Apple TV+ ‘Severance’ Season 2 Episode 5 Review - Watermelon Irving

Now that Irving has been permanently fired from Lumon, his friends/severed co-workers want to have a funeral for him. Why funeral? Why not a retirement party? Because Dylan strongly believes that Irving has been killed. "Irving B's outie has departed on an elongated cruise voyage," Milchik clarifies. Of course, no one trusts him. So, a bereavement kit is prepared for the innies, and during the ceremony, the first thing that tickles your funny bone turns out to be Milchik's order that they all have nine seconds to remember Irving silently. Why nine? Why not ten? Before you can process this, a watermelon shaped like Irving's head is served to the severed employees. Does Lumon make its workers sign a contract requiring them to be a weirdo, an oddball, an eccentric? Just look at Natalie. She is almost always smiling and seems lost in her own world, her own dream. When Milchik asks her about her feelings related to a painting, she only ends up reminding him that he's getting late for his meeting. It feels as though Natalie is incapable of having any conversation beyond the realm of business. This might as well be Severance making a comment about thickheaded corporate executives.

Given what occurred during the ORTBO, Helena hesitates to go to the severed floor. But she is ultimately compelled to return to her desk as Helly R, and as soon as the innie emerges from the elevator, she is shocked to see Miss Huang. Helly doesn't know anything about this young deputy manager, which basically confirms that Helena has been working on the severed floor since the beginning of the second season. As expected, Mark shows reluctance to trust Helly. How can he be sure if the person standing before him is an innie or her outie? Short answer: He can't. Mark would just have to trust Helly (this is precisely what she says to him). Isn't it unethical for an outie to snatch their innie's body? As usual, Milchik throws a cover over everything with a story. This time, however, Mark, Dylan, and Helly see his explanation as bullshit. You can't always fool people with fairy tale propaganda, though that doesn't stop Lumon from trying to control its severed employees. They have hired Ricken to write The You You Are: Lumon Edition. Devon is not pleased with what she reads. She is afraid that her husband is losing his voice because he is serving as a propagandist for the company.

But where is Irving? Is he actually on an elongated cruise trip? No, though, it's heartwarming to witness the connection between his outie and the love of his innie's life: Burt Goodman. Burt extends a warm invitation to Irving for dinner with his husband. Sweet. Still, after five episodes, Lumon's true objective remains maddeningly elusive. The company apparently wants Mark to complete the Cold Harbor file. Why him? Why is he the Chosen One? What makes him unique from other severed employees? What is the Cold Harbor file? Do those numbers floating on the computer screen mean something? Does Ben Stiller know what he's doing, or is he simply stretching the mystery because he hasn't yet figured out where to take the story? The fifth episode of Severance is fine, but the show is starting to look monotonous and thin. If things continue like this, I might have to sever myself to enjoy this series.

Final Score - [6/10]