Prior to the episode, I predicted that might be a thing (Helly or Helena) since it was somewhat setup, but I never once felt that was happening in that scene watching it.
Just the choice between iMark living/dying and choosing Helly over helping oMark be with his wife. It might reveal a little on how “severed” Mark is - earlier in the episode his severed wife choose him not knowing who he was - went through the door with him. But later, he did not do the same. He’s “cold harbor” level severed.
Wow, uh… I got some real Mikey (Life Cereal) vibes from reading that!
I don’t see it as incentive, I see it as reward. You’re thinking too much like a free-minded human, and not enough like an Eagan cultist who sees “hoo-mons” as a collection of tempers that must be managed.
You think in terms of incentives. They think in terms of just deserts. People who do their job deserve a marching band whether they will continue to exist this time tomorrow or not. People who don’t do their jobs… they get sent to the… whatever that room was in Season One where they tortured people. Again, whether they will exist tomorrow or not. Has certain Nazi vibes, actually (they kept on executing people for opposition or disloyalty to the Reich right up until the end, even when it became obvious that the Reich would not survive more than a few more days).
It’s consequentialism vs. deontology; Mills vs. Kant.
Anyway, I loved this episode. I’m glad the series has been renewed and can certainly see how this sets up an opportunity for the story to continue developing, but could also see how, if it hadn’t, it would serve as a solid series finale. FWIW, I think it will be very clear from the get-go that Gemma escaping—if she does manage to make it off the premises—will change nothing.
I suspect the Eagan empire is like Trump: an Eagan could shoot someone in broad daylight on 5th Avenue in the middle of New York and nothing would happen. It’s going to take a lot more than one purported escapee to bring them down from the outside. Although Mark and Hellie might just manage to weaken them from the inside…
I don’t really see much of a distinction here. We know from S1 that doing well leads to reward, which is sometimes objects like finger traps and sometimes experiences. The marching band was just that, but moreso… and the machinery of the severed floor was set up to deliver it regardless of whether Mark was about to be fired. (Or do we agree?)
It was a great bit, but it also annoyed me, because it showed exactly how they can resolved the whole innie vs outie vs. integration problem.
With the birthing cottages, and the overtime contingency, it’s clear that the technology exists to switch the severed personalities at will. They just need to figure out how to do that, and then come up with some kind of time-sharing plan. Each one gets the body for so many hours/days/weeks, then they switch.
The only flaw is that iMark won’t have Helly in the real world, because Helena would never agree to such a plan. But really, that’s going to be a problem no matter how they try to solve the issue. Short of just switching Helena off permanently, which I suspect Lumon might have a problem with.
I loved this season and finale and would be content with this ending if this were the end of the series (though, I’m glad it’s not.) I’m not as concerned about knowing every detail about why Lumon and the Eagans do what they do as others seem to. I hope they maintain most of the mystery.
I was glad to see the end to Drummond but I hope we see a lot more of Milchick. I think he and the actor who portrays him are the shining stars of this season). The introduction of Lumon C&M was done brilliantly. First, we assume the whole severed floor is about to be gassed into extinction. Then the weird Sonny & Cher bit between Milchick and Audio-Animatronic Kier. (Thank you for that feedback, Seth.) It can’t get weirder, right? And, of course, it does.
I feel like the season started making his character go places, with his relationship with Miss Huang, and his rebellion in the penultimate episode, but then largely dropped/shelved that for the finale. But I love the actor and hope they give him more of an arc in the future.
I still haven’t decided if I think the Hall of Presidents Kier is actually sentient (or some form of it) or if it was just a machine controlled by someone like say Drummond. Even with his notecard, Milchick didn’t seem to expect those particular barbs were coming and Kier definitely seemed pissed off.
I think it’s been brought up before, but I really hope the end game here isn’t going to be hackneyed consciousness transfer (revolving?).
It was a fucking beautifully bizarre scene and per usual they are keeping us guessing, but it does have me mildly concerned.
Just watched it this morning, and I was very satisfied by the episode. A few thoughts about the episode and the season as a whole (some of which echoes previous comments):
I loved the episode, and the ending. I was thinking how much more obvious a choice iMark’s would seem to us at the end if iMark and oMark were two different physical bodies. iMark is not Gemma’s husband, and there’s no reason why he should sacrifice himself for oMark. Certainly not without a better plan for his own continued life.
The final moments were iconic with them running down the stark halls with red alert lights, while we hear “The Windmills of Your Mind”, and the shot gets a kind of grainy appearance. It nailed the 70s aesthetic perfectly. It felt like a mashup of Logan’s Run and a low budget sci-fi serial. “Will our lovers make it out alive? It seems hopeless, but tune in next week!”
While watching the episode, I turned to my spouse and said, “you know what I miss from season 1? The frivolity yet creepy pieces of office life.” Literally moments later we got the Animatronic comedy bit and marching band! I was very pleased.
Milchick’s dancing was stunning. This season made quite a bit about the tokenizing treatment of Milchick (and Natalie and presumably other black employees), and here in the season finale, he literally has to do a dance for his white masters. It felt like it should have been a breaking point for him, but if it was, we’ll have to wait for next season?
I also loved the gun coming out for the goat sacrifice. It was immediately obvious to me that the gun would be the end of Drummond, and not the goat. Chekov’s gun (or Kier’s gun?). There is a lot of physical and psychological violence inflicted on people in this show, but I think this is the first time a “conventional” contemporary (though oddly designed) weapon was shown on screen?
Maybe I just didn’t track it in previous episodes, but the Dr. working in the lower level had a Lumon-brand bandage on his forehead, and I think at least one other person did too. Any thoughts/speculation on that?
Dylan’s arc this season, and the letter oDylan wrote to iDylan seemed perfect. oDylan is such a smart and emotional guy, and I really felt for him hearing his honest reflection. It also telegraphed his “save the day” moment that echoed the end of season 1.
There were two things this season that fell flat to me. The reintegration plot line took up a lot of time, and then had nothing to do with the final few episodes. We watched Mark have these disruptive episodes, and then conveniently they stopped when the narrative needed to move along. Also, and a bunch of folks mentioned this upthread, but oMark and Devon are just all-in with Harmony, without getting any explanation about anything from her. What does she want? Why do Gemma’s multiple innies matter? It doesn’t make sense to me that oMark and Devon would be motivated the way they are without clearer communication from Cobel. How convenient for the writers that oMark and Devon just go along for the ride.
I think a core difference is that “Cold Harbor” Gemma had a very different choice- her whole existence/memory was a white sterile room with a crib and a creepy voice over a speaker. iMark actually had a life, memories, and relationships that he cared about.
I think your overall point is well-stated and it is a difference.
I quoted this part, though because it’s interesting tob. Just pondering these things…It’s definitely creepy to us. But to her, is it creepy? She has no reference point. Her own voice but maybe hers is the odd sounding one.
It’s like Dylan’s finger trap. That’s likely his only possession in his life. If you present it as a big deal, with no real reference points, it is a big deal.
With all that said, I do get confused on what they mentally “bring with them” so to speak.
So do I. I’m surprised the innies don’t know what the Equator is.
As for the Cold Harbor efficacy test, it’s telling how little confidence Jame and Mauer had that it could pass a stress test that involved Gemma’s husband showing up. All Mark’s appearance did was prove that their experiment was a failure.
My wife just came up with a theory that is kinda brilliant. You know how midway through the episode, Helly came to peace about her existence ending and sorta gave innie Mark permission to go rescue Gemma? Well, then why did she show up to tempt Mark away from following Gemma through the staircase door at the end? Because…that wasn’t Helly! It was Helena!
This theory is all over Reddit and has been debunked by the actress. It was Helly R at the end, not Helena. From an interview in the LA Times:
In seeing how people discuss this show, it sometimes makes me feel like I have to question everything. On my third watch of the finale, I started to think, Is that really Helena searching for innie Mark to keep him from leaving?
Lower: That’s Helly R. in the final episode.
The whole interview with Adam Scott, Britt Lower, and Dichen Lachman is pretty good.
I don’t think so. Britt Lower has been rightly praised for the subtle differences she portrays as Helena vs Helly. They aren’t going to give her the wrong info and screw that up.
I wouldn’t call that a “conventional” weapon, or really a weapon at all. It was a bolt gun, a device used to slaughter animals. It’s not really a gun at all - it shoots a rod forward at high speed, so you have to press it against the target for it to have any effect.
I also saw it as a reference to ending of the Graduate, with the two lovers running off together to what seems like a hopeless future. It even had someone pounding against a window!