Severance Review: Hide and Seek (Season 1 Episode 6)
The baby goats were just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Lumon’s deep dark secrets. Severance decides to turn up the heat on its slow-burn mystery on Severance Season 1 Episode 6, “Hide and Seek.”
The book, Helly’s near-death experience, and the discovery of secret departments lit a fire within Mark S. and now we’re seeing the results. He’s a new man in a sense, willing to lead his team into the unknown.
Hey, he’s even smiling more.
— Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+
The problem as we’ve seen throughout the show is both versions of Mark’s hesitancy to follow through. When Harmony tears him a new one, blaming him for Ms. Casey being sent to the break room and his team’s lack of productivity, he automatically shrinks back down.
He’s back to being middle manager Mark. Fortunately, that doesn’t last for long and not even Harmony’s outburst can extinguish what’s already been lit.
It’s exciting to see MDR and O and D departments meet, even if the alliance still feels a little uneasy. The more we learn about them (they make hatchets?) the more nefarious Lumon begins to feel.
The deidentified “scary” numbers screamed tech conspiracy, but everything else we’re seeing on the show pushes the story into the surreal. This isn’t a Facebook or an Amazon or even a Theranos. It’s clearly something much stranger.
— Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+
Devon’s encounter with the woman from the birthing center, who turns out to be the wife of a politician in favor of legalizing severance and seems to not know her, adds to the mystery. Is it possible severance is already happening in the outside world?
The stakes are higher than ever, and it’s not just the mystery unraveling. We get a glimpse into Harmony’s personal life which includes a creepy shrine to Keir Eagan in her home and the revelation that her spying on Mark may not be completely above board.
At this point, her motivations are almost as intriguing as those of the company. Patricia Arquette is convincingly terrifying in the role, and I want to see her in more scenes where she bursts out of her cool demeanor.
The problem is the Lumon employees always seem one step behind. We learn on this episode that they can be “switched” to their innie outside of the Lumon building during a terrifying scene with Dylan.
— Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+
How sad is it that Dylan trusts Milchick enough to enter his home with his child present? Unlike his conspiracy theory-loving innie, the outie Dylan doesn’t know there’s anything wrong with Lumon.
Similarly, Mark gives Ms. Selvig (Harmony) access to his sister without even realizing he could be putting her in danger. You feel violated on their behalf.
It highlights the power disparity between Lumon and the people who undergo severance. Mark and the others are trying to change that to mixed results.
Who you’re supposed to root for on Severance is pretty obvious. So it’s frustrating to see their ultimate helplessness after all their attempts at resisting.
— Photo Courtesy of Apple TV+
Mark deciding to meet up with the people Petey worked with is a huge turning point for the show to possibly provide some answers.
I’m pinning a lot of hope on Mark starting to work with the resistance, but if watching way too much sci-fi has taught me anything it’s that not even the resistance can always be trusted.
Additional Thoughts:
- Well, at least we got an answer about whether Ms. Casey is also severed (she is).
- I think Mark and Alexa are really cute together. It’s nice to see him have a moment of connection.
- The idea there’s a whole university in this town (and underground punk shows) feels so weird since everywhere they go looks so isolated and almost desolate.
- I can’t decide if “Maybe his ghost can officiate your wedding,” or “Is ‘baby goats’ code for sex with Mark S.?” is my favorite Dylan quote of the week.
- There’s no way Ms. Selvig didn’t see Mark pull that phone out of the trash!
What did you think of this episode of Severance? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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New episodes of Severance stream Fridays on Apple TV+.
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Breeze Riley
Breeze Riley is a pop culture enthusiast who decided to turn her love of watching too much TV into a hobby writing about it. Although she's a convention-going sci-fi and fantasy nerd, she's just as likely to be watching an off-beat comedy or period drama. She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic.