This article is almost entirely made up of spoilers.
The “Severance” rabbit hole online is deep, with fans sharing theories about the meaning of the notes used for elevator dings, the true nature of the Lumon Industries office (is it actually a hospital?) and other arcana. Would any of them pay off in the Season 2 finale?
Yes, as it turned out. In fact, one of the most popular predictions prevailed in the explosive episode: The numbers Mark S. had been diligently sorting on his terminal were indeed the building blocks of his wife Gemma’s mind. With every file he completed, a new consciousness — or “innie” — of hers was created to be tortured on the testing floor.
The effort culminated in Cold Harbor, his 25th and final file, which Mark S. completed as part of a greater scheme and collaboration between his innie and outie to free her.
This work, which relied on Mark S.’s gut instinct, was — as Harmony Cobel confirmed — tied to “the four tempers,” a philosophy developed by the Lumon founder Kier Eagan: woe, frolic, dread and malice. Hats off to the “Severance” enthusiasts who saw that coming!
And while the big Cold Harbor revelations will satiate devotees for a moment, many other questions remain, and many more were introduced.
Yes, we learned that the goats serve some sort of ceremonial and sacrificial purpose. “This beast will be entombed with a cherished woman whose spirit it must guide to Kier’s door,” the Lumon fixer Mr. Drummond tells Lorne, of the Mammalians Nurturable department, as he hands her a bolt gun to kill the animal.
But surely this is just one element of a much bigger arc — one that may include the riddle of the pompous author Ricken, Mark’s brother-in-law, who “Severance” enthusiasts grew increasingly interested in as Season 2 unfolded. (Some of my co-workers even hoped the finale would be devoted entirely to him.)
Of the many goat-related theories and clues attached to Ricken, my favorite is that his phone alarm, which we hear during the Season 1 book reading, is a cowbell: the same sound that was used in the Mammalians Nurturable room this season to get everyone’s attention. Is Ricken a goat’s outie? (Also, is it too conspiratorial to find a connection between cowbell and Cobel? When it comes to “Severance,” almost anything goes.)
We also learned that the comically creepy Jame Eagan, the Lumon chief executive and Helena Eagan’s father, has “sired” many children “in the shadows.” But who exactly? And why, in the finale, does he tell Helly R. that he no longer loves Helena and that he, instead, sees the “fire of Kier” in her?
After Mark and Gemma break out of the testing floor, a breathless Dr. Mauer (reminder: he was a doctor in the fertility clinic flashback) yells, “You’ll kill them all!” Is he referring to all of the innies (including the dozens in her head), all of the outies or some other group we haven’t even begun to imagine?
Other significant lingering questions that will require fans’ patience:
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Where is Irving? Recall that in the penultimate episode, he was sent off on a train to presumably never return.
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How did Gemma become a prisoner of Lumon, and what was that she signed at the fertility clinic? (There was a Lumon logo on her intake form.)
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And will she escape the premises after her brief, poignant reunion with Mark ended with her being forsaken by her husband’s innie? Or will she end up back on the testing floor?
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How many other minds are being severed to bits down there?
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Is full reintegration even possible?
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Will Mr. Milchick, who did the very most during the celebration of Mark S.’s Cold Harbor completion, sour on Lumon after enduring a barrage of microaggressions from higher-ups and outright aggressions from his subordinates? Or will he hold tighter than ever to his post as manager?
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Why exactly did the Lumon leaders call the completion of Cold Harbor one of the greatest moments in the history of Earth?
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And for all of their grandiose claims about eliminating pain from the human experience, while inflicting unspeakable pain on the innies, will we learn what they really want and whom they consider to be human?
As for me, I can’t shake the feeling that Helly R., who risked everything to help Mark S. free Gemma, would never have derailed his escape at the last minute. She even seemed to have come to terms, begrudgingly, with the fact that she and Helena are the same person, dispelling any notion Mark S. had of them finding happiness together in the end.
Was the Glasgow Block (again) initiated? Was that actually Helena running hand in hand with Mark S. into the inescapable bowels of the office? Or did Jame Eagan, no longer seeing Kier in Helena, somehow replace or integrate her with Helly R.?
The good news is that Apple on Friday announced that “Severance” has been officially renewed for a third season. The great news is that Ben Stiller, an executive producer and frequent director, has assured fans that they won’t have to wait three more years for Season 3, as they did between the first two.
But please, try to enjoy both pieces of news equally.