Severance: 9 Burning Questions We Still Have After The Season 1 Finale
Warning: This post contains spoilers for Friday's Severance season finale.
After that thrill ride of a season finale, Severance fans, consider this your exit interview.
Season 1 of the Apple TV+ workplace thriller ended with a pulse-pounding finale that did shed light on a few key mysteries, like Helly and Irving's lives outside the office. (For more details, read our full finale recap here and our post mortem with costar Britt Lower here.) But we were still left pondering quite a few mysteries — especially after the finale left us dangling on such a cliffhanger. Good thing Apple renewed it for a second season, huh?
So to kill time until more episodes (and more answers) arrive, we're taking stock of the burning questions that we still have after that shocking season finale. Grab a waffle, turn on some defiant jazz and join us as we list them off, won't you? (And be sure to hit the comments and share your own burning questions, along with any answers you might have.)
9. What will the consequences be for the "Innies"?
Lumon now knows Mark and his work pals triggered the "overtime contingency" switch to get a look at the outside world — and we know Lumon doesn't tolerate disobedient behavior from its employees. Will they all get a trip to the "break room," or do they face an even more sinister punishment we haven't glimpsed yet?
8. How will the outside world react to Helly's outburst?
Helly told the world how miserable they are as severed Lumon workers, but will that change any hearts and minds in the real world? It seems like other ex-Lumon employees have sounded the alarm before, and we know at least one politician is a fan of the procedure.
7. Is "Outtie" Mark doomed to not know the truth about his wife?
The finale ended with Mark crying out, "She's alive!" after seeing a photo of his wife and piecing together that she is Lumon's wellness advisor Ms. Casey. But now that he's snapped back to his out-of-work self, he won't remember that, and the other partygoers might not know what he was even talking about. So it's possible (and devastating) that only "Innie" Mark will know the truth, and that huge secret will remain safely locked behind Lumon's cubicle walls. And while we're on the subject...
6. What actually happened to Mark's wife?
Mark's sister Devon told him that his wife died in a car accident, but as we can see, she's very much alive and working for Lumon. Was her death faked by the company? (Mark didn't work for them back then, remember.) Or — bear with us a minute — was she actually cloned, and Ms. Casey isn't actually his wife but just a replica? Which brings us to our next question...
5. What does Lumon do as a company, anyway?
We've only gotten fleeting (and bizarre) peeks at what Lumon Industries' mysterious purpose is, with baby goats and rows of high-powered machines. As we just mentioned, maybe it's some sort of cloning operation, or high-tech mind control device? But honestly, we're just as lost as Mark and company at this point.
4. Is Irving an anti-Lumon crusader on the outside?
Inside the Lumon office, Irving is the most rigorously loyal of company men, but in the finale, we saw his outside home was littered with clippings about Lumon employees suing the company, along with a directory of employees' personal information. Could he possibly be a mole investigating Lumon from the inside in hopes of bringing it down? If so, that would lend a cruel irony to his enthusiastic embrace of the Lumon way.
3. What is Dylan's home life like?
We got to see Helly and Irving outside the office in the finale, but as for the wisecracking Dylan, we've only seen a quick look at his closet (and one of his kids) when Milchick flipped the overtime switch in an earlier episode. Is he married? Does he have any huge shocking secrets? (Maybe he doesn't even like waffles anyway.)
2. Will Cobel get her job back?
The high-strung executive lost her job earlier in Season 1, but she still hustled to try and stop Helly from exposing Lumon's secrets. If she hadn't called Milchick, the whole company could've gone down in flames. So maybe the board finds a way to bring her back into the fold next season. (Plus, we just want to keep Patricia Arquette on our TV screens as long as possible.)
1. When will we get to see Season 2?
After that finale, we're dying to click ahead to the next episode, but we may be waiting a while for Severance's sophomore run. Executive producer and director Ben Stiller tells Rolling Stone that Season 2 will hopefully be in production by the end of the year and then "possibly" air in 2023. Until then, enjoy the waffles!