SEVERANCE Recap: (S02E03) Who Is Alive?

Diana Keng

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A haggard looking woman holding a white cowbell high stands in front of a white wall with a door. She wears a tailored multi-layer suit in a dark shade of teal on Severance Season 2 Episode 3, "Who Is Alive?"

Severance Season 2 Episode 3, “Who Is Alive?” encompasses many plot threads without really pulling anything together. To begin with: On a long stretch of frozen rural highway, Mrs. Selvig/Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette) sleeps in her white hatchback until a loud truck speeds by, blasting its horn and waking her. She wipes off the windows, pops a cassette into the player, and drives off. 

RELATED: Catch up with our recap of the previous Severance episode, “Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig”

At his home, Mark Scout (Adam Scott) gets ready for work, glancing at a photo of his late wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman). Parking his car at Lumon, he starts a timer on his watch and rushes inside. At his lock, he stops the watch at one minute and 42 seconds and begins counting the seconds under his breath. He steps into the elevator at 32 and transitions to his Innie, Mark S., at 37. 

A dark-haired man in a deep blue suit holds a stack of pages in his right hand and one of the pages up in his left. The sheets have a woman's face drawn on them and the word "MISSING" across the top. Behind him, a red-haired woman in a blue dress holds a sheet on Severance Season 2 Episode 3, "Who Is Alive?"
Severance Season 2. Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Severance, “Who Is Alive?”

In the office, Mark S. and Helly R. (Britt Lower) plan to hand out MISSING posters of Ms. Casey (also Dichen Lachman) to the department with the goats. Mark S. assigns Dylan G. (Zach Cherry) to hit the new break room. Dylan G. says he’ll get to it later. Mark S. hands one to Irving B. (John Turturro) who understands he’s to go to Optics and Design (O&D) where he used to hang out with Burt G. (Christopher Walken) with whom he fell in love. 

As Helly R. and Mark S. head down a hallway, she asks him what he’ll do when they find Ms. Casey. He says they’ll get her to the south stairwell, where he’ll leave with her. Once outside, he assumes his Outie will know what to do. Helly R. chuckles, commenting that he has it all figured out. He stops and asks if she’s okay helping him with this plan. She assures him that she is, and they share a long, awkward moment before continuing on.

Milchick walks through a white walled hallway wearing a black leather coat over his suit pants, white shirt, and blue tie. He carries a motorcycle helmet in his left hand. He's looking up at a bunch of balloons in varying shades of blue.
Severance Season 2. Photo credit: Apple TV+

Milchick (Tramell Tillman) returns to the severed floor, still in his motorcycle jacket and carrying his helmet. He stops when he sees Mark S.’s balloons abandoned. Annoyed, he grabs them and takes them with him. 

RELATED: TV Review: Severance Season 2

A Recreation

In the office, Irving B. stops to talk with Dylan G. He tells him that he’s recreated the paintings he saw in the Outie world, the ones of a dark hallway that his Outie painted. Irving B. invites Dylan G. to come look for the hallway with him. Dylan G. hesitates and then suggests Irving B. go on his own for “stealth.” They stop talking when they hear a footstep. Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) is standing very close to them. Irving B. shows her his hall pass and leaves. She smiles at Dylan G. and asks him to come with her.

Milchick stands in his office wearing a black leather jacket over a white shirt and blue tie. Behind him and to his right, there is a floor lamp with three cube-shaped lampshades. The wall behind him is mostly frosted glass on Severance Season 2 Episode 3, "Who Is Alive?"
Severance Season 2. Photo credit: Apple TV+

Good Morning, Seth

Milchick storms into his office with the balloons in his hand. Natalie (Sydney Cole Alexander) is waiting for him. She informs him that the Board is listening through the speaker. With Natalie conveying the Board’s sentiments, Milchick assures them he feels appreciated. On behalf of the Board, she presents him with a set of “inclusively re-canonicalized paintings” of Lumon’s founder, Kier Eagan.

Milchick opens the case and finds portraits of Kier painted to look like Milchick. Natalie shares that she was given a set of similar paintings when she began in her current position. Milchick is speechless. She congratulates him and leaves. 

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Out on the highway, Cobelvig passes a sign for Salt’s Neck, 238 miles away. She stops the car. Looking at her passenger seat, she looks at a rolled-up length of medical tubing with a hospital bracelet wrapped around it. After a moment’s thought, she turns the car around and drives away. 

Helly R. and Mark S. stand together in a dimly lit corridor. Helly R. wears a blue dress. Mark S. wears a dark blue suit, white shirt and tie.
Severance Season 2. Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Mammalians Nurturable

Mark S. and Helly R. wander the corridors, the lights switching on as they pass beneath. They come to a door with light shining out from beneath. Helly R. knocks. There’s no answer, so she opens the door. Inside, they find ankle-height white fencing with knee-height bales of hay. In the center of the room is a pure white model of a barn and silo. Suspended from the ceiling are devices with multiple nozzles attached.

The only door out is about 4 feet high and leads to a hallway with an equally low ceiling. Mark S. and Helly R. crawl on their knees down the hall strewn with straw, dirt and feces. At the other end, they crawl through a flap and hear goats bleating. In the large room they’ve entered, there’s a rolling grassy hillside with baby goats running everywhere.

Mark S. and Helly R. walk through an indoor grassy field full of baby goats on Severance Season 2 Episode 3, "Who Is Alive?"
Severance Season 2. Photo Credit: Apple TV+

They stroll through the space, watched by a man dressed as a black ram. A woman wearing a kerchief in her face and clicking a castrating tool steps to the top of a hilltop and asks if they’re there to kill her. Mark S. and Helly R. introduce themselves and insist they are just there to talk. 

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Irving B. makes his way slowly to O&D. All signs of Burt G. have disappeared. He walks around looking at the paintings. Felicia (Claudia Robinson) emerges from the archives and greets him. He smiles a sad smile, and she comes over to give him a big hug. 

Fripperies

Sitting at the Mammalian Nurturable department director’s desk, Mark S. shows her the MISSING poster of Ms. Casey. She is very reticent, suggesting they should take the poster and leave. Mark S. suspects she recognizes the sketch. He insists she answer their questions. After an intense stare-down, the woman jumps to her feet and starts ringing her cow (goat?) bell. This summons all the Mammalian Nurturable staff. She tells Mark S. and Helly R., “You should have left.”

Dylan G. follow Miss Huang down a long white corridor. He wears a suit. She is in a white shirt, black skirt, and white knee-high socks on Severance Season 2 Episode 3, "Who Is Alive?"
Severance Season 2. Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Miss Huang takes Dylan G. to the Security Room, silently ignoring all his questions. He steps through the doors and finds it has been transformed into a peaceful suite with a wall of screens showing a slideshow of his Outie’s family. 

In the alcove behind him, a woman stands up and calls his name. Miss Huang informs him that he’s earned an 18-minute visit with his Outie’s wife. She introduces Gretchen G. (Merritt Wever). After Miss Huang leaves, they sit down and try to get to know each other. Miss Huang interrupts repeatedly over the speaker system, proving that she is both listening to and watching them. 

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Dylan G. asks if he’s in trouble. Gretchen assures him he’s fine and explains that his Outie, her husband, has never held a job for long before Lumon. This made things difficult with raising three kids. She shows him a photo of the whole family.

Optics and Design

Irving B. and Felicia laugh as they share their memories of Burt G. He shares a portrait he drew of Burt G. on a day when they couldn’t visit each other. In fact, he draws one every day he can’t see him. Felicia flips through the sketches and comes across a drawing of the dark hallway with the door and red light at the end. 

Felicia asks him how he knows about the Exports Hall. She tells him a lot of shipments get sent there. They used to go themselves, but now there’s a guy who picks up the shipments. Irving B. asks her if she remembers the way.

In Mammalian Nurturable, Mark S. and Helly R. are surrounded by the staff. The director (Gwendoline Christie) is talking with someone nearby. Helly R. grabs the poster and starts showing it to the staff, asking if they’ve seen the woman on the poster. This disrupts the director, who comes over to make her stop.

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She threatens to send a courier to Milchick. Mark S. tells her this affects all people who have undergone severance and asks her if one of her goats went missing if she’d go looking for it. This calms her down, and she admits they knew and liked Ms. Casey. They won’t impede Mark S. and Helly R.’s search. Before they go, another staff member clears their throat meaningfully. The director asks to see their bellies. Once they bear their bellies, the director points out to the staff member that they have no pouches, which doesn’t convince him. 

Outie Love

In the Family Visitation Suite, Miss Huang enters, indicating their time is up. Dylan G. and Gretchen share an awkward farewell. 

At home that night, Gretchen runs through the things that need doing with Outie Dylan. He asks how the visitation went, and she admits it went well. 

Over at Ricken’s (Michael Chernus) house, Natalie reads out loud from his writing and complements it. Devon (Jen Tullock) arrives home, surprised to see Natalie. Ricken makes introductions and tells Devon that Natalie is there to discuss his book. Lumon wants him to write a version of The You You Are specifically geared for the workers who have undergone severance. Devon processes this and heads out, reminding Ricken that the baby will need a bottle in an hour.

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Devon goes to speak with Mark and tells him about Natalie being at her house. She tells him about the book as they cut black felt letters and place them in a bright spotlight. The letters spell, “Who Is Alive?” He tells Devon he needs to see the afterimage for two minutes and 18 seconds, the time it takes him to get from the parking spot to the elevator. 

Cobelvig stands in a snowy but plowed parking lot at night. Behind her are rows of light on Severance Season 2 Episode 3, "Who Is Alive?"
Severance Season 2. Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Disquieted

Milchick finishes up in his office and prepares to leave. Before going, he stops to look at the Kier cycle of portraits again. He packs them back up and hides them on a high shelf in a supplies closet. 

Mark drives up to a barn-like structure. Throwing a blanket over his head, he tries to use the spotlight with the words, “Who Is Alive?’ to create an afterimage that sticks. The first image fades in 12 seconds. Mark tries again.

Exiting the Lumon building, Helena Eagan’s smile fades when she spots Cobelvig in the parking lot, staring at her. Leaving her bag with the driver, Helena approaches Cobelvig. Cobelvig states that if they want her back, Milchick has to go, and she needs to be the Floor Manager for those who have undergone severance.

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Helena tells her she’s full of ego and hubris. Suggesting they reset, she calls Natalie and asks if the Board is available to meet with them. Hanging up, she invites Cobelvig to come to speak with the Board directly with her. Cobelvig follows her back to the building but stops when she sees Helena’s driver. She turns around and returns to her car. Gunning the engine, she leaves.

Alive

Mark’s counting the seconds he’s able to sustain an afterimage in his car. He opens his eyes and is startled to see Asal (Karen Aldridge) staring at him through his windshield. She guesses what he’s trying to do and tells him it doesn’t work. She gets in the car with him and tells him he just needs to undo his severance through reintegration.

He’s hesitant. She asks if his Innie told Devon his wife is alive at Lumon. He asks if it’s true. Asal says Gemma was alive the last time she saw her. Distraught, Mark gets out of the car for air. Asal promises she can dovetail his Innie with his Outie so he can learn about Gemma’s fate. Mark jumps at the chance. 

Back at his house, Asal sets up the equipment in the basement. As the procedure tries to draw the two parts of Mark together, he flashes back to his first day, waking up on the conference table. Petey’s (Yup Vazquez) voice greets him and asks him, “Who are you?’

Severance streams on Apple TV+. New episodes drop every Friday until March 21.

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Diana Keng
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