‘Severance’ season 2 premiere review: “Hello, Ms. Cobel”

It’s off to the races in Severance Season 2 Episode 1 — literally. Mark S. (Adam Scott) awakens in the Lumon elevator and immediately begins his search for Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman) — revealed to be his wife last season — by sprinting through the white, oppressive halls of Lumon. But when he makes it to Wellness, he discovers it’s been cleared out. It’s a great opening to fit an adrenaline-fueled premiere episode. 

Upon his return to work in Severance Season 2 Episode 1, Mark S. is confronted with new MDR employees, and now finds himself in the rebellious role Helly occupied in the beginning of Season 1. As he works to get his friends back, he goes up against a newly-in-charge Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman), who explains it’s been five months since their trip topside. He shows Mark S. a newspaper clipping about how famous their MDR department is for having blown the whistle on Lumon. 

Tillman is in fine form as Mr. Milchick, somehow even creepier than he was in Season 1. His wide, unnerving smile haunts every corridor of Lumon. But with him in charge now, there’s some interesting depth to his character as he wrestles with working in Ms. Cobel’s (Particia Arquette) shadow. As he crafts narrative after narrative to keep the real events from outside from Mark S. and the rest, his hold on MDR and the severed floor seems precarious with the board seemingly acquiescing to Mark S.’s request. It’s going to be a battle of wills between Mark S. and Mr. Milchick, made even more complicated when it’s impossible to know what exactly everyone knows. 

Inside Lumon

There’s an oppressive quality to this Severance Season 2 Episode 1. Just as Mark S. and the others don’t know what happened in the five months since they made it outside, the audience is also left in the dark on the topic. Every time Mark S. steps in the elevator, he’s right back at work when it opens. The innies have always been cut off from the outside world; now it’s the audience’s turn to feel the same way. 

More questions arise: what really happened when they switched back at the end of Season 1? Has it really been five months? What do the outties think about what happened? And what exactly were everyone’s motivations for returning? Not knowing what the outties experienced when they switched back makes it difficult to speculate, but we’re going to speculate all the same. 

Mr. Milchick told Mark he was the only one who wanted to come back. That would make sense if Mark and Devon (Jen Tullock) realized that Mark S. was trying to tell them his wife was alive. But what about Dylan (Zach Cherry) and Irving (John Turturro)? Irving’s outtie already seems to have his own suspicions of Lumon; surely he’d want to go back to solve that mystery. 

Helly or Helena?

And what about Helly (Britt Lower)? Helly, who’s return was already suspicious considering it would be odd for Helena to allow Helly consciousness again. The story Mr. Milchick spins to Mark S. and showing him a newspaper clipping of their outties at a protest of some kind certainly doesn’t match what we know of Helena’s character. And, there’s Helly’s actions throughout the episode, as well. Sure, her lie about what she saw up top could just be her not wanting to tell them her outtie is the literal enemy. 

However, there are some odd inconsistencies with Helly, such as her inability to locate the computer switch right after they show Mr. Milchick locating it easily. She also seems weirdly against finding Ms. Casey. For a steadfast rebel, it was definitely an odd pushback from her. But it could still be chalked up to Helly’s freakout about being an Eagon; her insistence to Mark that innies and outties are vastly different to each other speaks to that. But Helena could be just as disgusted with learning that her innie is so against what Lumon — her family — does. Has Helena infiltrated the severed floor to keep an eye on MDR? 

Corporate-sponsored rebellion

Another question — considering the trouble MDR caused, why would Lumon go to such lengths to have them back, including providing them even more perks? The breakroom scene is such a great example of corporate-sponsored rebellion; Lumon deploying Keanu Reeves to thank MDR for fighting for the rights of the severed and implementing more perks to their work lives is so sinister. 

It’s like when corporations acknowledge Pride month or Black History Month, and then turn around and cut back DEI initiatives, or just generally go against anything advocating for real change. Or when a government makes deals with corporation to look like a hero. When they acknowledge it, it’s difficult to speak out against what they really stand for because they can easily point to their social media post celebrating Pride month.

Just as Severance Season 1 tackled the toxic mentality of a so-called “work-life balance,” Severance Season 2 Episode 1 explores the lengths a corporation will go to to save face. The manipulation tactics, such as when Mr. Milchick shows Dylan the family visitation center is just another form of trying to break MDR apart before they can rebel again. Everything Mr. Milchick says reeks of sleight-of-hand phrasing, like his “If you take the name of the room at face value, I’d say yes” to sell Dylan on the family visitation room. 

Refining characters

The addition of Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) is a curious tactic. Employing a child to manage a severed floor just emphasizes how sinister this place is. Everyone — even the temporary new MDR employees in the beginning — question why Miss Huang is a child. Whatever that endgame entails, tacking on child labor concerns to Lumon seems like a questionable move. Miss Huang probably isn’t severed just as Mr. Milchick isn’t severed, but the way she just sits there playing a Kier game shows just how early the brainwashing can start. 

And then, of course, there’s still the question of what exactly they do for Lumon. As the original MDR returns to their cubicles and get back to work “refining numbers,” Mark’s 68 percent refined numbers flash on another screen, one that holds Ms. Casey’s face. A half answer — whatever they’re refining has something to do with the testing floor — that leads to even more questions. Mark S. has his friends back, but there’s still a race he’s running; but the course is just as mysterious and confusing as the outside world. 

Severance Season 2 airs new episodes everything Friday on Apple TV+

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Images courtesy of Apple TV+