mark’s love for gemma didn’t transcend severance because he didn’t want it to. he underwent the procedure to forget about her for half of his life, out of emotional convenience, and that’s exactly what happened. ms casey was drawn to him, gemma’s final innie trusted him. but innie mark only had empathy for her and nothing more. he wanted to reap the emotional and financial rewards of innie mark with no repercussions, but he didn’t realize, or didn’t care, that what innie mark puts in, he can’t take out. his connection with helly and helena cannot be shaken, because that’s him. because that’s the consequence of his decision. and that’s the beauty of mark and gemma’s love story in my opinion, how love no matter how grand and fulfilling sometimes just isn’t enough, and how you and capital undoes it. and now you’re in love with someone else, who is half of your life, more than gemma, and you have no one to blame but yourself. why should he suffer no consequences, not just because “oh they’ve suffered so much” but in terms of story? what are the stakes? where is his character development? he can’t go back to the same life he had with gemma they are no longer the same people. innie mark’s decision is just as much his own. gemma knows that and she won’t forget it. and she shouldn’t.
