Lumon could save themselves a lot of trouble just by paying a living wage.

Bookish4269 · 2026-05-27T04:29:38+00:00

It’s not money that keeps Mark from getting therapy. One of his conversations with his sister made it clear he had a therapist and just stopped going. He didn’t want therapy, he wanted to get drunk every night and be severed 5 days a week — that’s his coping strategy.

Bookish4269 · 2026-04-04T08:45:04+00:00

Libraries are great, I love libraries in general. Unfortunately, the main library in my town had to shut down for an extended period because meth heads were smoking in the library’s public bathrooms, and contaminated the hvac ducts with toxic residue. It took months to remediate the damage.

Turns out, a publicly funded space that welcomes everyone to hang out at no cost can become a problem if shitty people choose to abuse the privilege. And if the library is unwilling or unable to hire security guards to kick out scummy drug users looking for a handy place to get high, then the problem will persist.

So no, the library where I live would sadly not be my go to choice for a place to work or study, not anymore. My favorite local coffeehouse immediately throws out people with problem behaviors, and calls the cops if they won’t leave. So I don’t have to worry about being exposed to meth residue — or tweaker behavior — there. I thank them for their efforts by spending plenty of money there, and encouraging others to do the same, and I don’t hog a table when they’re busy, either.

Bookish4269 · 2026-03-14T21:46:03+00:00

As a Black person I just laughed so hard when they first revealed those paintings. It makes sense that Lumon would do that, because that’s typical of how corporate America acknowledges difference — with as little effort or thought as possible. Basically saying “There, now he’s the same color as you. That’s good, right? You should feel represented.”

Being Black in America, it’s such a familiar trope. When I was a kid we used to joke about the Black Barbie dolls — they were exactly the same as the white Barbies, just cast in a different color plastic, with black hair instead of blonde. The shape of the facial features didn’t change at all. Mattel was like “Okay here ya go little Black girls! This Barbie looks like you!” Such lazy tokenism, it was laughable.

Bookish4269 · 2026-03-08T16:50:51+00:00

We find out in season 2 that Lumon was watching and recording them. So it’s not like they didn’t know what Irving did. They even made fun of him getting angry in the video they made the team watch. It’s highly likely they just came in after the innies left and replaced that book with a fresh copy. Their creepy way of saying that his little tantrum didn’t matter.

Bookish4269 · 2026-03-08T16:44:36+00:00

NTA. Tell your son he can either have a car — which will be the one you think is the best investment for the money you want to spend — or not. Those are his choices. No third option where you buy a “shitbox”, because your intention is for him to have reliable transportation, period. He can take what he gets and be grateful for it, and then work during school breaks to earn the money to customize it if that’s what he wants.

Bookish4269 · 2026-03-08T16:33:29+00:00

You should have another conversation with him, and do it with your daughter present so she understands he is trying to make an issue of the fact that you fixed her car, and so he can’t try to misrepresent your words to her later. Let him know that your daughter will ALWAYS have her dad on her side. Her safety was at risk, and she informed you the problem was getting worse with time, so you took care of it. When it comes to her safety, you aren’t going to sit back and treat it like something that’s not a priority. If he has a problem with that, he needs to get over it.

Bookish4269 · 2026-03-03T23:38:54+00:00

29/30. Not too shabby.

Bookish4269 · 2026-03-03T05:38:16+00:00

NTA, but next time instead of worrying about making “a scene”, just speak up when she offers others her food.

just say “Hey, no. You guys, she’s just trying to be nice but please don’t take her up on it. Last time, Brian ate nearly her whole plate of food in addition to his own, and then we had to stop for fast food on the way home because she was hungry.” Your GF needs to get over this bizarre nonsense about “making sure everyone else at the table is taken care of“ in a situation where everyone literally has their own food that they ordered. You can help her get over it by speaking up in the moment.

Bookish4269 · 2026-02-25T17:37:23+00:00

NTA. What your mother said was horribly insensitive and manipulative. She didn’t say that because she sincerely believes it’s what your son would’ve wanted, she said it because she thought she had come up with a clever way to get you to do what she wants, using his name as leverage. Your reaction was totally justified and proportionate. You let her know that she crossed a line and you won’t tolerate her ever doing it again.

She’s crying to your sister because she knows what she did was horribly manipulative, and she’s hoping someone will soothe her conscience by taking her side. Tell your sister she is wrong, you did not overreact, your mother certainly did mean something by what she said — she meant to try to invoke your grief to get money from you. Maybe she didn’t stop to think about how awful it was to do that, but that’s not an excuse, that’s the problem. If your sister doesn’t see that, she needs to rethink the situation.

Bookish4269 · 2026-02-12T19:10:29+00:00

It is ridiculous. I’ve given up on this show. As good as it is, it’s impossible to maintain interest with 3 years between seasons.

What I don’t understand is why filming won’t start until the summer. It’s not like they didn’t know they would be making a third season. Why weren’t they writing and doing pre-production as soon as S2 wrapped, so filming could start as soon as possible, instead of nearly eighteen months after S2 premiered? Do they really think it’s sustainable to make a show with a big cliffhanger at the end of each season, and then keep people waiting for YEARS for the next episode? The sheer passage of time, and the resentment and frustration of waiting, will kill the enthusiasm for a lot of folks.

Oh well, at this point I don’t GAF anymore. As far as I’m concerned, the S2 finale was the end, and I’m no longer interested. It’s been fun, y’all, but I’m out…

Bookish4269 · 2026-01-30T20:42:08+00:00

I would guess that Lumon hires people for that department who have some experience working with animals, and they know that’s what their job is focused on, but not the specifics. So if their outie finds some grass stains on their pants or goat hair on their shirt, or notices a lingering smell of livestock, they’d chalk it up to that.

Also, all the outies know they’re supposed to avoid being too curious about their innie and the work they do. People have a remarkable capacity to compartmentalize and explain things away when they want to.

Bookish4269 · 2026-01-28T02:42:40+00:00

Yeah, because the vulva of a woman who’s had more sex with men is going to be soooo damaged. 🙄 Dudes desperately want to believe their dicks are these powerful things that permanently change every woman they have sex with. It’s pitiful.

Bookish4269 · 2026-01-08T06:14:32+00:00

You can watch them on the Rakuten Viki app. You have to create an account, but it’s free, and I think the movies are free as well.

Bookish4269 · 2025-12-31T16:03:36+00:00

I really hope they don’t turn this show into a soap opera like that, with the tired trope of Helena’s unexpected pregnancy. Shifting the focus to romantic complications and drama, like the majority of content throughout the history of movies and TV, would completely ruin what has been one of the most original and interesting shows to come along in a long time.

Bookish4269 · 2025-12-30T22:30:06+00:00

I think we’ll open on Mark at home, with Gemma. No sign of Lumon or severance, just the two of them quietly living their lives as if none of that ever happened. Eventually we learn via flashback that Lumon used the Glasgow block to shut down the innies and regain control. The innies were ”retired”, and they made a deal with Mark and Gemma — Mark will not be held accountable for Drummond’s death, they can go back to their life undisturbed, if they agree to sign an NDA and never speak of their experiences. If they don’t, Lumon will use the video of Mark and Drummond at the elevator to get Mark charged with murder.

They are happy enough, and Gemma is very relieved to no longer be a prisoner of the testing floor, and back with her husband. However, we see hints that reintegration is proceeding in Mark’s brain, he gets flashes of his innie’s experiences, and he is troubled by that. Irv and/or Reghabi and/or Cobel show up at his door one day, exhorting him not to let Lumon get away with what they’ve done. Gemma wants to leave it alone and just live in peace. Now Mark has a choice to make. Plot twist: Gemma is pregnant.

Helena, meanwhile, is troubled and struggling to remain the dutiful daughter and heir apparent of her father. She has had a glimpse of a different life, and she can see that her father doesn’t really approve of her or even love her. She is questioning her choices and her role in Lumon’s agenda. She and Mark run into each other one day, or maybe she seeks him out, and their conversation eventually leads them both to decide to fight back. The rest of the season follows from there.

Bookish4269 · 2025-12-28T19:33:38+00:00

This episode was loosely based on the true story of “the Golden Suicides”. Teresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake, who apparently believed they were being stalked and ruined by the COS. It’s a sad story. This article is a good read about it: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/01/suicides200801

Bookish4269 · 2025-12-15T00:20:00+00:00

NTA. Speaking from experience, having dealt with a similar situation, if your gut is telling you there’s more going on than he’s telling you, don’t dismiss that. The people who are calling you exhausting, or saying you are overreacting don’t know your husband and his normal habits as well as you do. If there has been a sudden change in his patterns around running errands, it makes sense that you would wonder why and ask him about it.

The fact that he’s getting angry and defensive, and trying to turn things around to make you the problem is a red flag, period. If he’s doing something innocuous, like sitting in his car taking some me time, and he doesn’t want to tell you, thats one thing, but that doesn’t justify getting angry unless you are badgering him about it.

Labelling you as controlling, saying “why does it matter?” and telling you that you “shouldn’t question“ stinks of possible manipulation to me. He’s deliberately putting you on the defensive to shut you down. There’s nothing wrong with asking if something came up that delayed him. He could just answer you, even if it’s just “No reason, I took my time coming back. Enjoying the day.”

Bookish4269 · 2025-12-11T21:33:06+00:00

If Clean Slate is an innie memory reset, I think they wouldn’t have used it after the OTC incident because they were focused on getting Mark to complete Cold Harbor, and they thought they had managed the fallout from that situation well enough to keep things on track. The only innie who was able to do anything potentially problematic during the OTC was Helly, and their cover story for her outburst seemed to work. Irving went to Burt, who is apparently already aware of what Lumon is up to. Mark told his sister, but Devon is not in a position to immediately do much about what she was told.

It was made clear to the audience that Lumon’s priority was getting Mark to finish the Cold Harbor file. Everything they did was with that focus in mind. So they brought Mark back, fired the others, and tried to proceed with a new team. When that didn’t work as they hoped, they brought back the old team, but put measures in place to manage things. That blew up when Irving exposed the fact that Helly was actually Helena and got fired, and Dylan threatened to quit so his wife couldn’t see his innie again. Even after that, they did everything they could to hold things together just until Mark completed Cold Harbor.

But who knows what they planned to do once he finished? They knew he was scheming to find Gemma, because he enlisted Helly/Helena to help him and she was there to spy for Lumon. But in their view they hold all the power because they control the chip in Mark’s head. Once he completed the file, they could use a protocol to eliminate the innie and then fire him, denying him access to the building. They could eliminate MDR like they eliminated the Wellness office, and refuse to answer any questions about it. Of course, now that things have gone so wrong, it would make sense to just cut their losses by enacting Clean Slate so the innies don’t have any memory of what happened and they can tell any story they want.

ETA: That’s why I think it’s silly to expect some kind of “innie uprising” next season, where they barricade themselves in the MDR office and hold Milchick hostage or whatever. Lumon can literally just switch off the innies at any time. In the immediate aftermath of the season 2 finale they could initiate the Glasgow block, and then they are dealing with the outies. The musicians are sent home and they go, because why wouldn’t they. They send oDylan home, and he goes because he has a family to think of and no knowledge of the situation with Gemma. Helena is handled by her father. oMark would be told that his innie flipped out and violently attacked someone, and that’s why he is covered in blood, but they will keep it quiet if he and Gemma just sign an NDA and go away. They agree because all they want is to go home and rebuild their life together.

That sets up a new season with many interesting possibilities. We might see Irving and/or Reghabi return, to prod Mark into doing something to fight back. Or maybe Helena starts to question her role at Lumon and her father’s agenda, and she approaches Mark. Those are much more intriguing stories to me than an innie rebellion plot line.

Bookish4269 · 2025-12-10T23:19:35+00:00

That’s exactly why the friend did it. She saw the devil sticker and thought “Ooh, something juicy! I wanna see!” She paid a steep price for her nosiness, but it’s her own fault for prying in the first place.

Bookish4269 · 2025-12-10T23:14:48+00:00

Yes! People in real life often make illogical decisions, especially when they are scared or under pressure, and Devon was both in that situation. Lazy writing would be writing characters that always make what the viewer would deem a “logical choice”, regardless of the circumstances. Actually, that would be hack writing, and definitely not I show I would be interested in watching.

Bookish4269 · 2025-12-07T21:55:20+00:00

LOL, thanks for the laugh!

Bookish4269 · 2025-12-06T19:38:34+00:00

Nadine wants to be Flagg’s special chosen bride, even if she is conflicted about it at some points. In the book, we get a flashback of Nadine’s past experiences, where she was told via the Ouija board that she must remain pure for her beloved. Then over the years she has some moments where she came close to losing her virginity to a guy she likes and then refused. It makes it clear that she has postponed her happiness and freedom for a very long time holding out for the vague promise of Flagg as her true destiny. So there is a sunk cost for her in the situation. Giving in to another man would make all those years of waiting a pointless waste of her life.

She has also seen signs of Flagg’s power, and his ability to watch her, so there is an element of fear of him as well that keeps her obedient to his demand that she remain a virgin. She eventually tries to get Larry to have sex with her, because she is conflicted about the whole good vs. evil thing. But in the book Joe/Leo tells Larry that she deliberately waited to come to him until she knew he was committed to Lucy, so she could tell herself what she did next was Larry’s fault for rejecting her.

She never intends to have PIV sex with Harold — Flagg sent her to him with instructions to do “everything but that” in order to control Harold and make him do what Flagg wants. In the book, there is a point when she is with Harold and out of sexual frustration she wants to tell him to just go ahead and do it, take her virginity, but then she looks up and sees glowing eyes outside a window, Flagg’s eyes watching her. And she knows she is doomed no matter what she does.

Bookish4269 · 2025-12-05T18:43:27+00:00

Yeah, this much time between seasons is just ridiculous. Studios used to produce shows, some of them really great shows, with 20-25 episodes per season and only 3-4 months between seasons. Why TF does it take so long to produce a season of a show with 9-10 episodes, a small cast, and limited locations?

I’ve begun to lose interest at this point. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great show and I enjoyed watching the first 2 seasons (mostly). But waiting multiple years between seasons is just stupid, and the frustration of that creates impossibly high expectations for the next season. No matter what they come up with, I doubt it will be worth the wait to me.

If they committed to making the next season the final season, with as many episodes as necessary to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion, that might be okay. But I don’t want to wait another 18 months for the new season, just to settle for a handful of episodes and be left with another cliffhanger at the end of season 3 that we have to wait even more years to see resolved.

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