A Fan

To be entirely clear off the top, while I’m more invested in Mark and Helly’s relationship, I think the show wants you to feel genuinely conflicted. This is not a ‘Why aren’t you guys on my team’ post or me indicating that every Mark and Gemma fan feels this way. They’re genuinely tragic, I’ve seen many great reads and insights on them, they’re a key part of the show.

But even tracking back to season one, it feels like people were looking for a reason to invalidate or dismiss Mark and Helly’s connection simply because ‘Prestige TV shouldn’t revolve around romance’ or the idea that they were too good for a show about a couple getting together. Mark and Helly and Burt and Irving’s relationship both say something essential about the show and the innies, the idea that people cannot help but fall in love with each other even when every force around them attempts to prevent and stifle that feeling. And I thought the show put some groundwork in on them! Even from the start (“I think we should kill Mark” etc), Helly’s clearly fixated on him and more interested in antagonizing him specifically, and Mark’s willingness to bend rules he used to believe in for her comfort is a pretty key aspect of his path. It’s shown in a veiled way, but I think the show made it earned and a lot of people just basically went ‘Ugh now there’s KISSING?’ And it’s not like there weren’t essential displays of platonic love between the innies either, the show makes time for those as well.

And then this season, I see SO many takes about how Mark and Helly represent lust compared to Mark and Gemma’s genuine love, and it’s hard to feel like that’s not just because we’ve seen one couple have sex and the other hasn’t? There have been so many displays of genuine understanding between Mark and Helly, from him trying to break rules to make her more comfortable in season one to her realizing he was just lashing out after the ORTBO. I mean, even earlier in the episode, she basically said he should leave her behind to have a chance to live! Sure, there’s no wedding band, but how is that not an ultimate display of devotion!

Even if you want to bring up that Mark couldn’t tell Helena and Helly apart, it feels hypocritical to then turn around and say innie Mark should have chosen Gemma because it’s *his* wife. Innies and outties are either one being or two, we can’t just flip-flop for morality and shipping.