Photo courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes
It’s finally here! After almost three years of waiting, the second season of one of the most gripping TV shows in recent years is about to premiere!
DISCLAIMER: If you haven’t seen Severance, please stop reading now and come back after you’ve caught up, as we are about to recap the last episode of Season 1.
So much happens in the final episode that I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire time. Let’s dive into the recap!
The episode starts with Mark, Helly and Irving’s ‘innies’ transitioning into their ‘outies’ lives.
Mark is at a party and feels completely freaked out by the presence of Mrs. Cobel, who has been living under two identities in order to spy on the “outies.” However, we only see her interacting with Mark in the outside world. Perhaps there is a reason they are keeping a closer eye on him? Mark needs to figure out who all these people are, not realizing that the woman with the baby is actually his sister. The tension and confusion Mark feels as he wanders around the party are palpable.
Irving wakes up to find himself surrounded by dark paintings that represent the mysterious place they have to go when they are being punished.
Helly is in for a huge shock when she discovers that she is Helly Egan, a member of the Egan enterprise that created Severance. She finds herself at a lavish event and is informed that she will be giving a speech in just 20 minutes.
An Episode of Revelation
What made this entire series fantastic was that the innies are doing their best while carrying a deep, unsettling question: Who are they, and what do they really do at Lumon? The outies are also attempting to uncover the truth. Throughout the series, both innies and outies remain largely in the dark, with only a few clues emerging occasionally. Then, suddenly, the innies are released, and a wealth of information is revealed.
Innie Mark Meets His Hero, The Writer, Ricken
Mark discovers that his brother in law is the writer of a book that the Macrodata team have found and take turns in reading. The book is full of pseudo-intellectual lines that are hilariously cliched and pretentious. The book focuses on a persons identity and explores the employer/employee relationship. The book is a real revelation for the team and implants strong ideas, albeit to us, very simple and non-revelatory ideas. Suddenly Mark is face to face with the writer of the book that they worship. This is really funny as the outie Mark considers Ricken to be pretentious and a bit of a joke and now it has gone full circle, with Mark feeling nothing but admiration for Ricken.
“It’s said that as a child, Wolfgang Mozart killed a boy by slamming his head in a piano.”
– The You You Are. – Ricken Hale
“It’s transformative! I’m going to have to change my name again.” – Rebeck
Mark finally gets the chance to speak with the man who has inspired him and, more importantly, changed his life. This scene is particularly satisfying because Mark and Ricken have had a rocky relationship from the beginning, and now we witness them connect and bond for the first time in the series. Although the innie and outie are technically different people, it feels wonderful to see Mark and Ricken interact like this. It’s amusing to note how Mark has transformed from despising Ricken to admiring him in such a godlike way..
Helly’s Revelation
Not only does Helly discover she is part of the Egan family, but she also finds that she has willingly been severed as part of a PR stunt to show how great being severed is. The look of horror on her face is palpable!
Another twist is revealed when she speaks with her dad. He recounts a story from her childhood about her reaction upon seeing the first prototype of the severance chip. She exclaimed, “It’s so pretty; everyone should have one!” Her father explained that because of her enthusiasm, everyone would eventually become “a child of Keir.”
You can imagine the torment of realizing that the thing you hate most of all is something you helped create! This was a great twist in the episode.
Irving Chases Outie Burt
Irving discovers that his outie has been proactive in researching Lumon and finds a list of all the employees that have undergone Severance. He finds Burt Goodman, the man who he has become romantically involved with. He makes a map and ventures out to find him. Once he gets there he sees Burt and his partner being intimate together through the window, looking as though they are packing up for a trip. John Turturro, the actor who plays Irving gives a fantastic performance here and its impossible not to feel the pain he felt in this moment.
Rising Tension
Mrs. Cobel notices how strange Mark is behaving, and it dawns on her that she is speaking to ‘Innie’ Mark. At this point, the episode takes a thrilling turn as Cobel and Milchik race to stop the OTC (off the clock) system and prevent the innies’ consciousness from merging with their outies’ consciousness, which poses a serious security breach for Lumon. This part was simply incredible. It was tense, knowing there was a limited timeframe for the innies to learn as much as they could about their outie lives. Mark is on the verge of discovering important information about his wife; Irving is about to confront Burt, and Helly is almost ready to get on stage and deliver a speech. The writing is exceptional, and I can’t think of another show that has kept me so gripped in the last ten minutes of an episode.
How It Ends
The ending is fantastic, and we have all been patiently waiting to discover what will happen to the innies. Mark sees a photo of his deceased wife, who turns out to be his therapist at work! She’s alive! How insane is that? Is Lumon behind this? Why does everyone think she is dead? There are just too many questions. Irving is banging on Burt’s door like a lovesick lunatic, and Helly tells the entire room that she is an innie and that everyone is completely miserable. This could be disastrous for Lumon.
So there you have it, folks. I can’t wait; you can’t wait, but it’s coming! See you on the other side.
