After a divisive slow-burn episode, Severance returns to fine form, with a season penultimate instalment that weaves existential horror with corporate dystopia; The After Hours takes unnerving atmosphere to new heights. As the season barrels toward its conclusion, this episode delivers an eerie, tension-filled slow burn, laced with quiet betrayals, shifting allegiances, and the looming specter of death that hovers over Lumon like an unshakable shadow.
Helena’s (Britt Lower) morning swim in the icy waters outside her father’s lavish home sets the tone for an episode that is cold, calculated, and brimming with suppressed tension. Her breakfast with Jame Eagan (Michael Siberry) offers a chilling reminder of the insidious corporate dynasty at play—Helena is still a pawn, and any illusion of autonomy is just that: an illusion. Her nonchalant mention that Irving (John Turturro) is being "dealt with" sends a ripple of unease through the episode, a signal that Lumon’s tolerance for rebellion has reached its limit.
Meanwhile, Milchick (Tramell Tillman), fresh from his rebuke in the previous episode, tightens his grip on the severed floor. Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) completes her Wintertide Fellowship, only to be reassigned to a remote empathy center in Svalbard, stripping away the power she thought she was accruing. The moment where she is forced to break her ring toss game as a "material sacrifice" is as absurd as it is disturbing, another ritual in Lumon’s ever-growing lexicon of control.
Dylan (Zach Cherry) reaches a breaking point in his deeply tragic arc. His discovery that Gretchen (Merritt Wever) kissed his innie fractures what little hope he had left, culminating in a heartrending moment where he proposes to her with a makeshift ring, only to be quietly rejected. Dylan’s anguish turns to rage, and in a moment of raw despair, he resigns, willingly erasing his innie’s existence. It’s a devastating moment—one that forces Helly, still reeling from Irving’s absence, to confront just how little power they truly hold.
Outside Lumon, Mark (Adam Scott) and Devon (Jen Tullock) take a dangerous step by reaching out to Cobel (Patricia Arquette). The uneasy alliance that follows is fraught with mistrust, but Cobel’s warning about the Cold Harbor file—if completed, Gemma (Dichen Lachman) will die—forces Mark to reconsider everything. The scene is a masterclass in restrained tension, with Mark balancing his skepticism against his desperation. His refusal to return to Lumon for the day sends Milchick into a tailspin, resulting in an unexpectedly defiant moment where Milchick snaps back at Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), a rare glimpse of resistance from Lumon’s most loyal enforcer.
But perhaps the most unexpected development is Irving’s decision to leave Kier entirely. His reunion with Burt (Christopher Walken) is not the emotional closure he had hoped for—instead, it is a farewell. Burt, now aware of Irving’s investigation into Lumon, sees their connection as a liability rather than a lifeline. The moment when Burt buys Irving a train ticket and tells him he can never return is one of the most quietly devastating scenes of the season. Irving, always defined by longing, now has nowhere left to place it.
As the episode reaches its final moments, the tension boils over. Helly, memorizing the directions to the Exports Hall, is caught by Jame Eagan, setting up a confrontation that promises dangerous consequences. And in the final, breathless scene, Mark reawakens as his innie, staring into the face of Cobel, repeating the last words he spoke before the overtime contingency: "She's alive." The weight of the season comes crashing down in that instant, a collision of past and present, truth and illusion, setting the stage for an explosive finale.
The After Hours is Severance at its most unsettling—a slow, suffocating descent into a world where every move is watched, every action controlled, and every truth buried beneath layers of deception. With only one episode left, the walls are closing in, and there’s no telling who will make it out intact.
No comments:
Post a Comment