*Spoiler warning + Sensitive Content*
What is “Severance”?
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had a bad day at home and wishes they could put those negative thoughts and feelings aside and go to school or work like nothing happened. This is the kind of premise behind the Emmy-winning Apple TV+ series, Severance. A group of employees at the company “Lumon” have chosen to undergo an irreversible procedure known as “severance” where a small device is surgically implanted into their brains. This device separates the workers’ personal memories from their work memories when they go down the elevator to the “severed floor” to work. That is, when they are at home, they have no idea what they are doing or who they are at work and vice versa. It’s a super thrilling concept that I, especially as a psychology major, find absolutely fascinating.
Season One Recap:
Season 1 of Severance, directed by Ben Stiller, came out in early 2022 (yes…that’s already 3 years ago). So, here’s a recap if you, understandably, forgot what happened in Season 1. We start off the show being introduced to Mark S. (Adam Scott) a severed employee who has just been appointed the new head of Lumon’s Macrodata Refinement department (MDR) after his best friend, Petey (Yul Vasquez), unexpectedly leaves the company with no explanation.
Mark’s first order of action is to train MDR’s newest member, Helly R. (Britt Lower), who has just recently undergone the severance procedure. Immediately, Helly’s work-self (her “innie”) wants to leave the stark and eerie (and honestly creepy) severed floor, but every time she tries to leave, her “outie” walks right back inside. Reluctantly, Helly then agrees to join Mark and meets the other two members of MDR, Dylan (Zach Cherry) and Irving (John Turturro), who show Helly what exactly it is they do at MDR. The thing is, nobody really knows what they’re doing. The workers are just told to sort numerical data into different boxes based on how the numbers make them feel.
The floor is overseen by Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette) and Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tilman), both unsevered characters with very odd personalities. They are, as are most Lumon workers, extremely influenced by the founder of Lumon, Kier Eagan, for whom they have an entire “Perpetuity Wing” dedication on the severed floor. This wing emanates cult-ish vibes and includes creepy statues of all the Eagan’s who were past Lumon CEOs. We find out later in the season that many other departments exist on the severed floor, including Optics and Design, home to Irving’s love interest later in the season, Burt (Christopher Walken). We are also shown a room with baby goats, though no explanation is given as to what or why they are there.
Meanwhile, Helly is still furious with her current situation and tries to find a way of contacting her “outie” without getting caught. She goes to lengths to hide writing on her arms and even swallows a pen cap with a paper message inside. It even gets to the point where she threatens to cut off her fingers and later she attempts suicide inside the elevator. Despite this extreme endeavour to send a message, her “outie” sends a video back saying she will not let “innie” Helly leave Lumon. Helly is then escorted to “The Break Room” (which believe me, is not as nice as it sounds). She is forced to recite the “Compunction Statement”, which she ends up repeating over 1,072 times when Mr. Milchick finally deems it genuine. At this time, the other MDR workers are also taking part in mandatory wellness sessions run by the floor’s counsellor Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman), who later in the season is sent down a dimly lit hallway with another elevator at the end and we do not see her again.
“Forgive me for the harm I have caused this world. None may atone for my actions but me and only in me shall their stain live on. I am thankful to have been caught, my fall cut short by those with wizened hands. All I can be is sorry, and that is all I am.”
Helly R. reciting the Compunction Statement (season one, episode three, 48:09)
So, all this is happening inside Lumon, but what’s going on in the outside world? To begin, we only really get a glimpse into Mark’s life outside of Lumon. We learn that he is grieving the loss of his late wife, Gemma, who tragically died in a car accident. Her death is the main reason he decided to get severed—so that he wouldn’t have to grieve her for days and days on end (and maybe to escape his yappy neighbour, Mrs. Selvig)—talk about a healthy coping mechanism! I can totally understand his reasoning though, nobody enjoys coping with negative feelings, especially grief, but it begs the question which comes up in the show of the ethics behind forcing a life against the “innie’s” own will. Because of this, Mark is questioned and scrutinized by many people, including his sister Devon’s (Jen Tullock) husband Ricken (Michael Chernus) and his friends.
One day after work, Mark leaves and heads to Pip’s, a local diner, where he unknowingly runs into Petey. He leaves Mark a very mysterious letter claiming that he can give Mark answers about what Lumon is up to. Mark deliberates for a while on the message, deciding to head home for the day where we finally meet Mrs. Selvig, who is actually Ms. Cobel spying on Mark! Ultimately, Mark decides to hear Petey out, so he plays Mark a videotape of Mark’s “innie” in “The Break Room” and Petey explains that he is getting re-integrated (reversing the severance procedure). Petey ends up staying in Mark’s basement, until one night when Mrs. Selvig/Ms. Cobel sneaks in while Mark is gone and steals a book left by Ricken and brings it to the severed floor (this gets her fired). Petey manages to remain unseen as he leaves Mark’s and heads into town before having an unexpected aneurysm due to complications with his reintegration which sadly causes his death.
After Petey’s death, Mark’s “innie” is left with a makeshift map of the severed floor that Petey was working on. Around this time too, the MDR workers find Ricken’s book dedicated to Mark’s “outie” in one of the rooms near MDR and take it as a sign that their “outies” are onto something (and they are right). Mark’s “outie” secretly meets up with Dr. Reghalbi who explains she is the one who re-integrated Petey and hands Mark a security card that his “innie” will supposedly know what to do with it. “Innie” Mark finds the card in his pocket and uses it to access the security room where he and the others find instructions to perform an “Overtime Contingency,” which involves waking up their “innie” outside of Lumon. Right before they leave work, the day before the big operation, Helly kisses Mark and says, “In case we don’t come back…Or, I don’t know, in case we do?” right as the elevator doors come to a close.
In the finale of Season 1, Dylan executes the “Overtime Contingency” waking up Helly, Irving, and Mark, unbeknownst to Mr. Milchick. Mark’s “innie” wakes up at Ricken’s book launch, who he recognizes from the book cover that made it to the severed floor. He quickly notices Ms. Cobel, currently in her Mrs. Selvig getup. Irving wakes up in his home, filled with paintings of a mysterious dark hallway with an elevator at the end (the one Ms. Casey is sent down). He finds a list of addresses of Lumon workers and goes straight to Burt’s house, only to see that Burt is happily married. Lastly, Helly wakes up at a gala and shockingly discovers that she is not only an Eagan but the daughter of the current Lumon CEO—her worst nightmare. Mr. Milchick, after receiving a frantic call from Ms. Cobel, discovers what’s happening and rushes down to the security room. Meanwhile, “innie” Mark stumbles upon a picture of him and his late wife Gemma, who he recognizes as Ms. Casey! He runs out to tell his sister, barely able to get out the words “She’s alive!” before he is switched back to “outie” Mark, as Dylan is stopped by Mr. Milchick.
What’s in Store for Season Two?
Season 1 leaves us with many unanswered questions that will hopefully be answered in Season 2: Where did Ms. Casey go? Will “outie” Mark find out his dead wife is actually alive? Is Helly going to find a way to escape the severed floor and overrule her “outie’s” wishes? Is Mark in love with both Helly and Ms. Casey/Gemma? What the $#@! are the goats for? I won’t spoil anything, but I will say that we do get answers to some of these pressing questions. All episodes of Severance are now streaming so go get binge-watching!