This post contains major spoilers from the Severance season 1 finale.
After almost three years, Severance season 2 finally premieres on Apple TV+ on Jan. 17 to answer all of our lingering questions from the seriously jaw-dropping season finale. The Emmy Award-nominated series delivered one of the most memorable season finales in recent memory and paved the way for one of the most highly anticipated followup seasons ever.
In the season 1 finale, the MDR team followed through on their overtime contingency plan as Dylan stayed back at Lumon to awaken Mark, Helly, and Irving's outies as their innies. Once their work personas are awake in the outside world, they discover some startling truths about their real lives and their identities, but their plan was quickly discovered and brought to an end.
Since it's been nearly three years since Severance season 1 ended back in 2022, it's time to brush up on what went down in the first season and its finale. If you didn't have time to rewatch those nine episodes before season 2 premieres, we're diving into five things you have to remember ahead of the show's long awaited, highly anticipated comeback.
Mark's innie knows Gemma's alive
When the overtime contingency takes effect, Mark's still at Ricken's book party. His innie attempts to piece together who everyone is, including his sister, niece, and brother-in-law. Prior to his innie being awoken, Mark had planned to speak with Devon about potentially quitting his job at Lumon, but he wasn't able to have that conversation.
In its place, Mark's innie reveals the truth about being awoken to Devon, and thankfully she believes him. During their conversation, Mark's innie learns about Gemma's death and Devon discovers that who they all believed to be "Mrs. Selving" is actually Mark's boss at Lumon. Obviously, Devon reacts as any mother would having trusted a liar with her baby.
Before the overtime contingency ends, Mark finds a photo of himself and Gemma and realizes that Gemma's actually who he knows as Ms. Casey at work. They had spent a lot together during wellness sessions, neither of them obviously remembering the other. Is Ms. Casey really Gemma, though? Just as he's back into outie form, Mark rushes to tell Devon that Gemma's alive. Let's hope Mark's outie and Devon are able to pick up this conversation!
Cobel was suspended, but stopped the overtime contingency
In season 1 episode 8, the board decides to suspend Cobel from her job and she's escorted out of Lumon by Milchick. Because she had kept Helly's suicide attempt from the board and had been interacting with Mark as Mrs. Selvig, the board chose to part ways. But don't they realize how extremely and oddly dedicated she is to Lumon and Keir?!
However, in the season finale, Cobel's the one to realize that the MDR team had staged an overtime contingency coup when Mark calls her Cobel instead of Mrs. Selvig at the book party. She's able to call Milchick to get him to stop the contingency and rushes to stop Helly's innie from revealing anything at the gala (unsuccessfully). Will Cobel get her job back after this?
Helly is actually Helena Eagan, daughter of Lumon's CEO
Speaking of Helly and the gala, when she's awoken as her innie, Helly's immediately startled to have a conversation with her father: Jame Eagan, the CEO of Lumon Industries. "Helly" isn't her actual name; it's a nickname for Helena, as in Helena Eagan... a descendant of Keir. She's speaking at the gala to share her experience with severance and help increase the public's support for its legalization.
It's so interesting to see how fundamentally different Helly's outie and innie are. Helena is a privileged rich woman who seemingly underwent severance for fun and a political statement. Meanwhile, Helly fought back at severance from the very first second. Helly's still able to share the real experience of the severed onstage, but after returning to outie form, will she backpedal?
Irving's outie has a Lumon map and directory
While Mark discovered shocking secrets about his outie's wife and Helly attempted to spread the word on what the severed really go through, Irving's outie life was perhaps the most surprising. He paints and has a dog, but his innie also finds Navy memorabilia from his past as well as a couple of head-scratching items: a Lumon Industries map and an employee directory.
What was Irving's outie doing with these items? What more will we learn about Irving? It's specifically surprising since his innie is a staunch follower of the rules. He doesn't like to break any protocol. It's the opposite of the Helly/Helena situation. Irving's awoken innie uses the directory to visit Burt, but when he arrives at his home, he sees through his front window that Burt has a significant other.
Severance is being used beyond the workplace
Something that had been brought up earlier in the season was confirmed in the season 1 finale: The severance procedure wasn't just being used to split the memories between workplace and home life. Devon had wondered whether Gabby, a fellow new mom she had met, was severed. Well, in the finale, we learn that the senator's wife had indeed used her innie for childbirth.
Having this theory officially confirmed calls further into question the intentions and implications of Lumon's plans and the severance chip as a whole. Obviously, certain things can being introduced with one specific purpose, but that purpose can then be corrupted and used to the advantage of sinister schemes. This is only the beginning to unraveling the mystery at the center of Severance.