Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Severance Season 2 Episode 2.
The first episode of Severance Season 1 was a fantastic start to the season, pivoting old series mysteries into new ones (seriously, what is Cold Harbor?!), making changes to the series’ antagonist portfolio (happy to see Mr. Milkshake, er, Milchick getting promoted), and even getting the Macrodat crew back together again. It was also an interesting follow-up to Season 1’s fascinating finale, however, for two reasons: it fully took place at Lumon among the innies, and consequently, we never really saw what happened to them in their excursions into the world outside Lumon. We got updates, sure, but those were limited to what the innies told each other, and we already knew Helly wasn’t sharing everything.
Episode 2, “Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig,” works quickly to catch us up with what happened in the outie world between seasons, dropping us immediately into the aftermath of the Season 1 finale. After Mark S. (Adam Scott) awkwardly blurts out “SHE’S ALIVE” at that party, outie Mark is back in control. His sister Devon (Jen Tullock) immediately clocks the change and checks in with him (best sister on TV, I swear) before the episode’s focus pivots to Helena Eagan (Britt Lower), who is immediately corralled by her father and current Lumon CEO, Jame Eagan (Michael Siberry), after her innie’s outburst at the company gala. (He disapprovingly calls her a “fetid moppet” to her face; $20 says his breath is rank.) The scene then switches to Dylan (Zach Cherry), who walks out of Lumon doors with a clearly injured noggin. Helena, still wearing her gala attire, personally tasks Milchick (Tramell Tillman) with finding out “every word” the innies said and everyone they spoke to before heading into a separate conference room.
Harmony Cobel Fails Upward as Lumon Restructures in ‘Severance’ Season 2 Episode 2
Said conference room contains Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette), whose fate has thus far been rated M for Mysterious. Helena gives a set of brief updates on Lumon’s damage control measures (it sure sounds like the innies didn’t have the sweeping effect that was indicated to them in Episode 1, though this could be early corporate bluster). The Lumon heir also expresses her gratitude for Cobel’s swift response to the innies’ rebellion, and offers both an apology and an offer to return to the company. Cobel wants to proceed by interrogating Dylan G. and scouring security feeds, but Cobel interrupts: “We have something else in mind,” before offering Cobel a promotion to Lumon’s brand-new Severance Advisory Council.
“You don’t value me, you fear me,” Cobel replies. “We fear no one,” Helena responds, “and if we didn’t hold you in such high esteem, we wouldn’t be making this generous offer.” It sure seems like there may still be tension between Cobel and the upper brass at Lumon, so she’s clearly going to think this promotion over before accepting it. Meanwhile, Helena sits down to record a mea culpa, blaming her innie’s public outburst on too much alcohol (paired with a non-Lumon approved medication for an arm rash) and a bad attempt at humor. Meanwhile, Mr. Milchick is following up on Helena’s request by driving around on his motorcycle, paying a visit to each Macrodata employee with the intention of firing the entire department: first Irving, then Dylan (whose injuries Milchick claims are the result of a physical altercation at work — that he himself clearly had no hand in). The episode then breaks for opening credits, which are distinctly different from the ones we’re familiar with in Season 1.
Mark Might Quit Lumon, but Lumon Can’t Quit Mark S. in ‘Severance’ Season 2 Episode 2
We re-engage with Mark’s outie, who’s back at his sister Devon’s house, as the two revisit his strange party outburst. Devon is interrogating Mark about what it all meant, while brother-in-law Rickon (Michael Chernus) believes outie Mark’s theory that he was referencing his niece Eleanor. The portmanteau “Cobelvig” gets dropped in referring to Harmony Cobel, AKA Mrs. Selvig, which I love, so it’s canon now. The three are eventually interrupted by Milchick on his bad news tour, as he sits down with Mark and family to explain the Overtime Contingency, which reportedly lasted around 39 minutes. Although Milchick claims Lumon won’t be punishing anyone. Devon isn’t having it, and berates him about Cobel having committed “lactation fraud.”
Far from firing Mark, however, the new severed floor boss only leaves him with a parting message of “see you Monday,” but Mark isn’t so sure he wants to return to Lumon. Milchick beseeches Mark about how “brave” his innie was, ominously pointing out that he’d “hate to reward his courage with nonexistence.” For some reason, outie Mark is getting wildly different treatment than the rest of the MDR team. Meanwhile, Helena, who is still sitting alone in the dark on the corporate floor of the Lumon building, watches security videos of Helly R.’s workplace interactions with Mark S. — including their kiss, which she rewinds and watches again before staring out into the empty parking lot with an inscrutable expression. The next day, a newly-unemployed Dylan interviews for a position at a door factory, but the conversation immediately sours when the manager (Adrian Martinez) discovers he chose to “circumcise his brain,” and he’s sent packing. Things don’t go any better when Dylan’s wife Gretchen calls to ask about the interview; the situation is clearly tense between these two.
Mark S. Found Love in a Corporate Place
The day after the party, Mark and Devon meet at a diner, where Mark admits his intention to quit Lumon — but Devon pushes her brother about the strangeness of Milchick’s visit alongside his outburst. Mark bristles at Devon’s implication that he was referencing his late wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman), insisting that he even identified his late wife’s body. It sure sounds like her death was traumatic, based on the fact that we’ve seen Mark visiting that tree still wrapped in police tape on the side of the road, but despite his certainties, maybe everything isn’t what it appears to be. He leaves angrily, but not before we discover that new Lumon security chief Drummond (Ólafur Darrl Ólafsson) has been listening to their entire conversation. Once back home, Mark finds himself staring across the way at Mrs. Selvig’s now-dark house.
Later that night, Irving ventures out of his apartment to make a call at a pay phone: “OK, you’re not picking up, I get it. I want you to know my innie got the message.” But Irving isn’t alone, and unbeknownst to him, a car pulls up, driven by none other than Burt (Christopher Walken)! Irving even looks his way, but the pair makes no contact. Back at Mark’s house, Milchick is paying another visit, trying to butter him up to return to Lumon. In addition to a spiffy pineapple basket, the company is offering a 20% raise and a full investigation into his innie’s claims, supposedly backed by checks from independent third parties. Milchick also brings up the subject of Gemma, reminding us that Mark chose severance because of the heartbreak of supposedly losing her, and adding that his innie has found love — so why would Mark want to take that away from him? It’s that element that presumably encourages Mark to return to Lumon’s severed floor, while Helena watches from a meeting room above.
Just When Mark S. Thought He Was Out, Lumon Pulled Him Back In
In a later meeting, Milchick, Drummond, and Helena discuss Mark’s return to the severed floor, where Milchick reveals he’s pulled some strings to bring in the Macrodata Refinement team’s replacements (whom we already met in Episode 1): one employee from overseas, two “laid off from 5X.” Apparently, restaffing the MDR floor only took a total of 48 hours — rather than five months, as the innies have been led to believe. Helena ominously says that, above all else, they “need Mark S. back to work, at least long enough to complete Cold Harbor.” According to Drummond, however, Lumon’s mysterious Board is willing to give Mark S. whatever he wants — “including Helly R.” — since, as the premiere revealed, he won’t work on whatever Cold Harbor is without his team. Milchick makes the apology rounds to get Dylan and Irving back at MDR while the new team is swiftly canned, much to other-Mark’s (Bob Balaban) disgust. The two clock in for the day before we see Helena donning her Lumon badge and taking the elevator back down to the severed floor — but is it Helena, or Helly R., who steps off? Later that night, Mark returns home at the end of another workday to find Cobelvig, and he’s mad. She answers none of his questions, but expresses surprise that Lumon successfully talked him into staying: “Was a pineapple involved? You’re so easy to sway.” Mark initially doesn’t let her leave, demanding to know if she knows something about Gemma, and Cobelvig briefly hesitates before honking her horn and putting the pedal to the metal, furiously screaming and nearly running Mark over in the process as she drives off and out of sight.
Severance‘s latest episode is an excellent sequel to last week’s exceptional season premiere. It all but confirms that “Helena” returned to the severed floor (though that’s still speculation), and reminds us how oddly important Mark S. is to the mysterious “Cold Harbor” project; Lumon wants him back working on that file so badly that they’re willing to rehire his entire team. What’s weirdest is the reminder that Mark chose to sever himself because of his wife Gemma’s death. Combined with the suggestion that the work done at Macrodata Refinement may be connected to someone who is possibly Gemma’s innie, it provokes a bundle of new questions in addition to the broader one about Cold Harbor. Did Lumon “kill” outie Mark’s wife (at least according to the outside world)? Was bringing Mark S. onto the severed floor always the plan? What was the point of Cobel’s facade as Mrs. Selvig, and who made that decision? As always, for every answer given, another set of questions pops up. Praise Kier.
New episodes of Severance Season 2 are available to stream every Friday on Apple TV+.
Severance
Episode 2 catches us up on the events between the mysterious premiere and last season, offering a provocative window into Lumon’s efforts to retain Mark S. and contain his dissatisfaction.
- Release Date
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February 18, 2022
- Showrunner
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Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman
- Writers
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Dan Erickson
- We’ve had hints of the importance of Mark S. to Lumon’s projects, but this episode connects dots and timelines to deepen the mystery and add new layers.
- A lot of Lumon’s internal politics are subtly expanded upon, giving insight into the story world that we’ve rarely seen thus far.
- This episode’s unsung hero is Jen Tullock’s Devon, whose limited screentime promises we aren’t done with outie investigations into Lumon.
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