Buckle up, folks. Severance Season 2 Episode 4, “Woe’s Hollow,” takes bonkers to a new level. And they don’t even have the baby goats on set. The Innies find themselves on a team-building field trip without warning and the Lumon-infused setting and activity is really something.
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Team-building is a challenge when distrust abounds. Irving B. (John Turturro) still hasn’t reconciled himself with Helly R.’s (Britt Lower) OCP story. Meanwhile, Mark S. (Adam Scott) and Helly R. grow ever closer. Nothing is simple in this new normal.
Severance’s “Woe’s Hollow”
Irving B. arrives at work but finds himself alone, standing in the middle of a frozen lake, dressed in winter gear. He calls out, “Hello!” multiple times, trying to discern if there is anyone around. Mark S.’s voice responds, calling, “Irving?” with a distinct echo. He’s up on a clifftop at the edge of the lake. They shout a conversation back and forth, with Mark S. telling Irving B. to take the path from the bottom of the cliff to meet him at the top. Momentarily concerned about crossing the ice to the cliff, Irving B. eventually decides to try and runs with loping strides across the crackling lake surface.
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As he climbs the path, he runs into Helly R. She’s just as confused as Irving B. They hear Mark S. calling to them, telling them to follow his voice. They join him at the top just as Dylan G. (Zach Cherry) emerges, screaming from the trees nearby. Dylan G. expresses wonder at the sensation of being outside. Helly calls out, “Hello!” looking for someone to explain why they’re there. They all hear music suddenly. On an adjacent clifftop, there’s a TV on an AV cart playing the opening title screen of a DVD.
Mark S. takes the remote and hits play. Milchick (Tramell Tillman) appears on the screen. He welcomes them to their first Outdoor Retreat and Team Building Occurrence (ORTBO). This is one of the changes Lumon has made in response to the Innies’ desire to see the outside world. The ORTBO will last two days. They are in the Dieter Eagan National Forest. The refiners have never heard of Dieter Eagan before.
Stray Not From Kier’s Path
On the TV, Milchick explains the answers to Dieter Eagan’s identity lie within the fourth appendix, dictated by Kier Eagan in his final hours of life. Milchick says the fourth appendix was forbidden on the severed floor but it’s waiting for them in Scissor Cave. This is the grotto where Kier tamed the four tempers according to Lumon canon. Milchick promises them there will be help along the way, then wishes them well before the recording ends.
Looking around, Dylan G. notices someone standing on another clifftop. Helly R. notes that it looks like another Mark S. As they watch, the other Mark S. raises an arm to point them in the direction they should go next. Despite Irving B.’s skepticism, they decide it’s a signpost. They walk in that direction until they see a second Helly R. standing in a gully. Slowly, she raises an arm to point out the next route they should take. This sends them into a damp cave network.
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Inside, they find a shelf lit with a single light holding a tome with an “IV” on its cover. Helly takes the book and opens it. The dedication reads, “For Dieter.” She reads the first chapter wherein Kier explains he had a twin brother named Dieter. Helly reads on and Kier explains that, as young men, the brothers ran off together into the woods to find a place called Woe’s Hollow. The book shows a map to a hollow with a waterfall.
Lest You Roil Nature’s Wrath
Following the map, they make their way to Woe’s Hollow, taking turns reading the book. After a particularly strange passage about Dieter masturbating, they see a Dylan G. standing in a field, pointing the way. Mark S. and Helly R. find themselves ahead of the other two at one point and Mark S. takes the opportunity to ask if she’s okay. Behind them, Irving B. notices them standing close together and watches them thoughtfully as Dylan G. puffs up to take a rest.
Later on in the journey, Irving B. approaches Mark S. and asks what he and Helly R. were talking about. He tells Mark S. that he doesn’t trust Helly R. He suspects she lied about what happened during OCP. Mark S. can’t believe that. Irving B. sighs and observes that Mark S.’s feelings for her cloud his judgment. Mark S. begins to protest but stops when he sees the dead carcass of a seal in the water. They all stop to look at it.
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Irving B. suggests they eat it because they don’t know when they’ll see food again. Dylan G. assures him Lumon can’t let them starve or freeze on an ORTBO. Mark S. tries to calm Irving B. down, saying they all know he had a bad experience during the OCP. This enrages Irving B. who turns on Dylan G. accusing him of telling the others about his Outie experience.
Woe’s Hollow
When they arrive at Woe’s Hollow, their twins are gathered at the top of the waterfall. Milchick appears and explains that just like how Kier’s twin was a constant companion, Lumon’s provided each MDR member with one. He states that the waterfall they see is the tallest on the planet. Irving B. states they’re hungry and Milchick leads them up the path to a prepared campsite.
At the campsite, Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) turns meat on a spit. Milchick gives them a quick rundown on the amenities. He hands Mark S. a torch which dazzles the Innie, who has never seen anything like it. They are each assigned a tent. Helly R. visits Irving B. in his and gives him a tiny snow seal she made in case he was hungry. He admits he feels silly for suggesting they eat the dead seal. Since they’re alone, he asks her what she really saw during the OCP. She sticks to her story even though he assures her the truth won’t change anything. She leaves.
The First Temper
After dinner, Miss Huang performs with her theremin while Milchick continues reading from the fourth appendix. Kier recounts how Dieter dissolved in agony upon learning they must return home. In the pool of the hollow, Kier encounters Woe, a temper in the form of a tiny, gaunt bride. Milchick shows the illustration to everyone.
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Woe tells Kier that Dieter’s death is his fault for allowing his brother to behave wantonly. Milchick announces that it is the end of the chapter. Irving B. asks if Dieter really died the way the book describes. Milchick pronounces every word as truth. Helly R. bursts into laughter. When Milchick calls her on the disrespectful behavior, she still can’t stop laughing completely and points out that Dieter died for masturbating. Mark S. joins her in laughing. Even Dylan G. chuckles. Milchick expresses disappointment in them. He asks Miss Huang to get the marshmallows and directs her to throw them into the fire.
Marshmallows Are For Team Players
Explaining that they don’t deserve marshmallows, Milchick bids them a stern good night and leaves. Miss Huang follows. Left alone, Helly R. cracks a joke about what Dieter’s dick turned into, making Mark S. and Dylan G. laugh again. Irving B. says it isn’t funny and tells Mark S. to stop making goo-goo eyes at her. He demands that Helly R. describe the night gardener she saw during the Overtime Contingency. Mark S. and Dylan G. jump to her defense. Helly R. says it’s okay because Irving B. is sad and lonely because he can’t ever see Burt G. (Christopher Walken) again. Irving B. gets up, curses them, takes a torch, and walks into the woods.
The other three go their separate ways. Mark S. sneaks over to Helly R.’s tent to check on her. Helly R. admits she was mean to Irving B. at the fireside. Mark S. points out that Irving kind of deserved it and insists he can make goo-goo eyes at whomever he wants. Helly R. is still morose. She says she’s sorry if she’s distracted him from looking for his wife. Mark S. assures her that she’s helped a lot and he’s sure they’ll find Gemma/Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman).
They begin kissing. As Irving B. walks further into the woods calling for Milchick and Miss Huang, Mark S. and Helly R. have sex. Eventually, Irving B.’s torch goes out, leaving him lost in the woods. Mark S. and Helly R. bask in afterglow. Irving B. lies down on the ground and stares at the sky. He closes his eyes.
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In her tent, Helly R. whispers to Mark S. that she didn’t like who she was on the outside and that she was ashamed. Mark S. asks who she was, but when she doesn’t answer, he says he doesn’t care about who she was outside, only who she is when she’s with him. They kiss again but suddenly Mark S.’s vision glitches and it’s Gemma/Ms. Casey with him.
Dawn’s Early Light
In the morning, Irving B. wakes up on the ground in his Lumon suit instead of the winter clothes. The trees around him are twisted and gnarled. There’s a scuttling noise. He walks through the desolate landscape towards a light in a nearby clearing. In the clearing, he finds the MDR workstation. The scuttling noise is moths’ wings as they flutter around the light of his screen.
He sits down and begins to work. A hand reaches over the partition screen and pushes it down. Burt G. sits there, looking at him. They smile briefly at each other but Burt G. pulls the screen back up. A clicking noise attracts Irving B.’s attention. Looking to his left, he sees Woe (Faith Vaughn) working at another station. She looks at him and then back at her screen. He looks at his own screen and all the characters are floating in disarray. They begin to form shapes. Suddenly, Woe is at his side, hissing. Irving B. wakes up with a start, once again wearing the winter furs from the ORTBO.
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He begins running back towards the campsite. At the campsite, Mark S. wakes up alone. As Irving B. runs with a sense of urgency, Mark S. emerges from the tent, calling Helly R.’s name. Dylan G. comes out of another tent. He doesn’t know where Helly R. is and reports that Irving B. never returned. They begin calling for Milchick. Milchick runs into the campsite and they tell him the other two are missing.
Collegial Murder
At the waterfall, Helly R. stands by a tree near the pool. Irving B. approaches from behind. He tells her that what she said to him by the fireside was cruel. “Helly,” he says, “was never cruel.” He reasons that if she isn’t Helly, she must be someone with the power to send their Outie to the severed floor. She whispers, “I’m sorry.”
Irving B. grabs her and begins dragging her toward the pool. He calls for Milchick. She screams for help. Milchick, Mark S., and Dylan G. hear her scream and run toward the waterfall. They arrive at the top of the waterfall and see Irving B. holding the struggling Helly R. down below. Irving B. demands that Milchick turn Helly back into her Innie.
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Declaring Helly R. to be an Outie, Irving B. shoves her face into the pool. Promising that he’ll kill her, he declares that she’s a mole and an Eagan. He pulls her out and she tells Milchick to do it, addressing him as “Seth.” Irving B. pushes her back under. Milchick pulls out his radio and tells someone to remove the Glasgow block.
Hang In There
Underwater, Helly R. returns as an Innie. Irving B. pulls her out and cradles her in his arms as she gasps and chokes on the water in her lungs. Irving B. apologizes for what he did. Mark S. rushes to her side and wraps her in his fur coat. Milchick arrives and orders Irving B. to stand and declares his actions deserving of immediate and permanent dismissal.
From the top of the waterfall, Dylan G. yells down that he’s sorry he didn’t listen. Irving B. yells back that it’s okay and reminds him to hang in there. Milchick directs him to stop talking as he is no longer authorized to talk with any severed employees. With Dylan G. screaming for Milchick to leave Irving B. alone, Irving B. steps up to stare Milchick in the eye. He smirks. Milchick tells him to walk into the forest. With a long look at his MDR colleagues, Irving B. slowly walks away. Milchick tells him as he enters the forest that his entire existence will be purged and destroyed. He gives the order to his radio, and Irving B. closes his eyes one last time.
Severance streams on Apple TV+. New episodes drop every Friday until March 21.
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