Severance heads inside a museum from hell

[Editor’s note: In anticipation of Severance’s upcoming second season, The A.V. Club is recapping season one of the show for the first time. Expect a new recap to drop daily through September 2.]    

I won’t lie. Consuming Severance’s third episode is an intense albeit interesting history lesson. To give its suspense a solid foundation, “In Perpetuity” relies heavily on exposition. This isn’t a complaint by any means because a TV show as dense as this one needs it. Plus, Severance has already developed a potent visual language that communicates subtext along with the explanation. What I mean is that to cram it in this single hour can be a lot to handle so early on. At least everything we learn about Lumon Industries’ cryptic origins sheds a little light on how this company came to be, the family that runs it, and what the ultimate goal might be. (Immortality? Maybe!) 

While giving Helly a tour of their floor beyond their workspace, Mark, Irving B., and Dylan educate her—and us—a bit more about Kier Eagan, his clan, and the virtues he believes in. This ragtag MDR crew lands up in the Perpetuity Wing (even if Mark doesn’t file the required paperwork in advance, Harmony Cobel allows them to go anyway), partly to motivate Helly to stick around instead of continually trying to escape. She’s extra sad after outie rejected her resignation—Inner Helly cannot fathom why her other half would subject her to this torture. No one can fault her for being manic considering the vacuous conditions. Her third day as an innie probably feels like her 300th, as there’s no concept of time. Mark expects she’ll enjoy her win of successfully sorting through the numbers on her screen. It is a win, but at what cost?

Regardless, her colleagues hope taking her to this Eagen shrine will open her eyes and make her appreciate that being at Lumon isn’t just crunching numbers in a brightly lit, maze-like office. They’re here for a higher purpose, or at least that’s what they’re led to believe, especially Irving. This man isn’t just drinking the Kool-Aid; he’s practically swimming in it. It’s always been clear Irv is dedicated to the cause without knowing what it is, but the reverence with which he presents himself in the Perpetuity Wing is still wild. This wing is a mini-museum with statues of Kier and his family members who were former CEOs of Lumon. As Helly scrutinizes Kier’s figure, a quote behind her reads “History lives in us, whether we learn it or not.” For a show like Severance, which is conscientious of every detail, this is a big clue. Helly (a.k.a. Helena) has ties to the Eagans—and while we find out what that is in the finale (try not to spoil it for first-time watchers, people!), “In Perpetuity” openly lays the groundwork for the twist.  

Meanwhile, we also learn that this apparently holy founder has sorted the various company departments like Macrodata Refinement, Optics & Design, and who knows how many more. Dylan thinks MDR is for clever, true people and O&D is more cruel based on a story about the latter attacking their coworkers. (Mark is 90-percent sure no one died during this made-up coup.) Kier’s belief was that every human soul is derived from four tempers; woe, malice, dread, and frolic. Tapping into these core tenets can lead to enlightenment, or he thinks it did for him, and now he wants to impart that talent on the rest of his “children.” This propaganda is getting worse and worse, huh?

The Perpetuity Wing’s bizarreness continues with a “mouth wall,” a huge screen plastered with various smiles of the people whose lives Lumon helped save. If I was Helly, I also would’ve busted my ass out of there. And she does, but not before her new coworkers take her to a replica of Kier’s home, including his bedroom. When she’s had enough, she hightails it in another attempt to escape. Mark runs to save her, but it’s too late because she’s caught and sent straight to the break room. I love/loathe Severance’s spin on it because it literally is a room to break you, not a place to relax as most employees would’ve expected. Helly is forced to recite the same apology speech that Mark heard himself say in the recording Petey played for him in episode two. 

Lumon is systematically chipping away at whatever little free will its severed employees have left. Maybe it’s to get rid of any aspects of the outies that may remain in their innies, like Helly’s rebellious streak. We also know that both Marks avoid confrontation—on the outside, he’s running from his sorrow, and inside, he’ll do whatever it takes to help Helly adjust instead of listening to her concerns. There are other similarities too because even Petey notes that sometimes Mark would come in with his eyes red, probably because he’s cried all night. “You feel it down there too; you just don’t know what it is,” Petey tells him of his pain. It makes sense. Their memories are turned off; their hearts are not. The emotional crux of Severance is on display again: Our traumas, just like our happiness, make us who we are. 

What happens when innie and outie memories combine? We get that answer via Petey, whose full name is Peter Kilmer. He’s still hiding out in Mark’s basement, but, as the day goes on, his brain conjures up scenes from his time inside Lumon. His glitching is made worse when he sees Cobel. So he wanders around town in a bathrobe before cops eventually come to get him—except it might be too late. Mark arrives just in time to watch his pal fall to the ground while being taken in. Petey might be gone, but his phone is still around and could lead Mark to the people who unsevered him. If he even wants to hear from them, that is. 

Putting the gritty details aside, this episode has some other great stuff going on. Irving and Burt, his new buddy from O&D, cross paths again and share multiple lingering looks. Mrs. Selvig shows real concern for Mark after he skips a day at work, so maybe her interest in him isn’t all about Lumon—although as Harmony, she’s pretty rude to him, even throwing an object his way for apparent incompetence. Maybe she’s annoyed because the yet-to-be-seen board only communicates with her through a speaker or another person, and they’re doubting her abilities. Gosh, Patricia Arquette is crushing it as an icy Cobel and a ridiculous Mrs. Selvig. She’s definitely not severed, but I can’t wait to find out more about why she’s playing these two parts. And do Irving, Burt, and Helly also have a neighbor in this Lumon-subsidized town who’s there to keep an eye on them? There are a lot of questions but, based on these three episodes alone, our patience might be rewarded. 

Stray observations

• • Color theory: The robe that Petey wears is red and blue, an amalgamation of Lumon and real-life. Meanwhile, everything from the bedsheets to the curtains in Kier’s bedroom replica is a deep shade of blue. A huge sign of outie world colliding with the innie, though, is that Mark’s brother-in-law’s book is now on the severed floor. And the cover? Oh, it’s bright orange-red.
• • Speaking of, Ricken wrote a novel called The You You Are, confirming his well-meaning pretentiousness. He’s nervous about leaving it as a gift on Mark’s doorstep, keeping his pregnant wife waiting in the car. The book is picked up by Cobel to inspect, a task she leaves for Milchick.
• • Milchick can’t help but laugh out loud at the contents of the book, but his reading time is disrupted when Helly causes chaos. So the book is left right there in a conference room, ready and waiting to be picked up by a severed employee. Who will it be?
• • I really wonder if Milchick is bored as hell because so much of his day was spent getting Helly to sound remorseful through a boring speech. No wonder he jumped at the chance to bury himself in a corny book.
• • Mark gets new tasks added to his roster as the MDR leader, including reading announcements to his team in the morning. They include a reminder that innies shouldn’t stick post-it notes on their faces, as it’s not good for the pores. Oh, and don’t boast about waffle party rewards, as Dylan does. This damn party has gotten so many mentions already.
• • Petey hints that there’s a Lumon department where no one gets to leave. Ever. Uh-oh.
• • Mark finds Petey’s map of the floor drawn in their old team photo. It’s bound to make him explore more, but I’m personally dying to find out what other rooms and departments there are (besides the ones we know of in season one) and what that huge space with the word MIND written on it on the map means.