‘Severance’: What You Need to Remember Before Watching Season 2

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for Season 1 of “Severance,” streaming on Apple TV+.

A recap is available upon request.

On this coming Friday, “Severance” resumes on Apple TV+, marking almost three years since the initial season of the gripping sci-fi office drama concluded abruptly with a heart-stopping cliffhanger.

Before returning to work on January 17th, here’s a refresher from Season 1. For those who want a quick recap of only the final episode, feel free to scroll down to the end.

Innies and Outies

The show “Severance” revolves around Mark Scout (Adam Scott), a man grappling with the loss of his wife Gemma, unbeknownst to him that he has a wife within his workplace at the enigmatic Lumon Industries. After undergoing an experimental and debatable “severance” process, Mark is effectively divided into two separate individuals: his innie and his outie. The severed employees at Lumon are unaware of their lives outside of work, while outies are oblivious to their office environment, including their colleagues. Depressed, Outie Mark spends most of his nights in solitude and darkness, whereas Innie Mark is cheerful, dedicating his days to refining “macrodata” (a task that neither of them fully understands beyond organizing numbers into different digital compartments). The series commences with Mark being promoted to department head following the unexpected exit of his co-worker, Petey. He collaborates with Helly R. (Britt Lower), Irving B. (John Turturro) and Dylan G. (Zach Cherry) on the Severed Floor at Lumon, which is supervised by non-severed managers Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) and Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman). Occasionally, the innies receive therapeutic sessions from Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman), who shares insights about their outies.

Petey

One evening after finishing work, an unrecognized man named Petey (Yul Vazquez) approaches Outie Mark, claiming they used to work together at Lumon. Petey reveals he underwent a mysterious procedure called “reintegration,” which is supposed to undo the severance process and grant him access to both his professional and personal memories. He warns Mark that Lumon is involved in shady activities, and that the severance process may not be as it appears. Petey shares evidence he collected within Lumon, enlightening Mark about the company’s questionable dealings. As Petey suspects he is being monitored, for his own safety, Mark invites him to stay at his home in hiding. However, the reintegration process causes Petey serious health issues such as intense headaches and hallucinations. Tragically, halfway through the season, Petey succumbs to the illness caused by the procedure.

Ms. Cobel and Mrs. Selvig

The situation becomes concerning when it’s disclosed that Ms. Cobel is also monitoring Mark outside of his job. It turns out that Cobel, who is not entirely separate from her Lumon persona, leads a dual life as Mrs. Selvig, Mark’s neighbor and the doula for his sister Devon (Jen Tullock). After Petey’s death, she secretly attends the funeral to clandestinely open his skull and recover the severance device.

Helly’s Struggles

In the realm of cinematic immersion, I find myself delving into a captivating narrative that follows Helly’s inaugural day at Lumon. Unlike my seasoned counterparts Mark, who finds purpose in his work, Irving, a veritable sage of Lumon’s regulations and lore, and Dylan, whose eyes gleam with the allure of corporate privileges, Helly yearns for freedom.

From the onset of this riveting series, Helly persistently seeks an exit from the office. She devises a covert strategy, scribbling messages to her ‘outie’ on her very own skin, only to have them intercepted by the watchful eye of Lumon. She submits a formal resignation, yet her ‘outie’ refuses it. Even more drastic measures are taken when she attempts suicide in an elevator.

Another Case for Severance

Instead of promoting it as an appealing lifestyle option for employees (“Come relax and never work again!”), Lumon justifies severance by stating that they handle sensitive information. This ensures that their confidential data remains within the workplace. However, there are additional purposes for the severance process, such as in Gabby Arteta’s (Nora Dale) case, who used the technology to separate and forget about her pregnancy, given her husband is a strong advocate for severance in politics.

Irving <3 Burt

Tensions rise in the office when the Macrodata Refinement team encounters personnel from Optics and Design. While supervisor Irving usually adheres to departmental boundaries, he finds himself drawn to Burt G., who shares a fondness for Lumon’s art collection, played by Christopher Walken. Despite work rules against inter-departmental relationships, the two secretly start an office romance. However, this romance leads to Burt’s unexpected termination (or ‘permanent retirement’), causing Irving to become increasingly rebellious. Simultaneously, he experiences eerie visions at work of a dark liquid leaking from the ceiling.

Exploring Lumon

In the third installment, Mark stumbles upon a secret office map drawn by Petey, concealed behind a picture frame. As doubts and interest escalate among the employees, Mark and Helly decide to investigate Lumon’s lengthy, white corridors. They unearth a room teeming with baby goats and encounter a man in a lab coat who cautions, “They’re not prepared yet!” Other known locations within Lumon include the Break Room, infamous for breaking employee morale through forced apology script readings as punishment; Optics and Design, where Burt works; administrative offices housing Ms. Cobel and Mr. Milchick; and the Wellness Center with Ms. Casey. Additionally, there is the Perpetuity Wing, acting as a sort of Lumon museum, and separate from the Severed Floor lies the Testing Floor, suggesting that Lumon conducts experiments on employees and tweaks their severance chips. Only Ms. Casey is observed entering the Testing Floor.

The Overtime Contingency

Episode 6 introduces an unexpected twist: Dylan’s inner self awakens at home inside his outer body. The reason for this is because Mr. Milchick, out of regular work hours, visits Dylan’s house in search of a missing card from the Optics and Design office that Dylan had. This unusual occurrence stems from the Overtime Contingency, an emergency procedure enabling inners to be awakened in the outer world. The revelation that Innie Dylan has a son back home leaves him deeply affected, causing his entire focus at work to shift towards finding more information about his child.

Reghabi and the Underground Resistance

Near the closing stages of the season, Mark encounters Karen Aldridge, a former Lumon scientist who played a crucial role in developing severance technology and is currently leading an underground rebellion against the company. It was her who carried out the reintegration process on Petey. In a hidden building under the cover of night, Mark crosses paths with Aldridge, only to have head of security on the Severed Floor, Doug Graner (Michael Cumpsty), stumble upon them. Astonishingly, Aldridge slays Graner and hands Mark his all-access security pass, instructing him to use it in the office. She assures him that his inner self will guide him on what to do with it.

Gemma = Ms. Casey

One of the most shocking twists in the series unfolds at the close of Episode 7, when it’s revealed that Mark is meticulously reassembling a photograph of his deceased wife. As Regular Mark gazes lovingly at an image of his wife Gemma, it becomes apparent that the same woman (supposedly perished in a car crash) is none other than Lumon’s Ms. Casey. In the subsequent episode, Ms. Casey informs Alternate Mark that she has been dismissed from her role as wellness director. She is subsequently transferred to the Testing Area.

The Innie Rebellion

Equipped with Graner’s security pass, inspired by a self-improvement book found within the office and fueled by immense anger, the employees concoct a plan to trigger the Overtime Contingency for themselves. The strategy involves Dylan remaining behind to secretly enter the security room in order to rouse Mark, Helly, and Irving, allowing them to reveal Lumon’s truth in the external world. In the build-up to their daring uprising, Helly and Mark exchange a passionate kiss. Ms. Cobel is dismissed due to her persistent inability to manage the employees effectively. Lastly, Dylan experiences the exclusive “waffle party” reward, which entails an unusual sexual show in a replica of Lumon’s founder Kier Eagan’s residence.

Upon being roused in their outer bodies following Dylan activating the Overtime Contingency, the innies are thrown into surprising circumstances. At a gathering taking place at his sister’s residence, Mark encounters an event involving a reading from the innies’ preferred self-improvement book – a work authored by none other than Ricken, his brother-in-law (played by Michael Chernus). Remarkably, he identifies Ms. Cobel at the party, albeit in this context she is referred to as Mrs. Selvig.

In his home, Irving wakes up to find himself surrounded by numerous black paintings, each showing the same location – the Testing Floor hallway. Unbeknownst to him, he’s been repeatedly painting this scene without ever intentionally visiting it. Inside his house, there’s a dog, military awards, and documents filled with details about past and present Lumon workers, including Burt’s home address.

At the Eagan family’s grand gala, Helly uncovers an unexpected truth: her identity is actually Helena Eagan, daughter of Lumon CEO Jamie Eagan. In a planned move for a promotional strategy, she consented to undergo the procedure, portraying it as both secure and morally acceptable.

In this story, Innie Mark confides in Ms. Cobel about his true identity when he addresses her as Ms. Cobel instead of Mrs. Selvig. Irving swiftly drives to Burt’s residence, but learns that Burt is married to a man. Mark informs his sister Devon that he’s currently in innie mode and that there are suspicious activities taking place at Lumon. She shares with him the information about Gemma, his outie’s deceased wife. At the gala, Helly is placed on stage in front of the Lumon board members and other attendees, where she discloses a shocking truth about her family’s company: “We’re captives!” Mark then recognizes a photograph of him and Gemma as Ms. Casey, promptly running into his sister’s party and shouting, “She’s alive!” Moments later, Mr. Milchick bursts into the security office and subdues Dylan, deactivating the Overtime Contingency. The innies then return to their outie forms. The season ends with a black screen.

2025-01-16 02:19