Spoilers follow for Severance season 2, episode 1. Watch it first before reading on.
Severance season 2 is back and we’re off to a brilliant start with episode 1 of the hit Apple TV Plus show. After an agonizingly long wait, we’re back at Lumon, even if we do have to wait a whole week to find out what happens next. Still, it’s the kind of show that benefits from some time to ponder things. In typical Severance style, a lot went down in the first episode and you might have missed a few easter eggs and details throughout.
This recap will guide you through all the key moments that happened in the first episode of the show’s highly anticipated return, which was well worth the wait considering TechRadar’s Tom Power gave it four and a half out of five stars in his Severance season 2 review.
Let’s reflect on what happened in Severance season 2, episode 1.
Return to the office
If you found yourself reeling from that season 1 finale, you’re not alone, as I can distinctly remember screaming at the TV in a way football fans react to their team losing. Badly. It was such an evil cliffhanger that I barely stopped thinking about, but it was enough to elevate Severance to a top spot on our best Apple TV Plus shows.
Following the fallout from the “innies” making their way to the outside thanks to the overtime contingency plan, episode one opens with a very confused looking Mark running around the building trying to readjust to his surroundings, presumably. As far as episodes go, this one is pretty surreal throughout and takes place entirely within Lumon, so we don’t get to see “outie” Mark like we have done in the past. By the time Mark does find Macrodata Refinement, a place that us Severance fans are very familiar with now, his regular team comprised of Helly, Irving, and Dylan aren’t there, and they’ve been replaced with strangers. On top of this, Wellbeing has been completely walled up with all the furniture and lettering removed, and there’s no sign of Ms. Casey AKA Mark’s “dead” wife Gemma. And this has all gone down in the first ten minutes, man, this show doesn’t pull any punches, does it?
While Mark tries to adjust to all this, the ever-sinister Milchick arrives and explains it’s been five months since the season 1 finale where the innies broke out of their containment and experienced some shocking truths. Key ones were that Mark’s wife might not be dead, Irving’s heartbreak at finding out that outie Burt was happily married, and, of course, that Helly is actually Helena Eagan, the daughter of Lumon CEO Jame Eagan. Milchick does what he does best, manipulating and trying to smooth things over in that ever so calm yet disturbing way, taking Mark into the office where he meets another new employee, a child(!) named Miss Huang. Milchick also reveals he’s taken over from Harmony Cobel as she no longer works for Lumon.
Mark, understandably, asks what’s going on. Milchick tells Mark that he, alongside the rest of Macrodata Refinement, has achieved international fame as “the face of Severance reform”. But if you look closely at the image on the newspaper’s front page, it’s merely a photoshopped version of the group photo they all had on their desks, so something is wrong here. Milchick expresses guilt for locking MDR in their office and describes Cobel as a “sadist” who developed an obsession with Mark, so he’s definitely trying to keep her away from Lumon and especially Mark’s team. Milchick also claims the rest of MDR refused to return and Mark is dubious about this.
Breaking the ice
Severance season 2 episode 1 snippets
– This is the first episode set entirely within the walls of Lumon, did anyone else feel really claustrophobic?
– Harmony Cobel does not appear in this episode and is only mentioned by Milchick
– This is our first time seeing a clue as to what MDR are refining, previous screens have just been “scary numbers”
– The speaker in Milchick’s office seems to be permanently connected to The Board… is it even human?
Miss Huang arrives at the new MDR where she plays a game with the team, where she reveals she used to be a crossing guard. She is evasive outside of this, brushing off questions about her age and such, which has understandably left fans baffled. Why is a child now deputy manager? You can read more about our Severance season 2 theories for some speculation on why she is at Lumon, but honestly, the show is keeping us in the dark as it often does. Even after one episode I’ve found myself desperate to know who she is, and why she’s employed at Lumon, and if she’s severed or not. Milchick in this episode confirmed he is unsevered, but honestly, can we believe a single thing that comes out of that man’s mouth? I’m just really suspicious of him at this point.
Mark is, unsurprisingly, fed up with his new team and Miss Huang’s attempts to replicate Milchick so he tries to sabotage it by writing a post-it note offending Milchick and slipping it into another employee’s pocket. Milchick busts Mark immediately, recognizing his handwriting, and Mark snaps and demands to see his real colleagues. He rushes to Milchick’s office and communicates with the ever-mysterious “The Board”, who allows him to see them again, in a move that likely surprised everyone. So Helly, Irving, and Dylan all return one by one. But something weird is going on.
After another bizarre sequence featuring a training video where the four of them are hailed as the “Macrodat Uprising”, Milchick lets them discuss things and decide whether or not they want to stay. Again, this act of kindness and free will seems awfully suspicious from Milchick. The MDR team huddles together to discuss their experiences, but only Mark was actually honest about what he saw. It’s Helly’s weird story about waking up in an apartment and meeting a gardener that has left everyone, including Irving, unconvinced. While I do understand you wouldn’t want to admit having Eagan blood in your veins to a group that opposes them, the story is so ridiculous and implausible and not at all what the Helly we know and love would come up with. Like Irving said, why would there be a night gardener?
Irving is also going through it and we see an unexpectedly tender moment between him and Dylan, whose budding friendship I’ve been rooting for ever since Irving’s loyalty switch from serving Lumon to wanting to “burn it to the ground” (my favorite line of his, by the way). He expresses his heartbreak to Dylan, explaining that he saw Burt and his real-life outie husband and that his own outie was painting the hallway we keep seeing in Lumon. Dylan successfully convinces him not to leave.
Meddling Milchick then finds Dylan and explains he’s got a new perk for him (I hate this man), which happens to be a set of blueprints for a family visitation suite where he could meet his wife and kids. This is the same sadistic behavior we’ve seen before and I refuse to believe Milchick’s doing this out of the goodness of his heart, as he’s already used Dylan’s family as a weapon against him in the past. It’ll be interesting to see if this suite is ever built or if it’s something for a desperate Dylan to cling to.
Elsewhere, Helly and Mark are reconnecting and you may recall they shared a kiss at the end of season 1 so there’s some unresolved stuff going on here. Helly is acting very strange here, which has led fans to speculate it’s Helena and I can get behind this theory. The drive and determination is gone and although she wants to help Mark find his wife, she’s acting awfully weird.
Deciding that all four will stay on at Lumon, the gang is back together and they return to their workstations. I can’t imagine Milchick is thrilled about this as I’m convinced he wanted to keep the four separate from each other, as they’re more dangerous as a team. They get back to work doing whatever they actually do, which leads to the first of no doubt many cliffhanger endings.
Mark clicks on a file named Cold Harbor, and we see a file that appears to be monitoring vital signs in real time. The screen zooms out to take in the whole screen, and it’s an image of Gemma. I’m sorry… what?!