Severance Season 2 Episode 1 Ending Explained: What Happens to the Macrodat Refinement Team?
Severance Season 2 Episode 1, starts after the shocking end of the first, resuming events five months later. The episode “Hello, Mrs. Selvig” reintroduces us to Mark S. (Adam Scott), Helly (Britt Lower), Irving (John Turturro), and Dylan (Zach Cherry), who now face the consequences of the “Macrodat Rebellion”. The plot revolves around Lumon’s attempts to appear positive change after the internal riots, as the characters try to unravel new mysteries, such as the “Cold Harbor” project and Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman), who turns out to be Mark’s deceased wife “in the outside world. The second season of Severance is now available on Apple TV+. The acclaimed series returns three long years later with a first episode that has resolved many doubts but has also raised new questions. The project continues to expand, bringing more and more layers of mystery about Lumon, the strange company in which the protagonists work.
At least, in this first chapter that has already been broadcast, viewers have been able to discover what has become of them. The first season of Severance ended with the four protagonists going outside to discover what life is like for your exus (outies in English). But just as they were beginning to discover the whole truth, Lumon discovered them and “turned them off,” leaving fans with the uncertainty of what would happen to them when they woke up. Almost three years after the shocking end of its first season, Apple TV finally premieres the second batch of Severance chapters, dystopia in which a large company inserts a chip into the brain of its workers that generates a dissociation: when they are away from their work (fueri), they don’t remember anything about their life within the company, while inside it (inside) they remember nothing of what awaits them outside of Lumon. Behind this plot premise, we found a series that sailed seamlessly between social criticism, corporate thriller, and science fiction plus brain-breaking. Severance was undoubtedly the 2022 series.
Severance Season 2 Episode 1 Ending Explained: What Happens to the Macrodat Refinement Team?
After the shocking finale of the first season, in which the four members of the Macrodatos refinement team knew something about their lives outside of Lumon, we return to a chapter developed entirely within the company’s offices, so we do not know that it was from the jurisdiction of Mark S. (that is, the external version of the protagonist). Five months have passed, and for a reason we do not know, Mark continues to work in Lumon despite being aware of everything he has experienced in the few minutes he was away from the company. That is, Mrs. Cobel, the director of the department, was her neighbor, and Gemma, his allegedly deceased wife, is Mrs. Casey. To Mark, who is unknown (there is a lot of ignorance, many questions, in this first chapter) What has happened in these five months, has been transferred to a new team. Cobel has been fired, and Milchick is the new director.
The new supervisor is an eight-year-old girl, Mrs. Huang. A whole ode to decent work by Lumon. Mark is dedicated to boycotting his new team and, finally, after several days (it is not clear if he is in a kind of eternal dentri loop or if the writers have not wanted to reveal anything of his fuei version in this first episode) is “fired” by Milchick. The result is that he meets his entire team again. In a decision as surprising as it is logical, Lumon has decided to turn what happened in the first season into a demand for an improvement in the conditions of those within. As seen in a video as ridiculous as it is terrifying (narrated by Keanu Reeves himself), the company now seeks to improve the conditions of its separated workers with more awards and incentives. Many things have changed, but probably everything remains the same. Of course, Milchick offers them the option of leaving without taking into account their decision. A decision almost made beforehand.
Explained Ending to “Hello, Ms. Cobel“: What Happens to the Macrodat Refinement Team?
The episode ends with the team being reunited after a long time apart. Mark S., Helly, Irving, and Dylan face a crucial choice: continue working in Lumon or leave the company forever. Although they have doubts, everyone decides to stay, moved by curiosity, the desire for answers, and the ties they have formed between them. Dylan receives crucial information about constructing a “Family Visit Suite for the Outies”, a project designed to allow the Innies to have contact with their external families. This development highlights the ethical contradictions and dilemmas of the Lumon system. Meanwhile, Mark S. discovers a direct connection between his refinement work and a mysterious project called “Cold Harbor”, which appears to be linked to Ms. Casey, whose disappearance remains an enigma.
The New Dilemmas of the Characters
The episode delves into the characters’ internal struggles, each dealing with the truths of their external lives:
- Mark S.: His emotional shock upon discovering that Ms. Casey, his supervisor in Lumon, is actually his wife “dead”, prompting him to continue investigating despite the risks.
- Helly: Hides key information about your connection to the Lumon founding family, suggesting an internal conflict between your loyalty to the company and your desire for freedom.
- Irving: His revelation that his outie has been obsessed with painting a dark hallway toward a mysterious door adds a new level of intrigue. Furthermore, his heartbreaking discovery about Burt’s (Christopher Walken) life outside of Lumon leaves him emotionally devastated.
- Dylan: Although he initially seems less interested in ethical issues, his discovery of the family visit project involves him more in Lumon’s dark secrets.
What is the “Cold Harbor” Project?
The “Cold Harbor” project appears as a central element of the mystery. Although the details are still vague, it appears to be connected to the data refinement work and Ms. Casey. His constant monitoring, with statistics like his body temperature in real time, suggests that Lumon is using the innies in even more murky ways than we imagined
What Happened to the Severance Intus?
As soon as we start the series, we discover that Mark is back inside Lumon. Somehow, the company has gotten its excess to agree to take him back to his workplace. Initially, the character of Adam Scott in Severance refuses to remain a faithful, loyal, and peaceful worker. And the company doesn’t help by putting him together with some unknown colleagues instead of his friends. Finally, he manages to get all four to meet again inside the offices. Several months have passed, but finally, Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dyllan are together. And what they discover is that their rebellion has had important consequences in Lumon. Severance, He focuses his first episode on raising the changes that have taken place within the company. The executives realized that, thanks to the acts of their four employees, the unhappiness that prevailed in the corridors of the building. So, as the Lord shows you, Milchick, now they will have many job improvements and much more autonomy. But in reality, there is much more hidden in the chapter.
Lumos’s True Plan
Lumon has removed security cameras from MDR offices. In addition, the most striking thing is that it offers Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dyllan the possibility of leaving the company if they wish. None of them do, but that was the company’s plan for Severance from the beginning. And, In reality, these “improvements” are designed to offer a false sense of autonomy to your employees. After the gap caused during the rebellion of the first season of Severnace, in Lumon, they realize that they can benefit from the relationship between the four. They know that they not only want to take care of each other but aspire to get to the end of the matter. They will not leave, no matter how close Irving has been. Going abroad would mean the final “death” of the intus, and everyone has some reason to stay alive. With these advantages, Lumon has more control than ever.
What About Ms. Casey/Gemma?
There is one last question that comes up at the end of the episode of Severance. When all four return to their jobs and Mark orders the numbers in one of its categories, the series shows in a flash another computer screen in which it appears Gemma with the same boxes at the bottom. The progress bar shows the same number on both screens. A sequence that seems to suggest that Mark is working on the file of Gemma. One of the main theories of season 1 pointed out that the work on those computers served to make Lumon refine the separation chips by classifying human emotions into the four “temperaments” of Kier Eagan: “Joy, Grief and Fear and Malice”. With their work, employees ensure that chips make their humans more manipulable. AND Mark would be working on the file of Gemma because, deep down, he knows her better than anyone. He would have been refining it since he entered Lumon, for the screen you see is iteration number 25. With this job, Severance also refers to the possible meaning of the “Cold Harbor” project. It is not yet known what it refers to, but it could have to do with cryogenic technology. After his accident, Gemma would have remained cryogenized within Lumon. Because of this, it does not have an exus counterpart, as it is believed to be dead. Another option of the meaning of Cold Harbor may suggest that with the refinement process, Lumon plans to turn her into a “colder” individual, unable to have human emotions. That is the ideal employee.
Conclusion of the Episode
“Hello, Ms. Cobel” sets a powerful tone for the second season of Severance, striking an ideal balance between answering lingering questions and introducing new ones. The rebellion from the previous season has left its mark, yet Lumon continues to function under a veil of secrecy. The team, now more united but also more perplexed, is gearing up to confront the unknown, with the project “Cold Harbor” as their next goal. The series delves into profound themes such as identity, free will, and the repercussions of excessive corporate control, keeping viewers on edge with its haunting and emotionally intricate atmosphere.
