Move over, Glinda: This January, it’s no longer, “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” It’s, “Are you an innie or an outie?” Severance, which had an almost three-year hiatus due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes, is finally set to return on January 17. The Ben Stiller-directed series will have new episodes every week until March, with fans hopefully getting some answers on a few pressing questions (such as, why are there goats?!).
With a cast led by Adam Scott as Mark Scout, the series focuses on a group of workers in the Macrodata Refinement Department (MDR) at Lumon, a mysterious biotechnology company led by the Eagan family. The employees can choose to undergo a “severance” procedure, which means that outside the walls of Lumon, they cannot remember their work day, and when they’re at work, they cannot remember their outside lives. If you’re “severed,” you’re essentially split into two versions of yourself: an “innie” version and an “outie” version, each completely unfamiliar with the other, all for the sake of work-life balance.
In its first season, Severance gave viewers a look at the ethics of this procedure, showing both aspects the workers’ lives within their cavernous workplace and beyond. As the two worlds became more and more difficult to separate, chaos ensued with jaw-dropping twists. Below, we recap everything you need to remember before the second season of Severance premieres on Apple TV+.
The Innies hatched and executed an escape plan.
The first season ended with the Innies activating the overtime contingency, allowing them to bring their Innie consciousness to their Outie bodies. Dylan George (Zach Cherry) stayed behind, having won a “Waffle Party,” as a reward for the team reaching their quota. The group chose Dylan because he briefly got to experience life outside when severed floor supervisor Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman) woke him up to find something he took from the severed floor. This allowed Dylan’s Innie to gain some knowledge on his Outie’s life—especially that he has a kid on the outside.=
Dylan snuck into the security room and stretched himself across the interfaces to hold down the two overtime contingency switches for as long as possible so that his Innie colleagues, Mark, Irving Bailiff (John Turturro), and Helly Riggs (Britt Lower), could explore their Outie lives. Mark’s Innie found himself at a book reading for his Outie’s brother-in-law’s self-help book, Irving was painting, and Helly was at a gala. (More on that later.)
Their explorations didn’t last for too long, though, as Milchik figured out their plan and tried to break into the security room to put an end to it. Dylan had locked the doors with ropes, but Milchik was able to cut through.
Adam Scott as Mark.
Harmony Cobel is Mrs. Selvig on the outside.
Cobel (Patricia Arquette) served as the manager of Lumon’s severed floor. In the first season, it’s revealed that outside of the floor, she’s acting as Mrs. Selvig, Mark’s next door neighbor. After Helly tried to commit suicide on the severed floor due to the poor working conditions, Cobel is suspended from her position. The Lumon board claims her outside activities as Mrs. Selvig and the cover-up of the attempted suicide violated their policies. Cobel continues to interfere in Mark and the other MDR employees’ lives, however, stepping in when the overtime contingency is activated.
Patricia Arquette as Harmony Cobel.
Mark’s Innie found out his Outie’s wife is alive.
Mark’s Outie underwent severance at Lumon to cope with the death of his wife, Gemma. But prior to the season finale, it was revealed that Gemma was still alive and also appeared to be severed, her Innie being Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman), the wellness counselor. Cobel sends Ms. Casey to the mysterious testing floor towards the end of the first season after Mark and Ms. Casey fail to remember one another. It is not revealed why this was important to Cobel. While Mark’s Innie is inhabiting his Outie’s life, he sees a picture of him and Ms. Casey together. His sister, Devon (Jen Tullock), who Mark’s Innie confided in, revealed that the woman in the picture is his late wife, Gemma. The first season ends with Mark realizing that Gemma and Ms. Casey are one and the same, and she is not, in fact, dead. Just before his overtime contingency ends, he screams at the previously mentioned book reading, “She’s alive!”
Dichen Lachman as Ms. Casey.
Helly’s Innie learned she is actually an Eagan.
One of the most shocking reveals of the first season? Helly Riggs isn’t Helly Riggs at all. Her Outie is actually Helena Eagan, daughter of Lumon’s CEO and granddaughter of its founder. When Helly’s Innie wakes up on the outside, she’s set to give a speech to a room of Lumon supporters at a company gala. Helena had volunteered to be severed to prove how successful the procedure actually is, but her Innie, in a dramatic fashion, uses the speech to reveal how poor conditions actually are for severed employees.
Britt Lower as Helly.
Irving learned Burt’s Outie has a partner.
Irving spent a good portion of the first season falling in love with Burt Goodman (Christopher Walken), head of the Optics and Design Department (O&D) of the severed floor. The two began their relationship after learning that Lumon was pitting MDR and O&D against one another. They worked together to fix this wrong.
When Innie Irving woke up on the outside, he realized a few things: He’s a veteran, he’s been painting what looks to be the testing floor, and he has been searching for other severed employees of Lumon. He also learned that his Outie found Burt. Excited to see Burt’s life on the outside, Irving drove to Burt’s house. When looking through the window, he learned Burt is already in a relationship, breaking Irving’s heart.
John Turturro as Irving.
Petey was the former department head of the MDR Team. He died after being re-intergrated.
Before Mark became the head of his department, Petey Kilmer (Yul Vazquez) served in the position. Petey left suddenly, and it’s revealed that he reversed his severance through a process called reintegration. The procedure was done by a mysterious figure called Reghabi (Karen Aldridge). After Mark’s Outie allowed Petey to take refuge in his house, Mark learned that the reintegration process caused hallucinations and other medical side effects. Petey also gave Mark details on the severance process, causing Mark’s Outie to become skeptical of Lumon. Petey then dies, and before he was creamated, Cobel took the severance chip out of him, preserving the secrets of Lumon.
Reghabi killed Doug Graner.
As Mark continued to dig into the happenings of Lumon, he met up with Reghabi, who reintegrated Petey. But during their meeting, Doug Graner (Michael Cumpsty), Head of Security for the severed floor, appeared, having watched Mark. Reghabi killed Graner, gave Mark his key card, and told Mark to give the card to his Innie.
The severed floor of Lumon is a maze.
Talk about a labyrinth. The severed floor of Lumon has rooms galore, but no map is able to give the full picture. After finding a map Petey created detailing the sprawling space, Mark and the MDR team ventured down unlit halls only to find a new department, where a single employee nursed a room of goats. They have yet to find out what the goats are for.
The severed employees have no clue what their jobs actually do.
No one knows what they do on the severed floor of Lumon. The O&D team seems confused on their mission, and the MDR team groups numbers together based on a feeling. Not one employee understands what this is doing for the company, making the whole purpose of the severed floor feel like a grand social experiment. Maybe season 2 will share some much-needed details on the workers’ jobs.