can we talk about Lola’s hair this episode? It’s clearly already cut into a bob and has extensions in. Bob Isabel incoming 💇🏻‍♀️👑😌

BELLY: Embarks on her journey to Paris in order to discover herself. She hits several road blocks that would send most people running home, but she perseveres and decides to stay anyways. Chasing down the bag serves as a metaphorical tool for discovering herself again as some people have pointed out and plot wise it introduces us to the characters she’ll be spending her time in Paris with. Belly had to be brave with every choice she made this episode while also being so overtly out of place and awkward. Her biggest moment, however, is the phone call with Jere. We seen her give in to what Jere wanted COUNTLESS times this season and put her wants/needs behind his, but when he asks her to come home she stands her ground and does what is best for herself even though it is the harder choice this time.

CONRAD: Conrad is historically a runner. But he comes back to face the people who are angry with him. More importantly, he is open and honest about his feelings - WITH HIS FATHER. He has a real and vulnerable conversation with the man he has been actively shutting out of his life for years. Allows himself to accept guidance which is also huge for Conrad because one of Conrad’s flaws is he never asks for help and makes assumptions on what is best for others. He’s grown a lot this season and this episode is no different.

TAYLOR: Taylor has also grown a lot this season. She use to make snap judgements and only see things from her perspective but her scenes with both Conrad and Jeremiah show how she has become a more empathic person who can see beyond her view of things. She is also allowing herself to be more vulnerable with Steven and give their relationship a real chance this time which I don’t think she was ever prepared to do before.

STEVEN: He communicated properly what he needs from Taylor. He FINALLY knows about Cabo so I hope that means a pathway of reconciliation has opened for him and Conrad.

JEREMIAH: While it might not seem like there is any progression in Jere’s character this episode, it is at its very start. It’s important to recognize that just like Belly, Jere has become self dependent and stunted, unable to grow since his mother died. He lashes out this episode and is desperate for Belly to come back so things can go back to the way they were before because he also has no clue who he is and is scared to find out. Belly as his partner has acted very maternal as has been pointed out and babied Jere. He now has to figure out who he is by himself and without her as a crutch. He’s in denial but Belly did the best thing for him by forcing him to go through this change.

ADAM: At the start of the episode, Adam calls Con so he can take care of Jeremiah once again shirking his responsibilities. ( Which both him and Susannah in the past have put the pressure on Con to be Jere’s keeper, tbh) During and after his conversation with Con, he finally sees that Conrad can’t be the one to fix this and also is in need at the moment. He finally steps up and is there for both of his children. I honestly think Conrad and Jere’s mended relationship will stem first from their mended relationship with their father.

And I can understand on some level this way of thinking, however I think it’s missing a crucial aspect of the entire story.

Belly doesn’t show up for Conrad because he does n’t let her — or anyone else. That is his character flaw that is present throughout the entirety of the story, especially on the show. And it’s what Belly was so mad at him for in the second season.

Conrad believes he is doing right by everyone by not imposing on them his feeling and the hard things he’s going through, but in the end ends up hurting people by doing so.

In season two, he pushes Belly away because of his grief. Which is understandable, but Belly WANTS to be there for him. She wants to share the hardest stuff with him and be the one he leans on like she does with him. Which is why during the funeral scene she blows up because in some respect she can pass off him not being open as something he doesn’t give to anyone so when she thinks he’s being vulnerable with his ex over her she is beyond hurt because then it felt like he wouldn’t give that part of himself to her, specifically.

I do think Belly resents the fact that Conrad never let her love him completely. She had no barriers with him, she laid herself bare to him and let him see every side of her, and he couldn’t do the same. I do think, in her head, it made the relationship feel unequal and honestly embarrassed.

If you are a Taylor Swift fan I do think there is a lot of similarities in the way Belly felt/feels toward Conrad in the song So Long, London:

“Stopped trying to drill the safe”

“I didn't opt in to be your odd man out”

“My friends said it isn't right to be scared

Every day of a love affair

Every breath feels like rarest air

When you're not sure if he wants to be there”

“You swore that you loved me but where were the clues?

I died on the altar waiting for the proof

You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days

And I'm just getting color back into my face

I'm just mad as hell cause I loved this place”

Again, I’m coming at this from belly’s perspective because as an audience we are aware of how much Conrad has always loved Belly and how pure his motives have always been.

Also, I do think Belly understands that on some level but I think she wanted Conrad fully or not at all. And now four years later, he is showing up in the way she’d wanted him to before but it feels too little, too late. Which enrages her.

I just don’t think you guys are understanding that Belly is SCARED of Conrad. She is scared of being in love with him. Everything she said on the beach was a lie to push him away because being hurt by Conrad is a thousand times more painful than being hurt by Jeremiah and she doesn’t want it to happen again.

Belly is going to push forward for this wedding more than ever because she needs something substantial to keep her from Conrad.

That is the dream

You can not convince me that the end of the finale of Severance isn’t inspired by the ending scene of The Graduate - Helly and Mark running away together damning the consequences. But then guess what happens? If you haven’t scene The Graduate and don’t mind spoilers this is how it ends(missing a lot of context): A man bursts into wedding, him and the bride fight off (literally) the congregation who tries to stop them, and run away together only to end up sitting on the back of a bus where the joy and exuberance they had moments earlier wears off in the silence and reality sets in. And it’s no longer this huge romantic sweeping gesture with a happy ending but a moment of bold choice that ends with a slap from reality and the dread of what comes next.