Hot take but I think Mark and Gemma's marriage is unsalvageable and Gemma's character arc shouldn't revolve around reclaiming a relationship with her husband. Mark is not her person anymore. He severed himself, and the severed part who fell in love with Helly is a self he created and cannot destroy. He is barreling toward reintegration, and the him who chose to turn around and run away with Helly is fundamental to who he is now and who he'll become.
If the red string of fate is pulling anyone together, it is Mark and Helena. Their paths are converging and nearing alignment like the waves of their reintegrating brains. They are both in the process of (re)constructing themselves, and the selves they are becoming connect, love, and understand each other. Unlike Dylan, Mark is not a man who thinks his wife is the sun, moon, and stars with his entire brain and being. Mark has conflicted thoughts and confusing feelings. He still loves Gemma, but only halfway.
Relationships and marriages, like baby cribs, are built when they serve a function and get taken apart when circumstances change. Time, experience, trauma... all of these things permanently change people. There was and is love between Mark and Gemma, but they are not the same selves now that they were in those gauzy flashbacks. They can't reclaim that earlier stage of their love or relationship. Even before Gemma's "death" and disappearance, there were cracks forming and it's quite possible their marriage wouldn't have survived; in life, not all love lasts forever.
Grief is love enduring, but Mark couldn't endure his grief so he created a version of himself who wouldn't have to feel it. He cleansed his mind of Gemma, betrayed her and her memory in ways understandable yet irrevocable. What Mark failed to appreciate is how inextricable grief and love truly are. He escaped a grief prison only to find himself in a love labyrinth and now he is haunted by the ghost of a woman who is still alive and a love for her that is half dead. You cannot get rid of the grief without getting rid of the love, too.
I think we should be challenging the idea that Mark is less whole (and by extension, his love is less whole) because he severed. To suggest that Mark only loves Gemma halfway seems to imply that Mark has made himself into only half a person, and we know that is not true. If anything, Mark is doubled now, not halved. Humans have an unlimited capacity to love, and I don’t think Mark loves Gemma any less just because he loves Helly (and vice versa). Mark didn’t betray Gemma by severing; he was merely trying to survive through grief that felt incapacitating and insurmountable. The real villain is Lumon, the company that manipulates and exploits its workers — not the severed workers themselves.
The fandom tends to treat these ships like they are exclusive, but I think that view goes against the show’s own messaging. The show begs us to look at love more complexly. We see Burt, who loves his husband fully and deeply, form an attachment to Irving, a stranger who he can’t help but want to protect. We see Gretchen falling for her husband’s innie while remaining fully committed to his outie. I’m not saying these characters are polyamorous, nor do I think it is likely the show will follow that path for Mark, Gemma, and Helly. What I am saying is that severance complicates love just as it complicates identity.
I hope this user is okay with me quoting them, because I wanted to respond and expand on my thoughts.
Mark Scout loves Gemma, but Mark S doesn't. Mark Scout severed himself specifically to create a self who wouldn't remember Gemma. He wanted to escape feeling love for her in the form of grief. Half of him loves Gemma fully. The other half loves Hellyna fully. When you bring the two halves together, you have a man divided. He has to reconcile his separate parts in order to be whole and at peace.
Loving, grieving, remembering... These things are all interconnected. Without love there is no grief. Without remembrance there is no love. Mark Scout struggled to process his grief and chose to forget Gemma as a means of emotional convenience (understandable; grief is messy and really fucking hard to navigate). Mark S and his love for Hellyna are the consequence of Mark Scout's choice.
Altogether, he IS a whole person. But he is fighting reintegration every step of the way. He is at war with himself, struggling to unite his fractured halves so that he can be whole. Reintegration is where his character arc is headed, but he is not there yet. He must first take accountability for his actions and accept his whole self - flaws, mess, and all.
I suspect part of Mark Scout's journey will involve confronting (and hopefully learning to love and accept) not just his own flaws, but also the flaws of important women in his life (Gemma, Helena). He will have to deal with uncomfortable emotions that he has hithero tried desperately to avoid.
When Mark Scout learns Gemma is not an angelic damsel who was abducted by big bad evil Lumon, but rather someone who actually bought into their propaganda and willingly agreed to participate in their study (likely not understanding the full implications, but still), will he love her the same? What about Helena, heiress to the evil company who stole his wife and his life from him? Will he be able to accept the feelings he has for her, or will he struggle?
Mark Scout is not a villain. He is human. He can be an asshole. He can be selfish. He also has the capacity to be thoughtful, compassionate, and kind. He couldn't process his grief, but that's not a moral failing or an unforgivable sin. He's not evil; he's fallible. He made a choice to avoid rather than confront, and now has to live with the consequences of that choice. One of the key consequences is that part of him forgot his wife and fell in love with another woman. In effect, he moved on.
I agree that one of the greatest aspects of this show is how complexly it deals with love and relationships. None of the dynamics it presents are simple or easy. It is possible to love two (or more!) people at once - in different ways, for different reasons, with different levels of intensity and different parts of yourself. I hope they double down on this in s3, actually, because this complexity is an oft forgotten reality in the world of fiction, a place that generally likes to simplify for the sake of convenience and palatability.
At the same time, I stand by what I said regarding Mark and Gemma's relationship ultimately being destined to fall apart. Narratively, I think that outcome is unavoidable. This doesn't mean they hate each other or that they become enemies. It doesn't negate their love for each other. It only means that the dissolution of their marriage as they knew it is inevitable.
I don't think the narrative wants their love to be null and void; a broken marriage is not the same as a loveless one. Two people can love each other and their relationship can still end. Romantic partnerships fail every day, for thousands of reasons. There don't need to be heroes or villains involved. There rarely are. Life is complicated. Love is confusing. Relationships and hard. People are flawed. They make imperfect choices, and then they have to deal with the consequences.
Sometimes, the consequence is divorce.
