This recap of Apple TV+ series Severance season 1, episode 5, “The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design,” contains spoilers.
One of the (albeit lesser) considerations with a concept of Severance is what happens if there’s an outside emergency. Would they tell the innies to leave with no explanation? As it’s shown in “The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design”, Mark only finds out of his sister’s pregnancy nearing its endpoint.
Severance Season 1, Episode 5 Review:
Driving to the cabin, he listens to Rickon’s anxious voicemails that were unanswerable in his severed state. By the bedside, Rickon is no less annoying, asking Mark to help him hang Kelp around the cabin, and to share secrets to create a “soul void.”
This then leads to the duel revelation both that the book has been stolen (Rickon believes that any thief who read it would naturally turn themselves in), and later, Mark confesses to Devon that he suspects something is fishy at Lumen. His mind can’t escape the image of Petey; if he’s right, half of Mark’s life is a lie.
Interestingly, that other half gets a lot more mileage out of Rickon’s foofy self-help platitudes. Inner Mark devours the stolen (then somewhat returned?) book with all its florid prose, dull metaphors, and standard-issue life advice (Rickon poses the question of what separates man and machine before answering that one thinks, and one is metal).
Helly’s near-fatal suicide attempt (did we even think for a moment she would die?) has him rattled — he was the one to find her in the elevator. While Irv suggests hiding “inspirational quotes around the office,” Cobel has her own plan which apparently deviates from protocol.
Miss Casey returns to observe Helly, invading her personal space and jotting down notes on every movement until Mark makes a move to get her to leave, taking Helly off to a private room where they can talk. He shows her a map he’s been making, attempting to recreate Petey’s, and asks her to help. “I’m not your new Petey,” she says, running off.
The ending:
As Mark chases her down the endless corridors the light follows her steps, leaving the rest of the hallway in darkness, until she can’t bear his pestering anymore. After the previous week’s humiliating video response, the hanging worked as an attempt to push back against her outie: “I wanted her to wake up with the life draining out of her, and know it was me that did it.” Judging by the horrifying expression on outie Helly we see at the start, it must’ve worked.
