Defiant Jazz

"Defiant Jazz"
Severance episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 7
Directed by	Ben Stiller
Written by	Helen Leigh
Cinematography by	Jessica Lee Gagné
Editing by	Geoffrey Richman
Original release date	March 25, 2022 (2022-03-25)
Running time	49 minutes
Guest appearances
Sydney Cole Alexander as Natalie Karen Aldridge as Reghabi Michael Cumpsty as Doug Graner Nikki M. James as Alexa

"Defiant Jazz" is the seventh episode of the American science fiction psychological thriller television series Severance. The episode was written by Helen Leigh, and directed by executive producer Ben Stiller. It was released on Apple TV+ on March 25, 2022.

The series follows employees of Lumon Industries, a biotechnology corporation that uses a medical procedure called "severance" to separate the memories of their employees depending spatially on whether they are at work or not. When severed workers are at work, they are dubbed "innies" and cannot remember anything of their lives or the world outside. When outside work, they are dubbed "outies" and cannot remember their time at work. Due to this, innie and outie experience two different lives, with distinct personalities and agendas. In the episode, Mark's outie meets with Petey's contact, while the situation in Lumon intensifies after Dylan's incident.

The episode received critical acclaim, with critics praising the performances (particularly Turturro), writing, themes, and ending. For the episode, John Turturro received a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Plot

Reghabi (Karen Aldridge) takes Mark (Adam Scott) inside the university, explaining that she helped Petey in his reintegration. She also affirms that his death is due to Petey not following her instructions, and that she is responsible for implanting Mark's chip as well. She offers to remove his chip, but Mark hesitates over what his innie wants.

Their encounter is interrupted by Graner (Michael Cumpsty), who introduces himself as a co-worker from Lumon. When he gets close to him, Reghabi surprises him by hitting him with a baseball bat repeatedly, killing him. She gets Mark to help move the body, and takes his access card. She hands it over to Mark, telling him to give it to his innie. The following day, innie Mark is surprised when he finds the card and is shocked when he finds that the office has been locked from the hallway. Dylan (Zach Cherry) confronts Milchick (Tramell Tillman) for waking up his innie version outside, and Milchick explains it was just an emergency case. Dylan asks about his son, which Milchick confirms, but asks him not to disclose it to his co-workers. Milchick also finds the ideographic card that Dylan took and gives it back to Burt (Christopher Walken).

Milchick engages in a "Music Dance Experience" with the department as a prize for Helly (Britt Lower) after achieving a threshold in refinement. While everyone dances, Dylan refuses to participate. Upset that he cannot know anything about his son, Dylan brutally attacks Milchick, and he angrily leaves to report the incident to Cobel (Patricia Arquette). Dylan tells the department of Lumon's ability to wake them up outside the severed floor, known as an "overtime contingency". As Mark shows that he has Graner's card, they decide that they should find the office where they can awake their innies in the outside world. During a session, Devon (Jen Tullock) tells Cobel Mrs. Selvig that she suspects Gabby severed her memories to avoid the pains of childbirth, and they talk over Mark's grief after his wife Gemma died. When she returns to her office, Cobel is informed of Graner's death, which she suspects might be linked to the person responsible for Petey's reintegration.

Mark and Helly scheme to find the security office; inside, they find Lumon strictly monitors all of its employees, and Helly retrieves a page from the manual. With the page, they find that that the overtime contingency is activated using two levers. Irving (John Turturro) visits O&D to see Burt, but finds that he is holding a retirement party for himself. Milchick shows him a video where Burt's outie expresses his gratitude to his innie colleagues, even though he does not know anything about them. Irving openly berates the non-severed Milchick for exploiting the severed employees, and Milchick reluctantly allows him to stay at the party when Burt insists. When he returns to his cubicle, he tells Mark and Dylan that he wants to fight back against Lumon. That night, a drunk Mark is visited by Alexa (Nikki M. James), who forgot to pick up her phone. When Alexa believes he is not ready for a relationship, Mark destroys a picture of Gemma, prompting Alexa to leave. Subsequently Mark reassembles the photo, revealing it to be of Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman).

Development

Production

The episode was written by Helen Leigh, and directed by executive producer Ben Stiller. This marked Leigh's first writing credit, and Stiller's fourth directing credit.

Critical reviews

"Defiant Jazz" received critical acclaim. Matt Schimkowitz of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A" and wrote, "In this episode, Mrs. Selvig tries to ascertain out of Devon if Mark ever “sees” his spouse, which puts her secret experiments with Ms. Casey in perspective. So even in giving us a morsel of an answer, Severance has further jumbled up things."

Erin Qualey of Vulture gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Even though the outies may not remember the days in their windowless cubicles, their innies are, for all intents and purposes, still versions of them. This week, Severance drives this point home in several different ways."

Oliver VanDervoort of Game Rant wrote, "Things are really starting to hit the fan in the latest episode of the Apple TV Plus series Severance. In fact, it appears that the hold Lumon has had on the company's Innnies for years is finally fraying to the point of breaking and at least in part, that control is slipping for reasons it usually does." Breeze Riley of Telltale TV gave the episode a 4.5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Severance consistently provides thrills and twists, but Severance Season 1 Episode 7, “Defiant Jazz,” really pushes at the emotional aspect of the show. The closer the lives of the innies come to being self-actualized, the higher the emotional stakes."

Mary Littlejohn of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "On Severance Season 1 Episode 7, things get heavy and philosophical thanks to the brief introduction of Rugabe, the woman who administered the severance procedure and now is responsible for reintegration." Caemeron Crain of TV Obsessive wrote, "As the questions around how the severance procedure works and what Lumon is doing become more sprawling, I find myself somewhat disappointed that the questions of personal identity at the heart of Severance aren't being better explored. Is innie Mark the same person as outie Mark, or not, for example? And how should our ethical judgments cut in, either way?"

Awards and accolades

John Turturro submitted the episode to support his nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards. He would lose to Matthew Macfadyen for Succession.

External links

• "Defiant Jazz" at IMDb