Mark S. (Adam Scott) and Helly R. (Britt Lower) in Severance season 2, episode 6
AppleTV
Severance season 2, episode 6 didn’t reveal any of the show’s big secrets, but it did deliver messy drama, introducing enough love triangles to form a pentagram.
Romance is bubbling up all over the place, crossing boundaries and blurring lines between innies, outies and Lumon outsiders—here’s a guide to the messy love stories of Severance season 2, episode 6, “Attila.”
Dylan And Gretchen
As part of Lumon’s attempt to appease and psychologically manipulate Dylan G. (Zach Cherry), the innie has been permitted to taste the wholesome life of his outie, with regular visits from his outie’s wife, Gretchen (Merritt Wever).
This leads to an interesting situation, in which Dylan G. pines for the family life his outie gets to experience, a life that his outie takes for granted. From what little we see of Dylan’s outie, it’s implied that the man is feeling a little lost, stuck in a rut, and perhaps doesn’t appreciate how good he has it.
Dylan G., on the other hand, views the family with fresh eyes and sees his outie’s wife and kids as a blessing. Hence, Gretchen finds herself developing feelings for Dylan G., seemingly intrigued by his positivity and earnestness.
The two share a kiss at Lumon and you can tell it was serious, because Gretchen lies to Dylan afterward, claiming that she never even visited his innie that week.
Gretchen’s crush might be even more devastating than a regular affair, considering that she is developing feelings for the person Dylan could be, rather than the man he is at home.
Irving, Burt And Fields
Irving B. (John Turturro) and Burt (Christopher Walken) were the first to find love in the fluorescent limbo of Lumon, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that Irving’s outie doesn’t have much going on in his personal life.
After Irving’s innie tracked down Burt’s outie, Burt became interested in Irving’s outie, having learned of their innie romance at Lumon before he retired his alter-ego.
In the real world, Burt is happily married to his husband, Fields (John Noble), and he invites Irving’s outie to dinner to discuss their strange situation.
It’s an awkward idea for a get-together, and things get tense pretty quickly, with Irving learning more about the couple than he intended. It’s hinted that Burt is some kind of Lumon insider, and he seems interested in getting to “know” Irving, without Fields getting in the way.
Fields, on the other hand, seems to be actively encouraging the love between Irving and Burt’s innies to blossom, due to his devout religious beliefs which frames innies as separate entities with their own souls.
However, the fact that reintegration is possible seems to disprove this theory—the thing about innies is that they are the same person as the outie, but shaped by different life experiences. All of these innie personalities are not separate souls, but parallel lives.
Either way, Burt hints that he’s interested in hanging out with Irving, outie-to-outie, which is absolutely not what Fields had in mind.
Mark And Helly
Mark S. (Adam Scott) and Helly R. (Britt Lower) share the most complex love triangle, or whatever shape these messy romances take. The two innies have shared feelings for one another since season 1.
Season 2 saw Helena, Helly’s outie, betray the innies by posing as one of them, and seducing Mark during their surreal outdoors trip in “Woe’s Hollow.”
Helena appears to very much envy the restricted world of her innie—as a member of the Eagan clan, Helena seems to have less joy and personal freedom in her life than a literal slave.
It’s unclear how much affection Helena really feels for Mark’s innie—does she love him, or love the way he made her feel? But it doesn’t matter, because Mark has learned of the betrayal, and he had to tell Helly that he had sex with her outie, while grappling with his own complex feelings.
Helly feels very weird, having understood that her body was hijacked for a lovemaking session that she wanted to experience.
Hence, Helly decides to feel the love for herself, and she and Mark sneak away to an empty Lumon room to share a more tender, thoroughly consensual sex session.
The two sex sessions are separated by their clashing tone, with Mark’s seduction by Helena infused with menace, and his time with Helly marked by cautious excitement (Helly and Helena are also differentiated by color, with Helena scenes containing deep, vibrant red, and Helly scenes featuring cool blue).
The love triangle is already complicated by the intrusive memories of Mark’s outie, who is pining after the spectre of his dead wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman), but the situation reaches unprecedented messiness after Helena Eagan tracks down Mark’s outie in a restaurant and flirts with him.
It seems that Helena isn’t going to give up that romantic spark, and she’s going to try and get it from Mark’s outie, even if he only knows her as an intimidating Lumon alumni.
Mark’s outie and Helena, however, have undeniable chemistry, meaning that the two share a bond in the innie and outie life.
What this means for Gemma is a mystery, but it seems that Mark and Helly/Helena are meant to be together, in some form or another.
As Mark’s reintegration approaches and the personalities fuse, he’s probably going to have to make a very weird and complicated choice, between his lost wife, and two clashing personalities who share the same body.
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