# Severance Season 2 \[OPEN SPOILERS\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, apple\ **Created:** [January 14, 2025, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952 "2025-01-14T09:50:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/261 "2025-03-15T14:15:27Z")
It seems pretty clear that when the innies are severed, the outies lose something. You especially see this with Dylan. His innie got the part of him that his wife loved. Same deal for Jame and his daughter. Jame doesn’t get the same thrill from abusing Helena as he did before she was severed. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/262 "2025-03-15T14:45:11Z")
I like that interpretation! ---
**Author:** ![CoolHandCox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coolhandcox/32/16233_2.png) [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/263 "2025-03-15T14:49:02Z")
That’s pretty interesting and insightful. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/264 "2025-03-15T15:35:26Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > It seems pretty clear that when the innies are severed, the outies lose something. I don’t think it’s that the outies lose something _because_ of severance. What the outies are missing is innocence, and maybe a zest for life. The innies are them before that was beaten out of them by life. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/265 "2025-03-15T16:47:31Z")
That had been my understanding, plus though that being severed was a different trauma. But I like this one better. ---
**Author:** ![CoolHandCox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coolhandcox/32/16233_2.png) [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/266 "2025-03-15T17:50:44Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > But plot wise? Seems to be more getting all the pieces in place for … something that few of us are expecting I suspect? How about…This is all about saving Gemma. “She’s Alive!” - 2 episodes ended with those words. We also know Gemma has many innies. We were also just reminded by Dylan that he, and _even Mark_, couldn’t tell that Helena was really Helly. So, Mark will save “Gemma”, but leave us wondering which one - does he really know his own wife kind of thing…end season. or maybe it’ll be a sophie’s choice between saving Helly/Gemma and leave us wondering if it’s innie Mark or outtie Mark making the decision and leave us wondering if it’s Helly/Helena, etc. It has to be something like that. I really just don’t know how it all works and if you can get stuck in a certain innie form. I guess if you sneak someone out in the wrong way, the only way to switch to your normal outtie self is for Lumon to do it (via the elevator or otherwise)…or is that right? I would guess they would still be innies walking around forever from Season 1 finale if no one ever switched them back, right? ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/267 "2025-03-15T20:39:28Z")
I thought this episode was a big improvement over the previous, which I disliked quite a bit. That said, the one scene/plotline that I thought was a big miss was the interaction between Cobel and Mark/Devon. It is baffling beyond belief for them to not keep asking her for clarification. It’s not like they’re under time pressure. They have hours to kill for contrived reasons. There’s no human reason for them not to just be demanding she tell them everything she knows. And there’s also no particular reason for her to answer cryptically. If she’s going to answer, she’s already revealing Lumon secrets and breaking her oaths and previous loyalties by admitting that Gemma is alive and might die. Cryptic answers in that situation are just a TV show contrivance, and a boring and overused one at that. That said, I liked just about everything else. I wish it had been a bit more clear why Irving went along with Bert. If someone says “I need you to come with me” you’re allowed to say “no” or “why”. But it was emotionally powerful enough that I didn’t mind. And I enjoyed the Hellie and Dylan stuff, and particularly Milchick. The big difference I see between this season so far and season 1 is that in season 1, there were weird things that we didn’t understand, but the characters were curious about them. Imagine a version of season 1 in which the severance procedure and severance floor were as we saw, but we never had any of the business with Helly trying to send messages, trying to escape, trying to threaten her outie, etc. All of that stuff was great fun to watch, but it also answered our questions along the lines of “hey, why don’t the characters just…”. I feel like that level of well-thought-out-ness has been missing this season. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/268 "2025-03-15T20:49:33Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I still love that exchange used in the trailer: > > “Why are you a child?” > > “Because of when I was born.” We’re just loving this new season. For my money, the casting agent who found that unnerving young lady should win an Emmy. She’s PERFECT. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/269 "2025-03-15T20:53:28Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > So ether leads to frolic… Ether it does or it doesn’t. Who could say? ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/270 "2025-03-16T22:49:09Z")
> [@Schubert](#): > > If I may… > > I was dragged kicking and screaming into Severance by my wife and our niece. Now, I must confess, I am hooked. > > So, upon hearing that, according to Adam Scott, the Season 2 finale ending “will blow your mind,” I posit: > > Cobel having documented she is the original developer of the severing procedure, storms Lumon’s corporate HQ. Against all manner of security, she gains entry to the ominous office door of the Lumon CEO and bursts in, screaming, “You lying con! You fooled me! You fooled the world. You knew all along this was my idea, my work! And you were just going to let me twist in Kier’s wind?! You owe me answers! I demand answers! Now!” At which time the oversized leather chair of the CEO (heretofore facing away from Cobel), turns to reveal Mark Scout, who whispers, “And you shall have them.” (Cut to black. Scene.) > > Thereby setting the table for the Season 3 plot line of the “middies.” Those caught between the “innies” and the “outies.” > > Meh. I may be wrong. Or, Mark pulls off his mask to reveal that he’s actually Cobel. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/271 "2025-03-16T22:52:34Z")
If we are doing predictions mine is that every character in the show has been severed from people living in a world with late model cars and office equipment. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2025, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/272 "2025-03-16T23:55:00Z")
Ahhh, the cars of Severance. I notice every “not quite a particular model” car, but my wife, who’s not a car aficionado, dosen’t. > **[My Crazy Theory About Why The Cars Of Apple TV's Severance Are So Weird - The...](https://www.theautopian.com/my-crazy-theory-about-why-the-cars-of-apple-tvs-severance-are-so-weird/)** > > If you have not watched Apple TV’s slow-moving workplace horror comedy romance Severance then you have missed out on the pleasure of  “defiant jazz” music. The extravagantly produced show is an awesome blossom of strangeness that, somewhat... And a Reddit thread from Season One: > **[Reddit - Heart of the internet](https://www.reddit.com/r/SeveranceAppleTVPlus/comments/trroua/the_cars_in_severance_spoilers/?rdt=37498)** ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/273 "2025-03-17T00:29:47Z")
The TL;DR on the Autopian link is that Kier is in a country like Cuba where new imported cars are embargoed. Maybe. I sure would love for it to be more than just a stylistic choice. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/274 "2025-03-17T01:36:18Z")
The other option that I keep thinking about: **Why do we assume the “outie” world is the same one we’re living in?** Evidence for that keeps popping up… cars, equipment, tech are all different than “our world”. And what about Mr. Mitchick saying: > That is the highest waterfall in the world. Sure, someone said that the innies wouldn’t know he was lying (though Outie Helena was there, wouldn’t she have reacted to that?)… …But _what if it was true?_ Maybe The Outies’ World doesn’t have much in the way of waterfalls? Maybe Niagara is just a flat river between NY and Canada. What else? No “natural bridge” rock formations? Or National Parks? And come to think of it, we haven’t seen any Pez dispensers or View-Masters… _aha!_ ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/275 "2025-03-17T02:52:18Z")
> [@digs](#): > > …But _what if it was true?_ Maybe The Outies’ World doesn’t have much in the way of waterfalls? Maybe Niagara is just a flat river between NY and Canada. That’s a really huge leap. I go with the simple solution: _he was lying_. Just like I doubt they were actually fed “copious amounts of luxary meats” at the camp. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/276 "2025-03-17T15:13:37Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The TL;DR on the Autopian link is that Kier is in a country like Cuba where new imported cars are embargoed. Maybe. I sure would love for it to be more than just a stylistic choice. From that article, here’s Dan Erickson’s (one of the writers) explanation: > [W]e used cars from a lot of different time periods to give a slight sense of disorientation. At Lumon, the Innies are intentionally made to feel unmoored from time and space, and that bleeds into the town a bit too. We wanted the town to feel like an extension of Lumon in a way. So assuming he’s not hiding some deeper meaning (a big assumption), it’s a style choice, but style with a specific purpose, not not just style for the sake of style. That’s believable to me. I think the rest of the argument, that Kier is some separate country, ignores several things. In the first episode, Mark asks Helly to “name a state” and she says Delaware. They use regular US currency. The address for Kier includes a US-style zip code. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/277 "2025-03-17T15:20:04Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > I think the rest of the argument, that Kier is some separate country, ignores several things. In the first episode, Mark asks Helly to “name a state” and she says Delaware. They use regular US currency. The address for Kier includes a US-style zip code. Not to mention the whole subplot with the congressman’s wife. It’s very clear it’s the US, just with some alt-history changes due to the influence of the Egans. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/278 "2025-03-17T15:26:46Z")
The technology and cultural anachronisms are clearly style choices on the part of the team. I don’t expect an in-universe explanation that is internally consistent or makes sense. And I don’t say that as a criticism… mood and metaphor are just as valid reasons as plot or ‘in world realism’ to make artistic choices. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/279 "2025-03-17T15:39:17Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Yeah. Ricken is either key to this whole story or the fattest red herring in TV History. I say Ricken is neither. At its core, this is a show about different kinds of trauma and how it affects people. The second scene of the entire show is Mark crying in his car. Devon made a point to call out that Gemma’s death affect her and Ricken as well. You can see in the flashback that Ricken is, while still a little odd, a lot more normal than his current self. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952/280 "2025-03-17T16:04:47Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > [W]e used cars from a lot of different time periods to give a slight sense of disorientation. So slight that I never noticed it. It isn’t like they were driving Model Ts or 1950s land tanks. They all seem like bland, generic-looking cars to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/severance-season-2-open-spoilers/1012952.md?page=15)