Severance – Hello, Ms. Cobel

By: Kelly Kearney

As the saying goes “Being famous isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” And at Lumon, the memory erasing company, those cracks have widened into a cavernous nightmare the now celebrated workers can’t escape. After Mark S. uncovered the truth about his outie’s wife and the mystery surrounding her supposed death, his entire innie world came crashing down.Now, five months later, Mark S. is back at Lumon, where the company is hailing him and his co-workers as heroes for dismantling the toxic culture created by their former boss, Ms. Cobel. With fame attached to their names and a new boss who seems willing to meet the workers’ demands, Mark S. starts to feel like a genuine hero—unaware that he’s still very much a pawn in Lumon’s larger scheme to manipulate him and his co-workers.

After a three-year wait, “Severance” returns with an opener that feels like one long, dizzying spiral down the rabbit hole of workplace hell and the only way out is through it.

Welcome Back, Mark S

We begin in the Lumon elevator, with a disoriented Mark S (Adam Scott). heading upstairs, assuming no time has passed between his co-workers escaping into their outies’ world. Thanks to a calculated glitch in the overtime contingency plan, Mark, Helly (Britt Lower), Irving (John Turturro), and Dylan (Zach Cherry) managed to venture beyond Lumon’s lobby and experience life as their outer selves, and the revelations were nothing short of traumatic. They discovered the company they’d entrusted with their memories had been manipulating them—and their families—in horrifying ways. Adding to the nightmare was Ms. Cobel’s (Patricia Arquette) overzealous, stalker-like behavior, which included infiltrating Mark’s family by conning his pregnant sister into hiring her as a nanny. Though the four employees from Macro Data Refinement uncovered pieces of the truth, they were left with more questions than answers.

Now, Mark finds himself back at Lumon, with no knowledge of the time that’s passed since their escape. He runs through the endless, labyrinthine hallways in a dizzying continuous shot, confused and panicked until he finally reaches Ms. Casey’s (Dichen Lachman), a.k.a. his supposedly deceased wife Gemma’s, Wellbeing office. It’s empty—she’s gone, thanks to Ms. Cobel notices Mark’s interest in her and sends the woman away for some sort of reprogramming.

The Macro Data Refinement department has changed too. Mark is shocked to hear it’s been 5 months since they escaped the office, as he only has fragmented memories of his time in the outtie world. Helly, Irving, and Dylan have been replaced by new employees, who gush about Mark’s role in MDR’s big escape. It’s a story that’s apparently become legendary around the white halls of Lumon. Before Mark can process this, his new boss, Milchick (Tramell Tillman), appears and does his best to smooth over the awkwardness in his signature unnerving way. He escorts Mark into his office, where they are greeted by Lumon’s youngest “employee,” a child named Miss Huang (Sarah Bock), holding balloons meant to celebrate Mark’s accomplishments. Milchick continues to heap praise on him and wastes no time explaining the changes at the company. The team’s escape managed to expose Ms. Cobel’s obsession with Mark, which ultimately led to her removal and an end to some of the more notorious rules and punishments she inflicted on the workers. In her absence, Milchick was promoted to her position as Lumon’s new leader of severance operations, and Miss Huang is his assistant.

International Fame Brings Changes to Lumon

The fame that Macro Data Refinement (MDR) achieved is, according to Milchick, now international. Lumon has supposedly entered a new era of severance reform, with MDR as its heroic face. Milchick slides a newspaper across the table, the front page featuring a photoshopped version of the MDR group photo from last season, doctored to portray them as saviors of the company. Mark barely glances at it, still laser-focused on his missing team and the whereabouts of Ms. Casey. When pressed for answers, Milchick claims the others refused to return to Lumon after the escape, but Mark is as skeptical as ever and demands to hear this directly from them.

Meanwhile, the new MDR recruits are settling into their roles. Miss Huang, an unnervingly creepy child, proposes a game to break the ice with the return of Mark S.. She casually mentions that she used to be a crossing guard but evades any questions about her age or why she chose to sever her memories. That’s when Milchick reveals that Miss Huang is unsevered—a claim that raises more questions than answers, given Milchick’s shaky credibility.

As for the young girl, she seems to wield an unsettling power over the new employees. Mark is suspicious of her quick rise in the ranks–after all, she is just a child and he doesn’t buy anything Milchick says. It’s been one day and he is already over her peculiar “Big Brother” presence in the office. Frustrated with this new work vibe, Mark attempts to sabotage the team by slipping a note into an employee’s pocket, setting him up for trouble and occupying Milchick’s time away from his office. The second Mark gets his chance, he runs to the man’s empty office–bypassing his kid sidekick at the front desk, and attempts to contact the board demanding to see his missing team. Unfortunately, his plan falls apart when he is caught in the act; Michick recognized his handwriting on the note and knew what Mark was up to. To his and probably Milchick’s surprise, the board actually agrees to his furious demands. One by one, Helly, Irving, and Dylan return via the elevator, reuniting the original MDR team.

Something Feels Different

The reunion is bittersweet, as it’s immediately clear that much has changed. Milchick interrupts their brief catching-up session with a new training video, titled The Macrodata Uprising. The video is drenched in propaganda, painting MDR’s escape as a disruptive but pivotal moment in Lumon’s history. At the end, Milchick presents them with a choice: leave Lumon and never return or stay and continue their work.

This “gift” leaves the group confused and suspicious. Why would Lumon offer this to employees who broke every rule they had?

The team discusses their options and reflects on their experiences during their brief time in the outie world. Mark is the only one fully transparent, sharing what he discovered about Gemma and Ms. Casey. Helly, however, lies, claiming she woke up in a random apartment at night and met a gardener. Her story doesn’t sit right with Irving, who questions why a gardener would be working at night. Helly doesn’t admit the truth: her outie is Helena Eagan, the daughter of Lumon CEO James Eagan and an enthusiastic supporter of severance. As tensions rise, the group’s trust within their team has the early signs of a fracture.

As for Irving, his story takes an even more heartbreaking turn, showcasing the toll Lumon has taken on his life and relationships. After everything he endured in Season 1, his once-unwavering dedication to the company had shifted into a “burn it to the ground” energy, and now he is just tired. He reveals that he tracked down Burt (Christopher Walken), only to find him happily married and the future Irving hoped for, not possible. While that’s painful enough, Irving is also deeply intrigued by the fragments he’s learned about his outie’s life. The man has been obsessively investigating Lumon from the outside world, and repeatedly painting the ominous dark hallway we’ve seen glimpses of in the offices. In one of the most poignant moments from the premiere, Irving has a heartfelt, almost paternal exchange with Dylan as he prepares to leave Lumon and continue that research. The two hug tightly as Dylan chokes back tears, pleading with Irving to reconsider his decision. He doesn’t want to lose his friend, especially not after the bond they’ve formed over the last season. But before Irving can answer, Milchick interrupts, summoning Dylan to his office. Left standing at the exit door, Irving hesitates, watching Dylan walk away.

As for Dylan’s meeting with Milchick, it begins with clear apprehension. The tension between them is palpable—after all, the last time they were in the same room, they tried to kill each other. In a surprising move, Milchick apologizes and offers Dylan a secret perk in exchange for his continued employment: blueprints for a family visitation center Lumon plans to build. According to Milchick, the facility would allow severed employees to meet their outie families privately, bridging the gap between their divided lives. However, the gesture reeks of manipulation. Milchick knows exactly where to hit Dylan emotionally—his deep guilt over missing out on his children’s lives keeps him questioning his continued place in MDR. This “perk” is nothing more than a calculated ploy to keep Dylan tethered to Lumon, and even if he suspects that, the temptation to see his son again is too strong.

Later, when Dylan returns to Macro Data Refinement, Irving is there too. His decision to stay hints at a profound realization: while his outie’s life is empty and solitary, he’s found a family within his MDR team worth fighting for and with. The only way out of this Lumon torment is through it, but unlike Irving, Dylan’s heart and mind is still outside their workplace’s doors and the secrets he is willing to keep, could jeopardize them all.

Stay or Go?

Dylan keeps the family visitation perk a secret from the others, but he’s not the only one hiding something. Helly gets a moment alone with Mark S., and considering the last time they were together ended with a kiss, their reunion feels oddly distant. While she appears happy to see Mark and is intrigued by his revelation about Ms. Casey, something seems off with her. For a woman who was once so desperate to escape her Severance contract that she attempted to hang herself, her fierce determination appears to have vanished. Fans have speculated that Helena, Helly’s outie and daughter of Lumon CEO James Eagan, may have found a way to infiltrate her innie’s life. If true, it would explain her subdued demeanor, and why she lies to her friends. It also adds a chilling layer of deception to her character, and begs the question if she can be trusted.

After weighing their options, all four employees ultimately decide to stay at Lumon and return to their workstations. The group sits down, oddly content, as they resume their task of dumping “evil numbers” with smiles on their faces—as if they’ve won a game without understanding the rules.

However, things take a dark turn when Mark stumbles upon a file labeled Cold Harbor on his terminal. Curious, he clicks on it, revealing a live feed that appears to be monitoring someone’s vital signs. The screen zooms out, and in a gut-wrenching cliffhanger, we see Gemma, Mark’s presumed-dead wife, still alive. She remains trapped in the nightmarish limbo Ms. Cobel sentenced her to. This revelation underscores that Lumon’s manipulation of Macro Data Refinement—and its employees—is far from over. Worse still, Milchick and his unsettling pint-sized assistant seem to be even more sinister than Ms. Cobel ever was.

As the season progresses, fans can only hope that Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dylan’s memories—and their growing awareness of the truth—will prove stronger than the propaganda Lumon is determined to replace them with. If not, Gemma might die for a second time, and the team’s fight for freedom could come to a devastating end.