5 Things You May Have Missed, From “Devour Feculence” To A ‘Twilight Zone’ Reference

The Eggan Breakfast Of Choice

Not since Helly taking off her shoes in the Lumon hallway has an Apple TV episode teaser caused as much commotion as the Episode 9 hard boiled egg split. When the teaser first dropped, fans raced to analyze the artwork on the plate, draw The Substance-esque parallels between the split egg and the split consciousness of innies and outies, and more.

X user @zoeonfilm noted that the plate could be a reference to Helly and Helena both pursuing Mark, writing, “Two women, in red and blue, grabbing the same man. Two versions of the same person going after one man. I wonder where I’ve seen this before…” (The red and blue specification is significant because outies are often associated with red and innies with the color blue.) User @guiltyaschangd pointed out that the egg is cut into six pieces and “Gemma visits six rooms in Episode 7.” And @helenaeaganswfe said, “There’s something so sinister in the dichotomy between Mark eating way more than he needs in such frenzied, ravenous way and Helena eating way less than she needs, slowly and delicately. Also Helena’s ‘Have you had enough to eat?’ really hits differently now.”

Plate/egg/vintage egg wedger analysis aside, the episode shows Helena and Jame Eagan’s cold AF glass home, and when Helena invites her father Jame to eat, he replies, “I’ll watch,” and pours himself a cup of what appears to be espresso (the cup it tiny) or coffee/tea. (On Severance, who’s to say for sure?!) Anyway, Helena slices her hard-boiled egg, meticulously splits and arranges the six pieces on her plate (ensuring the boy’s face is still visible), and takes the tiniest slice of an egg white. (Like, an outrageously small, 2025 economy savoring egg slice.) As she takes the first nibble of her single, unseasoned egg, Jame moans and says, “I wish you’d take them raw.” Helena puts down her cutlery, possibly in disgust because BARF, and for those who need a refresher, Jame was referring to Kier Eagan’s favorite breakfast: three raw eggs in milk. Please note, he seemed particularly disappointed that his daughter wasn’t following Kier’s lead…

As I noted in a previous article, Severance has a curious relationship with eggs that dates back to Season 1. The O&D team once claimed they were doing an egg drop challenge in the team building room, and who could forget the “coveted as fuck” pre-waffle party egg bar. Vocal egg-hater Ben Stiller even mentioned in a Twitter A&A that the egg bar was “necessary for the story,” and Helly joked that the goats laid the eggs! With all these Season 2 fertility storylines, we can’t help but wonder what egg-citing egg-related reveals await.

Burt, The Lumon Goons, And Irving’s Goodbye

During breakfast, Helena also told her father, “We’re seeing to Mr. Bailiff.” How? They sent Burt — who, as predicted after Episode 6, worked with Lumon outside of his time on the Severed Floor — to deal with him. When Irving arrived home in Episode 9, Burt was sitting inside reading from one of his notebooks. “They may be also connected to several recent disappearances and deaths,” he read aloud. “Goodman may have participated as a low level Lumon enforcer or goon.” As Irving processed the fact that his suspicions were true, Burt said, “Lumon goon? That stings. We never used words like that. With Lumon it’s very specific language.” Irving tries to cover his tracks, saying, “That was before. I know now that I was wrong. I know you’re not with them.” But Burt knew he had to be dealt with, so he made him and Radar “go for a ride with him.” Dun dun dunnnnn.

On their drive, Burt explained, “I never hurt anyone, I want you to know that. I drove people places. I didn’t ask what happened to them when they got there.” When Irving asked, “Is that what today is?” Burt stayed silent, and for a second, Burving stans like myself feared the worst. Rather than drive Irving to Lumon, Mr. Drummond, or another suspicious location in Kier, however, Burt took him to the train station, bought him a one-way ticket, and said, “This line goes as far as you can go. I can’t know where you get off, and you can never come back to Kier. Do you understand?”

Irving questioned if Lumon would come after Burt for helping him escape, but Burt didn’t care. “You asked me why I severed. I liked the idea that I could be innocent again — part of me. But then my innocent part fell in love with you,” Burt explained. The twp went back and forth, flirting with the idea of saying “To hell with Lumon!” and exploring their feelings for each other as outies. They ultimately decided they couldn’t, but before parting ways, they recreated their painfully romantic forehead touching scene from Episode 2 in the train station. UGH! (Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson, I said “protect Burving at all costs” and THIS is what I get?!) While much about Burt’s work for Lumon outside of what we saw on the Severed Floor is unknown, after his Episode 9 revelations, I have some questions. Where did Burt drive these people? Who ordered him to do so? And if he could be tied to several recent disappearances and deaths…does that include Gemma? Could Burt have been involved in transporting Gemma to Lumon?! Props to Severance for having Burt stray from his Lumon duties in the name of love. But Irving, we need you to stay on the case!

“Devour Feculence” And Milchick’s Tip Of The Iceberg

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Our man Milchick has been absolutely going through it since the Season 1 finale, and in Episode 9, he finally lets his pent-up frustration fly free in an epic Mr. Drummond burn so piping hot that he probably needed to step outside and let the frigid Kier winter cool him down. When Drummond gets on Milchick’s case again and demands he apologize for using “a needlessly complex word,” the iconic Severed Floor manager replies, “Devour feculence. It means eat shit, Mr. Drummond.”

AHHHHHH! First, Tramell Tillman Emmy when? Second, Milchick spells the burn out for Drummond even further, saying, “I am manager of the severed floor, which means two things. First I am owed a measure of respect — even by my superiors. Second, and more obvious, that said floor comprises the whole of my jurisdiction. To put that mo-no-syllabically, it’s not my fault what Mark Scout does when he is not at work. It’s yours.”

Shortly after the king walks away and returns to his office, Mark calls to explain why he’s not at work. Initially, he makes up a story about having his nose bleeds checked at a clinic, but he ultimately decides to cut the act. “I’m not sick. I just needed the day, OK?” Mark tells Milchick. “I’ve just got life stuff. Isn’t that what Lumon’s all about? Balance? I mean, work is just work, right? Do you know what I mean, Mr. Milchick?” As Mark is speaking, Milchick looks up at a piece of art hanging above his desk — a literal image of the tip of an iceberg. The definition,”a small part of something (such as a problem) that is seen or known about when there is a much larger part that is not seen or known about,” is extremely Severance. But with the previous “eat shit” context, it also suggests we’ve seen only a small part of Milchick’s journey and his true feelings about the job. As he stares at the iceberg tip and processes Mark’s words, Milchick gets emotional and asks, “I have your word you’ll report to work tomorrow? Good. And thank you for calling.” We can’t wait to see what the future has in store for him.

Damona Birthing Retreat And Jame Eagan’s Fertility Mysteries

We revisited the importance of Damona Birthing Retreat in-depth in Episode 7 (so be sure to reread our analysis) but Episode 9 offers fresh — genuinely terrifying — insight into Lumon’s ties to the location. We knew that Cabin #5 was a severed space where severed people like Gabby Arteta could switch to their innie persona to give birth, then return to their outie persona and not remember the trauma. But when Cobel drove up to the security entrance, she gestured to Devon (pretending to be pregnant) and told the guard, “She’s one of Jame’s. No one’s to know.” So…uh…does Jame Eagan personally impregnate women? And then send them to give birth in the severed cabin?! What the fresh hell? Season 2 dove deeper into Lumon’s ties to fertility with Dr. Mauer and the clinic that Gemma and Mark went to when they were trying to have a baby, but how far does this reach? Is Jame responsible for getting that recently-severed woman mentioned in Season 1’s news report pregnant at work? And does his need for more children tie back to Kier and keeping his vision alive? Crucially, does Helena know what her dad is up to?! There’s a chance that Cobel’s comment could simply suggest Jame sends severed women there and isn’t personally involved in their pregnancies (like the congressman’s wife) but until we know more we have to consider all of our options.

“The After Hours,” The Twilight Zone, Marsha White, And The Gold Thimble

If you’re not a fan of The Twilight Zone, there’s an almost non-zero chance you were confused beyond comprehension when you neared the end of Episode 9 and heard the exchange between Ms. Cobel and the Damona Birthing Retreat security woman. If you need a refresher, the conversation was as follows:

Cobel: “Miss Marsha White, 9th Floor.”

Guard: “Specialties department.”

Cobel: “I’m looking for a gold thimble.”

If you are a Twilight Zone fan, you likely recognized the words as a direct reference to Season 1, Episode 34 of The Twilight Zone, also titled “The After Hours”! Per the synopsis, the 1960 episode follows a character named Marsha White who takes a department store elevator to the ninth floor where she buys a gold thimble as a gift for her mother. She takes the elevator back down, notices the thimble is scratched, and complains to a store manager, only to be told there is no ninth floor in the store. On top of that, she realizes everyone around her is a mannequin — herself included. In the world of “The After Hours,” one mannequin becomes human for a month, then returns and trades places with another mannequin. Turns out, it’s Marsha’s time to return to mannequin life.

Taking elevator to a mysterious floor? Switching from one persona to another? Sounds familiar. On top of relating to the themes in Severance, straight-up acknowledging The Twilight Zone within the show is huge — especially in relation to Damona Birthing Retreat, where outies (humans) become innies (the mannequins in the scenario) for the sole purpose of giving birth.