The latest episode of Severance season 2 stunned us last week with a truly devastating ending where Helena Eagan was exposed as posing as Helly R.
Irving's rather extreme way of finding that out resulted in his permanent dismissal. Don't remember what happened in episode 4? If you'd like a full rundown, you can check out our Severance season 2 episode 4 recap or you can dive into our Severance season 2 episode 4 theories or our Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explainer for a more detailed analysis.
But here, we'll be focusing on the most recent episode – i.e. Severance season 2 episode 5, titled 'Trojan's Horse'. With this in mind, the latest episode has a lot of ground to cover. One of the best Apple TV+ shows continues to tease plenty of mysteries about what's going on at Lumon, and what horrors the severed workers will be exposed to. In it, we see Helly R return in this episode, properly this time, and she's found herself in a horrible position trying to piece together what Helena did...
Here's what you need to know about Severance season 2 episode 5.
Hang in there!
After a very intense previous episode where we saw Irving B permanently switched off, effectively killing him, there's a lot to dive into. We're still being teased about that elevator that Irving's outie was painting, something that has haunted us throughout the series, and episode 5 opens with a man taking some surgical tools down to that floor after collecting them from Optics and Design (O&D). We see him going down and the elevator dings before the credits. Now, we're used to hearing that sound whenever the severance procedure kicks in and the consciousness splits, so are people who go to that floor severed again? An interesting theory, don't you think? Or perhaps I am merely over-analyzing this and it's just an elevator sound like, chill out – Severance has that effect on you.
After what happened with Irving trying to drown Helena, she has been instructed to go back to Helly R in the hope that MDR will start to settle down again. As we know Lumon is fixated on completing Cold Harbor like we first mentioned in our Severance season 2 episode 1 recap and they know that Mark S will not work without Helly, so she has no choice but to go back to her severed self. Helena is not happy about this but after a tense meeting with Natalie, the Board Liaison, and Mr. Drummond from Global Management, she concedes. Note, we still have not met The Board yet, who even are they?
When Helly R does return to the severed floor, understandably, things kick off pretty quickly. They immediately confront Milchick about what happened during the ORTBO firing questions at him about Irving B and what happened with Helena/Helly R. They learn that Irving B will not be returning, and about the existence of the Glasgow Block. Milchick tries to convince them that Helena was conducting research by posing as Helly, stressing that Irving has been permanently dismissed. Meanwhile, Helly is reeling from the fact Helena stole her body and tricked the others, causing tension between the group, especially Mark who is still coming to terms with the fact he slept with Helena, not Helly. Once this tense conversation is over, they go back to MDR where they discover their desks have been rearranged and the photo has been altered to completely erase Irving B from the office.
The innies are obviously very hurt by this and Dylan G suggests a funeral so they can say goodbye. He stresses he doesn't want a retirement party and that he wants to mourn Irving's loss. Helly immediately agrees but Mark hesitates after being asked if it's "MDR's position", and he says it should be quick so it doesn't disrupt work. Dylan is visibly annoyed by this.
Miss Huang helps Milchick prepare the funeral and confesses she says they shouldn't be allowed to have one because it "makes them feel like people". He berates her for the unsolicited opinion, so there's some clear tension between these two as well. She mentions his upcoming performance review and he brushes her off.
Irving B's funeral (keep in mind it's his innie gone, the outie is still around like we said in our Severance season 2 episode 2 recap) goes ahead and Dylan delivers a eulogy for him where he expresses he misses him. Mark decides to leave the funeral quickly and Helly and Dylan are annoyed at him for continuing this blasé attitude. After Helly and Mark storm off, Dylan remembers Irving saying "Hang in there!" from episode 4, and he finds a hidden note with directions to the creepy elevator behind the poster depicting that message. Smart move, Irving.
Mark is being very off around Helly and she becomes frustrated as she can't understand why he's being so distant with her, so he explains that Lumon is always watching them and that by having Helena on the severed floor, she has found out everything they've been doing including the mapping and the search for Ms. Casey, so it all feels pointless. Mark is also uncomfortable around Helly, saying he doesn't know who she is and whether or not she really is Helly. There's a lot Helly has missed regarding Helena's deception throughout, like we've seen our Severance season 2 episode 3 recap, and at this point, I'm worried about her.
Performance Review
Milchick arrives for his performance review led by Natalie and Mr Drummond. He privately expresses concerns about the paintings he was gifted, asking if she'd share how she felt when she received the gift, implying they face "similar challenges", but Natalie brushes him off once again and leads him to the boardroom for his review, where the disaster of an ORTBO is obviously brought up as well as some minor issues like "uses too many big words" and "incorrect use of paperclips". He's also berated for bringing in "kindness reforms", where he argues he's not Harmony Cobel (I do love the beef between these two).
But at the same time, he is praised for his involvement in Cold Harbor. Drummond says: "Mark Scout’s completion of Cold Harbor will be remembered as one of the greatest moments in the history of this planet. It will take place under your stewardship. That’s quite a legacy you will leave."
So, Cold Harbor is their primary focus for sure, but we don't know what it is. Yes, it's driving me mad too! Anyway, the outcome of this review is that Milchick should "treat the severed works as what they really are". Ominous stuff. Milchick reviews the paperwork and honestly, seems to be pretty angry about it all. Who else is rooting for a Milchick rebellion?
At the end of the episode, we catch up with Irving who is making another payphone call, but to who? He's abruptly cut off by Burt who approaches him out the outside in the aftermath of innie Irving banging on his door demanding to see him. He reveals he was fired by Lumon who had clearly learned of his affair, and invites Irving for dinner to discuss it. He accepts.
Before the credits roll, we see more of Mark's memories starting to blend into one, as outie Mark seems to see Ms. Casey aka his ex-wife Gemma. So hopefully we'll learn more about that next time! In the meantime, make sure to read our Severance season 2 review for more.
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