We’re nearing the finish line of Severance season two and the last episode’s got a lot riding to address before we can be satisfied with signing off. After all, we might’ve gotten to the bottom of some pretty big questions thus far, but every new development has only lead to more inquiries.
Now, Severance creator Ben Stiller has confirmed that we’re in for a mammoth finale that’s over an hour long (76 minutes, to be precise!). Here are all the burning questions we hope the big finish answers.
Also, spoiler alert!!
1) Why did Gemma become Ms. Casey?
In an episode that was equal parts insightful and devastating, episode seven finally shed some light on what’s been going on with Gemma (Dichen Lachman). We learnt more about her romance with Mark (Adam Scott), how they met, the trials of their miscarriage, and how the grief and desire for a baby might’ve driven her to Lumon and the testing floor.
But the mystery remains: how did she “die”? How did she get to Lumon? And if her Innie is going through these bizarre tests in various rooms — such as going to the dentist, writing thank you cards on Christmas morning, and riding out a turbulent plane ride — why exactly does Ms Casey the counselor exist?
What are we in for next episode?? (Image: IMDb)
One Redditor suggests it might’ve been a “personal project” of Ms Cobel (Patricia Arquette), who hoped to prove there’s no recognition between personalities when severed. How was she gonna prove this? By putting Mark and Gemma face-to-face, duh!
But others reckon there might be more to Ms Casey than meets the eye, with another user pointing out Cobel almost seems excited about reintegration. She even dug around in a dead man’s skull to get proof it exists. So could there be more to this than meets the eye?
2) Is Mr Milchick about to switch sides?
Mr Milchick (Tramell Tillman), current head of the severed floor, has had a bit of a rough season, with the ORTBO going off the rails, Irving being dismissed, a poor performance review, and those odd black Kier paintings that he went out of his way to hide.
It’s had many hoping for a killer plot twist in Milchick backing the Innies. We might’ve even seen a glimpse of this when he stood up to security chief Mr Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) last episode and just made “devour feculence” my new favourite swear word.
So could we see ol’ Milchick turn against Lumon and join the MDR revolution?? Fingers crossed.
3) Is Mark going to re-integrate — and what’s Devon’s role here?
Cobel has had us pretty confused all season about where her loyalties lie. Is she a Lumon gal through and through? Has she finally seen the light? Is she really going to help Mark?
For many, given her investment in his Innie completing Cold Harbour (more on that below) we’re all left wondering if we can really trust Cobel to sacrifice her life’s work to help Gemma.
And as for Mark’s sister, her behaviour has been a little sus, let’s admit. According to one Reddit theory, the presence of goats (considered a Lumon symbol) in Ricken and Devon’s house raises a few flags. She also chose to believe Cobel over Reghabi, with had many of us scratching our heads.
Another popular theory points out Devon uses an Android this season, and we all know the supposed clause of how villains aren’t allowed to use an iPhone on screen. Can Devon be trusted??
4) What is Cold Harbour?
We’ve seen the room labelled Cold Harbour but we genuinely have no idea what awaits on the other side. Some theories suggest Gemma might have to re-experience her miscarriage over and over (already sobbing at the thought of that one) while others suggest it could be literal drowning or even a car crash that kills her. All we know from Cobel’s clues is that it’s meant to be fatal.
Even more devastatingly, many Redditors have pointed out the irony that Mark’s severed to escape the grief, only to unknowingly contribute to the experience of Gemma dying all over again.
Another theory suggests Cobel might not mean a literal death and whatever lies in the room might involve Gemma’s Outtie being erased, or removed from Mark’s memory.
“That’s something I could see Lumon selling to the masses, a way to erase grief,” they said.
I’m not crying, you’re crying.
Seriously, WHAT is Cold Harbour?? (Image: IMDb)
5) What happened to Irving and who has he been talking to?
He’s probably my favourite character, so I’m pretty invested in this one.
At the end of season one, we got a glimpse of Irving’s research into Lumon, including that big trunk full of military medals and secrets. Reddit’s been pretty confused about whether he’s ex-special forces looking into Lumon as a powerful global force or whether he’s still on duty.
The black elevator paintings of the export hallway certainly have us guessing on whether he’s trained to somehow “pass information” between his Innie and Outtie. The secret calls Outtie Irving’s been making from the pay phone haven’t helped either.
So as we saw him seemingly leave Kier on that train, are we going to get any more answers here?
6) Will Mark somehow have to choose between Helly R & Gemma?
There’s been an undeniable love triangle brewing this season as Innie Mark finally explores his relationship with Helly and Outtie Mark chases answers about his wife’s death. Is this going to come to a head in the finale?
Severance has never hesitated to imply heartbreak for the Innies, as we saw with Dylan’s latest storyline, so is Mark going to face the same fate? Can he save Gemma and somehow hold onto Helly R?
Quick side-note, another bonkers theory has all the sex we’ve seen this season could even end up with a pregnancy, with the babies in the opening credits potentially pointing to this. Would it be Helly R or Helena and what will they do with it??
7) What is the Wintertide Fellowship?
We now know Cobel and Ms Huang (Sarah Bock) have somehow been involved in some kind of Lumon fellowship for young people, having previously heard a fleeting reference to them from Mr Milchick early in the season on whether Ms Huang is “Wintertide material”.
There’s a couple of parallels between the two girls, who both worked for Lumon since they were a child. But we’re yet to learn anything about what the fellowship means or how it connects to any of this. Is this going to come up in the finale??
Now let me be the first to admit there are plenty more questions fans will probably wanted answered — like who is the Lumon board? What’s up with Natalie and that creepy, pained smile? What’s up with the goats? Why is Lumon getting Ricken to write a book??
So this isn’t an exhaustive list, but I’m down to see which aspects the finale decides to address and which questions might just have to wait for season three.
Lead image: IMDb
