After two supporting character-centric episodes in a row, Severance finally returns to its main series leads in "The After Hours," but the damage done to season two's pacing has already been done. "The After Hours" is a fine episode, but its mix of separating each of the show's four main characters along with coming back from a two-week hiatus from their main plot lines prevents the episode's pacing from allowing Severance to dig into these storylines. Mark's re-integration should be one of the show's biggest payoffs, but it still remains uncertain as to how much from each of his lives he actually remembers, especially as the episode concludes with re-triggering the return of Innie Mark. "The After Hours" should be a big episode to set up the upcoming events of the season finale, but while there are things set up to handle in the season finale, "The After Hours" itself is ultimately free of a strong sense of action.
For the most part, the four main characters are off in their four separate corners, with the exception of a small interaction between Helly and Dylan, that ultimately helps set up Dylan's decision to resign from Lumon. Dylan's storyline, from the perspective of his Innie and Outie, is the strongest, as Outie Dylan is confused and upset to learn that his wife Gretchen had a romantic moment with his Innie. Meanwhile, Innie Dylan is devastated that Gretchen will leave him behind because of Outie Dylan's discomfort with their connection. This would be a good time to have a conversation about the construct of consent within the severed universe, especially as a follow-up to the sexual encounter between Innie Mark and Outie Helly. Yet, Severance is not that interested in exploring the ins and outs of each character's level of comfortability. Outie Dylan is upset and threatens to quit, while Innie Dylan begs Gretchen to stay. The two sides of Dylan view themselves as separate individuals and identities, while Gretchen describes Innie Dylan as being similar to Outie Dylan at a point in time previous in their relationship. Innie Dylan's decision to resign could lead to something big in the season finale and is by far the most personal storyline of the four main characters presented in this episode.
Mark should have had the most personal storyline in "The After Hours," given his reintegration and how Mark's main plot in the episode surrounds reuniting with Cobel to find out the truth about Gemma. Except, for the most part, "The After Hours" has Mark standing around with his sister and Cobel, appearing annoyed and frustrated at the lack of development they are moving forward with before he eventually must transform back into his severed self. There is no grand emotional payoff for Mark's returning memories, assuming they are fully accessible, something Severance does not bother confirming or mentioning. "The After Hours" is mostly about setting the foundation for whatever Mark does in the season finale and how Cobel is directly involved in the story, even though, with the exception of her singular-focused episode, she has been mostly removed from the show.
"The After Hours" makes sense in that it acts as a continuation from its previous major plot-related episode, but without making use of any of the central factors revealed in the two episodes in between, it struggles to bring back the momentum the pacing lost by presenting Gemma and Cobel-centric episodes back-to-back. As a penultimate season finale, it does what it needs to do to act as a set-up for whatever comes next. But, as its own episode, from keeping the main characters mostly apart to not really moving many storylines forward, "The After Hours" struggled to continue its previous strong pacing. The season two finale certainly has the ability to create an exciting conclusion or cliffhanger to the second installment of episodes, but it also has the job of reigniting some of the excitement and anticipation that was lost from previous episodes.