Severance: The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design   Rewatch 
December 30, 2024 2:33 PM - Season 1, Episode 5 - Subscribe

Helly survives the elevator. Mark joins Devon and Ricken at the rustic birthing retreat. Irving and Burt visit Optics and Design. Helly and Mark go through a walk and meet some baby goats.

This is a great episode for Ricken. "Mark, will you help me hang the kelp? [...] Do you really want me to explain it?" - plus we start to see extracts from his book as different innies surreptitiously read it. "Bullies are nothing but Bull and Lies", "What separates man from machine is that machines cannot think for themselves. Also, they are made of metal, whereas man is made of skin."

Ms. Casey: "Upon request, I can also perform a hug"

Why did Burt lie about the size of the O&D team? "Because… we don’t trust your guys. [...] According to some, you each have a larval offspring that will jump out and attack if we get too close."
posted by simonw (7 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
I think this may be my all time favorite title of an episode of television.
posted by simonw at 2:34 PM on December 30, 2024 [6 favorites]


The excerpts from Ricken’s book just do me in. And then that they are revelatory for the Innie’s despite being not-even-wrong and far beyond merely banal…
posted by janell at 8:28 AM on January 1 [3 favorites]


Compared to Keir's teachings, Ricken's book isn't bad. This is the part of the season, between the book and the baby arriving, when I started really enjoying Ricken. His answer about the kelp -- Do you really want me to explain it? -- made him so much more fun.

I've wondered how Severance would work during dreaming. Irving gets a glimpse of his outie's painting (even though he doesn't know what it is) when he dozes. I wonder if other innies would share experiences if they were allowed to dream.
posted by gladly at 4:10 PM on January 1 [2 favorites]


If we don’t get at least a small hint about the purpose of the goats in season 2 I’m going to be sending Mr Stiller a strongly worded letter.
posted by garrett at 11:43 AM on January 4


I didn’t get much traction the first time around on my Ricken theory, but on rewatch, I’m doubling down. Ricken is a full time Innie, on the outside. That’s why he’s so strange. He theorizes like an Innie. He talks like an Innie. For awhile I thought he may be the CEOs son (Helly’s brother) who acted as an early test subject but rejected the family somehow and Outie Helly stepped up when the Prodigal son failed to return to the fold. Both could be true. Who knows what early tests wrought?
posted by vitabellosi at 10:55 AM on January 9 [2 favorites]


I, however, would be quite happy if the goats remain entirely unexplained; part of the dreamlike atmosphere of the show is the disorientating unexpected stuff.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:09 PM on January 14 [2 favorites]


I've wondered how Severance would work during dreaming. Irving gets a glimpse of his outie's painting (even though he doesn't know what it is) when he dozes.

Oh; and has been disciplined before for napping at work, so the rules discourage that. And it seems to be only outie Irv who is troubled by images that only his innie can have seen.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 6:14 PM on January 14


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