As someone who has spent countless hours immersed in the captivating world of “Severance,” I must say that this show has left a profound impact on me. The intricate plot twists, the rich characters, and the thought-provoking themes have kept me hooked from the very first episode.
Friends, the moment is close at hand… The second season of Severance is almost here! If you’d like to catch up, we’ve compiled a detailed summary of Severance Season 1, ensuring your memory is sharp as we embark on our return to Lumon.
While Netflix remains the dominating force in the streaming era, Apple TV+ is pumping out some of the finest TV shows ever made, and Severance is the Kier Eagen of the platform’s content library.
In an unusual mix of strange sci-fi surrealism, gloomy Black Mirror atmosphere, and The Office’s distinctive dark humor, Severance Season 1 was an instant success upon its release, and this was all before considering the exceptional acting ensemble, with Adam Scott leading the charge. However, the one drawback? It left us hanging – quite literally – more than three years ago.
Fortunately, the wait for Severance Season 2 ends on January 17, 2025! With all its unexpected plot twists, you may wonder about the events of Season 1. Don’t worry; we’ve got a quick rundown for you, along with 15 key points to keep in mind.
Severance Season 1 recap
In the series titled “Severance,” we follow Mark Scout (Adam Scott), a man dealing with loss as he’s cut off from his job at Lumon Industries, dividing his work and personal memories. At work, his internal self, or “innie,” knows nothing about his external self, or “outie,” and the same goes for his colleagues, confining them in a monitored, detached environment where they’re unaware of the world beyond their workplace.
At the start of Severance Season 1, main character Mark, known as Outie Mark, uncovers the true identity of his colleague Petey (played by Yul Vazquez). This individual had undergone a process called “reintegration,” allowing them to recall memories from both within and outside Lumon Industries. However, before Mark could delve deeper into this revelation, Petey tragically passes away, signaling that the reintegration procedure may be hazardous.
Simultaneously, Helly R (Britt Lower) enters the Severed Floor team, working with Mark, Dylan G (Zach Cherry), and Irving B (John Turturro) in the Macrodata Refinement Department. Unlike a content employee, Helly isn’t satisfied with her position and attempts to leave right away. However, her defiance stirs up turmoil as her outer self retaliates.
Within Lumon, there are peculiar occurrences: think of rooms filled with baby goats, mysterious charts, and an almost fanatical devotion towards the company’s founder, Kier Eagan. Mark, our intuitive employee, starts to grow wary and forms alliances with his co-workers, each of whom independently come to the same conclusion – Lumon is not as it appears.
Simultaneously, the quirky Harmony Cobel (played by Patricia Arquette), a Lumon overseer, keeps close tabs on them with her assistant Milchick (Tramell Tillman). Interestingly, she is also covertly monitoring Outie Mark, who remains oblivious to the fact that she holds a higher position at his workplace.
Eventually, Cobel is fired for concealing workplace incidents from the higher ups at Lumon. Little does she realize that the quad of innies in the Macrodata Refinement Department have hatched an escape plan.
Inside Helly, Irving, Dylan, and Mark, a solution emerges that allows them temporary exit into the actual world. Once outside, they uncover several startling revelations – among them, Mark finds out his presumed-dead wife is actually alive. The first season of Severance concludes with this suspenseful moment, generating numerous queries for the upcoming Season 2 to resolve.
15 things to remember before Severance Season 2
The innies went outie
Following his discovery of the Overtime Contingency, a procedure enabling an innie to temporarily exist beyond Lumon’s boundaries on a temporary basis, Dylan agreed to perform this process for Mark, Helly, and Irving.
Regardless of the tight deadlines, they stirred up quite a commotion in their personal lives: Irving pursued Burt (details later); Helly publicly denounced the severance process as ‘torture’ at a Lumon ball; and Mark revealed the truth to his sister Devon (Jen Tullock).
Dylan was caught by Milchick
To set off the Overtime Contingency, Dylan carefully maintained pressure on two switches located at opposite sides of the control room, holding them for as long as he could before releasing them. Once released, everything would flip back to its original state.
Lucky for me, I’m managing to keep Helly, Mark, and Irving away from the real world long enough to create some chaos. Yet, it’s noteworthy that Cobel, who seems like an ordinary elderly neighbor to outie Mark, resides next door under the guise of Mrs. Selvig.
When the change occurred, Cobel began to harbor suspicion towards Mark, noticing him becoming tense. Her suspicions were later confirmed when Innie Mark unintentionally referred to her as “Cobel” instead of Mrs. Selvig. Instantly, she contacted Milchick who hurried to the operating room.
Milchick spent quite some time slicing through the rope that Dylan had fastened to barricade the door. Once he managed to do so, he pinned him down on the ground. The second season of Severance will explore the aftermath of this situation, and it’s likely their penalty will be more severe than a brief detention in the Break Room.
Helly is daughter of Jame Eagan
Indeed, one of the most significant disclosures during Helly’s time in the outside world was that not only does her counterpart on the inside intend to keep her separated, but she is also the daughter of the current Lumon CEO, James Egan, played by Michael Siberry.
Previously, it was clear that Helly the outie had a troubled nature, as her numerous efforts to gain freedom were constantly thwarted by hostility. Even following an attempted suicide, she was referred to as non-human and promptly returned to her duties.
However, the peak of strangeness occurred in the Severance Season 1 finale when Helly attended Lumon’s gala. Once the Overtime Contingency activated, inner Helly was catapulted into this reality and discovered that her outer self’s severance process had been manipulated to propagate a misleading impression that the program offers a beneficial experience.
In the bathroom, she found a moment’s respite, but instead of solitude, she encountered her father, who until then had been a mysterious figure. Unveiled was the truth that Helly is the rightful heir to the Lumon throne and a crucial piece in the sinister schemes of the corporation.
During their chat prior to being ushered offstage for her address, Innie Helly managed to stay composed. Later on, Cobel tried to dissuade her from delivering the speech, but Helly assertively moved aside and stepped forward, addressing the audience about her authentic inner experiences.
She expressed her dissatisfaction, stating, “We’re far from content; we’re wretched. They subject us to pain below. We’re captives,” she told the gathering, prior to Dylan being subdued and the Overtime Contingency plan being aborted.
Mark found out “she’s alive!”
You’ll likely recall that Severance Season 1 concluded with a suspenseful cliffhanger, making the three-year wait for Season 2 even more agonizing.
Moments before the Overtime Contingency expired, Mark discovered a surprising truth: His wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman), was not only alive but also held the position of Wellness Director on the Severed Floor – none other than Ms. Casey.
The situation raises several queries, such as: What was Lumon’s motive for deceiving both Mark and Gemma about their spouses’ supposed demise? Who was responsible for this decision? Will they be reunited? Fingers crossed that we’ll uncover some of these answers in Season 2.
Mark’s sister is in the know
Despite the difficulties faced by others regarding their family members, Mark managed to make his sister Devon realize that he considers her as an “innie” during the Overtime Contingency. Moreover, it was revealed to Devon that Mrs. Selvig is none other than Mark’s superior, Cobel.
Furthermore, at the last scene, Mark sprinted toward his sibling, exclaiming “She’s alive!”, as he clutched a picture of Gemma, mere moments before Dylan was taken down. Considering all she knows up to this point, Devon will surely connect the dots.
Here’s hoping she can make outie Mark understand that his wife is alive in Severance Season 2.
Irving’s outie knows more than he should
Upon stepping into the real world, Innie Irving found that his counterpart, an outie, predominantly lived as a solitary figure, often repainting the same Lumon corridor and elevator repetitively. This could potentially be linked to his work-related hallucinations, where he experiences images of black goo reminiscent of the paint in his art.
It appears as though Irving’s inner and outer worlds have intertwined to some extent, primarily due to his outer self unearthing a map containing the addresses of past colleagues while rummaging through his belongings during the Overtime Contingency.
This suggests that he has been investigating or delving deeply into the situation at Lumon, and maybe he joined the Severance program in order to obtain confidential information about it.
Burt retired and left Irving heartbroken
Concerning Irving, one of the most touching aspects of Severance Season 1 was watching the blossoming bond between Irving and Burt G, who is in charge of Optics and Design on the Separated Level. (Christopher Walken plays this role)
As they delved deeper into understanding one another, their friendship blossomed into a romantic connection, fueled by their shared passion for art. Yet, Cobel and Milchick made every effort to keep them apart, particularly as the Macrodata Refinement Department persistently interacted with O&D.
In Episode 7, during their strategy meeting, Irving briefly visited Burt. Unfortunately, what he found was a retirement celebration instead. The harsh reality is that when an outer self (outie) chooses to retire, the inner self (innie) effectively ceases to exist. As a result, Irv had no option but to bid farewell to his beloved partner.
Upon entering the real world, he found Burt’s name and address on a map and drove to his residence. Although Burt is still living, Irving noticed that he is married to another man. He attempted to knock on the door but could not speak with Burt before the Overtime Contingency was deactivated.
Reghabi killed Graner
In the early stages of Severance Season 1, we were introduced to Reghabi, a previous Lumon researcher involved in creating the procedure. While specific details about her past are scarce, it’s clear that she parted ways with the company after expressing concerns over the moral implications of the severance program.
Apart from aiding former Lumon employee and close associate of Mark, Petey Kilmer in his re-entry process (further details soon), she later ended up killing the troublesome Lumon security officer, Doug Graner, who had traced her and Mark to Ganz College.
Reintegration is possible but deadly
Although Lumon’s top brass may claim otherwise, there’s evidence suggesting that the procedure known as re-integration, which involves shutting off an implanted employee’s chip, might indeed be feasible. Yet, it seems to be lethal at this point in time.
Before the Granger incident, Peety found Outie Mark, who was unaware of Peety’s existence since they were colleagues. Normally, only their inner selves (innies) should be acquainted with each other, but due to the process of reintegration, Peety recalled everything about his time at Lumon, including his relationship with Outie Mark.
Because he was the initial individual to experience this procedure, it resulted in some unfavorable consequences. Not only did he endure periods of severe discomfort, but his inner and outer body parts also began to overlap strangely, leading to perplexity and hallucinations.
Eventually, Petey died, seemingly as a result of the reintegration sickness. This doesn’t bode well for the rest of the severed employees… or anyone working at Lumon, for that matter.
Harmony Cobel was fired by the mysterious board
Although fully committed to the Eagan philosophy, Cobel found herself at odds with “The Board” – a secretive governing entity of Lumon. She made every effort to persuade them, primarily through their consistently cheerful intermediary, Natalie, that Petey could have been reinstated, but they were unwilling to consider it.
Following her decision not to disclose Graner’s disappearance or Helly’s suicide attempt, Cobel was let go from her position. Despite this, she couldn’t help but continue pressing on. Upon learning about the Overtime Contingency, she hastened to attend the Lumon gala in an attempt to prevent Helly (unfortunately, her strategy proved unsuccessful).
Cobel’s mysterious Kier Eagan shrine explained
It’s likely not unexpected that Cobel maintained a sanctuary at home honoring Kier Eagan, the pioneering founder and initial CEO of Lumon. However, there was an artifact within it that captured our curiosity the most.
Next to homemade sculptures representing The Four Temperaments – Woe, Joy, Fear, and Malice, based on Kier’s theory, as well as an article about the Lumon implant debut, there is a hospital identification band labeled ‘Charlotte Cobel’ attached to a feeding tube.
This detail appears important because it might reveal Cobel’s reasons behind her professional commitment towards Kier and Lumon. Moreover, the bracelet suggests that Charlotte could be her mother, born in 1944. Whether this connection is accurate or not remains to be seen, as only Season 2 of Severance may provide an answer to that question.
Lumon’s Severed Floor is shrouded in mystery
Despite Lumon’s mysterious activities remaining unknown, let me share some insights about the Severed Floor that we uncovered in Season 1. This complex consists of intricate, white, labyrinthine corridors housing different departments such as our principal quad’s Macrodata Refinement and Burt’s Optics & Design unit.
The actions of MRD’s employees, who spend their workdays organizing numbers based on personal feelings, alongside the Optics & Design team handling artwork, totes, and occasionally creating 3D-printed items such as watering cans, certainly add to the company’s perplexing intentions.
However, the enigma surrounding the baffling Goat Room is quite significant. This room, accidentally discovered by Mark and Helly beyond their office, contained a goat herder tending to a group of young goats. But what’s puzzling is, why was this happening in there?
Other parts of the building are equally puzzling, such as the Eternity Wing, functioning as a kind of Lumon exhibit hall. It displays eerie figurines of current and past CEOs, along with a replica of Kier’s residence – the very place where Dylan hosted his waffle party to sneakily access the control panel.
The Ideographic Cards are significant
As a devoted fan, I can’t help but be intrigued by the enigma surrounding the Ideographic Card I swiped from Optics & Design. There were plenty of peculiar aspects in Severance Season 1 that could have grabbed our attention. However, this one stands out because it was instrumental in revealing the Overtime Contingency to our team.
After discovering that Dylan took the card, Milchick utilized a method to contact his inner self (innie) at his outer self’s residence, during non-work hours, to get it back.
Considering the managers strongly prefer inmates (employees) to stay within Lumon’s premises rather than living their lives elsewhere, Milchick was ready to assume the risk to retrieve the card.
These Ideographic Cards may appear unassuming, depicting seemingly simple physical movements. However, just like other elements in Severance, they conceal a hidden depth waiting to be uncovered.
Lumon isn’t just severing employees
Due to Devon’s information, it turns out that the memory-dividing severance chip from Lumon is not solely utilized on their workers. Surprisingly, certain individuals are permitted to use this device as a means to avoid undesirable responsibilities.
Example scenario: Gabby Arteta, married to Senator Angelo Arteta (a Lumon backer), was encountered by Devon at a birthing center. However, several weeks after this initial encounter, Gabby couldn’t recall their meeting.
The reason for this is because Gabby underwent a procedure involving a severance chip, which allowed her innie (a surrogate) to bear the pain of childbirth instead of herself. This act is not only selfish and horrifying but also alarming to consider the extent of damage this technology might inflict.
Ricken’s book unintentionally became a revolutionary manifesto
Instead of wrapping up this list with something a bit more playful: Let’s include Mark’s brother-in-law Ricken (Michael Chernus) and his self-help book titled “The You You Are”. Although the outer layer Mark rejected, when it landed on the Severed Floor, the inner layer of him held onto it.
In essence, they both memorized the content almost entirely, and this book significantly fueled their spirit of defiance, acting as a source of motivation for the entire MDR collective. Certain excerpts from Ricken’s writings even served as battle cries in the struggle against Lumon’s dominance.
This incident resulted in a remarkably touching and humorous exchange between Ricken and Mark, when his bellybutton (innie) underwent the Overtime Contingency. Prior to this event, Ricken was seen as an enigmatic, almost divine figure, so finding out they were kin made it more thrilling than any waffle gathering.
Additionally, Ricken’s book contains some of the most humorous (and/or inspiring) quotes from the whole collection.
- “What separates man from machine is that machines cannot think for themselves. Also they are made of metal, whereas man is made of skin.”
- “If you are a soldier, do not fight for my freedom. Fight for the freedom of the soldier fighting next to you. This will make the war more inspiring for you both.”
- “A society with festering workers cannot flourish, just as a man with rotting toes cannot skip.”
- “A good person will follow the rules. A great person will follow himself.”
- “Bullies are nothing but BULL and LIES.”
- “At the center of industry is ‘dust’.”
- “They cannot crucify you if your hand is in a fist.”
- “Our job is to taste free air. Your so-called boss may own the clock that taunts you from the wall, but, my friends, the hour is yours.”
While you wait for Severance Season 2, check out these other great Apple TV+ shows to watch. You can also find which new TV series are coming to streaming this month, the best shows of the year so far, and the most binge-worthy series to watch right now.
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2024-10-30 19:52