Severance Season 2 Episode 5 recap: Did Mark actually meet Gemma again?

Disclaimer: Severance Season 2 Episode 5 spoilers ahead!

In "Trojan’s Horse," Severance Season 2 Episode 5, there's a significant mystery about whether Mark Scout (played by Adam Scott) reunites with his presumed-dead wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman). This show has a history of playing with the unique concepts of memory control and split consciousness.

This episode raises even more questions about what really happened to Gemma. The quick answer is no, Mark doesn't meet the real Gemma in this episode. However, he thinks he sees her while revisiting a memory of Ms. Casey, mechanically listing facts about Mark's Outie, as seen in an earlier episode. This keeps viewers guessing about what's going on with Mark's mind.

After a day at the office, where the colleagues, led by Dylan and Mr. Milchik, hold a funeral for Irving, Mark rushes home. He's aloof, betrayed by Helena, and fed up.

Reghabi (Karen Aldridge) finds a necklace with an unreadable inscription inside a gold pendant. This suggests a deeper link between Gemma's past and Lumon's shady dealings. Mark's reintegration glitch happens when he believes he's walking in Lumon corridors, but he's actually just in his basement where Reghabi is staying temporarily. This glitch and the necklace hint that he might soon learn more about Gemma. But by the end of Episode 5, Mark and Gemma still aren't together.

Meanwhile, Irving's Outie (now unemployed) attempts to pass on some news to a mysterious caller using a public telephone booth. Burt creeps up on him because he suspects their Innies are up to no good, to the dismay of Burt's Outie's jealous husband who is envious of who appears to be his ex, a.k.a. Irving.

Read on to know what else happened on Severance Season 2 Episode 5!

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What does Gemma’s pendant symbolize for her connection to Lumon in Severance Season 2 Episode 5?

Severance Season 2 Episode 5 has a big reveal: a strange pendant among Gemma's things from back when she was "alive." Reghabi looks closely at it and suggests to Mark that using her things can trigger Innie Mark's memories, though he snaps at her as she picks up a knotting project that belonged to Gemma. It has a round part with weird writing inside a larger golden shape.

This could show an Innie trapped in an Outie's mind or maybe more that we will have to wait and watch. The show makes us think that Lumon did something special to bring Gemma (or Ms. Casey) after she died. If this necklace can help Mark remember his past, it might also prove that Gemma took part in Lumon's secret tests before she was thought to have passed away.

Vulture suggests this symbol could mean there's a non-surgical way to control workers who've been severed. Mark might just be about to find out more.

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Cold Harbor is almost complete on Severance Season 2 Episode 5

The Cold Harbor project has been a mystery throughout the season. Now, with Mark completing 85% of it by Episode 5, the show is gearing up to disclose vital information about Lumon's intentions. His dedicated work habits and his Outie's worsening mental health hint that the file could be the key to bringing him back to reality. Or, it could reveal something much darker.

In the elevator, Milchick gives Mark a foreboding reminder when he leaves work six minutes early, more snappy than ever:

"Does [Helly] know that you fucked her Outie at the ORTBO?"

The boundaries between Innies and Outies are collapsing quicker than Lumon expected them to, on Severance. If Cold Harbor is connected to reintegration, Mark might soon get memories that make him question everything about Lumon, Gemma, and even himself.

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Milchick’s growing disillusionment in Severance Season 2 Episode 5 might make him betray Lumon

Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman) is a mysterious character in Lumon, who has now taken Harmony Cobel's place. He's always been loyal to the company but sometimes shows kindness to the employees who have been severed. Episode 5 of Severance Season 2 suggests he might be unhappy with the company. He's upset by the racism of the board members, as they handed him paintings of Kier as a Black man, expecting him to feel included and honored.

When he talks to Natalie before his performance review, she acts like a robot, and all the "Is Natalie severed?" theories start sort of making sense. This makes him understand that even important people like him are disposable to Lumon.

He says he'll watch the employees more closely when questioned and blamed for being slightly empathetic, but it seems like he's losing faith in the company. Milchick might help Mark in the future because he knows a lot about the severance process. Severance didn't give us the Mark and Gemma reunion everyone was expecting, but it did get us ready for more of what's going to happen soon.

Also, to wrap up, the "Trojan's Horse," is what Ricken is trying to convince his wife (Marlk's sister) he will do with his writing for Lumon, while Mark now gets actual access to his Innie self's world after the reintegration, making him the real horsey deal. Not the Swedish one! Watch the episode to know what we mean.

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If you want to keep watching Severance, find it on Apple TV+.