The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design is the fifth episode of the first season of Severance.

Bullies are nothing but Bull and Lies.

Helly hangs by her neck in the elevator, choking and eyes bulging. Her legs scramble for some purchase on the elevator walls.

Mark has left Wellness and is walking back towards MDR.

A frame on the security camera feed shows the elevator reaching the un-Severed security lobby. The doors open, with Helly still struggling unnoticed inside it. Judd is not at his post at the security desk. The elevator doors close.

Mark makes it back to MDR. He asks Dylan, who is surreptitiously reading Ricken's book, if Helly left. Checking his watch, Mark suggests that Dylan leave as well. Dylan claims to “love the work” and stays behind. Mark heads for the elevator.

He inserts his badge to call the elevator. Elsewhere on the floor, Graner sprints through the hallways. After a moment, the doors of the elevator open. Mark finds Helly hanging there limply. Panicked, he lifts her body with all of his strength and shouts for help. Graner arrives; he removes the noose from Helly's neck and lays her on the floor of the elevator lobby. Graner cleans up the scene and orders Mark into the elevator. Mark is extremely shaken by the disturbing episode. Helly's eyes open weakly.

The doors close and the elevator rises. The expression on Mark's face changes from shock to neutral as the implant is de-activated. He bids goodnight to Judd, who is just then returning to the security lobby.

It's now the next day. Mark arrives at reception and is given the go-ahead to continue down to the locker room. In the elevator down to the Severed floor, his expression flips from office-bored to alarmed worry. Waiting for him in the elevator lobby are Ms. Cobel and Milchick. Mark immediately asks if Helly is alive. Cobel instructs him to take a seat. She waits until Mark is perched on the edge of the green leather lobby chair to tell him that Helly is in the hospital, and that there is no permanent damage.

Mark shakily asks if that means they will let Helly go. Cobel asserts that Helly's Outie doesn't intend to resign. Mark reminds Cobel that Helly almost died, and she did this because she doesn't want to be there anymore. Cobel insists Helly will be back in a few days. Cobel lays the blame on Mark for what happened.

In MDR Mark fishes The You You Are out of his file drawer and takes it to the restroom. He sits in a stall reading it. The day ends. He is back in MDR the following day, this time concealing himself in the Storage Closet to devour Ricken's words about personal failure and the dreariness of work. Mark leaves Lumon again, returning the next day to continue studying the bromides from the book.

Graner presents Ms. Cobel with Petey's chip. He tells her that diagnostics showed “full synaptic recoupling,” proving that Peter Kilmer was reintegrated. He thinks this is a cause for celebration. He susses out that Cobel hasn't told the Board yet about the incident with Helly.

Cobel slides the chip back to Graner and orders him to look for source signatures on the implant. Graner says all the data from the chip has been saved and offers the physical chip to Cobel as a souvenir. Cobel demands to know who performed the reintegration. Her plan is to present all of her information to the Board at once.

Mark, in the locker room at the end of the day, sees many missed calls from Ricken on his phone. He plays the messages. With increasing urgency, Ricken's messages update Mark on Devon's labor progress, imploring Mark to come to the birthing retreat as soon as he can.

Mark arrives at the birthing cabin just as Alexa is leaving. Mark appears surprised to see her there. He apologizes to her for how their date ended. Alexa gives Mark an update on Devon. Mark enters the cabin as Ricken is crying over Devon's pregnant belly. In contrast to Ricken's panicked updates to Mark, Devon claims it's been “pretty boring so far.”

Devon powers through another contraction while Ricken encourages Mark to say a secret out loud, claiming doing so will create a “soul void” that will speed up the labor. Devon feels it is unnecessary. Regardless, Ricken takes the opportunity to tell Mark that he's hurt that Mark hasn't acknowledged the copy of the book Ricken gave him. Mark is mystified, as he's never seen the book. Ricken now seems more worried about the loss of the advanced copy of the book than his laboring wife.

Devon's contraction ends. She puts her coat on to get some coffee and exits the cabin, leaving Mark and Ricken behind. Ricken suggests they finish setting up the room by hanging some kelp.

Devon walks outside. She sees a man retreating from the largest of the birthing cabins and tries to get his attention. He walks away without taking notice of her. Devon sees a woman inside the large cabin dressed in a white silk bathrobe. From the porch of the house, Devon begs her for some coffee. The woman agrees to give her some.

Devon enters the richly appointed house and the two women introduce themselves; the robed woman is Gabby. Devon apologetically explains that her husband is driving her crazy and her brother is making her depressed.

Gabby asks Devon if this is her first baby, and Devon answers yes. Gabby tells Devon that this is her third baby and he'll be named William. Devon, a little taken aback, asks how she manages three. Gabby shrugs and says, “Lotta help, I guess!”

• Adam Scott as Mark Scout
• Zach Cherry as Dylan George
• Britt Lower as Helly Riggs
• Tramell Tillman as Seth Milchick
• Jen Tullock as Devon
• Dichen Lachman as Ms. Casey
• Michael Chernus as Ricken Hale
• John Turturro as Irving Bailiff
• Christopher Walken as Burt Goodman
• Patricia Arquette as Harmony Cobel

• Michael Cumpsty as Doug Graner
• Nikki M. James as Alexa
• Nora Dale as Gabby Arteta

• Rachel Addington as Elizabeth
• Anthoula Katsimatides as Florence
• Claudia Robinson as Felicia
• Brian Rock as Goat Wrangler
• Mark Kenneth Smaltz as Judd

• Yul Vazquez as Peter Kilmer (archive footage)
• Goats

• List of Episodes
• The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design (script)