Goats, Pineapples, Clones, and Liars: Let's Find Out What's Happening in Severance Season 2 (updated)

The fourth episode of the second season of Apple TV+'s Severance caused a real sensation among fans with the final "liar reveal." And it seems like it's time to draw an interim conclusion. What could the mysterious Lumon Industries corporation really be doing? What will happen to the main characters? What important project is Mark S., played by Adam Scott, working on? Let's try to figure out what's going on — with plot spoilers, of course. Our general impressions are described in this article.

Let's not ignore the elephant in the room — we now know that "extra" Helena Egan was hiding under the guise of "intra" Helly R. Apparently, the Lumon Board decided to turn off the rebellious personality and send their man to the Macrodata Refinement department to continue to control the work on the "severed" floor. The series led up to the revelation in all four episodes — either an experienced employee can't find the computer's power button right away, or she comes up with a ridiculous excuse about a night gardener, or she doesn't take off her watch at all before going down to the "severed" floor. Separately, we note the parallel between the drowning scene in the episode "Woe's Hollow" and the pineapple catching in the cartoon "Lumon is Listening" from the episode "Hello, Ms. Cobel". The show immediately hinted at what fate awaits the deceiver.

But now we have learned a little more about Helena herself. The Egan family is far from ideal, and the daughter of the head of the corporation is under pressure from the authority of her father and the Board. Moreover, Helena is jealous of her "extra", who can both speak out against the company and improve her personal life. Actress Britt Lower herself admitted this in one of the podcasts. So the rapidly developing relationship with Mark S. has found its explanation.

What will happen to her next? As we can see, Helly R. has been brought back, and judging by the footage from the trailer, she will once again take her place in the Macrodata Refinement department. But the fate of Irving B., played by John Turturro, who drowned her, remains unclear. By the way, the scene with the waterfall amused the viewers quite a bit — the best memes are collected here.

In parallel, the series develops a line with Lumen's true intentions. The first episode immediately answered the question of what kind of Cold Harbor Mark S. is working on, clearly showing a screen with his wife Gemma/Miss Casey. Judging by the caption, this is the 25th build of the personality, which means it was "restarted" several times. Apparently, the last iteration was successful, and Miss Casey went to the lower floor for a new stage of the experiment.

Fans also suspected that Miss Huang, the new deputy chief on the "severed" floor, could be a clone of Gemma. So far, the girl's appearance speaks in favor of the guess — the cast for the series was selected very carefully. The pineapples that flash everywhere also add one coin to the theory's piggy bank. Cloning is most often used to grow this fruit, which could be a hint from the creators. The same story with goats: why not keep them for experiments, and then use the technology on people?

Lumon also took on the loved ones and relatives of the main characters. The conversation of "extra" Mark Scout and his sister is monitored by Helena Egan's bodyguard, Limon representative Natalie is visiting Ricken Hale, and Dylan D. is now arranged to have dates with his wife under the supervision of Miss Huang. By the way, with Dylan's wife, not everything is so simple: it is possible that she, too, could be a clone. According to one theory, the employees of the Macrodata Refinement department are engaged in recreating the personalities of their loved ones — remember Gemma/Miss Casey.

We have come to the strangest part. In the episode Woe's Hollow, in a team event outdoors, the main characters are accompanied by their "copies" — blurred, recognizable, but unnatural prints of Mark S., Halley R., Dylan D. and Irving B. We will not hastily exclaim "Here are the clones!" — the doubles look too unnatural.

This moment made many believe that the second season of Severance showed us a kind of matrix into which the consciousness of the subjects can be transferred. The fact that Mark S.'s double already appeared in the first episode during a run along the corridor to the Health Center speaks in favor of the theory. A strange silhouette appeared behind the back of Adam Scott's hero and immediately disappeared as soon as he turned around. Interestingly, a few seconds before this, the picture and sound had become distorted, as if Mark S. had experienced another switch.

Also, the "team building" area was on Petey's map, which he gave to Mark Scout back in Season 1. The place is right in the Lumon building, so the assumption about the matrix is ​​more than justified. And considering the goat pasture from Episode 2, the corporation is clearly familiar with recreating nature in office spaces.

There are only four episodes out of ten available so far, so the season will still throw up some unexpected “wow” twists and food for thought. The subplot with the reintegration of Mark’s “intra” and “extra” has not yet been revealed. Apparently, the hero will slowly but surely remember events from the lives of both personalities.

The storyline of Harmony Cobel, played by Oscar-winner Patricia Arquette, is foggy. For now, her character is torn between Lumen and personal interests that are somehow connected with Gemma and Mark Scout. The oxygen tube with a hospital tag, which Harmony Cobel carries with her like the greatest treasure, also haunts her. According to one theory, she lost someone — probably a child — and is working for Lumon to resurrect him.

Tramell Tillman's Seth Milchick is likely to be demoted after the "tallest waterfall on the planet" incident. Since he nearly got Helena Egan killed, the Lumen Council will likely replace the head of the "severed" floor — and maybe even bring Harmony Cobel back.

Irving B. shouldn't be discounted either. Season 1 revealed that his "extra" is ex-military and has been digging into Lumen in some way while investigating. While the ending of Episode 4 erased the "intra," John Turturro's character will still make an appearance. The show's creators also hinted in a podcast that Christopher Walken's Burt Goodman is not on the side of the "good guys," so we may be in for some new twist with Irving.

UPDATED 03.02.2025

On February 28, "Chikhai Bardo" Episode 7 was released, which finally gave answers to some questions. Viewers were shown the floor where Miss Casey/Gemma Scout was sent at the end of Severance Season 1. The "dead" wife of Mark Scout remembers her husband and life before the car accident well and goes through multiple divisions of consciousness, where each of her "intra" experiences something unpleasant — a visit to the dentist, turbulence on a plane, or signing dozens of Christmas cards.

The episode also showed the backstory of Mark and Gemma. We saw that the woman agreed to an experimental infertility treatment program from Lumon. However, her deal with the corporation ends with the latter apparently selecting her as a suitable candidate for experiments and actually kidnapping her, arranging an accident.

Lumon tries by hook or by crook to keep Gemma. Her "doctor" lies that Mark Scout found another wife and became a father — a blow below the belt, considering that Gemma went through separation for the sake of infertility treatment. The woman decides to escape and stuns the corporation's medic with a chair, but the escape fails. Having barely reached the "severed" floor, Gemma again switches to Miss Casey, whom Seth Milchick tells to go back.

Interestingly, in the depths of Lumon there really are "copies" of Mark S., Irving B., Halley R. and Dylan D. The episode showed people who look like them, who are sitting at computers and processing data in the same way. And they watch their "originals" on the other side of the screens thanks to the built-in surveillance cameras.

Meanwhile, Mark Scout completes his underground reintegration, teaming up with his "intra". His sister Devon tries to contact Harmony Cobel — the latter still plays the role of a "dark horse" and it is possible that she will help the main characters for her own purposes.

What conclusions can be drawn? We know that the files that the Macrodata Refinement department employees are working on are connected to the rooms under the "severed" floor. One of them is marked with a Cold Harbor sign — this is the project that Mark S is working on. It is impossible to say yet what is behind this door. But it is likely that Lumon is working on multiple mind-sharing technology, so that people can switch chip personalities for different needs with a snap of their fingers.

UPDATED 03.09.2025

Episode 8, "Sweet Vitriol," revealed the past of one of Severance's most controversial figures: Mark S.'s former boss, Harmony Cobel. The "severed" floor manager turned out to be not only a product of Lumon Industries, but also a victim of child slave labor.

Harmony Cobel had been working at a Lumon-owned diethyl ether (anesthetic) factory since she was a child. The corporation didn't care much about working conditions, so the children not only worked overtime in a hazardous facility, but also inhaled the fumes. Some of them even became addicted to ether — apparently, including Ms. Cobel herself.

The personal loss hinted at in the first season of Severance turned out to be connected with the mother of Mark S.'s boss. Charlotte Cobel was seriously ill due to her job at the Lumon plant and spent all her time in her bedroom, chained to an oxygen machine. Her sister Celestine "Sissy", Harmony's aunt, had to take care of her. But at some point, Charlotte Cobel gave up the fight and pulled the tube out of her throat herself — according to Sissy.

Most importantly, the chip turned out to be Harmony Cobel's invention. The gifted girl single-handedly developed the device, but instead of recognizing it, the Egan family simply appropriated her designs, starting mass production of the chips. The child prodigy had to put up with a managerial position while Lumon profited from her discovery. Therefore, it can be expected that Harmony Cobel will eventually begin to confront the corporation. In addition, she now knows that Mark Scout is undergoing reintegration.

There are still two episodes left until the end of the Season 2. Will the Severance writers be able to bring the subplots to a logical conclusion? Or will everything end in another cliffhanger? We'll see in a week!

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Severance continues to play with the viewer, maintaining the intrigue no worse than Dark from Netflix in 2017. Will the creators live up to expectations? Let's see. Moreover, the show will not be limited to a second season — the co-creator of the series Ben Stiller said that he is already working on season 3. Let's hope that the writers do not get bogged down in their own intricacies.