Severance is a show that pays unusual attention to detail. Fans have come to understand that no choice made—be it a seemingly offhand line of dialogue, production design tweak, or something you don’t even notice at first—is by chance. It’s all very deliberate and part of the quirky, sinister puzzle the Apple TV+ series is carefully assembling.
While season one left us with a lot of questions, particularly after that wild cliffhanger (and the subsequent years-long wait to see what happened next), season two has wasted no time in ramping up all of Severance’s mysteries, and introducing some new ones too.
With that in mind, here are the most burning questions we have about Severance season two so far. They’re not even all the questions we have, just the most burning ones. Some of these will surely be answered soon, maybe even in this week’s fourth episode. Some of them will likely haunt us until the season finale… and perhaps beyond.
1. Where is Ms. Casey?
So far, it’s the enigma driving season two. At the end of season one, she was ushered down an ominously dark hallway to an even more ominous elevator after Ms. Cobel commanded her to be sent to “the testing floor.” Lumon’s former wellness director hasn’t been seen since. Her absence is worrisome for many reasons: we don’t know what happens on the testing floor, or even what her status was before she was sent there, other than the fact that the longest she’s ever been “awake” is one single eight-hour stretch. But also, as innie Mark learned in the season one finale (and all the innies now know, too), she has another identity beyond being Ms. Casey: she’s outtie Mark’s presumed dead wife, Gemma.
2. How did Gemma become Ms. Casey—and why?
Outtie Mark believes Gemma died in a car accident, with no reason he should suspect otherwise. His sister Devon and husband Ricken, who don’t work for Lumon, also think Gemma has died. Why would Lumon stage her death (including burning a body after the crash), only to spirit her away to the severed floor? Why is Lumon so interested in, and seemingly invested in, the relationship between Mark and Gemma?
3. What is Cold Harbor?
It’s the name of the project Lumon is very interested in having Mark finish, seemingly without him actually realizing it. He’s almost there. And it’s a big deal. But what is it, and why is it so important?
4. What is Ms. Cobel’s plan?
She was fired from Lumon at the end of season one, and her cover was blown when outtie Mark, who knew her as his next-door neighbor “Ms. Selvig,” realized her true identity. When Helena Eagan tries to hire her back, ostensibly with a promotion that would keep her away from the severed floor, Ms. Cobel turns her down and heads off on a road trip—before changing her mind and returning to Kier.
“I intend to finish the work that I started,” Ms. Cobel says to Helena when she’s making a case for Lumon to put her back in charge of the severed floor. Clearly she has some sort of grand plan that ties not just into her work on the severed floor at Lumon, but is also the driving reason behind why she kept such uncomfortably close tabs on Mark’s outtie. It’s not a sexual interest in both versions of Mark, as Lumon’s obviously false explanation would have it… but what is she trying to do?
5. What’s in Salt Neck?
We see a road sign marking 238 miles to “Salt Neck” at the point where Ms. Cobel decides to turn back. What’s in Salt Neck? Does it have something to do with her deceased mother, whose breathing tube she keeps tucked into the Kier Eagan shrine in her basement?
6. Where is Kier, PE?
Severance‘s dystopian setting—the perpetually freezing company town of Kier, PE—is as nebulous as Lumon itself. “PE” is not a state, and “Remedium Hominibus” (translated: “A cure, for mankind”) is not a slogan on any American license plate. But the show’s reality does overlap with our own, with mentions of real cities and states as well as the in-world use of songs by Metallica, the Stone Roses, and others.
7. Who’s on “the board”?
Never seen or heard, unless faint static through that direct-access Charlie’s Angels speaker counts, Lumon’s all-powerful board makes all the decisions and its word is final. Presumably it’s entirely made up of members of the Eagan family, but is there anyone else? What do their meetings look like? And are they all linked into that speaker at all times?
8. What is the deal with Natalie?
Her death-ray smile and panicky eyes telegraph emotions her mouth will never speak, for 90% of what Natalie says is via her role as a spokesperson for that mysterious Lumon board. We have seen more of Natalie in season two so far through her interactions with Mr. Milchick, and—in episode three—her visit to Ricken and Devon’s house to sweet-talk Ricken into re-writing his self-help book for innie use. But we still have no idea what her actual personality is, or if she even has a soul that can be detached from Lumon’s hold over her.
9. Why does Lumon want Ricken to rewrite his book for innies?
Theory: the company doesn’t have any intention of giving a version of Ricken’s book to the innies, despite pretending that it now cares about innie well-being. This is just a scheme to feed Ricken’s ego and get him on Lumon’s side, and maybe Devon too, since they’re so involved in Mark’s life and were also fond of Gemma. (We know Lumon thinks Devon is “uppity,” so maybe they’re trying to keep her happy?)
10. Why is Miss Huang a kid?
When Mark S. returns to Lumon in the season premiere, he meets a new member of the management team: Miss Huang. While the actor who plays her is 18, the character looks to be about 12 or 13. Considering her role—she’s Mr. Milchick’s second-in-command—she’s presumably not severed employee. But why would Lumon hire a tween to fill that position? Shouldn’t she be in school, maybe the same school where she was previously a crossing guard?
11. Why did Helly lie about her “Overtime Contingency” experience?
We know who she really is. Why did she hold back on telling the rest of her innie cohorts? And why wouldn’t she come up with a less suspicious cover story than one involving a “night gardener”? Is Helly hiding an even bigger lie? Does she even own a “Save the Gorillas” t-shirt?
12. Who is outtie Irv talking to on pay phones?
In season two, we see Irv leave his apartment under cover of night and go to a phone booth. “My innie got the message,” he tells someone’s voice mail. But we don’t know who or why; presumably, it’s building on the detective work we knew innie Irv was doing in season one, including compiling a list of names and addresses of other severed employees. (One of whom is Burt, who we see watching Irv from afar he’s making one of those phone calls.)
13. What’s up with the Exports Hall?
Felicia, Burt’s former co-worker, catches a glimpse of one of Irv’s drawings—a recreating of the near-monochromatic paintings his outtie does over and over. She identifies it as the Exports Hall, and explains that’s where Optics and Design used to deliver its shipments, though now “they send a guy.” We also know that’s the same hallway where Ms. Casey was sent at the end of season one. What’s down there? Why does outtie Irv remember it so vividly, and innie Irv have nightmares about it? Why is everything about it so haunting and ominous?
14. How will Mark’s reintegration go?
It seems very unlikely that Mark will suffer the same fate as Petey in season one—he’s the main character and Severance isn’t about to kill him off. But how advanced has Reghabi’s technique really gotten since the Petey fiasco? And how will Severance address the blending of his two minds if she’s successful?
15. Are the Macrodata Refiners actually doing anything?
In season one, it seemed like MDR was being tasked with meeting actual goals—quotas for completing their nebulous number-grouping work before the quarter ended, with rewards handed out to the top performers. (Two words: waffle party. Come to think of it, we still have a lot of questions about that waffle party!) But they don’t really know what the data is used for, and neither does the audience. Is there a practical application, or is it all a sham to hide whatever Lumon’s true purpose is—another mystery Severance is definitely going to take its sweet time solving?
16. The goats. Seriously. What the hell?
Even after episode three took us inside the goat department, which we now know is called “Mammalians Nurturable,” we still have no idea why Lumon has a goat department. In fact, after meeting the people who work there, we now have infinitely more questions about the goats.
New episodes of Severance worm their way into your brain Fridays on Apple TV+. Share your own burning questions below!
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