The Grim Barbarity of Optics And Design – The show begins with Helly (Britt Lower) grabbing her neck as she hangs from a rope in the elevator. Mark Scout (Adam Scott) walks down a hallway. As the elevator door opens, Helly’s feet can be seen flailing in the air. As she loses one shoe, the elevator door shuts. Mark enters the Macrodata Refinement Department, where Dylan (Zach Cherry) reads the book from his brother-in-law, Richen “Rick” (Michael Chernus). He hurriedly hides the book when Mark asks if Helly left. Mark suggests he leave as well. Dylan agrees to leave when he finishes up. As Mark passes his cubicle, he apologizes for loving the work.

Mark puts his keycard in the elevator slot. Mr. Graner (Michael Cumpsty) can be seen running down the hallway. When the elevator door opens, Mark rushes in to grab Helly’s limp body. As he holds her body, he struggles to call for help. Mr. Grainer says, “God**** it” as he rushes to untie the rope around Helly’s neck. They gently lay her body on the floor. Mark questions if Helly is okay. After Mr. Grainer haphazardly fixes the elevator ceiling panels, he orders Mark to get into the elevator. Mark repeatedly calls Helly’s name while ignoring him. Raising his voice, Mr. Grainer repeats his order. Mark enters the elevator, leaving Helly’s limp body on the floor. He calms down before exiting the elevator on the lower floor, where he runs into Judd (Mark Kenneth Smaltz). They swap greetings as Mark leaves Lumon Industries for the day.

Remembering nothing from the recent traumatic event, Mark arrives at Lumon Industries. This all changed in the elevator about halfway up to the severed floor. When the elevator door opens, Milchick (Tramell Tillman) and Harmon Cobel (Patricia Arquette) are waiting. He asks about Helly’s condition. Cobel informs him of Helly being alive, with severe bruising and no permanent damage. He questions if Lumon will release Helly. She assures him that Helly’s outie has a purpose for her. He reminds her of Helly’s near-death experience and how she didn’t want to work for Lumon. She says Helly will return to work in a couple of days. He asks if that is sufficient. Upset, she reminds him of Helly’s suicide attempt being on his watch. She suggests he thank Kier Egan (Marc Geller) for the outcome.

Removing Rick’s book from the file cabinet, Mark heads to the restroom. In the book, Rick explains how failure taught him an important lesson. Comparing machine to man, he says there are two major differences. The Machine is constructed of metal while man has skin. The Machine doesn’t have the ability to think for itself while man can. He suggests the reader ask himself who needs to change, the system or him.

Mr. Graner informs Cobel that Petey Kilmer’s (Yul Vazquez) memory had reintegrated. He assumes she will hesitate to relay the information to the board after Helly’s suicide attempt. When she doesn’t respond, he questions if she informed the board at all. Returning the chip, she requests he assess it for signature sources to determine who is responsible for Petey’s memory reintegration.

After exiting the elevator, Mark retrieves his belongings when he discovers a message from Richen. The voicemail informs Mark his sister, Devon (Jen Tullock) is in labor. He is transporting Devon to the birthing retreat and asks Mark to join them there.  Another voicemail informs him they arrived at the birthing retreat and the baby is in the birth canal. In another voicemail, he says they are in cabin 6. He pleads with him to hurry.

Mark runs into Alexa (Nikki M. James) who asks if he forgot she would be with Devon during labor. He admits having slightly forgotten before apologizing about their previous date. She assures him Devon’s pregnancy is going great. He thanks her for taking care of Devon. When he enters the birthing room, Richen tells Devon he doesn’t want to be like his father. They periodically discuss the birthing retreat. Mark curses when Devon has a contraction. Rick asks him to say a secret. She assures him it isn’t necessary. After a contraction, Devon goes for coffee. While Devon is gone, Rick and Mark hang kelp.

Standing outside, Devon sees a pregnant Gabby Arteta (Nora Dale) inside one of the birthing cabins. She tries to get a man’s attention, but he walks away. She convinces Gabby to give her some coffee through a closed window. Agreeing, she opens the door for Devon. Devon tells her Rick is driving her crazy and Mark is making her depressed. Gabby says it is her third baby.

Rick reminds Mark of the last time he was in a medical facility when his wife, Emma died. Mark asks if the birthing center is a medical facility. Rick and Devon had the intention of naming their baby Gemma, but Mark wasn’t keen on the idea. Devon arrives with coffee. She informs Mark about Gabby who she describes as cute and nice. When she suggests Mark visit Gabby, he doubts she is not spoken for. She mentions Alexa giving him a second chance. He doubts it when Devon has another contraction. He offers to tell her a secret during the contraction. She tells him to give it to her. Mark admits to having concerns about Lumon. She questions if his concern has something to do with his paycheck. He tells her it is about rumors. She asks where the rumors came from. As he starts to tell her about a businessman, she has a painful contraction that wakes up Rick. Mark goes for Alexa.

Devon refuses to let Rick touch her. While she continues with her labor, Mark takes a seat by the river. Petey’s phone rings inside the cardboard box in Mark’s basement. Sitting by the water, Mark has a flashback. k of Petey covered in blood. Devon can be heard in the background giving birth.

Milchick explains Helly was an outie form when she came through. He suggests Mark make his eyes kind. He practices a bit before being taken to Helly who is inside the elevator. Kneeling, he asks if she is okay. Frightened, Helly leans against the elevator wall while Mark assures her, she is okay. They sit at a table across from each other. He informs her about Lumon locking up items considered dangerous like an electric cord. When he approves her to look for happy numbers for the meantime, she laughs. Refusing to talk about it, she walks away.

Irving “Irv” (John Turturro) suggests they place inspirational books in different areas of the office. Dylan claims he would take his life if there weren’t any finger traps. While they discuss finger traps, Mark pulls Rick’s book out of his desk drawer. He quickly turns to find Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman) standing directly behind him. She informs him of why she is on the severed floor. Cobel ordered her to monitor Helly for signs of sadness. She agrees to give Helly a hug if she needs it. Interrupting, Dylan admits feeling sad as of late. When he asks for a hug, Ms. Casey immediately refuses.

Ms. Casey watches Helly while she sits in front of the computer. She asks Helly if she is upset. She describes her mentality as peachy. Ms. Casey offers her a hug, but she refuses. It appears Irv has fallen asleep, as a blob of black goo falls on his hand. The goo falls from the ceiling onto his desk. When he sees Mark with black goo draining from his eye, Irv jumps up out of his char. He stares at the ceiling as Mark asks if they lost him again. He explains how he needs to speak with Burt (Christopher Walken) in Optics and Design. Mark requests he leave them a copy of the map just in case they need to locate him for something. Irv prints the map to get duplicate images of a group of men who are eating human flesh. He is alarmed by the image.

As he turns around, Milchick apologizes for sending the image to the wrong department. Irv demands to know more about the images. He assures him they are nothing more than a joke for Cobel. Irv questions if the images have to do with Optics and Design coup that Dylan is always talking about. Milchick denies a coup ever happened at Lumon. Irv shows the images to Dylan who firmly believes it supports the Optics and Design coup. He doesn’t understand why workers from two departments at Lumon would attack each other. Dylan reminds him of Optics and Design having more workers than Macrodata Refinement. Irv suggests he talk to Burt about it. Dylan doesn’t believe he can be trusted.

Cobel asks Milchick if he ran a 266 on Irv. He admits to running the 266 to deter Irv and Burt from spending so much time together. When she doesn’t respond, he questions if it was a good idea. She agrees it was a good initiative. They discuss her decision to have Ms. Casey monitor Helly. She admits to utilizing Ms. Casey to test a new initiative. He looks at her strangely when she asks him to keep it between the two of them.

Helly tries to wash about the rope marks on her neck. Ms. Casey approaches her as she emerges from to restroom to explain her experience. Hearing the question, Mark purposely tilts over his mug, spilling coffee everywhere. They stare at him as he apologizes for the mess. Dylan accuses him of being drunk. Ms. Casey orders Helly to accompany her to the distribution supply. Mark agrees to monitor her until she returns.  He says it is only a few minutes. She informs him it takes eight minutes to make the trip to distribution supply and back to the Macrodata Refinement Department. Helly is relieved to get eight minutes of peace from Ms. Casey. Mark wants to show her where they keep their pen caps.

Ms. Casey passes Burt who is muttering and pacing about. She stops to get a second look before moving on.

Helly asks Mark about the location of the pen caps. He asks if she is doing okay. She admits to being bad. He leads her into a room filled with cubicles covered with fabric. Giving her Petey’s map, he tells her about his trying to recreate it during lunch breaks. He suggests if they work as a team. Cutting him off, she denies being his new Petey before returning the map.

Ms. Casey returns to Macrodata Refinement looking for Helly. Irv tells her Mark took Helly to where they store pen caps. When he gives her the location, she informs him of Burt being in the conference room.

Irv heads to the conference room, where he finds Burt alone. He asks why he is in the conference room. He claims to have been looking for him. Dylan rushes in to lock Burt in. He asks Irv if he wants to be disemboweled. Looking at Burt, he asks where his six friends are hiding. Irv goes for a manager while Burt screams his name.

Mark follows Helly down a dark hall. She tells him about what her outie said about her not being a real person. He suggests she focus on herself. They hear a bleating noise in the distance.

Burt tries to explain to Dylan who isn’t having it. Irv returns to inform them he couldn’t locate Helly or Mark. Dylan says Optics and Design probably killed them. Burt pleads with Irv to make Dylan let him out. He asks him if he knows the whereabouts of Mark and Helly. He denies knowing anything. Irv questions why he went to the conference room instead of his department. He was concerned about scaring him again like with the hand think. Irv assures him he wasn’t scared. Burt claims to be working on a joke for him. Irv asks why he lied about how many people worked in Optics and Design. He explains how his co-workers don’t trust them, telling jokes and tales about them. Some Optics and Design workers believe Macrodata Refinement workers have pouches while others say they have larval offspring.

Dylan describes it as psycho. Irv and Burt laugh. Dylan pulls him to the side to ask if he is sweet on Burt. Irv asks if he doesn’t like it. He believes Burt is dangerous.

Helly and Mark walk in the direction of the bleating noise. They encounter a small white goat in the hallway. They follow the goat into a room, where a man is surrounded by white goats. He feeds one of the goats from a bottle. The Goat Wrangler (Brian Rock) tells them they aren’t ready to be taken yet. He orders them to get out.

Dylan gradually walks back to his department behind Burt and Irv while they discuss a painting called “The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design.” Burt denies ever seeing a painting with that name. They laugh about a larva joke before discussing a more serious topic, their relationship. When they reach Optics and Design, Irv releases Burt’s hands and tells him to be ever merry. He invites them into the storeroom. Hesitant, Dylan follows them into the storeroom, where Burt shows them, a painting called “The Courtship of Kier and Imogene.” They talk about how Kier met Imogene while employed at a factory as a stewman.

Dylan says it is dumb being in Optics and Design. As Burt and Irv touch hands, Dylan orders Burt to get away from Irv. He shows them the painting Burt claimed to know nothing about. Irv tells him the painting is not Optics and Design, it is Macrodata Refinement. Burt says the painting is called “The Macrodata Refinement Calamity.” Dylan questions why there are two paintings, one of Optics and Design and the other of Macrodata Refinement.

Helly questions if the goats represent numbers. When they select the numbers, they are selecting which goats live and which die. Opening up, Mark tells her he is glad she is there, even though she doesn’t want to be. As she promises to fix the map, Ms. Casey approaches. Mark claims they took a mental health walk. She is relieved to see they are okay. They follow her back to their department.

Mr. Graner enters Cobel’s office to ask if she is aware of what Macrodata Refinement is up to. She reminds him of what he is paid to do. He asks if she is stopping it. She says, “The surest way to tame a prisoner is to let him believe he’s free.” He questions how many Lumon departments will she let them find. She promises to speak with Mark. He warns her that upstairs wouldn’t appreciate it if they find out. She suggests he find out who is responsible for hacking Petey’s chip.

Burt leads Dylan and Irv into a room, where people are working with large machines. He draws their attention to Dylan and Irv, calling them friends. They get a bit uneasy when the workers just stop to stare at them as the episode comes to an end.

 

Severance Review

The episode had a lot of filler, with only a few revelations. The Goat Wrangler scene was interesting, as well as Helly’s take on it. It appears as if Milchick, Mr. Graner, and Cobel are starting to have doubts about each other while Mark, Irv, and Dylan get closer.

Are Cobel and Mr. Graner or Cobel hiding something from upstairs? It is obvious they haven’t told anyone about Petey’s memory reintegration. The question is why.

Milchick’s attempt to keep Burt and Irv apart by sending them a barbaric painting most likely failed. Dylan’s discovery of the Macrodata Refinement version of the painting made his effort futile. They now know there are two versions of the painting, but they still do not know why.

The episode deserves a 6.5. Get more Severance recaps here. Support ReelMockery by clicking the link