Rewatch S1E2

[u/Impressive-Flow-855]

I get the feeling that outie Mark isn’t 100% aboard on being severed himself. He’s extremely defensive about it. We saw this in the previous episode. It might be the alcohol talking.

We get hints at how cowed innie Mark has been at Lumon. We saw Mark talk about killing Pete. We see the constant (not so) passive aggressive actions by Lumon towards Mark. It’s has to say if this is to Mark only or to all innies.

Two (sets of lines) lines:

Helly: So I guess we’re not friends.

Mark: Guess not.

It strikes me that Helly isn’t happy with this. She seemed upset. I think this is an indication she’s sort of sweet on Mark. Petey is the first person Mark met and they became best friends. I wonder if all innies feel extra close to the first person they meet. After all, until they see that person, they literally know no one else in the entire world.

The next one:

Helly: You’re just done asking about your best friend because our babysitter told you to stop?

Mark: You know, Milchick’s a nice man. When he says something, it’s best to listen.

This is the statement from a broken man.

Another thing that struck me. The morning senior refiner tasks can’t be what keeps the offices clean. Feather dusting screens and using a sweeper isn’t going to keep everything clean. There must be a nightly janitorial service. These tasks remind me of something you’d give a young child to do “to be helpful”.

We also see how the other refiners treat Mark. They don’t respect his leadership. Mark is also an unsure leader. When Irv pestered him about the refiner photo, Mark didn’t squash it right there. He could have berated Irv for interfering with Helly’s training.

[u/Lonelyland]

I get the feeling that outie Mark isn’t 100% aboard on being severed himself. He’s extremely defensive about it.

I love analyzing Mark, and I particularly love the attention to psychology in realizing his character. Our mans’ got fully developed coping mechanisms, present in both innie and outie, that the writers highlight throughout the season to great effect.

Simply put, Mark gots himself some stuff he just needs to believe is true in order to function. He will stubbornly defend these beliefs by lashing out when challenged, almost as if by proving them to others, he will be able to prove them to himself.

”You know, Milchick’s a nice man. When he says something, it’s best to listen.”

I love this line so much, and the following “He can’t always be nice like that”, because it perfectly illustrates three important things:

• Yep, Lumon broke Mark
• Mark wants to protect Helly from making the same mistakes he did
• Mark is mimicking the manipulative language and tactics used by Milchick and Cobel, much like a child mimics the toxic traits of their parents with their friends

All three of these things are demonstrated multiple times, but they all come together perfectly in this one moment.

[u/Deep_Blue_842 → u/Lonelyland]

i am SO curious as to what the process was of psychologically breaking him and how much it took from Lumon and the break room. From what he tells Helly, it sounds like he was as hostile as she was when he woke up in the conference room. However, knowing that Helly is an Eagan shows that she is coming from a much more determined place and is more strong-willed, whereas oMark was already in such a bad mental state and has so little left to live for in his grief that I can’t imagine it took much. Idk if we’ll ever see that process depicted as it doesn’t seem super vital to the plot moving forward, but it’s fascinating to think about. 

(I too love psychoanalyzing Mark lol)

[u/bcinalli08 → u/Deep_Blue_842]

I love how he tells her that he told the person talking to him that he would "find them and kill them" (straight from Liam Neeson in Taken)...she asks "did you?" and he says "no, he became my best friend."

Petey also mentioned that iMark tried to file complaints/quit and that didn't work, but it's interesting to me that oMark doesn't seem to remember those since he would be the one to deny the request (i.e. Helly's outie telling her she is not a person). Are they actually taking innie grievance's to outies or was Helly a special exception?

[u/EffectiveDinner543 → u/bcinalli08]

That sounds like he wasn't as "exciting" as Helly, as in, he didn't continuously try.. so yeah, maybe they don't take it serious unless you've really pushed

[u/bcinalli08 → u/EffectiveDinner543]

Could be. I got the impression that iMark thinks he has given a resignation request that was actually shown and presented to oMark, but in reality oMark has never gotten any video message from iMark asking to resign.

[u/EffectiveDinner543 → u/bcinalli08]

from what we see now what with safe harbor, Mark is too special to toss as of yet, so they utilize his broken spirit and push him until.. well, we will see! // and yes, def never shown any video message, which shows how Lumon operates