sarcastic-blogger

regardless I like it better than some of the more mean spirited stuff I've seen associated with American April Fool's day

i’m still there 😭 the look they give eachother not knowing where they’re going or what will happen or anything at all except for the fact that they’re together. something really significant about the way that, despite running with no real intention, every turn is in sync. no one gets left behind, they never turn opposite ways and then have an odd moment of ,oops!, they just go together.

mark and gemma stopping at every corner, having to run behind and catch up, barely even looking at eachother. there’s such a massive difference in their dynamics i wanna die

DO YOU GUYS GET IT?!?!?! DO YOU GET IT?!!!

It’s tempting to weigh the morality of each innie/outie and try to argue that their body ought to go to the more moral of the two, but that just isn’t the case. What we have is two human beings in one body, both of which have an equal right to bodily autonomy. Short of cloning Mark, which is impossible, the only ethical solution is to turn two people into one person. The alternative is 1. killing one of the two, Irving style, or 2. granting custody of the body between the two, which is how the show already is. Swapping back and forth all the time is in violation of bodily autonomy. You don’t have to use your body to keep someone else alive if you don’t want to — see “The Most Famous Violinist” for other pro choice arguments.

Of course, this situation is different from pregnancy/being in constant dialysis with a violinist. In those situations, you can pretty strongly argue that your body is YOURS. Another being, separate from you, requires YOUR body to exist. You don’t have to make that sacrifice if you don’t want to. The innie/outie knot is more complicated, however. Innie Mark does not “require” Outie Mark’s body to exist — or, at least, that’s a pretty overcomplicated way of putting it. It’s just his body. Five days a week, from 9 to 5, Mark S. lives in HIS body. When he gets in the elevator, Outie Mark returns to what is also, undeniably, HIS body. Both beings can be said to have equal autonomy over the same body.

Innie Mark does not want to reintegrate, because the ratio of Outie to Innie is so heavily skewed that Innie Mark might as well not exist. It’s a form of death. But the death isn’t only for Innie Mark — Outie Mark would die too. They would both die, and a new, third guy would come into existence.

This sounds horrible but really it’s the way you live your life all the time. Every night when you go to sleep, you die, and every waking morning you’re born anew. We are defined by our memories, they change us, make us who we are. Are you the same person you were ten years ago? How about five? Or two? Or last week? Those versions of yourself are dead. They had to die so that you could exist.

one could argue that mark's journey to cold harbor confirms that mark scout and mark s are different people, but to me it proves the exact opposite. mark loves deeply, to the point of self destruction. he will do and sacrifice anything, at extreme physical and emotional harm to himself, to be with someone he loves. this is his fatal flaw.

the true difference between mark s and mark scout is that mark s was specifically created to forget the love he felt for gemma. so of course, feeling no loyalty to gemma, mark s chooses to be with helly. he does this knowing full well his existence may end imminently and the lengths his outie went through to forget and then later save gemma.

...about how innies don't have parents and are reminded of it right after they start their existence (What color is your mother's eyes?)

...about the weird absence of Helena's mother (they could have shown us like an old family photo and we would have assumed Mrs. Eagan died, but that person is simply not there at all, perhaps never was)

...about the innies only existing to give birth and never having the chance to raise their children

...about Harmony Cobel's mother, whose face we've never seen, maybe because Cobel doesn't remember it anymore

...about how the only mothers that are allowed to exist, are women outside of Lumon (Devon, Gretchen, Petey's ex wife, Gabriela Arteta [but not Gabby])

...about the weaponization of Gemma's desire to have a child

...about the outies effectively birthing their innies without any care in the world about what is coming for them

He said “Helena Eagen, right?” like a some old dude flirting with his son’s girlfriend. Lol.

Mark Scout sees Helena Eagen as a sexual object, since he’s only seen her in sexual contexts (reintegration flashes) and flirted with her at the Chinese restaurant. “Taking me home, already?”

Helena Eagen and Mark Scout are similar. They both think with sex. They dehumanize Innies. They get their names wrong. They are both self-serving. They’re both somewhat dishonest.

This is the smile of a man who didn’t hate the flashbacks he was getting. But also didn’t take their relationship seriously, and diminishes his own experiences as an Innie.

But then Innie Mark says something unexpected: “Helly, actually. It’s the person I’m in love with.”

This moment forces Outie Mark to look at himself. He has a moment of shock. He’s speechless for a while, for the first time in the conversation, then he starts apologizing. One of the few times he’s actually honest during the entire exchange. (Even the first message of him being “nice” was followed by his fake smile disappearing as he stopped recording.)

This moment potentially makes oMark re-evaluate the way he flirted with her at the Chinese restaurant. The fact that’s it’s love and not just lust for his Innie is a terrifying thing for oMark, who’s been trying to diminish all these flashes.

Not just to diminish his Innie, but also diminishing whatever he felt when he looked at Helena.

Them flirting was confirmed by both Adam Scott and Ben Stiller. They said there was a heavy flirtatious charge in the air. (Partially due to Britt Lower and Adam Scott’s chemistry, but also because this is just the dynamic between Helena Eagen and Mark Scout.)

Ben Stiller: “Its a question of what permeates, what pheromones are there, what’s the love feeling like…”

Finally, when Mark Scout gets the name wrong, which is exactly what Helena did, this is ultimately what seals his fate. Being similar to Helena Eagen is what seals his fate. Now, he’ll be trapped down there as their Innies take control over the floor.

But the Outies aren’t exactly invincible to the way their Innies feel about eachother, either.

That’s why Mark and Helena felt something for eachother at the restaurant, when Innie Mark and Mrs. Casey felt nothing at all.