TV Romance
Unraveling Mark’s Love Triangle With Helly & Gemma in ‘Severance’ Season 2
[WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Severance Season 2 Episode 7, “Chikhai Bardo.”]
Please remember to enjoy both of Mark S.’s romances equally, and not show preference for one over the other… if you can.
Throughout Severance Season 2, we’ve seen Mark Scout’s (Adam Scott) office relationship with Helly (Britt Lower) slowly deepen and grow — then, with the seventh episode, everything was turned upside down. We learned that not only is outie Mark’s wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman) alive, but she remembers Mark and has been trying to get back to him for years.
While it’s not necessarily in the spirit of Lumon to take sides, in the aftermath of “Chikhai Bardo,” we’re breaking down where Mark’s love life stands and predicting where the season might end up. Warning: We don’t think it’ll be a fairytale ending.
Apple TV+
The Argument for Mark and Gemma
After “Chikhai Bardo” answered many of our questions about Gemma and outie Mark’s relationship, it’s difficult not to perceive them as endgame. After all, their stories have circled around each other for years. While innie Mark worked in macrodata refinement, Gemma entered the different testing rooms on the floor below, her varying innies undergoing forms of sadistic torments and anxiety-inducing events for purposes that are still unknown.
What remained constant throughout all that time was the love outie Mark and Gemma have for each other. As Petey (Yul Vazquez) put it in Season 1, Mark grieved for Gemma even at Lumon: He just didn’t know where the pain came from. Meanwhile, Gemma never stopped asking about Mark, even after she’d been told in nauseating fashion by a manipulative doctor that her husband had “moved on.” Because of her love for Mark, Gemma knew that what she’d been told was wrong.
“Chikhai Bardo” also cleared up the murkiness about outie Mark and Gemma’s marriage. Before the flashbacks, viewers knew Gemma mostly as the subject of his grief. It was obvious he loved her, but Severance didn’t discuss the state of their marriage before Gemma’s death (which we now know was faked) or whether Mark’s discussion about grief with Reghabi (Karen Aldridge) had anything to do with, potentially, regretting a serious alcohol problem.
Now we know Mark and Gemma were happy. Mark drank, but he wasn’t an alcoholic, nor did he and Gemma have a massive fight that led to her death. This episode gave viewers every reason to think outie Mark and Gemma should be together. There were few, if any, reasons to believe their marriage wasn’t working despite the strain that infertility put on their connection. In a single, devastating hour of television, Severance crafted a love story that transcends time, death, physical distance, and… well, severance.
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The Argument for Mark and Helly
Before “Chikhai Bardo,” all signs seemed to point to the “MarkHelly” endgame. They, along with Irv (John Turturro) and Burt (Christopher Walken), were the central romantic relationship of the show. Viewers had seen them go from mistrustful coworkers to a swoonworthy office pairing. Their relationship hit a massive snag when Helena, Helly’s outie and Lumon royalty, descended to the severed floor in Helly’s stead and spied on the innies. Helena also initiated a physical relationship with innie Mark during that time. When Helly later returned to her body and found out about it, she found it very violating. However, Helly and Mark patched things up — and their resulting love scene remains one of the sweetest and spiciest things Severance has aired.
If not for Gemma, it’d be easy to root for Mark and Helly. They complement each other well, with Mark balancing out Helly’s fire and Helly giving Mark the push to action he needs. They have chemistry in abundance. Their gravity toward each other is strong enough that outie Mark even felt it when Helena tracked him down in a restaurant away from Lumon. Despite having never met in the outside world, they had an instant connection. (Their innies being in love definitely had something to do with that.) At the start of the season, innie Mark had even told Helena-Helly that his outie’s wife being alive wouldn’t have to change anything between them; innie Mark wasn’t the one who married Gemma.
With that said, now that Mark has undergone reintegration, the nature of Helly and innie Mark’s relationship could change. Mark remembers Gemma now, and no one could fault him for trying to save the woman he married — especially if what remains of his innie self now understands what he and Gemma had. It’s possible that as he reintegrates, Mark might decide to end things with Helly. Their relationship will face difficulties regardless because Helly only regularly appears on the severed floor. Long-term, it’s hard to see how Mark and Helly can be together without Helena undergoing reintegration.
Apple TV+
Where Might They End Up?
With a show like Severance, it’s almost impossible to predict the plot, let alone the fate of any romantic relationships. (After all, who would’ve thought back in Season 1 that Burt had gotten severed as a form of “redemption” for his outie’s dark past?) That said, there are a few hints in the opening credits for Season 2 that make us nervous about both Helly and Gemma.
Season 2’s credit sequence prominently features Helly, Gemma, and Mark, and it tends to parallel Gemma and Helly. For example, the credits show Miss Casey — Gemma’s severed-floor innie — in the elevator heading to the testing floor before flashing quickly to Helly standing in the same elevator. There is also a sequence 17 seconds in where Mark shines a flashlight at the ground, and reflections of Helly and Gemma run away from him in opposite directions. About one minute in, miniature Marks are surrounded by Helly and Gemma’s heads, and a light fixture with Cobel’s (Patricia Arquette) form stares down at them as if it’s reading a book.
In many ways, Severance is linking Helly and Gemma. It could be as simple as Helly was “missing” this season, like Gemma, but we’re unconvinced that the show doesn’t have another tragedy in store. Mark is determined to free Gemma — as he should be! — but that won’t be a straightforward task. When Gemma gets off the testing floor, she seems to revert to Miss Casey. If Mark finishes Cold Harbor, it’s possible he’ll unwittingly play a role in Gemma’s death if Cold Harbor is, as many fans assume, Lumon testing the potential for those who have undergone a severance procedure to not have to experience dying. Mark might end up reaching Gemma just too late to save her.
On the other side, it’s possible that Helly might not emerge from the testing floor if she accompanies Mark to rescue Gemma. We’ve not seen what going to the testing floor will do to Helly, but it’s possible she’d revert back to Helena since Helly is part of the severed floor. That would cause problems for Mark’s rescue operation, as he’s already proven he can’t tell the difference between Helly and Helena — and Helena is determined to make sure Cold Harbor is seen through. If Helly goes to the testing floor and remains herself, she could theoretically “sacrifice herself” to ensure Mark makes it out of Lumon with Gemma. It’s difficult to say what that sacrifice would entail, although we do know Lumon has innie-erasing tech. (We’re fairly confident the show wouldn’t kill off Helena, so either way, Britt Lower could stick around.)
With Severance, one thing is certain: Everything is uncertain. Perhaps both Helly and Gemma will live. Perhaps one of them won’t survive the finale. Given the themes of Severance, we’d bet on there being lingering pain of some form. One of the central themes of the show is that we can’t run away from or minimize the saddest and most painful aspects of existence because they are ultimately what makes us human. But, even as we’re preparing for pain, we’re grateful to have witnessed two poignant and moving love stories in Severance’s second outing.
Who do you think Mark should end up with? Vote below and sound off in the comments below about the Severance love triangle.
Severance, Season 2, Fridays, Apple TV+
