I almost forgot that Mark is actually a functioning alcoholic in this show.
One of the things that caught me off-guard was how Mark at work didn’t seem to struggle with compulsive urges at all. It’s not particularly unusual for functional alcoholics to make it through the workday without a drink or withdrawal symptoms. Mark at work definitely carries the physical effects of drinking from the night before, but his attitude and behaviors at work are still entirely distinct from his depressed self at home, which is the self that has the source of his self-medicating. This actually lends itself to a really good demonstration of the psychosocial aspects of substance use disorders.
The chip in his brain has not altered the neural pathways into “curing” his drinking habits. It only changes his memories concerning his identity to be reestablished in a new environment. We’re forced to examine Mark as a character whose transformation between different states of mental health can’t be attributed to something like a chemical imbalance or “hijacked” reward pathways. The chip erases the trauma of losing a loved one, gives him a new stable environment with clear objectives and incentives, and sustains social reinforcement through cooperative peers and feedback from authorities.