The AppleTV+ show Severance is an extraordinary feat of imaginative filmmaking. Over the course of a critically acclaimed first season, and three episodes of funky mystery-box plotting, and a crazy cliffhanger which saw Outie Mark begin to be psychologically recalibrated with his Innie, the show has consistently agitated and cajoled viewers into a false sense of security. With Woe’s Hollow, the show refuses to be atypical entertainment.
After the cliffhanger of Who is Alive?, or any cliffhanger, it can be expected that the follow up episode continues that cliffhanger. It could be said that it is standard practice, but if Severance is anything, it is not standard, and so the episode opens with Irving (John Turturro) entering a severed state. Instead of this occurring inside the metal confines of the Lumon elevator, it is instead…outside. This marks a drastic change within what we know of how the act of severance occurs. Immediately it begs the questions of if this is another overtime contingency, but as Irving scans the snow-covered horizon from his position on top of a cliff, his eyes are met by Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Britt Lower), and Dylan (Zack Cherry), who are as confused as Irving is that they’re outside in giant wooly coats.
The Macrodata refinement team bumbles around in the snow until they spot a version of Mark in the distance, who slowly, eerily begins silently pointing towards a DVD player. One of the many quirks of the show is how subliminally anachronistic the show is, as various outdated technology is incorporated into the ongoings. Everything tech within the confines of Lumon are consistently retro, even if the Outie world is modern and the tech required for Severance is futuristic science fiction. The disc clicks on as a menu pops up for them to click play. An on-screen Milchik (Tramell Tillman) appears to detail the exact parameters of their existence on this frosty clifftop: they are performing an ‘ORTBO,’ otherwise known as an Outdoor Retreat and Team Building Occurrence. With their Outie’s permission, they are to spend two days working together to navigate Dieter Eagan National Forest, a difficult terrain of brambles and thickets and brooks, a journey which takes them on an introspective path and an eventual escalation that finally reveals what prior episodes have been hinting at.
Woe’s Hollow is the goal location at the centre of this ORTBO, which plays out like a real-life Dungeons and Dragons campaign. The group must complete tasks while learning about Dieter Eagan, Keir Eagan’s up to now, non-existent twin brother. This results in an episode that is both character-driven as the group discuss their situation and work together, and an episode heavy in Severance lore. Keir tamed the tempers here, which feel very much like a parsing of the four humours; an ancient model of medicinal belief where if the ‘humours’ were to be imbalanced, they should add or subtract one. As the Humours were represented by bodily functions, this sometimes meant the literal leeching of blood or inducing vomit. In season one, we witness these tempers as described by Keir: “In my life, I have identified four components, which I call tempers, from which are derived every human soul. Woe. Frolic. Dread. Malice. Each man’s character is defined by the precise ratio that resides in him.” Perhaps the technique of Severance is a way of balancing these, especially as we know Mark only became severed as to not deal with the grief of his dead spouse.
To place Severance inside a single genre would normally be doing it a disservice. It is funnier than any dry comedy, more thrilling than any action flick of recent memory. But Woe’s Hollow can firmly take up space as an entry into the horror genre, even if Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) on a theremin is a grand amusement. If the opening credits (a real treat every week) didn’t firmly set this in horror – nor the silent, blank-faced doubles of the Macrodata refinement team that appear throughout – the sordid, blackened fingernails of a hallucinated woman sure will. Combined with what could be declared as Severance’s first true jumpscare, this is the first episode that goes from just unnerving to downright terrifying.
The episode also escalated the relationship between Helly and Mark, the two cosying up together in a tent to keep warm. Their kiss at the end of season one seems so distant now but the show keeps ensuring the relationship between the two is referenced. Their dynamic isn’t exactly the most riveting, in which it feels like something more machiavellian must be afoot for how otherwise carefully considered every element of this show is. While Woe’s Hollow might not consistently be the most exciting episode, but it ultimately shows that Severance has gears, that it will escalate when it needs to and when the narrative requires it. Even those familiar with the directorial work of Ben Stiller could not have foreseen how great Severance is, and season two continues to impress.
Severance Season 2 streams weekly on Apple TV+.
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