny sympathetic smile.

(17:57):
She then decides maybe it isn't appropriate and adopts a
concerned expression instead.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
How did it go?

Speaker 2 (18:02):
Wouldn't you like to know? You evil little office sprite?
There's a reverse cut to a long shot. We are
behind Ms Wang and off to her far left says
computer is visible over there on its work stand. No
animation today, just as static lumin logo. Not sure if
it's still saying hi to miss Cobel or not. Seth
considers her question for a long time before answering.

Speaker 3 (18:23):
Many valid concerns were raised. Would I look forward to addressing.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
He's maybe not taking the no big words contention as
seriously as he should.

Speaker 1 (18:32):
I'm glad for you.

Speaker 2 (18:33):
Why because he has so many valid concerns to address.
I guess Seth is wary of this little one. He
can tell she is dangerous. He turns his chair so
he's facing Ms Wang straight on.

Speaker 3 (18:45):
I feel I should remind you you cannot graduate from
this fellowship until I have deemed you Wintertide material.

Speaker 2 (18:52):
At this point in this series, we don't know a
thing about Wintertide or the Winter Tide Fellowship. By the
end of the season, we're going to discover we've known
a Winter Tide Fellow all along. Harmony Cobell was also
a recipient of the Winter Tide Fellowship when she was
a promising schoolgirl being taken under the harsh and unforgiving
wing of James Egan. Seth seems to be resetting Miss Wang.

(19:14):
This is a reminder as she progresses. She's already in
the midst of the program. He tells her. In order
to be successful, she will need to use her time well,
focus on her own duties.

Speaker 3 (19:26):
And eradicating from your essence childish folly.

Speaker 2 (19:29):
Nope, he is definitely not heeding the big words contention.
Miss Wong nods slightly. I understand, sir, but she's going
to complain about your word useage if you don't cool it.
Seth tells her he has a commitment.

Speaker 3 (19:42):
I shall be busy for the rest of the day.

Speaker 2 (19:44):
He's going to put Miss Wang in charge stewarding the
floor in his stead. Miss Wang is excited when she
hears this plan. She's going to get to run the
place cool. She stands with a smile and approaches the
big desk.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
You may sit at your regular desk.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
Oh deny, Yeah, miss H is definitely going to be
adding more contentions to your list next month. We cut
to an up angle close up of Sarah Bach as
she reacts to this news. She pauses as a disappointed
and dark look passes over her face. She composes herself, smiles,
and defers to power without argument.

Speaker 1 (20:18):
Thank you, mister Miltchik.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
She knows how things work around here. The more we
get to see of Sarah Bach, the more obvious it
becomes just how talented she is. This is some world
class acting coming from an eighteen year old. Miltchik is
silent and imperious as Miss Wong turns to resume her
spot in the outer office. I wonder if maybe Seth
is going over those times when he was standing where

(20:40):
Miss Wong is and it was Harmony Kobell seated behind
the desk, destroying his aspirations. Revenge does seem to be
a big motivator around lumin Miltchik watches silently until we
hear his office door close. He then glances over to
his desktop. The performance review booklet is sitting there, almost
like it's mocking him. Before we cut away from the book,

(21:01):
Helly is whispering in voiceover.

Speaker 1 (21:03):
He done you as I was living in the elevator.

Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah, he did. He even got in the severed elevator.
It was pretty freaky. We cut to an odd shot.
Helly is visible in the lower left corner of the frame.
But is she in the bathroom?

Speaker 3 (21:18):
Why?

Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yes, she is along the top edge of the frame.
That is the swinging door of a US bathroom stall.
In Europe they're a lot more serious about the security
of their public stalls. Many of them have thick doors
with real hinges and keyed locks. We're not so careful
when it comes to securing our public facilities here in
the US. That's the door behind Helly's head. You can

(21:39):
see the wall panels on either side or the same thickness.
None of these panels, wall or door extends all the
way to the floor. You've always got about a foot
of peak under room with a US stall, Plus the
lock is a flimsy slide since the tolerances are all
pretty lax. It usually doesn't even reach the jam. A
lot of times you have to sit in one of

(21:59):
the with your foot propped against the door in order
to prevent unwanted swing ins. Why are Mark and Helly
holding a whispered conference in the bathroom's stall? According to
Ben Stiller, this was an UDA innovation. After a season
and a half, they were running out of interesting places
to shoot an MDR. UDA decided to explore the possibilities
of the stall. Both Mark and Helly are cozily ensconced

(22:23):
in their own private meeting room. Seating is limited. Helly
seems completely fine with their accommodations, trying to intimidate us.
She's fired up. She's convinced this miltchick intimidation is a
ploy to divide the MDR crew. Luman has realized when
MDR is allowed to work together against them, they can
be a formidable adversary. I still love the irony of

(22:45):
this being Helena Egan Helly ar is not gonna let
the corporate overlords rule her.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
I'm gonna get them out.

Speaker 2 (22:52):
Helly's not picking up on it, But Mark is trying
to broach another topic. It's about what happened between he
and Helena out at the ort Bow.

Speaker 1 (23:01):
We shared vessels.

Speaker 2 (23:02):
Well, that's about the most awkward and unromantic way you
could possibly have described it, the vessel in question being
the physical body that houses all of their inease and
out ease and what have you. This odd statement, delivered
with so much angst, causes Helly to pause as she
is searching for the stall door lock. The shared vessels

(23:23):
thing isn't going to fly as an explanation. Mark has
to spell it out.

Speaker 1 (23:30):
At the sex.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
There's an exchange happening here in the next few moments
that is truly brilliant on the part of britt Lauer.
The words are only maybe twenty percent of it. It's
the facial expressions and the way she delivers these lines
that makes the scene amazing. She works her face a
bit after hearing his news, then delivers this incredible Okay,

(23:54):
Her facial expression as she's taking this in is heartbreaking.
Plus she's not completely understanding you.

Speaker 1 (24:02):
And like like in a wellness session.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
Mm, No, he didn't have sex with Ms. Casey. It
was at the retreat. You know, the retreat you attended,
but in body only in your tent. Okay, Mark, you're
getting closer. It did happen in her tent. Turns out
in the tent is as far as Mark needed to go.
Helly has a moment of realization. There's a pause, Then
she has the real moment of realization. Listen to these

(24:31):
two o's.

Speaker 4 (24:34):
Oh no, oh.

Speaker 2 (24:38):
Is there an emmy for realizing your oud he had
sex with your knees boyfriend? There really should be britt
flushes here. I swear you can see the color rise
in her cheeks. You can feel the embarrassment and hurt.
Is this an ILM touch? Did cgi add a bit
of color to Helly's cheeks? I would love to know.
Mark then has to deliver the weirdest cheating a ology

(25:00):
ever made. I am so sorry I had sex with you.

Speaker 1 (25:04):
I mean, obviously you know I thought it was you.

Speaker 2 (25:08):
He's so flustered, He said, he's been having these feelings
since before the OTC. Yeah, we know we were there
for the kiss outside the elevator. So Helly, before you
start clawing Mark's eyes out, he had no idea. Okay,
Helly offers up a half hearted uh huh, but the
pain in her eyes is devastating.

Speaker 1 (25:27):
She tricked me. I mean, I you wanted to, but
she tricked both of us.

Speaker 2 (25:32):
Oh, I don't think she had to be too clever
with this trick. You were pretty eager to make your
way to Helen's tent. After the fire bowl. You can
see Helly is crushed. She screws her face up in
a pain smile and tries to explain it away.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
Laying another tactic.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
Sure, they could be trying to drive a wedge between you,
but it's also very possible your Audie has the hots
for Mark. Mark tries to grab Helly's hand to comfort her,
she pulls away. The movement spurs her to action. You
can sense her agitation. Suddenly, the stall is closing in
on her. She needs some space.

Speaker 1 (26:07):
I'm gonna go for a walk.

Speaker 2 (26:09):
Where's she going? Oh? Just anywhere away from this man
who has somehow managed to break her heart by having
sex with her.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
Well, I'm sorry, I thought it was you.

Speaker 2 (26:18):
He did, He really did, but it wasn't me. Well
it kinda was. As Helly is about to leave the bathroom,
you need to refill that coffee cup, refiner. Severed will
be right back. Hi. I'm Adam Scott.

Speaker 1 (26:35):
I play Mark s on Severance, which you likely already
know since you're listening to sever did the Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (26:46):
Helly can't even turn to face him. She pauses at
the door, then grabs the handle.

Speaker 1 (26:50):
I'm just going to walk around.

Speaker 2 (26:52):
Great little cut in shot here. It's a view from
inside the stall looking out the partially open door at Mark.
It's another one of those aiming choices that minimizes the subject.
Mark is trapped in a tiny sliver of open frame
as we hear the main door slam out in the halls,
Helly is dejectedly clumping along. I'm very sure they've juiced

(27:12):
up the sound of her heels. Here she stops and
we get a close up of her feet. She kicks
off the obviously uncomfortable cream colored shoes. There's this story
behind both these shoes and this move. First the shoes,
the uncomfortable thing is all in act. These are Italian
ballroom dancing shoes made by Rippetto. They are called Marlowe pumps,

(27:35):
and according to ms. Lower, they are incredibly comfortable. Britt
told Vogue Singapore in a January twenty twenty five interview
she can run for miles in these things and they
don't hurt her feet. Costume designer Sarah Edwards found these
amazing pumps for brit to use in Season one. Britt
now swears by them when Helly has to spend hours
on her feet. If you'd like your own pair of

(27:57):
Marlowe pumps, they are priced new msrp is going to
run you three hundred and eighty five dollars US, unless
you want those in Swede. The Suede kicks things up
to four hundred and forty five dollars. If you watch
Amazon and eBay for Repetto's sales, you can find the
marlow pump discounted to the low two hundreds. Amazingly, this
is a mid line price for a Repetto's shoe. They

(28:20):
make a Mary Jane that runs over seven hundred and
fifty dollars. As for this shot where she's taking off
the shoes, that was all Britt. This move was not scripted.
She just did it while they were in a long shot.
Udah loved it. Britt said she's always had the opinion
Helly hates her heels. Helly r Would probably rather be
in tennis shoes or boots. Since she doesn't dress herself,

(28:43):
she's forced to endure the heels day in and day out,
just another reason to hate her. Audie at this point
as low as Helly is feeling. After being given the
news about Mark's encounter with Helena, Britt figured Helly needed
a break from the shoes. It was a way for
Helly to connect with the tile and claim at least
a bit of her sanity. Britt told Collider UDA's reaction

(29:04):
to the shoes coming off was oh, I like that.
We'd never seen Helle take off her shoes before, so
it was a nice glimpse into another aspect of her personality.
The crackpot theorists were roused to action by this move.
They decided shoes off must mean Helly is pregnant. The
encounter at the ort Bow has caused the body of
Helena slash Helly to become with child. This very well

(29:26):
could be accurate. I don't recall seeing any Lumen brand
condoms anywhere around the ort Bow. There was that fancy outhouse.
Maybe there was a condom machine in there, but I
don't think so. Since Audi Mark leaves everything in his
pockets at his locker, I'm sure he wouldn't be carrying one.
Even if he was, there's a lot of writing on
those packages. The code detectors would have found a condom

(29:48):
long before it could make it to Woe's hollow. So
i'll give you that. Maybe Helly is pregnant. What I
won't acknowledge is the need for a lady who's been
pregnant for four days to take off her shoes. The
shoes thing is when you're a few more months and
a few more pounds into the pregnancy. Sure, maybe it
was a symbolic move designed to tip off the sharp eyed,
but I doubt it. Whether or not she's pregnant. I'm

(30:10):
certain Helly took off her shoes here simply because they're uncomfortable.
Mark is back at the diamond desk, looking dejected. Probably
a good choice to not chase her down the hall.
She needs some time to herself. It was difficult, but
he had to tell her there was no way he
could be around Helly R Without acknowledging what had happened

(30:30):
with Helena at the ort boat. At the cat it
takes a second to decipher what we're seeing. The camera
is positioned behind one of the storage shelves in Miltchik's
office back room. On the shelf directly in front of
us are three canisters that all hold paper clips. The
ones to left and center have been used to the
point you can see a label through the other side.

(30:51):
It looks like each canister of Lumen brand paper clips
holds one thousand clips. Mister Miltchick approaches from the far
side of the shelf. A great rack focus here takes
us from the canisters sharply defined in the foreground to
mister Miltchick's determined face in perfect focus in the background.
I think a rack focus is cool, and I enjoy
when they are used effectively. Udabrezuwitz appears to be a

(31:13):
director who uses them effectively. In the early days of
film and video production, the person responsible for a rack
focus would be called the focus puller. This is because
they would physically change the focus of the lens manually
from nearer to far or far to near. It was
a named crew job. Unto itself, focus pullers weren't just

(31:33):
handling the rack focus. They were involved with every change
in focal length and tasked with keeping all the action
in focus all the time. It was considered one of
the hardest jobs on a film set. It's also one
of those jobs you don't notice until it's done wrong.
As highly sensitive servo motors became more popular, in cameras,
movement of the lens could be handled by remote control.

(31:55):
There was no longer a need for an actual physical
focus puller, but the title remains for those people who
changed focal length remotely. Additionally, the person assigned to be
first assistant camera could also act as focus puller on
a crew as per Union rules. Additional duties of the
focus puller include care and maintenance of the cameras. Severance

(32:15):
does not list a focus puller in their crew, they
do have nearly a dozen first assistant camera operators who
are most likely attending to all needed focus polar duties.
I'm guessing the credit for many of these smooth and
precise rack focus moves goes to some cool motorized camera heads,
like the Libro we've discussed in past episodes. Miltchik selects

(32:36):
the full canister of paper clips on the right. He
takes it to the back room work table. Two stacks
of documents are already waiting. He has created a penance
for himself. Seth paperclips two of the pieces of paper together.
I was happy to see it looks like Luman prefers
the small loop to the front of the document. We
cut to a wide shot looking straight on at mister Miltchick.

(32:56):
He certainly does have his day planned. He's gonna properly
paperclip a thousand documents. We dissolve into a shot of
the memory wall. In the new Oudy Family visitation suite,
A smiling Gretchen George is shown in a mirror image
on the mosaic wall. This theme of duality extends to
everyone this episode. What is the duality of missus George? Oh,

(33:19):
I'd say devoted mother and nine one one operator by night,
kind of trampy, horned up housewife by day. She's living
in her own Harlequin romance, meeting up with her adoring
bow in the Lumen Love Spa a couple of times
a week.

Speaker 1 (33:33):
First date, Let me yes scuba typhooned nice.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
These two are so cute together it is almost painful.
The image on the memory wall changes to a single
of Gretchen. Interesting, Dylan should mention scuba. She says he
did take scuba lessons last year. Yeah, which see no
sea a pool and it was a bit expensive. I
would like to take this opportunity to throw in one
of my favorite bits of trivia that I just happened

(34:00):
to know off the top of my head. SCUBA is
an acronym. It stands for self contained underwater breathing apparatus
and you're welcome. They are seated in the banquette area
of the visitation suite. As you come through the main door,
it's the room to the left. The establishing shot is
from the main room looking into the banquette room. Check
the lamp on the table in the main seating area.

(34:22):
This is a Yves Christin balloon lamp. It was designed
by Yves Kristen for the Italian manufacturer by Lumen in
nineteen eighty four. Seor Studio had a used version of
this lamp listed for two hundred and fifty dollars, but
then they marked it down to one seventy. The markedown
must have worked because they are now sold out of
this lamp. We cut to a close up of Gretchen.

(34:44):
My goodness, missus George. I see lipstick, a little rouge,
maybe some eyeshadow, and big tel. She has her hair
down and flowing around her shoulders. When Gretchen first visited
Dylan in the episode Who Was Alive, she had her
hair raided into a single strand tied off with a
rubber band and pulled over one shoulder. It was no

(35:05):
nonsense and matronly. She was wearing a turtleneck. For goodness sake.
This woman might as well have been in a nun's habit.
She had on a bit of makeup that first visit,
but she was more fresh faced and scrubbed looking than
she is here. There's this smoky, sexy quality to this
version of Gretchen. The hair is a bit tousled and
framing her face. She's talking in a low, throaty voice.

(35:27):
Sounds like Audie Dylan is restless. He's gone through quite
a few of what she calls.

Speaker 4 (35:32):
Phases scuba diving, woodworking.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
Inny, Dylan decides to characterize this as being diverse garage,
beer making. She's listing all of those hobbies men get
into that are considered acceptable midlife and later diversions. I
would like to add podcasting to that list. Inny, Dylan
is trying to put a positive spin on his oudies
failed hobbies.

Speaker 3 (35:54):
Maybe I'm trying to find something I excel in up there.
I've got do down here.

Speaker 2 (36:00):
He can try to make excuses, but the fact is,
any Dylan has just got it going on all over
Audi Dylan. Gretchen is worried all the hobbies might mean
Audi Dylan is not happy. There is no way any
Dylan could imagine not being happy in his Audy's shoes.
If he's this happy being with Gretchen as his Any,

(36:20):
he can only imagine he'd be delirious about her as
his Audi. He envisions an idylic life if they could
just stay here in the visitation suite.

Speaker 1 (36:29):
Well, hear about all my offspring and stare at your face.

Speaker 2 (36:34):
For Gretchen, Any Dylan is saying all those things Audi
Dylan stopped saying years ago. She is so obviously smitten.
But what's the harm. It's not like she's cheating, is it.
This wouldn't be cheating because it's still Dylan, right. It's
almost the same situation Mark and Helly are dealing with.
Isn't it amazing how a season and a half in

(36:55):
Dan Erickson's fictional procedure is still causing us to ask
the big questions? Any Dylan and Gretchen share an intense
moment after the stare at your face comment.

Speaker 3 (37:06):
Sorry, that's weird.

Speaker 2 (37:07):
If you think about him as two halves of the
same person, it's no surprise he would fall hard for
the same woman. He is so completely smitten. Oh, but
so is she.

Speaker 4 (37:18):
It was really sweet.

Speaker 2 (37:19):
In fact, she's thinking even more of this kind of
treatment would be appreciated. Gretchen wants to be very clear here,
I like it.

Speaker 7 (37:27):
I like this.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
Dylan then summarizes why this Oudy family visitation suite is
such a very bad idea in one line.

Speaker 3 (37:38):
I wish we could really be together all the time.

Speaker 2 (37:42):
Good job, seth miltchik. Your little visitation suite has created yearning.
Dylan now wants something, and it's a whole lot more
than finger traps or goofy caricatures. If Mdr could just
remain MDR, we'd all be a lot happier. But no,
we've got answer. Produce wives and any lovers and Audie

(38:02):
lovers who are already married. Letting in the outside world
invites nothing but constant turmoil and agitation. No wonder Drummond
is so against the kindness reforms. Gretchen says they are together?

Speaker 1 (38:15):
Are we not?

Speaker 2 (38:17):
From where any Dylan sits he's feeling a bit jealous
and sidelined in him? Are And I'm not notice how
Audie Dylan has now become him, and the word is
accompanied by a bit of a sneer. You gotta wonder,
how is any Dylan supposed to just go back to
refining after having a big and emotional encounter like this.

(38:38):
Any Dylan and Gretchen are about to get into some
gratuitous hugging. Before they do, Refiner, I advise you to
review the handbook passages about any fraternization. Severed will be
here right back.

Speaker 8 (38:52):
Hello, Refiners, It's Mark Keller ker Egan on Severance. Don't
let your dreary, dead end job gets you down. Do
what I do for a workday pick me up. Listen
to Severed the Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (39:10):
There's an awkward pause. Dylan decides to change things up
and get physical. He says he wants to try the
hugging again.

Speaker 1 (39:18):
I kind of like the hugging.

Speaker 2 (39:20):
This does not surprise me. Remember INNYE Dylan has also
proven to be a big fan of waffle parties. Gretchen
pauses to consider this hugging proposal. She also wants some hugging,
but she's got to make it look good. As she
considers merret Weaver is tossing in these cute, sexy little
touches like compressing her lips, cocking her head to one side. Oh,

(39:42):
and the hair, the hair is hot. She knew exactly
what she was doing when she was getting ready for
this meeting. Then no words, just a cute little nod
of her head says some hugging would be fine. She
moves towards him on the banquette. They fold into each
other's arms like an old married couple, which is what
they are cut from happily hugging to hugging her knees

(40:02):
and crying. Helly ar, newly returned to the severed floor,
has been mercilessly betrayed by her bitch of an Audie.
Since Helen It can't be here to endure Helly's wrath,
she only has Mark to be mad at. She doesn't
want to be mad at Mark. She'd rather be well,
you know, with Mark. The internal struggle has rendered Helly
are almost catatonic. She's hunched down in the corner of

(40:24):
one of the severed floor hallways. The poor girl is
scrunched into a tiny ball, hugging her knees, her repetto pumps.
Sitting beside her slow cross dissolve to Mark. He's an
mdr at his workstation. He is also isolated alone and sad.
He'd rather be with Helly r even if she does
hate his guts. Right now, Mark stops refining in rubs

(40:45):
his forehead. We're cycling through separated macrodats here. This unit
that was able to pull off an unauthorized OTC just
a couple of weeks ago has been effectively ripped apart.
Dylan is off being a better man than his outy.
Helly is hugging her knees in the hall and crying
an ugly cry. Mark is at his desk, still with
his head in his hands. Suddenly, without warning, we jump

(41:08):
into a flashback. It's the night of the OTC when
Helly gets on the elevator. It's the moment of the kiss.
We don't know if it's Mark or Helly having this flashback.
They intercut footage of the kiss with footage of both
current Mark and current Helly. This might even be a
shared memory between them if I could file a small
complaint with management. This kiss from the season one episode

(41:31):
What's for Dinner is very well done. They're two attractive people.
The kiss itself is passionate, sexy, earnest, and just overall
well executed, but I've had enough. We've seen this kiss
far too many times for it to continue to have
any emotional impact. Mark and Helly need another relationship touchstone
for their flashbacks, although I do like how they crosscut

(41:54):
the Mark and Helly kiss with the Gretchen Dylan smooching
going on in the family visitation suite. We get several
cut ins and flashbacks over music here. Mark seems to
be reminiscing in his flashbacks. He has a glimpse of
a red tinged tint scene. Mark, that's not Helly. You
shouldn't be remembering that. Out in the halls, Helly decides
she's stronger than this. She's not going to be laid

(42:16):
low by her own outie. Helly gets up, puts her
shoes back on, and continues down the hall with purpose.
I love the quick brushing away of tears as Helly walks.
It reminds me of a kid on the playground after
a fight. Dylan and Gretchen are still macking in the
Lumen love Spa, So she's going to get any Dylan
all wound up then send him back to work. How
is he going to be able to concentrate on anything?

(42:38):
I don't know what Seth is intending, but none of
this seems like a good idea. Merrett Weaver talked about
this kissing scene in a Vulture interview. Gretchen is very
much the one who instigates the kiss. She goes for it,
as Dylan is just kind of letting it happen. To
be so passive was a choice on the part of
Zach Cherry, because, as he told Merritt, he doesn't think

(42:58):
any Dylan has ever kissed anyone before. Marriott said she
remembers thinking how there was such a huge power discrepancy
between these two characters, especially when it came to intimacy.
This knowledgeable woman of the world is corrupting this innocent manchild.
Merrett remembers thinking about her character. Quote, she's harming this person.
She doesn't realize it or even intend to do it,

(43:19):
but this is harmful. Unquote. Cut to Helly, who's taking
long strides through the halls. Then we're looking at Mark,
who gets up from his workstation. He and Helly practically
run into each other just outside the main mdr door. Oh,
coming to find you, Elly says same. Mark launches into
another attempt at an apology. Helly cuts him off.

Speaker 8 (43:40):
He thought it was me.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
Well, yeah, obviously, as Mark said in the bathroom, when
it comes to the vessel, it was you. She says,
this means he wanted to. Oh, Helly, you have no
idea how much he wanted to. Helly's been doing some
thinking while sitting on the hall floor. She's decided it
sucks that she, meaning Helena, got to have that experience
with Mark and Helly r didn't. Helly has a great

(44:04):
little monologue here about how Ikey Helena tricked her friends
and used her body to get close to Mark. Helly
really hates this woman who is a part of her,
but she.

Speaker 4 (44:14):
Dresses me in the morning like I'm a baby.

Speaker 2 (44:17):
Some viewers misinterpreted this line. Costume designer Sarah Edwards explained
that baby reference is about choice, not about the kind
of clothes she's wearing. Helly's wearing regular adult work clothes,
but like with a baby, it's mom who picks out
these clothes. Helena makes the decision as to what any
Helly is going to wear. This can feel a bit infantalizing.

(44:38):
I'm sure Helly continues to just rage about Helena. She
can't believe how much control this woman has over their lives.

Speaker 4 (44:46):
That she controls me and this company and all of
us is discussing this is.

Speaker 2 (44:50):
A lot to take in all at once. Mark can
only offer a supportive nod of his head. Mark takes
a pause. He's working his hands as he tries to
formulate his next I would like to interject something here
before Mark opens his mouth. Sometimes I have no idea
how Mark landed such a gorgeous and intelligent woman as Jemma.
He can be a monumental dork when it comes to

(45:10):
matters of the heart. Case in point, Mark, go ahead
and speak.

Speaker 1 (45:14):
Do you want me to describe what happened?

Speaker 7 (45:19):
No?

Speaker 2 (45:20):
Are you crazy? She does not want to hear that.
I don't want to hear that, and you don't want
to try to tell us about it. Trust me, you
just don't. Instead of making a face and walking away,
Elly decides to let this one slide.

Speaker 1 (45:34):
No, I don't want her memory.

Speaker 2 (45:35):
Now hold on a minute. You say you don't want
her memory, but this means you are wanting a memory.

Speaker 4 (45:41):
Well my own.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
Oh okay. Mark is looking down when she says this.
We cut to a reverse angle over Helly's shoulder. Adam
Scott slowly raises his head as Marks recognizes what's really
being said. Here, the change in his expression as this
dawns on him is priceless. Helly has rendered the poor
man speechless.

Speaker 3 (46:01):
Do you like that?

Speaker 4 (46:02):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (46:03):
I don't know what a drowning man like a life ring,
what a starving man like a sandwich? Mark slowly nods.
Finally he's able to speak.

Speaker 1 (46:11):
Yeah, like that.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
This leads to a crackling bit of eye contact. I
was worried they were going to start ripping each other's
clothes off right here, a cut to a long shot
manages to diffuse some of the raw any sexuality. Mark
looks around. But now don't miss this next shot. I
don't know Uda well as a director, but I get
this sense from some of her choices. She's got a

(46:32):
good sense of humor. Come on, we had a conference
in a bathroom stall. Uda did start her career directing
for the HBO comedy Hung. I think we're being given
a fun little visual message here. We're in the hall,
but the long shot is partially looking into the MDR space.
Just inside the right door jam, you can see the
portrait of Kre on mdr's wall. Here is always watching,

(46:54):
But these wayward macrodats are around the corner out in
the hall. They're going to sneak off and get in
trouble by ignoring Keir and his rules for proper workplace decorum.
Helly must have gotten a lot of thinking done while
she was sitting there in the hall. She doesn't answer Mark,
she just leads him away. We cut to a leading
shot of Mark and Helly walking side by side through
the halls. Then there's a POV shot from inside an

(47:17):
unused workspace. This is not one of the same rooms
Mark and Helly walked by in the first episode. It's
also not the room they stopped in during episode one
oh five to look at the new version of PD's map.
The windows along the hall are frosted for one thing.
The furniture is covered in draped plastic sheets, so we
know it's not an active workspace. The door at the

(47:38):
end of this room opens to reveal Mark and Helly.
This generic workroom is going to be their love nest.
No beds, pillows, or blankets, just hard tiled floor. Young
love where patient can usually overcome any lack of comfort.
This is why young people have no trouble making out
in the back seats of cars, but old people never
give it a thought. Made of plastic inside a building,

(48:02):
but still it does have the look and feel of
a tent, Ben Stiller said treating this plastic covered desk
as a tent was in uda innovation. What better way
to create a Helly r love making memory than by
subverting the Helena memory. Mark and Helly move the plastic
sheets around to create their space.

Speaker 1 (48:20):
You're audi can set up a tent in under three minutes.

Speaker 2 (48:25):
As Mark and Helly are crawling under the plastic drape desk,
look at the underside of the desk in the foreground
our themes of reflection and duality continue as we see
these two mirrored in the ceiling of their tent. Finally,
they are seated and face to face. I'm nervous, Mark
says me too, but I don't see him being quite
as nervous as she is. He's already had a rehearsal

(48:47):
for this encounter. This is Helly Our's first time. Britt
Lowry talked at Linked with Collider about this scene compared
to the Ortbow love scene. The encounter in the tent
at Woe's Hollow was any Mark's first time to experience
that level of end. Brett says it was most definitely
not Helena's first time. Some commenters have said they believed
Helena to be a virgin prior to Woe's Hollow. Not

(49:08):
sure what they were basing that on, but britt strongly disagrees.
A courting miss Lower, Helena was an experienced woman of
the world. When she's seduced any Mark, she knew what
she wanted and how to get it. It doesn't sound
like Helena had any of the worries Gretchen did about
the unbalanced power dynamic of the relationship. Off goes the
suit coat and Helen's cursed shoes. There's kissing and a

(49:30):
little giggling. There's a moment where Helly's on her back
and Mark is over her.

Speaker 3 (49:35):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
Yes, Britt Lower said this moment of permission was not scripted.
It came about organically. During the filming. Both ENnies were
left so betrayed by what had happened at the ort
Bow they felt it would only be natural to take
this encounter slowly and to make sure everybody was good
with what's happening at all times. I thought at one
point we were seeing Mark take off his tie, but no,

(50:00):
the tie remains. This session seems more caring and tender
than what we saw at the Ortbow. We also don't
have these somewhat off putting red lighting from the tent heaters.
When Mark flishes back to this scene, it will have
a white background thanks to the plastic sheets. Helly arches
her back and we discreetly cut away to MDR. Let's

(50:20):
give the lovebird some time alone. This would be a
great opportunity for you to go wash your hands. Refiner.
Severed will be right back.

Speaker 6 (50:31):

Speaker 2 (50:36):
We've cut from Mark and Helly under the desk to MDR.
Things are pretty quiet around MDR right now, what with Helly,
Mark and Dylan all off making out somewhere. It looks
like it's just after twelve. Shouldn't they be grabbing some
lunch right about now? Poor kir The painting of deer
Leaders silently looks on at the idle MDR workstations. We

(50:57):
cut from the empty MDR to a stack of paper
CLA documents. This is the result of Seth's penance. There
are a series of club steps looking into the now
almost empty clip. Jar Seys hand retrieves a clip and
secures two more pieces of paper. It is really hard
to tell, but I do think the small loop of
the clip is oriented so it is to the front

(51:17):
of the document. Thank you Leuman for validating my personal biases.
He's done. We caught up to him just as he
was securing the last two pieces of paper. By the way,
those papers he was clipping were blank sheets of Seth's
own from the desk of personal stationery. His hands are
shaking as he places the last clip pages on the stack.

(51:38):
After a moment of recovery, he reaches over to retrieve
his copy of the performance review. This performance review is
really haunting Miltchik. He seems to have trouble accepting criticism.
He's also going way overboard when it comes to correcting
his noted contentions. Nobody made him clip a thousand documents together.

(51:58):
That was a penance based on himself. Now he's turned
to contention number one uses too many big words. From
this shot, we can see the explanation paragraph clearly. It
explains why using big words might create a problem among subordinates.
Mister Miltchick is encouraged to simplify his language so he
can achieve clearer comprehension from his subordinates and peers. I

(52:22):
tend to side with Seth on this one. Don't dumb
it down, dude, use your words, all of them. Screw
the ignorant and their lack of suitable vocabulary. They've got
dictionaries on their phones. If they can't keep up, you
can just tell them all to devour well. We'll get
to that a bit later in the season. After reading
through the contention once again, Seth looks up with a
serious countenance. He steps to a shelf in the back

(52:45):
room and moves some portfolio boxes aside. He reveals a
small square mirror mounted to the wall. In front of
it is a small shelf that holds a goose neck
desk clamp. Seth pops on the lamp and it lights
up his face in the mirror. Shooting any reflective surface
is a challenge. Mirrors are the absolute worst. They reveal
cameras and equipment, plus they reflect lights in weird and

(53:06):
intense ways. This is not the first time we've encountered
a scene involving a mirror. Helly was in the mirror
quite a bit during the OTC. Before going to the
Gallas stage, Mark was looking at himself in a mirror
at beer house. Also during the OTC, those scenes were
shot going both directions. The pieces were then married together
using a green screen overlay. There are BTS reels showing

(53:27):
how the process works. A camera sits up right in
the middle of the frame where you'd expect to see
a camera and shoots the needed footage of the mirror.
The camera is reversed and the performer does whatever they're
going to do in the mirror into the camera. The
image from the mirror is removed. Usually the glass of
the mirror is covered in green screen, which makes the
replacement process very easy. The image of the camera that

(53:49):
had been in the mirror is replaced with a reversed
image of the performer. This clip of Miltchick is longer.
It also involves a rather complicated camera push in move.
Some folks were one daring if maybe this scene doesn't
use a more elaborate method for getting rid of camera reflection.
This method gets rid of the mirror. Using this method,

(54:10):
the person with their back to the camera is a
stand in. The mirror is actually a clear plate of glass.
A set is created on the opposite side that duplicates
what would be behind the stand in. The performer in
this case, Tremmel Tillman is on the reflection side of
the set facing us. He's talking back through the plate
of glass towards the camera. The reason a lot of

(54:32):
folks thought this is how they did it is because
of the push in. The camera goes all the way
over the shoulder of the double and into the frame
of the mirror. This is a fairly common movie trick
used to get rid of camera reflection while also achieving
a more powerful effect from a mirror scene. We couldn't
find any confirmation from anyone, but it's possible this is

(54:55):
what they did. It's also possible Industrial Light and Magic
was handed footage of set and footage of the mirror.
They could easily take it from there. Saturday Night Live
uses the no mirror reflection trick and a lot of
their skits. Just before the last presidential election, Kamala Harris
made a cold open appearance on SNL as a mirror
reflection of Maya. Rudolph Milchik says the final line he

(55:18):
used on Miss Wang into the mirror.

Speaker 3 (55:21):
You must eradicate from your essence childish folly.

Speaker 2 (55:25):
It's a big phrase, loaded with some big words. He's
on a mission to simplify this statement. He changes essence
to self. There's a long push in before he speaks again.
Once we're in close on says face, we get.

Speaker 3 (55:38):
You must abandon childish things.

Speaker 2 (55:40):
This is still more simplification. Self is gone, eradicate, has
become abandoned, and the high toned folly is now things
You must grow up. This isn't even deeper simplification. It's
deciphering what needs to happen in order for those childish
things to go away. He started with eight words, he's
got it down to four.

Speaker 3 (56:00):
Grow up.

Speaker 2 (56:02):
You must is implied if you say it right. He
repeats grow up a couple more times. Then we get crowl.
He's distilled that entire phrase down to a single word.
In order to eradicate childish folly from your essence, there's
one thing you must do, crowl. He could have finished
his talk with mis Wong using a single word instead
of that stilted sentence. Seth feels he's accomplished what he

(56:25):
needs to do with this exercise. While still in close up,
the goose neck lamp snaps off cut to a glowing
Mark and Helly are tripping through the severed floor hallways.
You can see on their faces the goofy post coital bliss.
They're framed in the right third of the screen. Visually,
they've been minimized and pushed aside. Even after a happy
in life affirming event like sex under a desk tent.

(56:47):
We wouldn't want anyone to forget these aren't whole people.
We cutting closer with a leading shot. They're walking in silence,
exchanging little glances. Their hair's tousled just enough you can
tell they've been up to something. Eventually, Helly can't help herself.
She has to ask, was it diffront with me? Mark?
Do not answer that question? He slows and turns towards

(57:10):
her Mark no, oh good. Rather than put his foot
in his mouth, Mark decides to push Helly up against
the wall in a steamy kiss. Good call Mark. The
kiss is interrupted when Mark notices something.

Speaker 1 (57:23):
Oh, no, you're bleeding.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
There's a smear of blood under Helly's nose and going
on to her left cheek. But it's not Helly who's bleeding, No,
you are. We cut to a wide shot of the
outer management office you know mis Wong's area. Mark is
seated on the corner of Miss Wong's desk. He has
his head tipped back and is pinching his nose with
a bloody kleenex. Helly is standing with her back to

(57:44):
us in the foreground of the shot. She's looking at
Mark with concern. Miss Wong's clock is showing five after one.
The last time we had a time check was the
shot of the empty MDR. It was about five afternoon.
Then sounds like Mark and Helly got in about an
hour of under the desk cuttle time. It was a nowoner.
This overview shot gives us a great look at Miswong's

(58:06):
tiny little computer workstation. Jeremy Hindel created this workstation at
fifty percent the size of the other manager and Macrodat computers.
It fits her and it fits her workspace. Hindle said
he created this tiny workstation because it's fun to play
with scale also just because he could. We've gotten used
to the old tech and retro cars associated with Lumen.

(58:29):
Now it looks like even Lumen's medical knowledge is stuck
in the past. According to wellness websites from the Mayo Clinic,
Johns Hopkins, and mount Sinai. Tipping your head back to
treat a nosebleed is so twentieth century. Tipping your head
back causes blood to irritate the throat. It will also
drain into the stomach, which can cause irritation to the stomach, lining,

(58:49):
and even vomiting. All three of those highly regarded medical
establishments say it is much safer and more effective to
lean forward while pinching your nose. Mis Wog emerges from
cus office carrying medical equipment. I'm guessing all this stuff
was stored in the back room. That office back room
really comes in handy. I'm surprised we never got in

(59:10):
there during the first season. As she enters for some reason,
ms Wong says.

Speaker 3 (59:14):
Five two minutes left.

Speaker 2 (59:16):
For what the thing he's holding to his nose. Maybe
she's trying to determine why Mark developed a nose bleed.
It couldn't be the atmosphere.

Speaker 3 (59:25):
Humidity on the severed floors maintained it a consistent forty
five percent.

Speaker 2 (59:29):
It's true dry air can contribute to a nosebleed. It
sounds like Luman is keeping things somewhat moistened. The US
Environmental Protection Agency suggests the optimum humidity for living spaces
should fall in a range between forty and sixty percent.
Anything above sixty is going to cause mold and respiratory problems.
Going too much below forty means you could endure static electricity,

(59:51):
dry skin, and, yes, possibly nose bleeds. Some places even
recommend adding a humidifier by your bed at night as
a way to help her event nosebleeds. In mis Wong's mind,
humidity has been ruled out as the culprit. There's no
way lumen could be at fault.

Speaker 1 (01:00:07):
It must be something else.

Speaker 2 (01:00:09):
She furtively glances over at Helly.

Speaker 1 (01:00:12):
Did you punch him?

Speaker 2 (01:00:13):
Where did that come from? Unless she's thinking, Helly are
found out about what happened on the ortbow. A logical
response would be a punch, But no, not this time.
Helly decided to deal with her hurt feelings a different way.
After mis Wong asked the question, we get a camera
angle we've never seen before. Our vantage point is from
behind mis Wong's desk, looking to the front of the office.

(01:00:35):
Mark is still holding his nose. In the foreground. Helly
is centered in the frame facing the camera. Behind Helly,
we can see the far wall of mis Wong's office,
A line of four drawer high file cabinets is sitting
along the wall. To the right of frame. A whitewater
cooler is sitting to the left of frame, up against
the wall. So did Helly punch him?

Speaker 1 (01:00:54):
I mean not today.

Speaker 2 (01:00:55):
Kelly still looks out of it. She may have benefitted
from a little nap after their amorous activities. Speaking of
amorous activities.

Speaker 1 (01:01:04):
What were you doing when the nose weed to courage?

Speaker 2 (01:01:06):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:01:06):
Well we weren't refining something.

Speaker 2 (01:01:11):
Yeah you were, So what's with this shot? We cut
to a candid from down low as Helly is talking.
Helly's fingers still bloodied or visible in the extreme foreground
right of frame. Mark, still seated on the desk with
his hand to his nose, is in the left of frame.
Mss Wong is like a dedicated physician's assistant. She's not
going to rest until she figures this out.

Speaker 3 (01:01:33):
Do you have a deviated septem?

Speaker 8 (01:01:35):
Not?

Speaker 2 (01:01:35):
Surprisingly, any Mark doesn't know what that is. Miss Wong
rolls on past the question, would you like me to.

Speaker 1 (01:01:41):
Put petroleum jelly in your nostrils?

Speaker 2 (01:01:44):
No? Mark says that won't be necessary. The petroleum jelly
thing is considered a good way to treat a dry
nose with a caveat. You only want to do it occasionally.
It should not be a regular treatment. According to the
Male Clinic, some of the lipoids contained in petroleum jelly
can their way to your lungs. Most of what you
stick in your nose gets swallowed, but a small amount

(01:02:04):
will go to the lungs. Over time, lipoids can build
up in the lungs, causing swelling and irritation. This is
referred to as lipoid pneumonia. That treatment for lipoid pneumonia
is simple, stop using petroleum jelly in your nose. As
for a deviated septum, yeah, he's probably got one. The
septum in question is the slab of cartlage in your

(01:02:25):
nose that separates one nostril from the other. According to
the Mount sign A Health System, about eighty percent of
the adult population has some kind of septum deviation. Even
if you get septal surgery, no septum is ever going
to be perfectly straight. A significantly deviated septum can cause
breathing problems and headaches. It is true that a deviated

(01:02:46):
septum can also contribute to nosebleeds. Forcing air past a
curved septum dries out the membranes of the nose. Ms
Wong puts on a stethoscope and unwraps a blood pressure cuff.
She's also wearing heavy black rod gloves that come all
the way up on your wrist. You collectors need to
check mis Wong's credenza. It's visible to Mark's right. In

(01:03:07):
the wide shot of the desk. She has a Lumen
branded coffee maker sitting next to a couple of Lumen
logoed coffee mugs. Wouldn't that look good in your office?
Niswog wants to know if there are any other symptoms.

Speaker 1 (01:03:19):
Why are hallucinations?

Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
Uh? Yeah, lots of them, but nothing he can tell
you about.

Speaker 1 (01:03:26):
No. I think it's stopped.

Speaker 4 (01:03:27):
I feel better.

Speaker 2 (01:03:28):
Several commentters in the social spaces latched onto this question
about aras and hallucinations. They felt this meant Lumen knows
about reintegration and they're watching for signs of it in
their separate employees. I don't agree. We know what Luman
thinks about reintegration based on Harmony's interactions with the board,
they do not acknowledge its existence. So why would she

(01:03:50):
ask this question. I do think they've run INTWO malfunctioning
chips before. This is probably a check on the functionality
of the chip. I believe if it was Severan's chip
is malfunctioning, or maybe it's moved out of place, it
could also cause these same symptoms. If a severed employee
should fall or hit their head or even sneeze really hard.
I'm betting it's possible to cause a glitch in the

(01:04:12):
chip that would manifest itself as auras and hallucinations. We'll
get back to Mark's health exam in just a few minutes.
Right now, you should refill your coffee refiner. Severed will
be here right back.

Speaker 6 (01:04:27):

Speaker 2 (01:04:32):
After the question about auras, Mark decides he's ready to
get out of there, MS Wong is not finished with
him yet.

Speaker 1 (01:04:38):
I'm going to take your blood pressure.

Speaker 2 (01:04:40):
Ms Wang wraps the Lumen branded'sphigmomanometer around Mark's upper left arm.
So Lumen medical personnel study the tempers, but they also
take blood pressure the old fashioned way. As Ms Wong's
pumping out the blood pressure cuff, Mark, here's a muffled
and distant where are you? He whirls around, looking for
the source of the question, and he tentatively says he's

(01:05:02):
at lumin. When he looks around, he's seeing Regabbi. She's
behind one of the lights in his basement. This makes
the where are you question even more important. Mark really
appears to be back in the treatment chair in his basement.
There are colored leads running from his hair. Right, No,
hold it, he's back on the desk with the blood

(01:05:23):
pressure cuff or is he fuck?

Speaker 1 (01:05:26):
Was justck?

Speaker 2 (01:05:27):
He hears her voice, but ms Wong is gone. He
really does seem to be in his basement. Now, time
and perception have both jumped. Were you just at lumin Yeah?
We all were. Mark was under a desk knocking boots
with Helly. He had no idea you were doing brain
lead stuff.

Speaker 1 (01:05:43):
What time is it?

Speaker 2 (01:05:44):
He is really out of it. This is the first
time Mark has had a reintegration tremor that left him
this disoriented. Usually he can recover and figure out where
he is based on context clues. Not this time. This
tremor was so disorienting he doesn't know where he really
is or what time it is.

Speaker 4 (01:06:01):
Are you at luminar in your basement with me.

Speaker 1 (01:06:03):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:06:05):
This is all incredibly disorienting.

Speaker 4 (01:06:08):
Do you remember a hallway, a black hallway?

Speaker 2 (01:06:10):
Remember, as in the hallway to the testing floor elevator.
You should really ask Irving about that one. Mark doesn't
remember anything about a black hallway. He doesn't remember much
of anything at all. He's still trying to figure out
what happened to the pixie with the blood pressure cup.

Speaker 1 (01:06:27):
Remember I remember shit.

Speaker 2 (01:06:32):
He's trying so hard to come up with memories. He
launches himself into another coughing fit. I do love the
light stand with the ivy bag clip to it, sitting
in front of the clothes dryer. I'm no MD, but
I'm pretty sure these are not optimal neurosurgical conditions. Interesting
to note this perception switch, going from the severed floor

(01:06:52):
to Mark's basement takes us off the severed floor for
the rest of the episode. In this episode, Miltchik never
interacts with the ENnies, and most so the action happens
in the evening. Mark is still very confused, but Regabbi
is encouraged.

Speaker 4 (01:07:06):
Now is another cost of a memory A recent Why
that's good?

Speaker 2 (01:07:10):
She says, He's going to field gaps in time until
it all comes back together. This is another one of
those claims where I think she's speculating. I don't know
if she's ever had anyone this far along in the procedure.
Maybe PD, but I doubt it. He bailed on her.
I would like to throw in in his side here
on the Severed Pod Patreon page. The patron refiners are

(01:07:31):
allowed to listen to the podcast as I'm producing it.
They also contribute to proofing and content review. Patron refiner
Katie R had a comment which caused me to stop
and consider I've always thought of Pet as a failed
attempt at reintegration because he died. Patron refiner KATR reminded
me about PD's comments in PIPS that first night he
met Mark. He said he'd been reintegrated for two weeks

(01:07:55):
now and that he had bypassed the chip. Pet also
had clear and coherent memories about Severed Floor staff. He
mentioned Grainer by name. Pete clearly reported things that had
happened down on the Severed Floor. Although I will probably
continue to slam Regobby because PD died in her care,
I would like to amend my comments about him not

(01:08:15):
finishing the procedure. Even Grainer said full synaptic coupling when
talking about Pete's chip. Thanks Katie R. For reminding me
that PD was completely reintegrated. Mark is understandably frustrated with
the slow pace of things. He wants to know when
this magical coming together of the timelines is going to happen.

Speaker 4 (01:08:33):
We need to enhance speed up the process.

Speaker 2 (01:08:37):
I don't know. Considering the process killed a guy at
regular speed, I'm not comfortable with speeding up. Mark has
the same concerns.

Speaker 1 (01:08:46):
Is that safe?

Speaker 2 (01:08:47):
Deep down? I think you already know the answer. Regabby says,
there's a slight chance of hemorrhage.

Speaker 1 (01:08:53):
Okay, so me bleeding to death.

Speaker 2 (01:08:55):
She's talking about poking around in your brain. Mark, I
think bleeding to death might be at the end of
the potential damage scale. Regabi consults what looks like an
X ray film showing the position of his chip. This
has to be something from his file. I can buy
the acilloscopes and leads running to Mark's scalp. Those things
could all be carted into the basement pretty easily. There

(01:09:17):
is no way an X ray or MRI is available
to Regabi here in the basement. Regaby says, not necessarily
to the bleeding to death comment. She has other ideas.

Speaker 4 (01:09:27):
Will flood the chip itself.

Speaker 2 (01:09:29):
Sure, right through the hole. You've already gotten your head.
Regaby is poking around a mark scalp looking for his
drill hole. When Mark decides he's head enough, he jumps
up from the treatment chair.

Speaker 4 (01:09:41):
You know what, you get the fucked off me. I
am not doing this, Okay, you need to please.

Speaker 2 (01:09:48):
As Regaby is plucking colored leads from Mark's hair, he
mutters something about starving.

Speaker 4 (01:09:53):
That's also from reintegration.

Speaker 2 (01:09:55):
The reintegration procedure is undeniably working. The memories and his
enormous appetite are both proof. It's just so slow. The
question is becoming whether Mark can stand it all the
way to the end. Mark storms out of the basement,
saying he has to eat. He's headed for his favorite
Chinese restaurant. Turns out everybody's heading to eat. Herv is

(01:10:15):
parked outside of Burton Field's door. He's getting ready to
have some ham before we launch into all of these
wonderful social events. This seems like a great time to
shut things down for the day. Refiner, next time we'll meet.

Speaker 3 (01:10:26):
Fields Fields, that's my husband's fields.

Speaker 2 (01:10:30):
We're going to have an intense dinner with Mark and Helena,
and Regabi is going to probe the depths of Mark's graymatter.
We'll also find out why this episode is even called Attila.
That's all next time when we delve into Attila Part two.
As always, a big thanks to Volunteer Research of NYP
for his contributions to this week's podcast. Also a big
thanks to those of you who aren't leaving comments on

(01:10:52):
the Facebook page, Reddit or as an Apple podcast reviewer,
I do read them all, and your kind words and
encouragement are greatly appreciated. Quick reminder before you leave, get
to this Severed Patreon page. Support the Severed podcast by
pluging five dollars a month. Signing up as easy go
to patreon dot com slash severed pod. That's patreon dot

(01:11:12):
com slash severed pod. You'll be supporting the podcast and
supplementing my retirement income. Now it's time to shut down
your workstation and get to the elevator refiner. You've had
a big day. You need to get some rest. As always,
please stagger your exits.

Speaker 5 (01:11:26):
You've been listening to Severed, The Ultimate Severance podcast. Severed
is written, produced, and hosted by Alan Stair.

Speaker 7 (01:11:33):
Severed is not endorsed by Red Hour Productions, in Never Content,
or Apple tv Plus. This podcast is intended for entertainment
and informational purposes only.

Speaker 5 (01:11:44):
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 (01:11:56):
Please make sure to leave a five star rating and
review for Severed at Apple Podcasts

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