Mark follows Reghabi into her underground lab, where she reveals to him that she’s the one who reintegrated Petey. Reghabi is ruthlessly picking apart Mark’s decision to sever when Graner suddenly walks in, having followed them there. Graner starts to tell Mark that he’s a coworker on the severed floor when Reghabi sneaks up behind and brains him with an aluminum bat, killing him. Reghabi gives Graner’s management ID to Mark, telling him to take it into work and his innie will know what to do. She also takes Petey’s phone, and tells Mark to get rid of his possibly-incriminating clothes. Mark leaves, shocked at what just happened.
Cue theme song.
When Mark gets home, he immediately strips down and puts all his clothes in a garbage bag… only for Alexa to walk in on him standing in the kitchen in only his underwear. Alexa asks where he was, and Mark lies that he needed to go on a drive to clear his head. Alexa leaves.
Back at Lumon, Milchick tests the new doors and retrieves the card Dylan stole. He brings the card back to Burt G, and tells him that they can now focus on the “final preparations”. Milchick tells Burt he has a surprise for him, and to “stay tuned”. Milchick then talks to Dylan about the incident last night- it’s apparently a procedure called the “overtime contingency”. Milchick sidesteps questions about Dylan’s son and tells Dylan to keep the whole thing a secret, but offers him some perks as consolation.
Mark S clocks in and is immediately greeted by Milchick, who is here to escort him to his desk. “New protocol”, he says. Also new are the steel doors around the MDR room. When Mark enters, the whole team is on edge.
At Devon’s house, Selvig is instructing Devon on breastfeeding. A little later, they’re sharing some coffee and laughing together. Devon tells her about the rich woman at the birthing camp, and shares her theory that the woman was severed to give birth. Selvig plies Devon for information about Mark’s wife, and asks if Mark ever “thinks he sees her”. We don’t see Devon’s answer.
Back at Lumon, Irving tries to get Mark to take them back to O&D. Dylan is clearly thinking about his son, acting even more surly than usual. Milchick suddenly bursts in with a boombox. Thanks to Helly’s excellent performance, the whole team gets a five-minute “music dance experience”! Helly is instructed to pick one genre and one accessory. She chooses the maracas and “Defiant Jazz”. Milchick activates the disco lights and the whole team starts dancing… except for Dylan, who’s silently fuming over his son. Mark’s joy is short-lived as well, as he finds Graner’s ID in his pocket. Milchick dances closer and closer to Dylan, and he snaps, tackling Milchick and biting him hard enough to draw blood. The music dance experience is officially canceled, and Milchick goes to report Dylan to Ms. Cobel.
As soon as Milchick is out of earshot, Dylan explains the overtime contingency. Helly wants to hijack whatever controls this, and use it to escape Lumon. Mark realizes he can use his new security card for this. Dylan will keep watch for Milchick while the rest leave. As soon as they leave MDR, however, Irving walks off to see Burt. Helly and Mark keep going, and enter the security room together. As Helly looks for the OTC, Mark looks at a screen and realizes that Cobel is arriving. The two go back to MDR, with Helly carrying the instruction page for overtime contingency.
When Cobel arrives, she’s immediately pulled aside by Natalie. Graneris dead, and the board wants to know what’s going on. Cobel says Graner’s killer is probably the person who cracked reintegration. The board wants to discuss this at the upcoming Eagan gala.
At O&D, Irving stumbles on a melon party. But it’s no ordinary melon party- to Irving’s dismay, it’s a retirement party for Burt. Irving can do nothing but watch as the Burt he knows effectively ceases to exist. He makes a scene at Burt’s retirement and even cusses out Milchick. Back at MDR, the rest of the crew is figuring out how to enable OTC. One of them will have to stay back. Dylan unexpectedly volunteers, even though it will require him holding two lever switches for an extended amount of time. When Irving arrives back at MDR, he has one thing to say: “Let’s burn this place to the ground”.
Outtie Mark miserably pours himself another drink, and hears a knock at the door. It’s Alexa, coming back to retrieve her phone. Mark wants Alexa back, but she fears he’s not ready for a relationship after his wife. Mark tries to prove he’s not by producing a picture of his wife and tearing it into tiny pieces. Alexa silently leaves. Mark realizes his mistake and tapes the picture back together, revealing it to be Ms. Casey.
Tropes found in this episode include:
- Call-Back: Mark says “who are you?” at the beginning, just like in episode one.
- Man Bites Man: Dylan bites Milchick hard enough to break the skin through a sweater.
- Ominous Multiple Screens: The security office takes this form.
