Why Helena Really Wants To "Fake It" As Helly Again In Severance Season 2 Episode 5
Warning! This article contains spoilers for Severance season 2, episode 5.
Severance season 2, episode 5 kept many of Helena Eagan's motivations hidden after revealing that she wanted to fake being Helly on the severed floor. The major Helly twist of Severance season 2, episode 4 raised a lot of questions, with many curious about how Lumon would handle the reveal that Helena Eagan was pretending to be her Innie personality. The reveal that a member of Severance's Eagan family tree was among Mark, Irving, and Dylan the entire time has long been expected by audiences, but the other MDR workers of the show were left shaken.
In Severance season 2, episode 5, the aftermath of Irving's discovery was shown. Now that the line between Severance's Innies and Outies has been blurred even further, Helena was shown debating on how to move forward to get Mark S. to complete his MDR work. Severance's Cold Harbor project remains of the utmost importance to Lumon, with Helena offering to fake being Helly once more despite the threat to her life. Helena initially claims she will do so to prevent her "f***ing animal" Innie, who once tried to kill her, from awakening, but she actually has ulterior motives.
Helena Likes Helly's Life Better Than Her Own
Severance Season 2, Episode 4 Confirmed As Much
The first reason as to why Helena wants to pretend she is Helly once more is explained in Severance season 2, episode 4: she likes Helly's life more than her own. This was confirmed during the intimate scenes with Mark during the MDR team's camping excursion. Helena, under the guise of Helly, told Mark that she was ashamed of who she was on the outside. After the reveal that these were Helena's words, it becomes clear that the heir to Lumon does not enjoy her life of pressure, loneliness, and bureaucracy.
When she is pretending to be Helly, however, Helena can forget about the many aspects of her life she does not enjoy; Rather than deal with Lumon's mysterious board in Severance, Helena can visit the weird, intriguing, and exciting departments of the severed floor alongside Mark. Rather than commit to business practices she is likely ashamed of, Helena can pretend to be working against Lumon as part of the MDR uprising. As such, it is no surprise that Helena wishes to fake being Helly again, even after the climactic moments of Severance season 2, episode 4.
Helena Is Still In Love With Mark & Doesn't Want Him To Be With Helly Instead
The Love Lives Of Severance's Characters Continue To Spiral
Another, perhaps more pressing reason as to why Helena wishes to continue faking being Helly is her relationship with Mark. Severance season 2's first few episodes hinted that Helena was envious of the relationship that formed between her Innie and Mark, which likely served as one of the main reasons she pretended to be Helly in the first place. This was all but confirmed in Severance season 2, episode 4 when Helena had sex with Mark while pretending to be Helly, which has undoubtedly influenced her decision to pretend further in Severance season 2, episode 5.
It is abundantly clear that Helena wants this relationship with Mark, and wishes to continue experiencing the benefits of that kind of connection with someone. Moreover, she is probably jealous that she will no longer get to experience this relationship and that Helly will instead, if, indeed, Mark and Helly reconcile after their love triangle became way more complicated during Lumon's ORTBO. In order to experience both a better life and love with Mark, however, Helena would have to pretend to be Helly again, something that seems impossible after Severance season 2, episode 5.
Severance
- Release Date
- February 18, 2022
- Showrunner
- Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman
- Directors
- Ben Stiller
- Writers
- Dan Erickson
Cast
Mark Scout
Helly Riggs
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