Why is no one talking about the final scene of Episode 7?

Episode 7 of Season 2 was a masterpiece from start to finish. However, one aspect that has gone largely unnoticed is the clever use of light vs. darkness to tell the story. If you pay close attention to the lighting in each scene, it reflects the mental states of the two main characters (Mark and Gemma). Watching with this perspective, the final scene—where the bright morning sunlight shines on Mark’s face—takes on a deeper meaning. Mark has fully reintegrated.

Throughout the series, the contrast between light and darkness is used to convey the characters' mental state. Up until this episode, the outside world is always cold, dark, and dreary. While the Severance floor (the “innie” world) is unnaturally bright—almost blindly so. But the brightness is artificial. In Episode 7, this thematic element becomes a central tool for storytelling.

The flashbacks of Mark and Gemma meeting, them falling in love, and the montage of their relationship is the first time (that I can recall) where the outside world is depicted as warm and bright. It is meant to express their happiness and overall positive mental state. However, as their relationship begins to deteriorate over the stress and emotional turmoil of struggling to have a child, the setting grows darker and gloomier.

For example, when Mark is trying to assemble the crib, he is alone in a dark room with only a single, dim lamp as his source of light. He is angry and frustrated at his inability to control or fix the situation and is surrounded by the ever-growing darkness it is causing. Under that single lamp, is a glass of whiskey. The only thing he turns to for some light in the darkness he finds himself in.

Both Mark and Gemma descend into darkness this episode. Gemma literally descends into darkness by going down the dark hallway and into the elevator after her failed escape. Mark literally and figuratively retreats into darkness when the police officers show up to his door and he realizes what has happened. In the most devastating scene of the entire episode, Mark slowly backs away from the door, allowing the darkness to engulf his body, his eyes, and then his entire face. He does not have the strength to confront what has happened, what is in front of him. Instead, all he can will himself to do is to retreat into the darkness.

So, what does this tell us about the final scene? The last scene opens with bright, warm sunlight casting onto Mark's face. This is the FIRST TIME IN THE ENTIRE SERIES that we see brightness in the outside world within the main timeline (not a flashback). I believe that this lighting choice is meant to convey a sense of hope, a glimmer of light emerging from the overwhelming darkness Mark has been navigating throughout the series and this particular episode. When Mark begins to cry, I believe it is because his innie- and outie- self have fully reintegrated. For the first time he KNOWS that Gemma is still alive while feeling his love and grief for her. He now has hope that he might be able to bring her back.