Part of what makes Severance so appealing and universal is its cast. No punches are pulled in this stacked roster, with driving roles played by veteran actors like John Turturro, Patricia Arquette, and Christopher Walken, showrunner Dan Erickson delivers emotional catharsis through our work besties week after blessed week. Seeing Britt Lower and Adam Scott against Lumon's cold interior feels like coming into work on a Monday morning and knowing the day will be better because your favorite coworkers are there.
Erickson and executive producer Ben Stiller do an excellent job building consistent characters, down to their physical mannerisms and habits. So, without further ado, let's dive into some of the best season 1 references in season 2! Please enjoy each reference equally.
Gemma always sneezed twice
In the final moments of "Defiant Jazz," Severance season 1 episode 7, a voiceover by Mark (played by Adam Scott) begins to list facts about Gemma as he tapes her photo back together while Billie Holiday's "I'll Be Seeing You" warbles softly in the background. He tells us that when she sneezed, she always did it twice.
In Gemma's flashback episode, "Chikhai Bardo," season 2 episode 7, she sneezes twice when Mark enters her office. It's small, it's subtle, but so special. This detail shows the amount of tenderness between them before her death, and we as the audience begin to understand why losing Gemma wrecked him.
Irving's mustache comb
After Irving gets fired in episode 4, he runs to Burt's outie. It turns out that when you show up on your coworker's doorstep screaming their name, their spouse might have questions about it. Irving winds up on a bizarre-throuple-ham-dinner date with Burt and his husband Fields, and when he's sitting in his car, psyching himself up to go inside, he flicks open his mustache comb and does a quick fix, mirroring the same thing his innie did the first time he went to see Burt in season 1. Maybe love really does transcend severance.
Ricken's book
Speaking of love prevailing, our favorite odd couple is here and still kicking. Once again living up to the previous season's hype, season 2 blessed us with another companion book for the series arc, this time The You You Are by the illustrious Ricken Hale. This tome (which does include the original first chapter read during the party in the season 1 finale) illuminates some of the more shadowy elements of Ricken's backstory, as well as what his and Mark's relationship looked like before Gemma's passing.
During season 1, Ben Stiller gave us the gift of the Lexington Letter, a similar companion to the story of Severance, which fills out more of the show, presumably to stave off hungry fans desperate for more information on Dan Erickson's world-building. Within the Lexington Letter, Peggy mentions a truck from Dorner (a competitor of Lumon) exploding and in The You You Are, Ricken references a similar incident as Devon's motivation for leaving the city on a camping trip.
Hey kids, what's for dinner?
The audience's first impression of Irving is his corny greeting to the MDR department in the season 1 pilot. Both Dylan and Mark groan and complain about "Hey kids, what's for dinner?" saying that they have at least eight different reasons for hating that particular greeting. When Helly became a part of the team, she most likely learned about this habit and would recognize it when it was referenced. Irving uses this to his advantage, testing the undercover Helena Eagan one last time, supplying her with the first line of their shared department joke. Helly was never cruel, and she also never missed a joke.
Milchick's mirror scene
If this man isn't an Emmy contender by the end of this season, I will be shocked. Following a negative performance review, we see Milchick perform numerous atonements and approbations to correct grave office sins such as... using paperclips incorrectly, and using too many big words. He completes his paperclip exercise and then reveals a mirror on a shelf in the storage space. He speaks to himself in the mirror, simplifying his speech while repeating the mantra to "grow up!" before finally changing to simply, "grow."
This is such a cool visual reference to the season 1 finale when Helly confronts herself in the mirror before her big Lumon takedown moment. When she recites the compunction statement from the break room, she also addresses herself in the mirror after being confronted by an Eagan family member, who impresses upon her the importance of her role in the company. The difference is, in one instance Helly appeared to be breaking free, whereas Milchick only seems to be getting more stuck.