“She’s alive!” And now, after a very long wait, so is Severance once again at Apple TV+. The show’s second season finally premiered at Apple TV+ with a fantastic episode that brought our four favorite microdata refiners back to work at Lumon. Why were they allowed back after they managed to wake up in the outside world? Why did they even want to go back? And what new questions did the show raise with “Hello, Ms Cobel?” These are the biggest revelations and questions from the first one of Severance season two.
REVELATIONS
The Innies Are Famous (Maybe) and Lumon Claims It’s Making Changes
Mark, Helly, and Irv’s Innies all got to experience the outside world in season one’s finale, but their escape ended when Milchick tackled Dylan back at Lumon. Turns out Dylan had still given them enough time to reveal what was going on. The press not only covered the Innie’s successful plan, the four became the faces of Severance reform. They’re famous! Or so Milchick says. That newspaper had a pretty fake photo on it.
Whatever the truth of their notoriety, it took five months for any of them to find out. That’s when Mark, whose Outie begged, returned to Lumon still yelling about how his wife is alive. For his Innie it was like no time had passed at all since he saw his wedding photo at his sister’s house. No time had passed for the others when they finally returned to work eventually, too. Lumon never used its remote severance awakening tech to speak to any Innie about what they’d done.
When they did come back to the office, Lumon claimed they had returned to a much freer place where they’d been forgive for their actions via a terrifying painting of Kier. New severed floor manager Seth Milchick told his employees they will no longer be spied on by cameras and recording devices. They can also quit whenever they like without their Outies approval. He’s also planning to create a secret Outie Family Room Visitation Suite so Dylan can meet with his wife and kids (a clever way to subtly divide the group of refiners). And every new severed employee will see a delightful Claymation video about the Innie Uprising that led to these wonderful new reforms.
Reforms that definitely aren’t suspicious and almost certainly a load of crap in service to a sinister grand plan.
Cobel Did Not Save Her (Old) Job at Lumon
Despite the Board itself firing her, Harmony Cobel came to Lumon’s rescue when she realized the severed employees had hacked the system and woken up in the real world. Without her, the Innie uprising would have gone on longer. Yet despite her devotion and quick action, she did not get her job back as the severed floor manager. That job now belongs to Seth Milchick, who blamed Harmony for the inhumane treatment the Innies previously experienced.
Lumon dealt with its biggest public scandal ever by making Cobel its scapegoat. But that might also be why the company now employs her in a different, more covert capacity. It would be risky to blame everything on someone who knows so many dirty company secrets. If she is out there without any official connections to Lumon, Cobel might still be helping it. She previously displayed her true loyalty is to Kier Eagan and not Lumon.
There Are Severed Floors All Over the World
For a brief moment Mark had three new severed co-workers in microdata refinement. They came from other Lumon offices around the world. We also saw just how ubiquitous the company is around the globe during the new Claymation video. There are severed employees everywhere, not just at the show’s main location. Lumon is a true worldwide conglomerate and severance is a worldwide problem.
Helly R. Doesn’t Want Her Co-Workers to Know Her Real Identity
Mark told his severed co-workers about how Ms. Casey is his Outie’s dead wife Gemma. A heartbroken Irv told them how he tried to reach Burt but failed. (He was still banging on Burt’s home door when the elevator door opened.) But Helly R. completely lied about being Helena Eagan, heir and daughter of Lumon CEO Jame Eagan.
She’s ashamed of her Outie and cares about her friends. She doesn’t want them to think less of her or worse. It’s easy to understand why. Helena Eagan is a monster who told her own Innie she’s “not a person.” Helly R. can’t even trust “herself,” so she can’t expect others to trust her. How long can she keep that secret? How long will she want to? And what will happen if they do find out the truth? All of this is now weighing on Helly R. while she tries to help Mark, whom she kissed right before their uprising, find his Outie’s wife.
QUESTIONS
Why Are the Escaped Severed Employees Back at Lumon?
It’s easy to understand why Mark. S begged to go back to work at Lumon. His “dead” wife Gemma is there and he wants to find her. That was the first thing he tried to do during his desperate run through Lumon’s never-ending hallways. But that’s exactly why it’s not obvious why Lumon would let him return there. Why would they want Mark to find Ms. Casey? Is it simply a PR matter? Is Lumon hoping to use Mark’s return to get some good press? To show severance is still a viable, safe, and desirable option? Or do they need Mark back at his desk for their own nefarious secret reasons?
We also don’t know why the other Innies came back after (at least) half a year away. Mark refused to work with the new refiners, going so far as to even try and frame the other Mark. He then spoke to the Board about wanting Helly, Irv, and Dylan back. But just because Mark wanted them back doesn’t mean any of their Outies would agree to return to Lumon. How did Lumon convince them? Why did Lumon let them?
The return of the escaped macrodata refiners is a serious of mysteries piled on top of one another.
Why Does a Child Now Work on the Severed Floor?
Why would Lumon bring a literal child to work on it’s severed floor? Or, you know, any floor? What is the deal with Ms. Huang? It makes no sense at all and it’s so weird we’re willing to get real dark with what it could mean, because we can’t rule out Lumon is making clones or moving consciousness from one brain into another. What if Ms. Huang isn’t really some kid but an adult put into a child’s body? Or a kid clone of someone we’ve known as an adult?
At a company that has figured out how to make two people out of one, there are even stranger things going. And that brings us to our last major question from the Severance season two premiere.
What’s Going on with Ms. Casey and Mark’s File?
Ms. Casey and her Wellness Center are gone from Lumon’s severed floor. Is Gemma still in the building, though? Is she on the company’s mysterious Testing Floor, the one Outie Irv keeps painting over and over?
More importantly, what does the missing Ms. Casey have to do with the file Mark is working on? In the episode’s final moments the show implied his current “mysterious and important” work is connected to his “dead” wife. He was refining macrodata and after fencing off a series of random numbers that we know elicit an emotion we saw Ms. Casey’s file.
Are the macrodata refiners looking for literal human emotions connected to real people? Are those people currently in digital form? Is Ms. Casey totally digital? Partially?
Before the season we wondered if those macrodata files that evoke real emotions in employees were coming from real people. That might be exactly what’s going on. If it is the implications go well beyond Ms. Casey. If they can keep her alive this way, they might be able to keep anyone alive, including Kier Eagan himself.
To think, all of that after the four severed employees were back at work together for just a single day. Imagine what we’ll learn and questions after they’re together for a whole week or month.