Everything you need to remember before the dismissal season 2

Three years is a long time to wait…especially for all of us who are not separated. I mean, well, you could argue that the entirety of “Severance” Season 1 was probably meant to dissuade anyone from thinking there was any real “upside” to being an innie. Well, say what you will about those Lumon employees, but I can flip a switch and suddenly fast forward the moment season 2 finally arrives would have come in handy during this long layoff, right? The Applet TV+ series suffered from dueling strikes that hit the film and television industries, but now it's ready to leave such nastiness behind and smack viewers in the face with even darker, dystopian and downright weird office locations. sophomore season.

Of course, all this downtime should have given the more forward-thinking pencil pushers ample opportunity to re-watch the debut season and refresh themselves on the finer details that first sparked so many fan theories. in February 2022. For those who spent the previous years no doing homework? Apple will provide a comprehensive recap of Season 1 before the premiere Season 2 (which I review without spoilers for your convenience / Movie here). But even that doesn't quite cover all the nuances, world-building quirks, and dramatic plot twists that defined what was truly one of the most exciting installments of television in recent memory.

Following Mark S. (Adam Scott) and his Severed co-stars Hellie R. (Brit Lover), Irving B. (John Turturro) and Dylan G. (Zach Cherry), this rollercoaster story culminated in a breathtaking cliffhanger that , seems to shake up the board for good. What led up to this momentous event and what do you need to remember most as Season 2 begins? Gather around for a little team-building exercise as we delve into the finer details of Season 1 of Severance. Praise Cyrus.

When it comes to preparing for Severance Season 2, it's probably best to start with the basics.

Severance's world-building approach is as imaginative as it is, well, weird. Apparently there's an actual redundancy procedure that somehow divides memories based on geographic proximity to work into “innies” and “releases” — and is, we're told, completely irreversible (though poor Patty, a former Lumon employee played by Yul Vazquez, who abruptly left the company at the beginning of Season 1 and eventually died, could be proof otherwise). Even beyond that, though, consider the whimsical world of Severed Floor marching to the beat of its own drum, waffle parties, dance sessions and all. You have an entire Macrodata Refinement (MDR) department where all we know is that people like Mark S. and his friends are tasked with looking at endless blocks of coded numbers, separating each one according to how “scary” they feel compared to harmless and sorting them into digital bins for reasons unknown. Or use the ominous Break Room, a mind-bending torture chamber run by Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman) to catch anyone unfortunate enough to break the rules. And what about Ops and Design (O&D), the other department headed by dear old Burt (Christopher Walken), whose existence speaks volumes for many another teams separated from each other?

Overriding everything is the unseen and ever-silent specter of the board, superior even to floor manager Harmony Cobell (Patricia Arquette), and the sinister Eagan family dynasty (going all the way back to the 1800s) in charge. at first their fanatical, cult-like devotion to founder and quasi-religious figure Keir Egan. Now that we know Hellie R. is actually Helen Eagan, the daughter of current Lumon CEO Jaime Eagan (Michael Sibery), there's no telling what will happen when (or if) the rest of our Innie characters find out the truth. for yourself.

When “Severance” brought us into this peculiar world, viewers were quick to ask one very important question: What kind of person would voluntarily sign up for a horrific life on the Severed Floor that they would never be able to remember? As it turns out, just extremely damaged. When we first meet Mark Scout, he is preparing to leave for work in the morning when he hears a distressing sob in his car. Eventually, we learn that his wife Gemma (Dichen Lachmann) died tragically in a car accident two years ago, leaving Mark desperate enough to spare himself eight hours a day of pain, even if it means having to undergo a procedure that is seen as politically an ethically and morally controversial choice. By the finale, however, we learn with Mark's son that his wife has been alive this whole time, kept a secret in Lumon because her innie, known as Mrs. Casey, works as a wellness counselor for other employees. Mark S. included.

We don't get nearly the same level of insight into the inner lives of Mark's co-workers when they're off the clock, but it's clear that each of their personal lives just bleeds into their innies. Irving B. experiences horrifying oil hallucinations that drown him at work, and as we learn in the finale, there is a subconscious fascination left over from his obsession with oil paintings that disturbingly reflect certain elements from the detached floor. More importantly, his healthy romance with Burt finally awakens him to life outside of work. When Dylan G. is subjected to the “Overtime Contingency Protocol” (used by Mr. Milczyk to wake up employees at home in an emergency) in a later episode of Season 1, his inadvertent discovery that he has children and his entire family shakes him. to his core. And as for Hellie R., the knowledge that her character is none other than the would-be heir to the company that is currently oppressing them is definitely haunting her. Remember that she tried to commit suicide earlier when she refused to accept her resignation from Lumon. Now that we know why, there's no telling what Hellie (or Helen, for that matter) might do with this information.

Seriously, what is going on with Ms. Selvig? The Season 1 premiere of “Severance” went to great lengths to make Harmony Cobell the chilling, almost sociopathic boss of Mark, who's completely drunk the Lumon Kool-Aid … until its final moments reveal that Cobell lives on. right next to Mark's exit with Mrs. Selvig's alias. Was this evidence that the company was trying to spy on its employees, or was something else going on? Undercover as Mark's weird old neighbor, Kobel clearly had an unhealthy interest in him, but strangely she also seemed to care about his well-being. Yes, she's a straight-up Kira fanatic who has built a literal shrine in her basement and seems to have been born and raised in the Lumon cult from a young age. She even uses her Selvig persona to infiltrate Mark's family, posing as a nurse/breastfeeding expert to help Mark's sister Devon (Jen Tullock) and her dashing writer husband Ricken (Michael Chernus). But what exactly is her end game?

Season 1 doesn't fully resolve these issues, though we do see Kobel grow more obsessive and ineffectual with each episode as the innies rebel against the system. Distracted from her personal investigation into ex-employee Patty, and the suspicion that he somehow “replayed” his memories between his innie and outie personalities before his death, Kobel seals her own fate. By the time Mark's colleagues spend their workdays wandering Lumon's halls instead of actually improving their macros, and Hellie R. tries to kill herself, Kobel has completely lost the control she once had. When the council learns that she failed to report Helly's near-death experience and that she has been visiting Mark's sister, she is abruptly fired, despite decades of service to the Egans.

Undaunted, she once again shows her loyalty when she realizes that the innies have contacted the outside world in the finale and are trying to limit the possible damage. It remains to be seen what her fate will be in Season 2, but it would be wise to expect the unexpected when it comes to Cobell.

Forget those inexplicable baby goats, the perfect replica of Kier Egan's house that just stood in the center of the Perpetuity Wing, or even that unbearably creepy painting of O&D staging a coup against the rest of the Severed Floor (which turned out to be a red herring, another one of Lumon's attempts to keep the various departments suspicious of one against each other rather than uniting as one). All of Season 1 had relentlessly built up our Innies, who found the courage and inspiration—with a little help from Ricken's self-help book that landed on the Severed Floor and then blew our heroes' minds—to finally turn them down. employers.

At different points, they each find their own motivation to “burn this place to the ground,” as Irving B. memorably puts it. Burt's forced retirement provides Irving with that turning point, while Dylan's brief glimpse into his significant other's life does the same for him. . For Helly, the most outspoken activist against the egregious wrongs committed against them, their long-awaited plan and burgeoning romance with Mark S. are the only things keeping her going… and yes, the final climax is a passionate kiss. before they take a step with their boldest action against Lumon. However, when it comes to Mark, he gets the final push with his exit. While all of this was going on in Lumon, Mark Scout was contacted by his old friend Patty from the outside, contacted a rogue former Lumon employee Reghabi (Karen Aldridge) who knows how to reintegrate innies, and even stole a security key card that would allow his innies to access certain places Severed Floor.

With everything in order, the innies fight back with their plan to activate the Overtime Contingency and blow Lumon away. While Dylan stays behind to keep his fingers on the switches before Mr. Milchick can shut him down, Irving goes to find Burt's way out, Mark discovers that his late wife is Miss Casey and is in fact alive, and Helly crushes her outsider Lumon. sponsored gala, revealing the truth about what goes on inside. Fans will finally see how this cliffhanger is resolved when “Severance” season 2 begins on January 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.