Severance Review: What’s for Dinner? (Season 1 Episode 8)

The revolution is nigh but first time for waffles. On Severance Season 1 Episode 8, “What’s for Dinner?,” the MDR team is close to waking up on the outside.

Before they do, there’s plenty of drama to manage on the inside. Despite the jubilation of Helly finishing all her data refining before the end of the quarter, the bodies are stacked high enough that it’s time for a reckoning.

Instead of the MDR team on the chopping block though, it’s Harmony herself. It’s hard to feel bad for her, especially now knowing the experiment she’s running on Mark and Ms. Casey/Gemma, but it’s a big change for the show to make.

If Harmony isn’t around to pull the strings any longer, that means the equally sociopathic Milchick is in charge unchecked.

Patricia Arquette walked a fine line all season, playing two different identities despite not being severed. For Harmony, the mask slipping is all a part of the character’s instability and not a defect of the severance process.

With her finally snapping, Arquette gets to drop her cool, collected demeanor and go into a fully crazed performance. She completely exposes the strange layer underneath that makes Harmony so compelling.

In some ways, this episode feels like the season put into a blender, which adds to the frantic anticipation of the innies successfully pulling off the overtime protocol.

You have the mood lighting of the “egg bar” which reflects the dance experience of Episode 7. There’s also the reveal of another innie’s home life, Irv.

His scenes don’t tell us much but do explain the weird black goo he sees during his delusions at work (it’s the paint he uses in his art).

The board learns about Helly’s suicide attempt, just like they learned about Petey’s escape and subsequent death. This time, however, Harmony is out of chances.

The only card left to play seems to be the innies finally breaking out, and the episode makes you wait for it. Interestingly, we don’t even see outie Mark until the end, focusing the POV on the innies.

What Severance said all along, despite the denials of those on the outside, is that the innies are people. What we don’t know is what that means for them when they escape.

Helly and Mark share a kiss, but their innies don’t know if they’re married to other people or maybe even in a long shot to each other. If you weren’t already sympathetic to the innies, this tender moment will win you over.

The pièce de résistance of the episode is the waffle party scene. Leslie Knope cover your eyes because this is not the waffle party you’re expecting.

From the moment Milchick sends Dylan to the replica of Kier Eagan’s house, you know something is not right. Is Dylan just nervous because he’s about to make a break for it to the control room?

No, that ominous feeling also comes from what’s written on the plate beneath the pile of fluffy goodness. Dylan is instructed to go to Kier’s bed which kicks off what is sure to be one of the most memorable scenes of the series.

After putting on a mask of Kier’s face (okay…), Dylan is joined by exotic dancers wearing masks representing the four tempers of Eagan’s philosophy (what!). Beyond the absolute weirdness of the event (are all waffle parties like this?), it raises so many questions about consent and how the innies are treated.

We know romantic entanglements are discouraged, but this scene acknowledges the fact that the innies are still human with human urges, and Lumon is attempting to control them. It’s not just melon and deviled eggs and waffles, it’s sex too.

Dylan escapes before things can get freakier but considering he shares the same body with his outie there are once again serious concerns about what constitutes consent. With the innies trying to escape to the outside world, this line of discussion is not going anywhere.

Dylan’s attempts in the control room to activate the overtime protocol are crosscut with Mark going to a dinner party at his sister’s house. Mark and Ms. Selvig don’t even realize the stakes of what’s going on which makes the scene even more intense.

Ending on Rickon’s dinner party gives us the perfect setup for all hell to break loose on the finale. With Ms. Selvig and Mark in one place, it seems likely Rickon’s book reading is going to be upstaged big time.

There are going to be a lot of loose ends for Severance to tie up on the finale, and at this point, it’s looking like it will need a second season to make things work (consider this my plea to Apple TV+ to announce a renewal already).

We found out what’s for dinner, and now it’s time to dig in.

Additional Thoughts:

• Harmony said to send Ms. Casey to testing, which indicates she doesn’t leave the building. How many others are there like her at Lumon?
• “Yeah, the egg bar is coveted as f***.” Deviled eggs really add to the misplaced retro vibe of the show.
• I would bet good money that Helly is at Rickon’s party. Why else only show her in a super close-up shot?
• We still don’t know what Harmony’s connection to the Eagans is. Lovechild? Superfan?
• Part of me was hoping we might get a glimpse of Burt on the outside. Sadly not.
• Will innie Mark be excited to meet his favorite author? I can only imagine Rickon’s ego if he learns he inspired the innie revolution.

What did you think of this episode of Severance? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

New episodes of Severance stream Fridays on Apple TV+.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

15 Standout TV Shows Created by Women