When the ultimate episode of the game-changing first season of Severance dropped all the way in which again in 2022, viewers have been left with few solutions and a whole lot of questions on their minds. In spite of everything, whereas the finale did supply a reasonably satisfying conclusion to the drama of the endlessly trapped in work personas — or “innies” — attempting to struggle their method out of this specific sort of hell, it didn’t elucidate lots of the mysteries launched by the critically acclaimed present. We nonetheless know little or no in regards to the lives of Severance‘s characters outdoors the partitions of the creepy firm known as Lumon, and we all know even much less about what is definitely occurring behind stated partitions. And now that the trailer for Season 2 has dropped, after a three-year wait, we’re as soon as once more taken to this place of darkness and doubt, unsure not solely about what’s to return, but in addition about what now we have already seen, from child goats to work of elevators. As we rely the times earlier than Severance Season 2 returns, listed below are our most burning questions on what is going on on within the present.

What is the Reality Behind Ms. Casey?

Okay, this one might be the query that burns the brightest. In spite of everything, Mark S.’s (Adam Scott) comment about his outie’s spouse being alive is the road the writers selected to shut the present’s first season. In fact, once we’re first launched to Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman), we all know nothing of her relationship with Mark. We’re instructed solely that she is the wellness counselor at Lumon. Nevertheless, because the season progresses, we study that she bares a putting resemblance to Mark’s spouse, Gemma, who allegedly died in a automotive crash a while earlier than the occasions of the sequence. So what precisely is occurring there? Is Ms. Casey actually Gemma? Why is she consistently being experimented on by Lumon? Why did the corporate faux her loss of life?

Why Is Ms. Cobel So Obsessive about Mark?

Maybe Gemma/Ms. Casey’s drama is not a lot about her as it’s about her husband. Lumon appears to have an actual obsession with Mark. Or perhaps we must always say Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette), the Severed Ground supervisor, is the one that may’t get him out of her head. Not solely is she proven to have at the very least some curiosity concerning Mark’s oblivious innie’s interactions with Ms. Casey, however she additionally lives subsequent door to him and even strikes up a relationship along with his sister, participating in a double life by which she is merely a store employee generally known as Mrs. Selvig. Now, Lumon would not appear to be very eager on Cobel’s curiosity in Mark, as proven by the Board reacting poorly to her turning into a lactation knowledgeable simply to enter his sister’s life, so what’s going on there? Is she associated to Mark in some obscure method, or is she merely taking her job method too significantly?

What Does Lumon Really Do?

OK, we get it, Lumon is meant to be a kind of all-encompassing firms, manufacturing all the pieces from meds to tech to watering cans. However why does it seem like there’s one thing sketchier occurring behind closed doorways? What are these bizarre instruction playing cards Optics and Design are engaged on, and what’s up with the child goats that Mark and Helly (Britt Decrease) discover throughout their little escapade? There isn’t a purpose for a contemporary firm akin to Lumon to have a room filled with child goats, proper? Proper?

What on Earth Is Macrodata Refinement?

Whereas we’re on the subject of the creepy issues occurring at Lumon, what’s the bizarre job that Severance‘s primary characters do? When Helly joins the group, it’s defined that their work consists of taking a look at a display filled with numbers and sorting them into packing containers in accordance with nothing however a vibe. That is known as Macrodata Refinement, or MDR, and nobody is aware of precisely what its objective is, not even the folks accountable for the duty. Is it simply meant to characterize a meaningless company job or does it have one thing to do with the severance course of Lumon’s employees bear?

How Widespread Is Severance within the Present’s Universe?

Talking of the severance course of, the present is but to inform us how widespread it really is in its universe. Judging from Lumon’s motto, “United in Severance,” it positive appears to be like like the corporate was accountable for inventing and implementing it, splitting its employees’ personalities to a degree at which they turn into two completely different folks. Nevertheless, Lumon would not appear to be the one firm doing it. Fairly the alternative: everybody is aware of what severance is and there are payments being handed to make it extra commonplace. Among the many 1%, there are even these which might be utilizing it to keep away from the disagreeable components of being pregnant and having a toddler. So precisely what sort of phenomenon are we coping with right here? Will Season 2 lastly present us different kinds of severed employees outdoors of Lumon?

Why Does Irving Maintain Portray the Elevator?

Whereas we do not get many insights into the lives of the MDR group aside from Mark and Helly, we do know a factor or two about them. We all know, as an example, that Dylan (Zach Cherry) has a child and that Irving (John Turturro) is an ex-military officer that seems to be investigating Lumon. Oh, and we additionally know that he likes to color. The issue is he solely actually paints one factor: the darkish hall and the even darker elevator that results in the testing flooring, to which Ms. Casey is taken to be reprogrammed. All of it appears to point that Irving has had some expertise of his personal with the testing flooring, however what precisely is it, and the way lengthy has he actually been at Lumon?

Who Is the Mysterious Baby Innie?

Although the primary season of Severance was already sufficient to fill our minds with questions, the trailer for the upcoming Season 2 is much more mysterious. There are lots of issues that appear off, the most important of them being a scene by which Mark engages in a bonding train with a gaggle of new-hires. One in all them, nonetheless, is a younger woman someplace in her early teenagers. When requested why she is a toddler, Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) merely states that it’s due to when she was born. However that is not what the query meant, proper? What characters and viewers alike have to know is why Lumon is using the companies of a literal child. Is severance getting used to permit youngster labor?

Why Will Helly Come Again as an Innie?

The ending of Severance Season 1 reveals that Helly R.’s outie is none apart from Helena Eagan, the heiress of Lumon founder Kier Eagan. Seems she accepted to bear the severance course of for a PR stunt as a way to persuade the world that severed employees are completely happy and wholesome. Her plan would not fairly work out, although, as Helly R. takes over simply as she is about to offer a speech about the fantastic thing about severance and spills the beans in regards to the hell innies undergo. Nonetheless, the stunt is over. But, the Season 2 trailer clearly reveals Helly going again to Lumon as an innie. Why would Helena try this to herself — or, extra precisely, her different self? Possibly she desires to punish her for what she did? Or perhaps it is a method of conserving tabs on the opposite employees. Both method, one thing is not proper about her return.

Will Reintegration Be Necessary to the Plot in Season 2?

A part of the plot of Severance Season 1 concerned a former MDR employee who underwent a course of named reintegration that’s meant to merge the reminiscences of your outie and innie selves. A detailed good friend of Mark, Petey (Yul Vazquez), discovered horrible issues about Lumon earlier than his premature loss of life after searching for the assistance of a former worker of the corporate by the identify of Reghabi (Karen Aldridge). Nevertheless, Reghabi solely seems for about two episodes, and the reintegration plot strikes to the background after that. Will Season 2 deliver it again, maybe with somewhat extra relevance? Is the endgame of Severance actually the reintegration of its characters?

What’s Up with Irving’s Watermelon Head?

One other second within the Season 2 trailer that has followers scratching their heads is the one by which a watermelon carved to seem like Irving’s head pops on display. Whereas it appears innocuous at first, this watermelon might imply one thing drastic for the character. In Season 1, we study that watermelons are a staple of Lumon’s retirement events by way of Burt’s (Christopher Walken) personal farewell. It’s, thus, no marvel that many are asking themselves if Irving can also be going to retire. This could possibly be Lumon’s response to Burt and Irving’s undesirable workplace romance, to do away with not simply one in all them however each on the identical time, however what occurs subsequent? Will Irving’s innie actually die, or will he come again? Will he be taken to the testing flooring, as his work point out?

What Is Severance Reform?

Lastly, the trailer for the brand new season brings up an vital plot level: one thing known as severance reform, a course of that has been put into movement by the MDR employees as they compelled themselves into the outer world. However what is that this reform? Is it actually one thing that’s being completed out of concern for innies or is it only a cover-up operation, one thing to maintain the critics quiet for somewhat longer? Contemplating how bleak Severance‘s universe is, we’re betting on the second choice. And contemplating simply how terrible a life by which you exist for nothing aside from work appears to be like like, we’re additionally betting a half-hearted reform will not be sufficient.

Season 1 of Severance is on the market to stream on Apple TV+ within the U.S., with Season 2 set to premiere on January 17.

Watch on Apple TV+