Severance Season 1 Summary: 15 Key Insights Ahead of Season 2

My friends, the time is almost here… Severance Season 2 is on the horizon. If you need a quick refresher, we’ve compiled an in-depth recap of Severance Season 1 to ensure you’re fully prepared for our return to Lumon Industries.

While Netflix continues to dominate the streaming landscape, Apple TV+ is delivering some of the most exceptional television, with Severance being the crown jewel of its catalogue.

Combining bizarre sci-fi elements with a dystopian feel reminiscent of Black Mirror and just a sprinkle of dark humor akin to The Office, Severance Season 1 captivated audiences upon its initial release. And let’s not forget the stellar cast, prominently featuring Adam Scott. The only issue? It concluded on a shocking cliffhanger… three long years ago.

Fortunately, the wait is nearly over, as Severance Season 2 is set to premiere on January 17, 2025. With so many surprises and plot twists, you might be wondering: what transpired in Season 1? Fear not, as we have a concise recap followed by 15 important details to keep in mind.

Severance Season 1 Recap

The story of Severance revolves around Mark Scout (Adam Scott), a mourning man who undergoes a procedure called “severance” at his company, Lumon Industries. This process disconnects his professional memories from his personal life. In the office, his “innie” is unaware of the “outie” Mark’s true existence and vice versa, trapping him and his coworkers in a regulated, insulated realm devoid of any outside knowledge.

Still from Severance Season 1 — Apple TV+

In the early chapters of Severance Season 1, outie Mark encounters Petey (Yul Vazquez), a colleague who has undergone reintegration and remembers his life both inside and outside Lumon. However, before Mark can dig deeper, Petey dies, suggesting the reintegration process is perilous.

Meanwhile, Helly R (Britt Lower), a new hire, joins the Severed Floor, working with Mark, Dylan G (Zach Cherry), and Irving B (John Turturro) in the Macrodata Refinement Department. However, Helly is far from pleased about being an innie and attempts to escape, creating chaos as her outie retaliates.

Inside Lumon, eerie occurrences abound: rooms filled with baby goats, enigmatic maps, and a near-religious reverence for the company’s founder, Kier Eagan. Mark’s innie becomes suspicious and forges relationships with his coworkers, all gradually realizing that Lumon is not what it appears.

Meanwhile, the eccentric supervisor Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) keeps a close eye on their activities, aided by her assistant Milchick (Tramell Tillman). Unbeknownst to Mark, Cobel is his outie’s superior.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwP6M9zS_pQ

Severance — Season 2 Official Teaser | Apple TV+ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwP6M9zS_pQ)

Ultimately, Cobel is dismissed for hiding workplace incidents from Lumon’s executives. Little does she know that the group of innies in Macrodata Refinement have devised an escape plan.

The innies – Helly, Irving, Dylan, and Mark – discover a method to temporarily access the real world. When they succeed, they uncover numerous shocking realities, including the revelation that Mark’s wife, whom he believed dead, is, in fact, alive. The finale of Severance Season 1 leaves us with a prominent cliffhanger, raising many questions for Season 2 to explore.

15 Key Points to Remember Before Watching Severance Season 2

The Innies Went Outie

After Dylan learns about the Overtime Contingency, which allows innies to gain temporary consciousness outside Lumon, he volunteers to initiate the process for Mark, Helly, and Irving.

Despite the time limitations, they manage to create substantial disruptions in their respective lives: Irving seeks out Burt (more on this later); Helly publicly discloses the severance procedure as “torture” during a Lumon gala; and Mark manages to inform his sister Devon (Jen Tullock) of the truth.

Dylan Was Caught by Milchick

To trigger the Overtime Contingency, Dylan had to carefully activate two levers located on opposite ends of the operation room and hold them as long as possible. If he releases them, the innies would revert back to their outie selves.

Thankfully, Dylan successfully executes the procedure, keeping Helly, Mark, and Irving in the real world long enough to stir trouble. However, outie Mark is unaware that Cobel lives next door disguised as the seemingly innocent Mrs. Selvig.

When the switch occurs, Cobel becomes suspicious of Mark as he tenses up; her doubts are confirmed when innie Mark mistakenly addresses her as Cobel instead of Mrs. Selvig. She immediately alerts Milchick, who rushes to the operation room.

After some time, Milchick breaks through the barricade Dylan had set and confronts him. Severance Season 2 will likely touch on the repercussions of this encounter, and their punishment may extend beyond a simple stint in the Break Room.

Helly Is the Daughter of Jame Eagan

One of the most significant revelations during the innies’ temporary escape was that Helly is not only determined to remain severed by her outie, but she’s also the daughter of Lumon’s current CEO, Jame Egan (Michael Siberry).

We had already suspected that outie Helly was not exactly supportive of her innie when her attempts to liberate herself were met with hostility, including being told she wasn’t a person and being sent back to work after a suicide attempt.

This revelation peaked during the finale when Helly attended a Lumon gala. After the Overtime Contingency activated, innie Helly was thrust into this environment where she discovered that her outie’s severance experience was misrepresented to promote a false narrative of positivity.

She took a moment in the restroom, only to confront her father, who had previously been shrouded in mystery. It became evident that Helly is the heir to Lumon’s empire and a critical player in the company’s dark schemes.

During their conversation, she maintained her composure before being whisked backstage for her talk. Cobel tried to dissuade her from speaking but Helly pushed past her, addressing the guests with the harsh truth of being an innie.

“We’re not happy. We’re miserable. They torture us down there. We’re prisoners,” she declared to the crowd, just before Dylan was apprehended and the Overtime Contingency came to an end.

Mark Discovered “She’s Alive!”

As many will recall, Severance Season 1 concluded on a breathtaking cliffhanger, intensifying the pain of waiting three years for Season 2.

Just before the Overtime Contingency was halted, Mark discovered that not only is his spouse, Gemma (Dichen Lachman), still alive, but she also serves as Ms. Casey, the wellness director on the Severed Floor.

This revelation raises numerous questions: Why did Lumon deceive both Mark and Gemma regarding the fate of their spouses? Who made such a decision? And will they ever reunite? Hopefully, Season 2 will begin to address some of these queries.

Mark’s Sister is Also Aware

While the others struggled to connect with their loved ones, Mark managed to convince his sister Devon that he was his innie during the Overtime Contingency. She also discovered that Mrs. Selvig is actually his boss, Cobel.

In the final shot, Mark rushed toward his sister, exclaiming, “She’s alive,” while holding a picture of Gemma, just before Dylan was tackled. Given her awareness of the unfolding events, Devon is likely to piece everything together.

We can only hope she’ll help outie Mark realize Gemma is alive in Severance Season 2.

Irving’s Outie Knows More Than He Should

When innie Irving ventured into the real world, he discovered that his outie is a solitary artist, persistently painting the same Lumon hallway and elevator. This might relate to the hallucinations he experiences at work, with visions of black sludge mirroring the paint in his artwork.

It seems that innie and outie Irving are somewhat connected, perhaps due to the latter’s actions. Upon exploring his possessions during the Overtime Contingency, Irving uncovered a map listing the addresses of former employees.

This suggests he may have been attempting to unravel Lumon’s mysteries and potentially entered the severance program to obtain insider knowledge.

Burt Retired, Leaving Irving Devastated

In regard to Irving, some of the most touching moments in Severance Season 1 centered around his budding romance with Burt G (Christopher Walken), the head of Optics and Design on the Severed Floor.

Their relationship blossomed as they bonded over shared interests in art. Nevertheless, Cobel and Milchick did everything they could to separate the pair, particularly as the MDR team frequently interacted with O&D.

In Episode 7, while strategizing, Irving waltzed into what turned out to be Burt’s retirement party. The grim reality of the severance process is that when an outie retires, their innie effectively ceases to exist, leaving Irv no choice but to bid farewell to his beloved.

Upon entering the real world, he discovered Burt’s name and address on the map and drove to his residence. While Burt remains alive, Irving found him happily married to another man. He raced to knock on the door but could not connect with Burt’s outie before the Overtime Contingency ended.

Reghabi Killed Firs

Earlier in Season 1, we met Reghabi, a former Lumon scientist involved in developing the severance procedure. Although her backstory is limited, it’s evident she left the company after questioning the ethical implications of the program.

In addition to helping Mark’s best friend Petey reintegrate (which we’ll discuss next), she also killed Lumon security guard Doug Graner after he discovered her and Mark at Ganz College.

Reintegration Is Possible but Deadly

While Lumon denies the possibility, reintegration—the experimental procedure of disconnecting a severed employee’s chip—is indeed feasible. Unfortunately, it appears to have life-threatening consequences.

Before Graner’s demise, Petey managed to find outie Mark, despite Mark’s unawareness of Petey’s existence due to their friendship existing only within the severed environment. Technically, only their innies should have mutual recognition, but the reintegration allowed Petey to recall his entire experience at Lumon.

Unfortunately, being the inaugural subject of the procedure, Petey experienced severe side effects, including excruciating pain and merging innie and outie lives, leading to confusion and hallucinations.

Ultimately, Petey succumbed, seemingly due to the dangers of reintegration. This revelation does not bode well for the rest of the severed employees… or anyone affiliated with Lumon, for that matter.

Harmony Cobel Was Dismissed by the Enigmatic Board

Despite her unwavering devotion to the Eagan ideology, Cobel’s position was precarious with “The Board” —the clandestine authority governing Lumon. She attempted to persuade them (via their ever-smiling liaison officer, Natalie) that Petey could have been reintegrated, but they remained in denial.

After failing to inform them about Graner’s disappearance and Helly’s suicide attempt, Cobel was terminated from her position. However, she was unable to disengage. Upon learning of the Overtime Contingency, she hurried to the Lumon gala in an attempt to halt Helly’s plans (which ultimately did not succeed).

Cobel’s Bizarre Kier Eagan Shrine Explained

Cobel’s shrine to Kier Eagan, Lumon’s visionary founder and first CEO, was not entirely unexpected. However, one item on display raised eyebrows.

Alongside papier-mâché figures representing The Four Tempers—Woe, Frolic, Dread, and Malice, according to Kier’s ideology—and a newspaper clipping regarding the launch of the Lumon implant, we see a hospital bracelet inscribed with the name ‘Charlotte Cobel’ on a feeding tube.

This detail appears significant as it may reveal Cobel’s motivations behind her unwavering commitment to Kier and Lumon. The bracelet indicates that Charlotte was born in 1944, suggesting she might be her mother. Whether this speculation holds true is yet another inquiry that we hope Severance Season 2 will resolve.

Lumon’s Severed Floor Remains Enigmatic

Despite the unearthing of some truths, Lumon’s true intentions remain obscure. What we do know about the Severed Floor from Season 1 is that it consists of a series of maze-like, stark white hallways that connect various departments, including the primary group’s Macrodata Refinement and Burt’s Optics & Design.

The firm’s motives only appear to deepen in mystery. Employees in the MRD spend their work hours sorting random numbers based on their emotional responses, while the Optics & Design team engages with various artistic endeavors and is even seen 3D printing objects like watering cans.

Among the most puzzling elements is the inexplicable Goat Room, stumbled upon by Mark and Helly during their office excursions. This room features a goat wrangler caring for a herd of kids, but what is its purpose?

There are other perplexing locations, such as the Perpetuity Wing, which acts as a museum for Lumon, housing eerie figurines of current and former CEOs and a replica of Kier’s home, where Dylan chose to hold his waffle party to access the control panel.

The Ideographic Cards Are Important

Another mystery lies in the Ideographic Card that Dylan pilfered from Optics & Design. Numerous strange details exist in Severance Season 1, but this one is crucial as it led the team to uncover the Overtime Contingency.

Once Milchick realized Dylan had taken the card, he utilized the Overtime Contingency to communicate with his innie at his outie’s residence, outside regular work hours, to retrieve it.

Initiating the Overtime Contingency is fraught with risks since management is not keen on innies experiencing life beyond Lumon’s office. Nevertheless, Milchick was willing to take the chance to get the card back.

Though the Ideographic Cards appear harmless, they depict various physical forms of movement, hinting that, like everything in Severance, there may be a deeper significance lurking beneath the surface.

Lumon Isn’t Just Severing Employees

Thanks to Devon, we learned that Lumon’s memory-splitting severance chip is not only applied to its employees. Indeed, some individuals have been permitted to utilize the device to eliminate unwanted tasks.

For instance, Gabby Arteta, the spouse of Senator Angelo Arteta, a Lumon supporter, was introduced to Devon during a birthing retreat. However, when they met again weeks later, Gabby had no recollection of their previous interaction.

Why? Because Gabby has been implanted with the severance chip which allowed her innie to endure the discomfort of childbirth, enabling her to evade the experience herself.

Ricken’s Book Unbeknownst to Him Became a Revolutionary Manifesto

Let’s conclude this list with a lighter note: Mark’s brother-in-law Ricken (Michael Chernus) and his self-help book, The You You Are. While it was dismissed by outie Mark, it found favor among the Severed Floor employees, with innie Mark and Dylan memorizing its contents.

The book ultimately became instrumental in fueling their rebellious spirit, serving as motivation for the entire MDR team. Many of Ricken’s quotes even transformed into rallying cries against Lumon’s authoritarian grasp.

This culminated in a heartwarming yet humorous moment between Ricken and Mark when his innie went through the Overtime Contingency. Until then, Ricken had been an elusive, God-like figure, making the revelation of their relationship feel more thrilling than a waffle celebration.

Furthermore, Ricken’s book is filled with some of the funniest (and/or most motivational) lines in the series:

“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 awaiting the arrival of Severance Season 2, remember to check out other exceptional shows on Apple TV+. You can also discover what new series are debuting in streaming this month, the top shows of the year so far, and the most binge-worthy series available at the moment.

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Image Credits: Dexerto.com