‘It’s been a minute’ since we felt that Severance vertigo [Apple TV+ recap]

After a three-year wait that felt longer than a day working at Lumon Industries, Severance is finally back! The season two premiere, entitled “Hello, Ms. Cobel,” picks up right where we left our favorite corporate drones. In our Severance season 2 episode 1 recap, we look at the fascinating twists and turns that prove the show hasn’t lost its edge. As the season goes on, let’s see if it keeps it.

Severance season 2, episode 1 recap: ‘Welcome back, Ms. Cobel’

Remember where we left off at the end of Severance season one? Our intrepid “innies” had staged their dramatic rebellion, with Dylan G. (played by Zach Cherry) straining to hold open the “Overtime Contingency” in the security office while his co-workers briefly became one again with their “outies.” As a reminder, innies have had Lumon’s Severance brain surgery limiting their awareness and memory to work while their outies live their lives outside of it. Somebody’s getting a raw deal, no?

Helly R. (Britt Lower) exposed Lumon’s practices at a gala meant to promote the Severance surgical procedure as the ultimate work-life balance. Irving B. (John Turturro) found his outie is a painter possibly obsessed with Lumon, and he sought out his love Burt (Chrisopher Walken), who retired, only to find him married. Mark S. (Adam Scott) discovered the shocking truths that his supposedly dead wife is actually Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman). And, as we knew, his neighbor Mrs. Selvig is actually the devious Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette), former boss of the Severed floor at Lumon.

Well, buckle up, because things at Lumon have gotten even stranger, as promised by the trailer, sneak peek and onslaught of promos leading up to season two of Severance.

Mark S. reports back to work

The episode opens with Mark S. returning to the severed floor, only to discover that five months have passed since the “Macrodat Uprising” (as Lumon has branded it).

“It’s been a minute,” says severed floor manager Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman) when he sees Mark, with that smile that disarms and sound alarms at the same time. Milchick now runs the show from Ms. Cobel’s old office, after her dismissal. Mark and his colleagues have become celebrities, championing the cause of innie rights. Scapegoated Cobel gets all the blame for mismanagement leading to the mutiny, including her supposed obsession about having a kinky “thrupple” with Mark S. and his outie (!). But something feels off about the narrative. Because at Lumon, when does anything ever feel right?

Mark finds himself assigned to a new team, complete with a new supervisor named Ms. Huang (Sarah Bock), who happens to be … a child? She’s Milchick’s deputy manager of the severed floor. Unsurprisingly, Mark isn’t too thrilled about this arrangement. So he attempts to stir up trouble by planting a fake note in his new colleague’s pocket, complete with a delightfully passive-aggressive description of Milchick as a “shambolic rube.” When that plan backfires — Milchick notes Mark didn’t even bother to disguise his handwriting — Mark makes a mad dash for Milchick’s office to plead for the return of his old team with the mysterious Board over the intercom. But, giving chase when warned by Huang, Milchick rips the cord out of the wall.

Bizarro-world Macrodata Refinement team doesn’t last long

Just when it seems like Mark might be fired, the show delivers its first big twist: The gang’s all here! Dylan, Irving and Helly return to the office. And they each carry their own metaphorical baggage from their above-ground adventures. But it might be worth noting that the seating area into which they re-enter, unlike the usual one, appears to feature a painting of a sword-bearing Kier Egan looming over heads sticking out of the ground. Just saying’.

At any rate, the reunion leads to one of the episode’s standout moments: a viewing of possibly the most unsettling corporate video ever made. Picture a claymation Lumon building — voiced by none other than Keanu Reeves — cheerfully recounting the team’s rebellion while promising exciting new “reforms.” These include perks like pineapple bobbing and a room of funhouse mirrors. So there is no real reform, although surveillance cameras have supposedly been removed. And the whole thing looks like old 1960s claymation Christmas specials on acid.

But then Milchick tells them they, not their outies, can decide by the end of the day if they stay or go from Lumon.

The team reconnects: What happened up there?

The heart of the episode lies in the quiet moments where our heroes, leery of monitoring, whisper their experiences from the outside world. Mark reveals the bombshell about Ms. Casey seeming to be his “dead” wife, while Irving grapples with the heartbreak of finding Burt apparently married to someone else. But Helly raises the most viewer eyebrows, spinning a suspiciously mundane tale about watching TV in sweatpants — a far cry from her actual experience, where she discovered her outie is Helena Egan, daughter of Lumon’s CEO. Why would she lie.

But at any rate, the episode’s most touching scene comes courtesy of Dylan and Irving. When Irving tries to leave Lumon to escape his pain over Burt’s apparently permanent absence, Dylan gives chase and delivers a heartfelt speech about friendship and purpose. “I’m your favorite perk,” Irving concludes with a sad smile, hugging Dylan, in a moment that perfectly balances the show’s trademark mix of humorous unreality, alarming dread and genuine emotion. But then Ms. Huang appears to draw Dylan away, leaving us to wonder if Irv will go through the doorway into the forbidden stairwell, as threatened.

Mr. Milchick plays his game

Meanwhile, Milchick seems to be playing a divide-and-conquer game. He privately shows Dylan plans for an “Outie Family Visitation Suite,” implying his outie family could visit him there. But Milchick implores Dylan to keep it secret from his single colleagues to avoid resentment. Classic Lumon manipulation.

The episode ends with our four heroes back at their desks, apparently choosing to stay at Lumon despite everything. But there’s clearly more brewing beneath the surface. What’s the deal with Helly withholding her outie’s real identity? Where has Ms. Casey disappeared to, and will Mark try to rescue here? And what’s the significance of Irving’s outie’s paintings of that mysterious black hallway?

Lumon looms larger than we knew

One thing’s for certain: Lumon’s reach extends far beyond what we imagined, with hundreds of facilities with Severed personnel worldwide (including one where the Egan statues in the Perpetuity Wing are animatronic, and one in a poverty-stricken area where they’re made of brooms).

As the episode closes (along with this Severance season 2 episode 1 recap), we’re left with the distinct feeling that while some things at Lumon have changed, the corporation’s capacity for unsettling surprises and possibly pure evil remain perfectly intact. If this episode is any indication, we’re in for another wild ride through the fluorescent-lit halls of everyone’s favorite morally questionable mega-corporation.

Watch Severance on Apple TV+

Severance season one and season two’s first episode now stream on Apple TV+. New episodes air on Fridays (though they’re usually available the night before after 6 p.m. PT).

Apple TV+ is available by subscription for $9.99 with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle. Customers who buy a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.

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