Every piece of evidence that Helly R is Helena
I've seen a number of posts where people are convincing themselves she isn't. But upon my third rewatch of the new episode I simply cannot not present the case for why Helena has gone undercover as her innie as part of a clean-up/revenge plot against our macrodata refiners. So like all good things on the internet, I'll be presenting my case in the form of a numbered list:
- When Helly comes out of the elevator, she's acting like she's running towards something. Irving, who went just before her is seen banging on the inside of the door, screaming Bert's name. Exactly what he was doing before Milkshake tackled Dylan. Helly was being tackled to the ground after her speech at the gala when they switched back. So presumably her immediate reaction upon resurfacing should instead be that of someone who's just been tackled. Obviously she's not going to be on the ground. But she would be disoriented, perhaps physically reacting in some way to being tackled. Instead undercover Helena is acting in a way the others might buy. They don't know what she'd experienced up there, maybe she was frantically running. She also likely was watching Dylan and Irv arrive from a monitor upstairs before descending and tried blending in.
- Her body langugage. All Helena knows about the innies is what she's viewed or heard on recordings, and secondhand from Milchick/Cobel. Lumon appear to be pushing some great romance narrative here between Mark S and Helly based on their kiss in Season 1 before going overtime. To me, this kiss while significant isn't necessarily signifying a soulmate romance between the pair. But I guess this one's up to the viewer. A number of times in this episode, Helena plays up her closeness to Mark. After she comes out of the elevator he hugs her, she has this kind of confused reaction to it and her arms hover, before committing to the embrace. Her eyes glance at him uncomfortably as he holds her. Throughout the rest of this episode she has the shiftiest eyes, there's nothing earnest to her.
- "Did you wake up" - the second thing she says to him. I can't quite describe why, but this doesn't seem like something an innie would say. Waking up implies some ownership of the body. It would make more sense to me to describe the return of the outties consciousness on the outside world after Milchick tackled Dylan as "waking up" and not the innies occupying the outer bodies as "waking up".
- Helena's walk is not Helly's walk. See the myriad of memes on this sub about her intentful strides. This Helena walks with her shoulders in, arms limp. As if trying to appear smaller. 5 "What happened to the security camera". Twice in this episode, mention is made of Lumon listening in, and Helena responds to both. The first being when the four reunite in their office. Mark S says "what if their listening" and Helena notices the security camera is gone, intently walking towards the spot where it once was and standing at it, tilting her head. The second is in the new and improved Break Room after Milchick leaves where she reminds them there aren't any microphones listening in. Helly wouldn't accept anything Lumon say on face value, especially when it comes to surveillance.
- After the videotape, Helena is zoned out. There's a wideshot of all 6 characters. The three guys are focused directly at Milchick, listening to him. Helena is staring down or possibly even has her eyes closed. Then she jolts slightly and her eyes flutter a few times as if she'd been daydreaming or zoning out. The video isn't for her. She's probably seen it before. After Milchick finishes his speech we switch between close-ups of Mark, Irv, and Dylan. Then back to Milchick who makes the comment about buying them a drink at a bistro and then it switches to Helena who looks up at him - maybe they have a friendly relationship in the real world and this is a nod.
- Helena's privilege is showing in her recollection of her time during overtime. She says she was "inside of a really fucking boring apartment", watching some nature show in sweatpants and a t-shirt. She's basically signalling her that the outside world to normal people is dire crap to be pitied. That the innies wouldn't even want something so terrible and her wealth makes her incapable of finding comfort in this kind of environment. "Save the gorillas" on the imaginary t-shirt, more signalling of the peasant class and their woeful causes. The gardener is the best bit. To most people a gardener would be a luxury, perhaps not to Helena. And the idea of a gardener for apartments at night is simply laughable. Then she follows up with "maybe he has a different job during the day". Some real Lucile Bluth territory here. Also a nice nod to the duality of the worker in this show.
- "We should all go". She doesn't want the group to split when Irv walks off and Dylan follows. Mark resigns himself pretty quickly to staying but she protests a second time as Dylan runs ahead. In my head she wants to find a way to keep everyone here and to get as much info of what they saw outside.
- "We have til the end of the day". This essentially confirms Helena's intention of keeping all four in MDR, not that they'd all make their own separate decision.
- "Did you guys look happy in the wedding photo" - again Helena only knows about what she's seen on recordings and thinks her and Mark truly have a relationship. I feel that Helly would be much more interested in other elements of Mark's adventures on the outside - Cobel, Ricken, the revelation of Gemma and not his love life.
- Helena is smiling and smirking a lot. Another item well documented in this subreddit is that Helly does not smile while on the severed floor. The promotional photos of the team at the gala are photoshopped to have her smiling. Helena this episode consistently has little smirks and smiles when talking to the rest of the team.
- "Assuming she's still here" - does Helena know the wherabouts of Ms Casey? And that she's not in the building anymore.
- "Technically still she's not your wife...your outtie bought the ring" - Helena reinforcing the separation between innies and outies. Something her outtie felt more strongly about than her innie. It rejects the autonomy of the innies.
- "We're not the same actually". Helena then lets the mask slip. "I don't think we owe them shit". She course corrects slightly, but in doing so has pure politician eyes. "I'll help" while staring at the floor, glancing up, then back at the floor. She then grins to herself after telling Mark she's staying.
- Helena's monitor flashes to Santa Mira before the credits role. The fictional town where Invasion of the Bodysnatchers takes place - the story of weird plants coming to earth, replicating people and assuming them in the real world to recruit more people (great film, at least the 1970s one with Donald Sutherland- I haven't seen the original). Helena is a pod person, implanted into our group to weaken and betray them.
- The power button. When Helena goes to turn on her workstation she fumbles with the on-switch on the back for a second. In an earlier shot we see Mark's muscle memory kick-in and get it first try. In the final shots of the episode we see Dylan, Irv and Mark all switch their's on first go without issue. I know it's possible for anyone to fumble. But they were so clear on showing us the close-up earlier and then all three doing it efficiently at the end, it simply has to be another tell that she doesn't belong.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.