Warning: Spoilers ahead of Severance season 2 episode 8, "Sweet Vitriol"
The cracks could finally be starting to show in Severance, and while Ben Stiller's retrofuturistic workplace drama looked like it was going from strength to strength in season 2, it seems like the hit series has been hit with a 'Glasgow Block' just before its final episodes.
Off the back of season 2 episode 7's "Chikai Bardo" giving us some much-needed backstory for Dichen Lachman Ms. Casey/Gemma Scout, and briging us one step closer to figuring out what exactly Cold Harbor is, we went on something of a field trip this week.
Unlike Mr. Milchick's ORTBO to Woe's Hollow, season 2 episode 8 finally saw the return of Patricia Arquette's Harmony Cobel.
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There's been a distinct lack of the Lumon-loving former head of the Severed floor in season 2, and while many were glad to see Arquette back, "Sweet Vitriol" has left a sour taste in some people's mouths.
While "Chikai Bardo fleshed out Gemma's time with Lumon, "Sweet Vitriol" did the same as it took Cobel back to her hometown. The ether-huffing Salt's Neck looks like a pretty depressing place, but while back in her old stomping ground, audiences learned Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) wasn't the first kid on the Lumon payroll. Instead, Cobel was used to flout child labor laws when she worked in the ether factory as an apprentice.
There's another tie to Huang, with both her and Cobel being shining stars of the Wintertide Fellowship. An angry Milchick warned Huang earlier in the series that she couldn't graduate until he deemed her ready.
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Still, with a relatively short episode of just 37 minutes, we'd say a good 30 of that was taken up by Arquette brushing her teeth or staring angrily at aunt Sissy (Jane Alexander). Although episode 8 ended with a pretty major reveal that a young Cobel had invented the Severance procedure and was seemingly being downtrodden by Jame Eagan (Michael Siberry), "Sweet Vitriol" has faced a pretty frosty reception online.
Over on X, it's been branded as the 'worst’ episode yet.
One angry critic grumbled: "New Severance episode wasn’t great.. it’s a drag even at 37 minutes and it feels like it exists only for that one plot reveal at the end. Still, setting up some interesting plot mechanics leading up to the finale of the season."
Another complained: "Honestly this may be the worst severance episode to date, it’s not bad tho it advances the plot towards the end but overall it was a 6/10. Episode 9 and 10 will be crazy so I’m not tripping #severance."
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A third unimpressed viewer concluded: "This episode of Severence was definitely the worst by a mile. It's not bad it just seems so disconnected from everything else and is following a plot thread that feels like it should've already been set up, not just coming out of nowhere.
"Really, only the last 5 minutes are connected to the overall plot. It just felt like filler. I'm sure the payoff will be worth it, so I'll just let them cook."
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Not everyone agreed, and hyping the further adventures of Harmony Cobel, one Severance supporter cheered: "Every Severance episode, I'm reminded how bad Twitter is at watching TV shows."
Importantly, most agree that even at its 'worst', Severance is pretty great. Unfortunately, that only makes the weaker episodes seem even weaker.
With just two episodes left, let's hope the much-hyped Cold Harbor reveal doesn't get the same cold shoulder that episode 8 got.