After a torturous three-year break between seasons, Severance is finally back on Apple TV. My whole (spoiler-free) assessment of Season 2 is already up. Since they stream every Friday, we can now delve into each individual episode. Each one has so much to reveal, I’m eager to get started! Let’s begin by quickly reviewing where we left off at the conclusion of Season 1.
The Contingency for Overtime
The first season concluded on a somewhat crazy cliffhanger. After Milchick (Tramell Tillman) and Dylan (Zach Cherry) had a run-in, our “Innie” heroes learned about the Overtime Contingency (or OTC). With Mark (Adam Scott) now in possession of Graner’s (Michael Cumpsty) keycard, they were able to take over the security room and awaken their Innie selves in the Outie world.
John Turturo’s character Irving found out that his Outie was secretly looking into Lumon. Additionally, he had created other unsettling paintings depicting a lengthy, dark corridor with an elevator at its end—an elevator that descended beneath the Severed Floor. Irvigin, who was in love, ignored all of this and the larger scheme to go look for Burt (Christopher Walken), whom he found to be married. When we last saw him, he was shouting his name at Burt’s house.
At a large, upscale Lumon event where her Outie was scheduled to speak, Helly (Britt Lower) found herself in the corridors of power. We found out that Helena Egan, the daughter of James Egan, the boss of the company, was her Outie. She called for assistance from her platform, informing the audience that the Innies were being harassed and tortured and were not the carefree employees depicted in all of the blown-up photos from the party.
The most significant event, however, occurred when Mark was navigating his sister Devon’s (Jen Tullock) home as his brother-in-law Ricken (Michael Chernus) read aloud from his self-help book to a group of dishonest people. When Mark discovered a wedding picture of his Outie with the woman he has come to know as Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman), he was even more shocked than when he first saw Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette). Chaos breaks out as Devon and Ricken’s kid disappears, and as Mark pieces things together and discovers that everyone up here believes Ms. Casey/Gemma is dead, he exclaims, “She’s alive!” at the same moment that Milchick subdues Dylan on the Severed Floor and ends the OTC.
In the actual world, three years have gone by while we all awaited the next event. We’ll have to wait a little while longer to find out what occurs in the Outie world next. The Severed Floor of Lumon serves as the setting for the whole of the Severance Season 2 premiere.
Mark S. wakes up back in the Severed Floor as we open to an elevator. The gathering at Devon’s place would be his final recollection. He is clearly still agitated and agitated, but Mr. Milchick welcomes him back to work right once, telling him that five months have gone by and that he and his coworkers are now all famous in the world above. that they now represent Innie reform. Naturally, astute viewers will naturally doubt anything Milchick says. Has it really been that long? Is their small act of rebellion what made them famous? Is everything false, false, and false?
The situation on the Severed Floor has undoubtedly changed. Mark is informed by Milchick that none of his coworkers choose to go back to Lumon. A whole new crew of Macrodata Refiners has taken their position. We are as perplexed by Milchick’s replacement as Floor Manager as Mark and his new colleagues are by the fact that a child, Ms. Huang (Sarah Bock), has taken over Ms. Cobel’s job. During a pass-the-ball game, the other Mark asks her, “Why are you a child?” “Because of the time of my birth,” she responds curtly.
Mark is not pleased. The fact that his team—his only buddies in the world—has been replaced makes him extremely unhappy. So he puts a phony note in the pocket of Other Mark’s jacket. It’s a funny note. It is a note from Other Mark to his Outie in which he calls Milchick a shambolic rube and makes fun of him by referring to him as Mr. Milkshake. The message implies that in order to completely remove the Severed Floor, the Outie strap explosives to him. Naturally, though, Milchick realizes right once that Mark S is to blame. Before removing Mark S from his position of leadership, he remarks, “You didn’t even bother to disguise your handwriting.”
When Mark S starts to smile, Milchick asks him what’s making him smile. Mark S. responds, “You don’t even know what I’ve done to the kitchen yet,” and then he runs away when the other sgo to look. He dashes to Milchick’s office, which was once Ms. Cobel’s, and to Milchick’s dismay, the computer screen still reads “Welcome, Ms. Cobel.” He locates the speaker, plugs it in, and starts pleading with the Board for assistance. “Please return my team to me if you truly care about helping Severed people,” he begs. When he eventually catches up to him, Milchick shows him the way to the elevator. “Are you letting me go?” Mark S asks incredulously. “You’re off,” Milchick says.
When Mark S opens his eyes, he finds himself back on the Severed Floor, exiting the elevator once more, but this time a huge picture of Kier and the MDR staff has taken the place of the wall clock. Kier is pardoning his misbehaving kids. It’s really eerie.
Then Irving and Dylan show up. They are all new to what happened in Season 1. Irving is particularly distressed. Then, much to Mark’s relief, Helly shows up. He’s still thinking about their brief affair.
The Gardener’s Strange Nighttime Incident
The foursome is concerned about monitoring, even if Helly observes that the security camera in their workspace is no longer there, even though they would really like to know what each Innie observed outside. The newbies are then confused when Ms. Huang appears and informs them that Mr. Milchick is waiting for them in the Break Room, which is the most horrifying interrogation room from Season 1.
However, the small, dim room is gone when they get there (much like the Wellness room Ms. Casey worked in). It has been replaced by a warm area with comfortable chairs, a flashy projector, and inspirational wall posters. Milchick informs them that Lumon has created a new video that will be broadcast to every Innie going ahead and that they are now famous. The video is amazing. Something is going on.
The Lumon building, voiced by none other than Keanu Reeves, narrates the animated short. The Lumon building recounts the MDR Rebellion’s history, honoring its participants who stood up to injustice and brought about all the amazing improvements that are now in store for them, such as improved food and benefits (like Pineapple Bobbing!?), greater freedom to move throughout the halls, and more. All four of the Innies are utterly perplexed at the end of the video. Milchick informs them that they now have an option and that he does not wish to be their jailer. No one will stop them if they go. Or they might remain and carry on with their vital task. There won’t be any cameras, microphones, or other privacy violations.