Welcome to the Sexiest Episode of ‘Severance’ So Far

(Warning: Spoilers ahead)

Despite Lumon’s best efforts, unsanctioned erotic entanglements continue on the severed floor, and there isn’t much work getting done on Severance. Cold Harbor still has to wait.

Sex in the office is only one part of an explosive episode that also sees Mark’s (Adam Scott) outie meet Helena Eagan (Britt Lower) for the first time. Not only that, but Irving (John Turturro) has a revelatory dinner with Burt (Christopher Walken) and his husband Fields (John Noble), and innie Dylan (Zach Cherry) has an intimate encounter with his outie’s wife, Gretchen (Merritt Wever).

On the severed floor, Dylan reveals to Mark and Helly that he found Irving’s drawing of a black elevator and directions to a level beneath the one they are on—but left the sketch behind the poster. Helly radiates a DGAF attitude and doesn’t mind retrieving it from the hidden spot. Mark is distracted both by hunger (a reintegration side effect) and the room flicking between Lumon and his house.

Mark doesn’t mention the unnerving hallucinations but confesses another secret to Helly during a covert conversation in a bathroom stall. Mark describes Milchick (Tramell Tillman) threatening him in the elevator, and while he doesn’t quote Milchick (Did you tell her that you f---ed her outie at the ORTBO?”), he does tell Helly that “we shared vessels.” Helly thinks he is talking about Ms. Casey (“In a wellness session?”), making the confession even more awkward when he spells out the truth. “She tricked both of us,” Mark reiterates—and he’s not wrong.

Somehow, Helly doesn’t get the ick when Mark uses the phrase “shared vessels.” However, she is understandably unsettled by this revelation. Mark notes he had these feelings pre-OTC, but Helly needs to get out of this confined stall and go for a walk.

This duo isn’t alone in navigating the complex limitations of an innie experiencing love and lust. Dylan learns more about his outie’s many phases of life (including a one-time interest in scuba diving) from Gretchen. “I sometimes wonder if you’re just not happy,” Gretchen says. Considering how he feels sitting with her, Dylan can’t understand how this is possible. “I wish we could really be together. Like, all the time,” Dylan adds. Gretchen points out they are, underscoring the paradox of being severed, as only Gretchen experiences each half of her husband.

Meanwhile, Helly has taken off the ugly heels Helena makes her wear daily and sits curled up in the corner of one of the myriad corridors. Mark tries to work but is preoccupied with the memory of his first kiss with Helly (something Helly is also thinking about) and the tent sex with Helena. Cutting between these scenes with Dylan and Gretchen’s tender hug-turned-passionate kiss increases the overall horny mood.

Speaking of, Helly puts her shoes back on, and when she runs into Mark in the corridor, she is forthright about what they should do next. “What sucks is that she got to have that, and I didn’t,” she begins. Mark offers to tell her what happened in the tent, but this is not a solution: “I don’t want her memory. I want my own.” Yep, they’re gonna bang at work—it’s not like they have other options.

A disused office covered in plastic becomes a makeshift tent, transforming the sterile environment into something incredibly romantic—no frills necessary! Both admit they are nervous as they shed their clothes, and the informed consent before they get down makes this more meaningful (and hot).

The post-coital glow and overly mussed-up sex hair is a giddy delight. “Was it different with me?” Helly can’t help but ask. Rather than killing the mood, Mark impulsively kisses her, and nerves have entirely dissipated. Unfortunately, Mark’s nosebleed does put an end to the lustful mood.

Mark lies to Ms. Huang (Sarah Bock) about experiencing hallucinations. Suddenly, we are back in outie Mark’s basement, which is incredibly disorientating. Asal (Karen Aldridge) says it must be another recent crossover memory and wants to speed up the reintegration process, which Mark vehemently rejects in favor of eating.

At different dinner tables, information is spilled and withheld. Irving learns that Burt got severed so that part of his soul would have a chance of getting to heaven as his scoundrel behavior in his youth means he is damned—or at least his outie is.

The meal at Burt’s takes a turn when Fields gets some dates wrong about a nickname, suggesting Burt was severed 20 years ago. The issue? The first Lumon office had only opened 12 years previously. Later, when Irving leaves, Burt puts this discrepancy down to Fields getting “fuzzy,” but this slip of the tongue seems genuine. Is Burt a more significant part of this biotech company than he’s making out?

After several glasses of wine, Fields addresses another innie-outie elephant in the room, asking if they “ever made love at work?” Fields isn’t angry, believing that “innies deserve to experience love.” It is a weird position for everyone, and I can’t help but feel for Fields (“I hope it was beautiful,” he adds), especially when Burt says goodbye to Irving and amorous tension lingers in the air.

Maintaining an innie-outie relationship is a brain-wrinkling proposition. What counts as cheating? For example, Gretchen tells outie Dylan that Lumon canceled her appointment and says nothing of her kiss with Dylan’s innie.

Mark also experiences a strange encounter. After wolfing down enough food for two, Helena sits at the opposite booth. Obviously, this run-in is pre-planned, but Helena pantomimes it as a coincidence. Mark knows who Helena is, but this is the first time the outies have met. Helena tries to banter, failing miserably to sound off the cuff. Bringing up Mark’s dead wife (who Helena calls Hanna, reading like a purposeful mistake) pretty much ends the conversation, and I can’t quite figure out what Helena is trying to achieve or if it is a test. The fact she is wearing her hair down like Helly is deliberate, and Mark registers a similarity to one of his crossover memories.

Post-Helena interaction, Mark tells Asal he wants to try full reintegration tonight. I have recently watched a lot of The Pitt, so I thought my stomach had gotten stronger watching invasive medical procedures. This sequence proves otherwise! Afterward, Mark physically jolts at memories of sleeping with Helly and Gemma (Dichen Lachman). Asal advises him to avoid sudden movement and to ignore whoever is knocking at the front door. It is Devon (Jen Tullock), and Mark has to answer because his sister knows he is home.

Devon has some corporate espionage ideas and mentions the woman she met at the birthing center last season. Before she can elaborate, Mark shuts Devon down because he is trying something else. That something else is causing neurological issues, and Mark collapses on the floor. For now, sex might be the last thing on his mind—or at least one of the last things on his mind.