How Severance season 2 avoids the trap of a problematic sci-fi trope where others have failed

Severance season 2 has introduced a violated consent storyline that answers some of the show’s philosophical questions - and has managed to avoid the trap of a problematic sci-fi trope where many others have failed.

In the new chapter of the Apple TV+ series, the MDR gang traded Lumon’s severed floor for a snowy team-building outing. Possibly the best Severance episode so far, Woe’s Hollow, sees Mark S (Adam Scott) and Helly R (Britt Lower) make the most of whatever limited privacy the retreat has to offer and have sex in her tent.

This intimate moment turns sinister when Irving B (John Turturro) exposes Helly’s real identity. It’s revealed that Helly’s Outie, Lumon’s CEO-in-waiting Helena Eagan, took her place right after the Overtime Contingency of season 1.

In the latest episode, Attila, Helly rejoins her colleagues. Innie Mark informs her of what went down in Dieter Eagan National Forest, with Severance dealing with the aftermath of Helena’s rape by deception.

The show handles the trope with the care it deserves. Instead of framing the incident as a betrayal on Mark’s part, Helly admits to being upset but recognises that Helena tricked them both.

Rape under false pretences is a common trope in speculative fiction, but it’s hardly ever treated as a violation of consent.

Time-loop romcoms often resort to a comedic montage of the (usually male) protagonists benefitting from the space-time glitch to gather intel on their love interests. The lead uses manipulation to force intimacy with a female character through repeated approaches. And it’s all played for laughs, when it’s not praised as adorable and goofy.

Time-loop classic Groundhog Day is one of the most notable offenders in this respect. Bill Murray’s weatherman Phil uses the loop to acquire information on Nancy (Marita Geraghty), then pretends they went to school together to bag a date.

After they have sex, it’s meant to be entertaining when Phil alludes to Nancy not remembering him the “next” day. In a way, it’s the quantum equivalent of being roofied.

Phil acts similarly with producer Rita, portrayed by Andie MacDowell. He realises he cares for her and doesn’t just want a time-loop stand, but attempts to achieve his supposedly romantic goal by pressuring her and presenting himself as something he’s not.

More recent time-hopping films like When We First Met and Palm Springs feature a version of this storyline. The circumstances may vary, yet obtaining sex from a seemingly consensual but ultimately unaware party remains a constant.

While these time-loop stories are an ill-conceived attempt to mimic an insistent courtship, body swap has also been used to depict rape by deception within existing relationships.

There are multiple instances of the trope in shows like Charmed and Supernatural, with Buffy the Vampire Slayer also including a body-swapping male rape in season 4.

In Who Are You?, Faith (Eliza Dushku) hijacks Buffy’s (Sarah Michelle Gellar) body and seduces her boyfriend Riley (Marc Blucas). Disappointingly, his victim status isn’t really acknowledged. The conflict stems from a third party, Faith, disrupting the monogamous relationship between Buffy and Riley, rather than from a matter of consent.

An equally problematic depiction of rape by deception occurs in season 4 of The Boys.

Hughie (Jack Quaid) sleeps with a shapeshifter impersonating Annie (Erin Moriarty). Furious with him for not being able to tell them apart, the real Starlight accuses Hughie of only wanting to get laid, reinforcing negative misconceptions surrounding male sexual violence.

The argument ends in a misjudged comedic resolution when Annie demands Hughie get tested for STIs and he rejoices at being back in her good books.

Severance is yet to explore Mark’s innermost feelings about the retreat, though the show spells out where the responsibilities of the mind-swapping fraud lie. A descendant of Lumon founder Kier Eagan, Helena holds all the power and knowledge in this scenario.

Helly, who never directs her anger at Mark, brands her Outie’s actions as “disgusting”. She voices her frustration about her lack of bodily autonomy, being controlled by Helena down to the most basic expression of free will – choosing what to wear in the morning.

The Innie reclaims her agency and tells Mark she wants her own memories with him. The two sneak out to an abandoned room at Lumon and have sex in episode 6, with their encounter rooted in mutual consent and communication.

With this storyline, season 2 of the twisty dystopian thriller outlines a response to the moral conundrums posed by the very existence of Outies and Innies.

If we adhere to a consciousness-based theory of personal identity – perceptions, feelings and memories make us ‘The We We Are’, rather than our mortal bodies – then Outies and Innies can’t be the same individuals. And the treatment of the rape by deception subplot is a direct consequence of this belief, opening mind-boggling possibilities for the show.

Starved for authentic connections, Helena is enthralled by a video of Helly and Mark kissing earlier in the season. She may be posing as Helly when she sleeps with Mark, but she sounds honest when she confesses being ashamed of her Outie, of herself.

Things are complicated further in Attila as Helena strikes up a conversation with Outie Mark in the outside world.

Having only just started his unauthorised reintegration, Mark has no clue about his Innie’s relationships. Helena is again concealing information from him, though Lower’s restrained acting highlights the Outie’s internal struggle between honouring her family’s messed-up legacy and the need to break free from her social and political persona.

Fans have begun an award campaign for Britt Lower on social media, with her excellent dual performance as Helly and Helena underscoring the most disturbing connotations of this storyline.

Previous examples of the trope prove that the discourse surrounding rape by deception in popular culture isn’t as vocal as it is for acts fitting the stereotypical narrative — and most legal definitions — of sexual assault as a crime that requires physical force and coercion being used.

Severance escapes this equation by its own nature. War on the individual is waged on an eerily psychological terrain in the show, but this doesn’t mean it’s any less violent.

After all, murky consent is at the foundational core of what Lumon does. The characters agree to be severed without having all the elements to make an informed decision and are left with the side effects.

As we await to understand why Mark is crucial to Cold Harbor, whatever that is, Severance continues to brilliantly navigate the mishandling of consent and disassociation in the face of trauma.

Bad things can happen, the show suggests, but it’s the renegotiation of these events that contributes to one’s self-determination, even in a hostile environment like the worst workplace imaginable.

For support and advice on matters raised in this article, please visit www.rapecrisis.org.uk, call the 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line on 0808 500 2222 or chat to Rape Crisis online 247sexualabusesupport.org.uk.

Severance season 2 airs weekly on Apple TV+. Season 1 is available now. Sign up for Apple TV+ here.

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