Hide and Seek (Severance)

Last updated

"Hide and Seek"
Severance episode
Severance Hide and Seek.webp
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 6
Directed by Aoife McArdle
Written byAmanda Overton
Cinematography by Jessica Lee Gagné
Editing by
  • Erica Freed Marker
  • Geoffrey Richman
Original release dateMarch 18, 2022 (2022-03-18)
Running time40 minutes
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design"		Next →
"Defiant Jazz"

"Hide and Seek" is the sixth episode of the American science fiction psychological thriller television series Severance . The episode was written by producer Amanda Overton, and directed by producer Aoife McArdle. It was released on Apple TV+ on March 18, 2022.

Contents

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, Mark tries to form an alliance between MDR and O&D, while Cobel begins to establish stricter measures.

The episode received critical acclaim, who praised the performances, writing, character development and revelations.

Plot

Graner (Michael Cumpsty) calls Cobel (Patricia Arquette) to inform her he has identified ex-employee Reghabi as the one responsible for Petey's reintegration. Mark (Adam Scott) returns home and retrieves Petey's phone, throwing the battery in the trash.

Burt (Christopher Walken) takes Irving (John Turturro) to a room full of plants, which he believes they can use just for themselves. Irving admits his feelings for Burt, but says he is not ready to commit to a relationship. Devon (Jen Tullock) runs into Gabby (Nora Lange), the woman she met at the birthing lodge, but Gabby does not recognize her. Devon also meets Gabby's husband, Angelo Arteta, and is confused that Gabby has given her baby a different name than she said she would at the cabin. For failing to watch Helly (Britt Lower), Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman) is sent to the break room. Mark protests this, and Cobel reprimands him by revoking MDR's hallway privileges as MDR is behind schedule.

Annoyed, Mark gets Irving to lead them to O&D, unaware that Cobel and Milchick (Tramell Tillman) are watching them. Meeting Burt and his colleagues, Mark calls for the departments to work together to uncover Lumon's secrets. Milchick arrives and forces them to return to MDR; Dylan (Zach Cherry) discreetly steals an ideographic card. For violating the rules, Mark is forced to go to the Break Room, meeting Ms. Casey on her way out. Devon looks up Angelo on the Internet, discovering that he is a state senator who advocates for the severance procedure. She and Ricken (Michael Chernus) then meet with their lactation consultant, revealed to be Mrs. Selvig.

Dylan's innie awakens inside his outie's home to find Milchick present. He demands he return the card, which Dylan reveals he hid at the restroom. Dylan is shocked to discover he has a young son, and Milchick leaves after restoring him to his outie version. With Graner having found a possible clue into Reghabi's location, Cobel orders a keycard-locked door to be installed at the entrance to MDR. During another date, Mark and Alexa (Nikki M. James) attend Petey's daughter's punk-rock band performing an anti-Lumon song to the attendees. The two have sex afterwards. In the middle of the night, Mark decides to fix Petey's phone, which rings again. He answers, and a woman asks to know what Petey told him. When Mark explains he does not know much, she asks to meet with him. He arrives at a university, where the woman, Reghabi (Karen Aldridge), asks him to follow her.

Development

Production

The episode was written by producer Amanda Overton, and directed by producer Aoife McArdle. This marked Overton's first writing credit, and McArdle's third directing credit. [1]

Critical reviews

"Hide and Seek" received critical acclaim. Matt Schimkowitz of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A–" and wrote, "In “Hide And Seek,” Arquette puts forth the iciest, scariest version of Cobel yet. And I'm not just talking about her breaking into a passionate song with lyrics like, “Kier, chosen one, Kier” while disciplining the MDR crew." [2]

Erin Qualey of Vulture gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "This week's episode of Severance provides a huge information dump: context for the inner workings of Lumon, the teachings of Kier, and the evolution of the severance process." [3]

Oliver VanDervoort of Game Rant wrote, "Severance Episode 6, titled "Hide and Seek" takes the Apple TV Plus series in a direction it hasn't gone before in that it seems as if as much, or more of the action takes place outside the Lumon building than inside. There's still plenty of creepy goings-on inside the building as well but it appears that whatever the company is up to is quite a bit more far reaching than what the audience has had any reason to believe before now. This latest installment in the Apple TV series also adds quite a bit more action and quite a bit more questions than the last several episodes combined." [4] Breeze Riley of Telltale TV gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Who you're supposed to root for on Severance is pretty obvious. So it's frustrating to see their ultimate helplessness after all their attempts at resisting." [5]

Mary Littlejohn of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "It was a typically unsettling episode of Severance, but there was a good balance between the light and dark here." [6] Caemeron Crain of TV Obsessive wrote, "It took until the sixth episode, but Severance has finally shown us the outie version of someone on the MDR team besides Mark, as S1E6 finds Milchick visiting Dylan at home." [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i> 1902 crime detective novel by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set largely in Dartmoor, Devon, in England's West Country and follows Holmes and Watson investigating the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound of supernatural origin. This was the first appearance of Holmes since his apparent death in "The Final Problem", and the success of The Hound of the Baskervilles led to the character's eventual revival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolly zoom</span> In-camera effect that appears to undermine normal visual perception

A dolly zoom is an in-camera effect that appears to undermine normal visual perception.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union suit</span> One-piece underwear

A union suit is a type of one-piece long underwear, most often associated with menswear in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Telltale Incorporated was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following LucasArts' decision to leave the adventure game genre. Telltale established itself to focus on adventure games using a novel episodic release schedule over digital distribution, creating its own game engine, the Telltale Tool, to support this. It closed in October 2018 after filing for bankruptcy protection.

"The Coat Hanger" is the ninth episode and mid-season finale of the second season of the FX anthology television series American Horror Story. The episode, written by co-executive producer Jennifer Salt and directed by Jeremy Podeswa, originally aired on December 12, 2012. This episode is rated TV-MA (LSV).

"They Who Hide Behind Masks" is the third episode of the fourth season and 69th episode overall from the Fox series Gotham. The show is itself based on the characters created by DC Comics set in the Batman mythology. The episode was written by co-executive producers Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt and directed by Mark Tonderai. It was first broadcast on October 5, 2017.

Gabby's Dollhouse is an American interactive television series created by Blue's Clues veterans Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey for Netflix which first premiered on January 5, 2021. Combining live-action and animation, Gabby and her cat friends go on adventures inside the dollhouse.

<i>Severance</i> (TV series) American television series (2022–present)

Severance is an American science fiction psychological thriller television series created by Dan Erickson, and executive produced and primarily directed by Ben Stiller. It stars Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Jen Tullock, Dichen Lachman, Michael Chernus, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Patricia Arquette. The plot follows Mark Scout, an employee of the fictional corporation Lumon Industries who agrees to a "severance" program in which his non-work memories are separated from his work memories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Good News About Hell</span> 1st episode of the 1st season of Severance

"Good News About Hell" is the series premiere of the American science fiction psychological thriller television series Severance. The episode was written by series creator Dan Erickson, and directed by executive producer Ben Stiller. It was released on Apple TV+ on February 18, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Half Loop</span> 2nd episode of the 1st season of Severance

"Half Loop" is the second episode of the American science fiction psychological thriller television series Severance. The episode was written by series creator Dan Erickson, and directed by executive producer Ben Stiller. It was released on Apple TV+ on February 18, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">In Perpetuity</span> 3rd episode of the 1st season of Severance

"In Perpetuity" is the third episode of the American science fiction psychological thriller television series Severance. The episode was written by executive producer Andrew Colville, and directed by executive producer Ben Stiller. It was released on Apple TV+ on February 25, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The You You Are</span> 4th episode of the 1st season of Severance

"The You You Are" is the fourth episode of the American science fiction psychological thriller television series Severance. The episode was written by co-executive producer Kari Drake, and directed by producer Aoife McArdle. It was released on Apple TV+ on March 4, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design</span> 5th episode of the 1st season of Severance

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defiant Jazz</span> 7th episode of the 1st season of Severance

"Defiant Jazz" is the seventh episode of the American science fiction psychological thriller television series Severance. The episode was written by Helen Leigh, and directed by executive producer Ben Stiller. It was released on Apple TV+ on March 25, 2022.

Whats for Dinner? (<i>Severance</i>) 8th episode of the 1st season of Severance

"What's for Dinner?" is the eighth episode of the American science fiction psychological thriller television series Severance. The episode was written by executive producer Chris Black, and directed by executive producer Ben Stiller. It was released on Apple TV+ on April 1, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The We We Are</span> 9th episode of the 1st season of Severance

"The We We Are" is the ninth episode and first season finale of the American science fiction psychological thriller television series Severance. The episode was written by series creator Dan Erickson, and directed by executive producer Ben Stiller. It was released on Apple TV+ on April 8, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hello, Ms. Cobel</span> 1st episode of the 2nd season of Severance

"Hello, Ms. Cobel" is the first episode of the second season of the American science fiction psychological thriller television series Severance. It is the 10th overall episode of the series and was written by series creator Dan Erickson, and directed by executive producer Ben Stiller. It was released on Apple TV+ on January 17, 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig</span> 2nd episode of the 2nd season of Severance

"Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig" is the second episode of the second season of the American science fiction psychological thriller television series Severance. It is the 11th overall episode of the series and was written by co-executive producer Mohamad El Masri, and directed by executive producer Sam Donovan. It was released on Apple TV+ on January 24, 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seth Milchick</span> Fictional character

Seth Milchick, often referred to as Mr. Milchick, is a fictional character on the Apple TV + series Severance, portrayed by Tramell Tillman.

Gemma Scout, also known as Ms. Casey, is a fictional character on the Apple TV + series Severance. She is portrayed by Dichen Lachman.

References

  1. ↑ "Severance - WGA Directory". Writers Guild of America West . Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  2. ↑ Gajjar, Saloni (August 30, 2024). "The innies learn to practice camaraderie on Severance". The A.V. Club . Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  3. ↑ Qualey, Erin (March 18, 2022). "Severance Recap: Love in the Time of Severance". Vulture . Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  4. ↑ VanDervoort, Oliver (March 19, 2022). "Severance Episode 6 Review". Game Rant . Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  5. ↑ Riley, Breeze (March 19, 2022). "Severance Review: Hide and Seek (Season 1 Episode 6)". Telltale TV. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  6. ↑ Littlejohn, Mary (March 18, 2022). "Severance Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Hide and Seek". TV Fanatic. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  7. ↑ Crain, Caemeron (March 18, 2022). "Severance S1E6: "Hide and Seek" — Olly Olly Oxen Free!". TV Obsessive. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.