Explaining why the Severance Cobel episode has been review bombed as worst ever on IMDb

Severance season two has been amazing, but the last two episodes have played it risky. Incorrectly being deemed as bottle episodes – a term to describe an episode of TV that’s usually focussed in one place in real time – both have been hyper focused on one character and have not really had the usual order of things happen. They’ve both explained more context for two characters. First was Gemma – an episode extremely well received and very moving. But the second has focused on Harmony Cobel – and it’s seen Severance have its lowest rated episode on IMDb ever with some calling it “review bombed”. It’s polarised viewers, but here’s an explanation as to why Severance has had such a low rating on IMDb for that Cobel episode if you’re as mystified as I am.

I love Severance, I LOVE Harmony Cobel and I thought the episode was – as Mark would say – mysterious and important. But this explanation helped me as a fan understand why it now holds the worst rating for an episode in the show’s history.

These two major reasons sadly are probably why

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On Reddit, there was a really great post which highlighted why this fan of the show felt like people didn’t like Sweet Vitriol as an episode. The first of these points is that the fan felt like people are accustomed to fast paced, ensemble action – with twists and turns. Like I mentioned before, Severance took a risk having back to back episodes exploring depths of character. I think Severance season two has been a slightly jarring shift as the show everyone loves so much in season one was focussed almost entirely on the mystery of the severed floor where we saw characters we loved navigate the ethics of being an Innie.

Now things have exploded more and we have more answers, the show has changed its pace. And not everyone is ready for that. Whilst everyone loved Cobel as a character – now she’s taking up screen time over the mystery and dynamic of the severed floor not everyone likes it. As the Reddit viewer said – the Cobel episode of Severance getting an IMDb score as low as 6.7 for a show that averages between 7.7 and 9.0 normally means people aren’t only indifferent but they’re actively against it. Some hated it.

Which means that despite the excellent performances and slow paced but intriguing storytelling, a mainstream audience sometimes craves higher octane. It’s not how I feel, but I can understand people craving the show they fell in love with a bit more.

The second reason is more emotional and subjective

The same Reddit post, which I linked above because it’s honestly a great read, talks about how in their view they feel like people are rejecting the episode because it’s centred around an older woman. I don’t know if I fully believe this is why personally, because I do think Cobel is a popular character, but the Reddit explanation says that the reason people dislike it is because they wanted the villain of the show to be robotic, cold a cult leader.

And the reveal that Cobel is actually the one who is behind Severance makes it more complex. More complex because she’s not a black and white cut and dry villain, she’s emotional and damage and has gone through the wringer. It’s complex. But the episode has indeed got its detractors, and it’s very intriguing to discuss why that might be.

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