I knew it was Helena! Called it from episode 1. This writing is so damn good, this show doesn't miss

I wonder if the Helena/Helly reveal would have been obvious without twitter/Texags/reddit? I think it would have been suspected based on the Night Gardener answer, but not clear cut.

This episode had a lot of suspension of disbelief parts, but I'll go with it for a great show. Not sure how the reintegrated Mark worked besides his wife flashing on Helena's face post sex. I"ll be excited to see them back in the office environment next week.

Don't even know what to say about that episode. Incredible.

Irving is now my favorite after that.

That winter gear milchick is wearing is kickass. Like high end Hoth gear or something.

I think this show will be a mix of West World and Enders Game.

And the tallest waterfall in the world is only about 50 feet high. We are even getting geography lessons from this show.

Milichick's waterfall comment was an intentional bit of cruelty on his part. He said that just because he could and knew the innies (minus Helena) would believe the lie and feel wonder at the sight. Really ****ty if you think about it.

Was this team building exercise a ploy to get Helena pregnant?

I had to watch it again last night. I think that's an all-time great tv episode. My wife was pretty much checked out on Severance ("too weird"), but the acting and intensity of Woe's Hollow brought her back in full-force

So wife and I are discussing, Irv's outie wakes up and he's in the woods? Is that how this works?

Also, I agree with the poster that said the ORTBO was just Helena's way of hooking up with Mark.

I'm not sure they're waking him up like usual. They called it something so it may be something different.

https://www.techradar.com/streaming/apple-tv-plus/severance-season-2-episode-4-ending-explained-3-big-mysteries-solved-in-woes-hollow-and-5-new-questions-i-have-about-the-hit-apple-tv-plus-show


Lot of good stuff

The "Glasgow block". Seems to be a counter (block) to the usual severance module activation. Just based on what we've been shown in the show, my guesses are these:

• The severance module can be activated by "area effect". The entire Severed Floor, for example. Using the elevator (or stairs, if such exist) or the exit door (like Helly did in S1) to leave the floor boundaries automatically activates/deactivates the module. This would be the Gen 1 version of the severance technology.
• Specific severance modules can be activated/deactivated individually outside the Lumon building. This is the Overtime Contingency; Gen 2 of the technology. It requires someone at Lumon to target a module and activate it manually.
• The trip outside to the Dieter Eagan National Park could be a demonstration of Gen 3: wide area effect default activation outside of the Lumon building, but with targeted "blocking" of the wide area severance signal. This is the "Glasgow block" used to keep Helena in control no matter where she physically is; set it and forget it, in other words. Milicheck asked for the block to be removed. He didn't ask for Helena's module to be activated with the Overtime Contingency.
• Why call it "Glasgow" though? Could there be severance development in other parts of the world?

G Martin 87 said:

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The "Glasgow block". Seems to be a counter (block) to the usual severance module activation. Just based on what we've been shown in the show, my guesses are these:

• The severance module can be activated by "area effect". The entire Severed Floor, for example. Using the elevator (or stairs, if such exist) or the exit door (like Helly did in S1) to leave the floor boundaries automatically activates/deactivates the module. This would be the Gen 1 version of the severance technology.
• Specific severance modules can be activated/deactivated individually outside the Lumon building. This is the Overtime Contingency; Gen 2 of the technology. It requires someone at Lumon to target a module and activate it manually.
• The trip outside to the Dieter Eagan National Park could be a demonstration of Gen 3: wide area effect default activation outside of the Lumon building, but with targeted "blocking" of the wide area severance signal. This is the "Glasgow block" used to keep Helena in control no matter where she physically is; set it and forget it, in other words. Milicheck asked for the block to be removed. He didn't ask for Helena's module to be activated with the Overtime Contingency.
• Why call it "Glasgow" though? Could there be severance development in other parts of the world?

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Basically, they have a "device" or conditioning in their head that is geo-fenced and the geo-fences can be expanded / collapsed while also triggering the "device" itself in their heads.

YouBet said:

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G Martin 87 said:

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The "Glasgow block". Seems to be a counter (block) to the usual severance module activation. Just based on what we've been shown in the show, my guesses are these:

• The severance module can be activated by "area effect". The entire Severed Floor, for example. Using the elevator (or stairs, if such exist) or the exit door (like Helly did in S1) to leave the floor boundaries automatically activates/deactivates the module. This would be the Gen 1 version of the severance technology.
• Specific severance modules can be activated/deactivated individually outside the Lumon building. This is the Overtime Contingency; Gen 2 of the technology. It requires someone at Lumon to target a module and activate it manually.
• The trip outside to the Dieter Eagan National Park could be a demonstration of Gen 3: wide area effect default activation outside of the Lumon building, but with targeted "blocking" of the wide area severance signal. This is the "Glasgow block" used to keep Helena in control no matter where she physically is; set it and forget it, in other words. Milicheck asked for the block to be removed. He didn't ask for Helena's module to be activated with the Overtime Contingency.
• Why call it "Glasgow" though? Could there be severance development in other parts of the world?

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Basically, they have a "device" or conditioning in their head that is geo-fenced and the geo-fences can be expanded / collapsed while also triggering the "device" itself in their heads.

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Geo-fencing is a useful concept to think about it, but not quite the same thing. A geo-fence for the severed floor would geo-fence the entire building, including the Lumon lobby and guard station by the elevator where the outies are still outies.

Small discussion on Glasgow protocol at 20:55 in the video posted above

MW03 said:

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I'm sure everyone caught this, but I found it interesting that the Outdoor Retreat Team Building Occurrence was called ORTBO, which is an anagram for "robot," and that word comes from the word "robota," which is an old slavic word that can mean "forced servitude" in certain contexts.

I thought that was interesting since all these folks are in forced servitude to Lumon, and we very well may have seen their robot clones on the cliffs and whatnot.

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While we're on the anagram train, one possible anagram for Dieter Eagan is "AI Generated."

We watched episode 4 last night and I'd argue that was a top 5 episode of TV ever. Loved everything about that episode… the scenery, the music, the suspense. Fantastic.

WAIT- pic.twitter.com/4qmg4n3vvU

— z! severance spoilers (@zoeonfilm) February 9, 2025

A couple of questions from the last episode, which might have already been brought up, or discussed in a recap video somewhere:

1. Regarding Mark and Helly/Helena hooking up, are we supposed to believe unsevered Mark still does not know who she is? I know Lumon is super secretive and all, but Helena is portrayed as a somewhat visible personality who would probably be recognized by employees and perhaps the public. Or…

Maybe he does know who she is, but has to continue the innie guise, so he bites the bullet and knowingly does the deed with the heiress of the shadowy and powerful family. What's the prevailing theory here? Dropping the reintegration bombshell at the end of an episode but giving no indication of what his inner thoughts/processing have been in the subsequent episode is such a tease.

2. It's hard to believe that they wouldn't have interacted with the pointing "clones". Surely they would have walked right by them and looked at them up close, and tried to talk to them. What is the internet chatter saying regarding the clones?

Mark isn't fully unsevered/reintegrated yet. I had roughly the same question after the episode, we discussed it earlier in the thread and, when watching the latest ScreenCrush recap video they reminded us that Petey's reintegration wasn't immediate either/took time. So, for all intents and purposes, that was still innie Mark this episode, who only briefly slipped/broke when he saw Gemma's face when having sex with Helena. My guess is, next episode, we see innie Mark have increasingly more slips/breaks, then he's hopefully fully unsevered/reintegrated by episode's end.

YouBet said:

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This is where I chime in and ask why anyone would watch these speculative videos. I get we do the same on here but I'm not going out of my way to ruin the show trying to know what they are planning.

People need to just ride the wave here.

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The speculative part is usually only a small portion of the videos. Otherwise, for shows like this, they're often a massive help, providing essential context, reminding us of past plot points (see above), highlighting symbolism I never would have picked up, connecting dots I never would have connected, etc.

TCTTS said:

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YouBet said:

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This is where I chime in and ask why anyone would watch these speculative videos. I get we do the same on here but I'm not going out of my way to ruin the show trying to know what they are planning.

People need to just ride the wave here.

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The speculative part is usually only a small portion of the videos. Otherwise, for shows like this, they're often a massive help, providing essential context, reminding us of past plot points (see above), highlighting symbolism I never would have picked up, connecting dots I never would have connected, etc.

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I think there are two minds (ha!) on this. One group likes to see everything they might've missed summed up and dots connected in real time. They enjoy the close inspection of every frame and the explanation of how it ties in. It leads them to theories about what happens next and then satisfaction when those points all line up to a conclusion they were anticipating. The second group doesn't want the dots connected for them, but rather enjoys catching what they can and then enjoying the surprise they didn't see coming, only to remember all of the subtle clues after the fact, maybe on a rewatch or whatever.

I'm ride the fence a little. I like the work of a small "hive mind" that catches some things but misses others. I don't like the massive hive minds where every stone goes unturned and there are no surprises left.

I hear you.

All I know is that for this show the recaps help me, personally, while I still have no idea where any of this is going, nor do I care one bit if it doesn't turn out to be "clones" or whatever. I just think with a show as dense and detailed-oriented as Severance, and also factoring in the three-year gap between seasons, the recaps are almost crucial for me to even keep up.

But with something like, say, season three of The White Lotus next week? I listen to a number of pods from The Ringer, and when they said they're going to have TWO different recap pods each week for The White Lotus I immediately thought, "There's no way I'm listening to either one."

In other words, there are some shows where I want the extra help/homework, and other shows where I want nothing ancillary at all (save for this board and a little Twitter). And as long as the show is good, I don't really care what predictions come true or not.

someone explain this to me like I'm 5...were their actual physical bodies out there in the wilderness?

gigemJTH12 said:

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someone explain this to me like I'm 5...were their actual physical bodies out there in the wilderness?

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Seems so. Are you asking if the experience was just a Holodeck program?

I dont know what a Holodeck is but I googled it and yeah I guess so.

I dont get how they transported their physical bodies to wherever that was. Doesnt compute in my brain.

now...if it was just flipping their brains into some type of virtual reality trip, I would get it.

gigemJTH12 said:

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I dont know what a Holodeck is but I googled it and yeah I guess so.

I dont get how they transported their physical bodies to wherever that was. Doesnt compute in my brain.

now...if it was just flipping their brains into some type of virtual reality trip, I would get it.

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At the beginning Milchick said they are there with the consent of their outies, so it's easy to imagine their outies came to that location, and then their severance chips were activated.

that makes sense! I forgot he said that.

so outie Irv is going to wake up in the forest?

gigemJTH12 said:

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so outie Irv is going to wake up in the forest?

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This is where we are stuck

Fantastic hour of TV - they didn't give us the intro credits either - just straight snow Woe's Hollow. I might need to do a rewatch before next Thursday. Britt Lower and John Tut absolutely nailed their scenes. Like some mentioned before - you could see Helena briefly drop her facade, and Irv just kept pressing her. Irv is the ONLY one locked in. He's lost his love Burt, Mark is using his wrong head, and Dylan is having his family dangled in front of him as motivation.

The side effects of integration are slowly starting to bleed through. Really enjoyed how that touched on it. Innie Mark has no idea that integration has been done, so he's just going to start seeing his dead wife more often. Mark is also going to realize he didn't sleep with Helly and that's gonna send him spiraling, too. Milkshake's snow fit was SO clean. There are singular TV episodes that elevate a show, and this was one of them for Severance.