it is Friday folks. Which means, It is time to turn on appletv+ and watch the newest episode of severance. everyone around me knows how obsessed I am with this show and this weeks episode truly felt like a special one. let’s dive in, shall we!
if you haven’t seen this weeks episode yet, make sure to save this article for later as I will be mentioning spoilers.
For the first time, Severance provides an extended look into Mark (Adam Scott) and Gemma’s (Dichen Lachman) relationship before her supposed death. in episode 7 we finally get to know Gemma. gemma, who hates ants but loves farms and could therefore bear with the fact that mark has gotten her an ant farm. we find out what made her so beautifully special, why mark fell so hard for her and still grieves her absence. season 2 is all about finding gemma, so it felt right to explore her relationship with mark. Through a series of flashbacks, we see their journey from flirtation at the college they both worked at to building a life together, including struggles with infertility. we also see The heartbreaking miscarriage and subsequent failed IVF treatments and how heavy these topics weighed between their dynamic in the end. they both became more emotionally distant, no matter how much they loved one another.
the show beautifully encapsulates their dynamic. the scenes in which they were effortlessly happy look like they’re out of a home-video. a very different look for the show, which is why it was the best decision to chose severance cinematographer Jessica Lee Gagné to be this weeks director.
during Gemmas struggle with fertility, we find out that Lumon may have been targeting Gemma long before her “accident.” Dr. Mauer (Robby Benson), the sinister figure who is overseeing her captivity, is briefly seen at their IVF clinic. how long did they target these two? Or did it start at the clinic?
in the present, we witness Gemma’s torment on Lumon’s Exports floor/ testing floor (whatever it is officially called), where she has been held as part of their ongoing experiments. we do not know why she came here in first place but very quickly find out that she does not want to be there and witness a desperate escape attempt. After striking Dr. Mauer with a chair, she steals his badge and navigates the dimly lit corridors. she makes it to the elevator and little does she know that she will become her severed personality once she’s in there. Just as she nears the severed floor, Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman) intercepts her. and damn,milchick must work a lot of extra hours. when gemma attempts to escape she gets severed in the elevator and walks out in the severed floor as miss Casey, directly welcomed by milchick who explains that she has accidentally walked into the wrong elevator. before she leaves she lets out a “Where’s…?” which must be her asking for mark! right? right!? it makes Gemmas attempt to escape so much more bittersweet.
As Gemma navigates the Exports floor, she walks into rooms labeled with names like “Allentown,” “Cairns,” and one she hasn’t entered yet: “Cold Harbor.” cold harbor being the important project mdr is working on right now. we find out that gemma is “free” the moment cold harbor is completed. Mark is reportedly 96% finished with Cold Harbor. probably everyone who is watching this show desperately wants to know what ‘Cold harbour’ means, what mark is working on and why it is specifically mark who has to finish cold harbour for lumon. why do they need gemma for that and how did she get there in first place? it did give me anxiety as a viewer – cause what happens when its done?
we also get to know a room in which mark, irving and Dylan are apparently constantly observed through screens. they see the refiners through their computer screens which just drives me even More nuts, ’cause what does it all mean!
meanwhile mark is still pretty much knocked out from the reintegration process. Devon is currently staying with him and even suggested to call miss corbel for help which – luckily she didn’t. mark finds consciousness near the end of the episode when Devon asks “where’d you go?” we see a flash of gemma passing by in the college library. she never left his mind.
episode seven shows that both mark and gemma try everything to get back to one another, the only thing that is standing in their way is lumon. it is a magnificent directorial debut for Jessica Lee Gagné, I haven’t seen an episode like this one in a long time. We also finally got more layers to add to gemma and Dichen Lachman truly gave her all for this.
“Chikhai Bardo” delivers an episode rich in revelations as well as maintaining the shows tension. The title refers to a Tibetan Buddhist reference to the cycle of rebirth, feels particularly fitting to both Mark and Gemma who seem to be caught in limbo. teetering between their past lives and Lumon’s grasps.
we still do now know What exactly Lumon is doing with severed workers on the Exports floor. How much does Gemma remember, when she is severed and can she escape?
there are two more episodes left this season, Severance truly is the talk of the town right now and rightfully so. makes one want to get severed to just wake up when the next episode is on.
severance season 2 is available to stream on appletv+ every friday with its final episode airing on march 21.