| "The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design" | |||
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| Severance episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 5 | ||
| Directed by | Aoife McArdle | ||
| Written by | Anna Ouyang Moench | ||
| Cinematography by | Jessica Lee Gagné | ||
| Editing by |
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| Original release date | March 11, 2022 (2022-03-11) | ||
| Running time | 43 minutes | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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"The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design" is the fifth episode of the American science fiction psychological thriller television series Severance. The episode was written by Anna Ouyang Moench, and directed by producer Aoife McArdle. It was released on Apple TV+ on March 11, 2022.
The series follows employees of Lumon Industries, a biotechnology corporation that uses a medical procedure called "severance" to separate the memories of their employees depending spatially on whether they are at work or not. When severed workers are at work, they are dubbed "innies" and cannot remember anything of their lives or the world outside. When outside work, they are dubbed "outies" and cannot remember their time at work. Due to this, innie and outie experience two different lives, with distinct personalities and agendas. In the episode, Helly survives her suicide attempt, while Irving tries to find more about Optics and Design.
The episode received highly positive reviews from critics, who praised the writing, character development and tone. For the episode, Christopher Walken received a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Plot
Mark (Adam Scott) leaves for the day, but is shocked to find Helly (Britt Lower) hanging in the elevator. As he holds her, Graner (Michael Cumpsty) arrives to cut the cord and forces Mark to get into the elevator to leave. A shaken Mark soon shifts into his "outie" version.
The following day, Mark finds Cobel (Patricia Arquette) and Milchick (Tramell Tillman) waiting for him. She informs him that Helly has been in the hospital, and her "outie" refuses to quit, so she will return in a few days. She blames Mark for the incident, warning him that Kier is the only reason why he will not be punished. Nevertheless, she will not report it to the board, and assigns Graner to investigate Petey's chip. After his shift is over, Mark goes to a birthing center where Devon (Jen Tullock) had contractions. As Mark and Ricken (Michael Chernus) discuss over Lumon and the book, Devon goes into labor.
Helly returns to Lumon, and Mark helps her "innie" transition into the office. Per Cobel's instructions, Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman) is assigned to observe Helly. Irving (John Turturro) visits Optics and Design, after seeing a disturbing image that makes him believe the O&D coup might be real. Mark spills coffee, forcing Casey to leave the room to find the cleaning equipment. Mark uses this to show Helly that he has tried to assemble Petey's map and asks for her help, but she refuses. As he tries to convince her, they find a room where a man is feeding baby goats, claiming "they are not ready".
Irving finds Burt (Christopher Walken) in the conference room after Casey tells him. Before they can talk, Dylan (Zach Cherry) locks Burt in the room, confronting Burt over the employees at O&D. Burt admits they do not trust MDR due to rumors circulating around their office. Irving releases Burt, who in turn leads them to O&D's back room to see their artwork and meet the employees. Back at their office, Helly agrees to help Mark with Petey's drawing, just as Casey returns to continue the observation.
Development
Production
The episode was written by Anna Ouyang Moench, and directed by producer Aoife McArdle. This marked Moench's first writing credit, and McArdle's second directing credit.
Critical reviews
"The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design" received highly positive reviews from critics. Matt Schimkowitz of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A–" and wrote, "To make up for lost time, Burt takes Irving and Dylan to introduce them to his whole team. The proverbial walls are coming down, and Severance is about to kick into high gear."
Erin Qualey of Vulture gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "It's not hyperbole to say that Severance is the most visually arresting show on TV today. Along with the gorgeous costuming, deft art direction, meticulous production design, and spot-on cinematography, the entire credit sequence is a glorious work of clay-like animation designed to compliment the series' artistic sensibilities. I can't stop watching it. And the setting — Eero Saarinen's stunning Bell Labs — is a real-world piece of mid-century modern art that serves as a crucial centerpiece for the narrative."
Oliver VanDervoort of Game Rant wrote, "One of the reasons Severance is so good is that the simple truth is that those answers don't have to be spelled out. The show relies on keeping people off balance and for the most part, it works incredibly well. Some shows could go out of their way to be weird to the point where it's annoying, but Ben Stiller's show continues to handle it almost perfectly." Breeze Riley of Telltale TV gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "If you thought a show about people being severed into two different consciouses couldn't get weirder, I'm happy to report that you're wrong. Severance Season 1 Episode 5, “The Grim Barbarity Of Optics and Design,” makes its predecessors look mundane in comparison."
Mary Littlejohn of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Will Severance give us the tools to break free of the system we see ourselves trapped in, or will watching the Macrodata team do it be enough to satiate us?" Caemeron Crain of TV Obsessive wrote, "Perhaps the whole purpose of Lumon centers on the manipulation of emotion itself, with O&D not just putting up paintings but tracking the responses to them and doing some kind of data entry that then gets kicked over to MDR for refinement. But the overall vision and Ms. Casey's role in it remains something I don't even have a good speculative guess about."
Awards and accolades
Christopher Walken submitted the episode to support his nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards. He would lose to Matthew Macfadyen for Succession.
References
- "Severance - WGA Directory". Writers Guild of America West. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
- Gajjar, Saloni (August 29, 2024). "On Severance, baby goats have entered the chat". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
- Qualey, Erin (March 11, 2022). "Severance Recap: Inexplicable Goats". Vulture. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
- VanDervoort, Oliver (March 11, 2022). "Severance Episode 5 Review". Game Rant. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
- Riley, Breeze (March 12, 2022). "Severance Review: The Grim Barbarity Of Optics and Design (Season 1 Episode 5)". Telltale TV. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
- Littlejohn, Mary (March 11, 2022). "Severance Season 1 Episode 5 Review: The Grim Barbarity Of Optics and Design". TV Fanatic. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
- Crain, Caemeron (March 11, 2022). "Severance S1E5: Wordplay and "The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design"". TV Obsessive. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
- Davidson, Denton; Beachum, Chris (July 26, 2022). "Christopher Walken ('Severance'): Emmys 2022 episode submission revealed". Gold Derby. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
- Lattanzio, Ryan (September 12, 2022). "Matthew Macfadyen Wins Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Emmy for 'Succession'". IndieWire. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
External links
| Severance | |
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| Episodes | |
