After more than two years between seasons, Severance returns with Season 2 on Jan. 17 on Apple TV+. 
Apple TV+ Created by Dan Erickson, Severance follows a group of workers at Lumon Industries who have agreed to the “severance program,” where your non-work memories are separated from your work memories, thus giving you an “innie” and “outie” life.
Season 1 received critical acclaim, with the series scoring 14 Emmy nominations in 2022, including Outstanding Drama Series.
The 10-episode new season has been highly anticipated by fans, and it’s already getting rave reviews from critics. Variety and Vulture both called it “worth the wait.” 
Apple TV+ Personally, I feel Severance is going to be the successor to Succession in terms of fan love and critical acclaim.
But if you’re like me and watched Season 1 back when it first aired in 2022, you might feel like you don’t remember the big things you SHOULD remember before Season 2 starts. 
Apple TV+ Like, Devon knows a lot of stuff.
So, below are 17 things you need to know about Severance Season 1 before Season 2: THERE ARE OBVIOUSLY MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1 AHEAD!
This post contains mentions of suicide.
1. First, I think it’s important to remember that Severance kicks off with Helly R. (Britt Lower) joining Lumon and taking part in the severance program. While Mark (Adam Scott) is the main character we follow, Helly’s severance procedure is the inciting incident for the series. 
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2. Helly, being a somewhat rebellious new hire, ultimately leads Mark to start questioning the secrets behind Lumon’s daily operations and the severance program alongside Dylan G. (Zach Cherry) and Irving B. (John Turturro). 
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3. It’s revealed that Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman) is actually Gemma, Mark’s wife, who died in a car accident. 
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4. After Mark and Ms. Casey’s final wellness session, Ms. Casey is sent back down to the “testing floor,” whose entrance and hallway is the same one that Irving’s outie paints. 
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5. Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette), the manager of the severed floor at Lumon — who is also Mrs. Selvig, Mark’s neighbor outside of work — was fired from Lumon after it was revealed that Helly attempted suicide. 
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6. Mark’s sister Devon (Jen Tullock) meets Senator Angelo Arteta, whom she later discovers is the leading figure in the severance debate. She reads an article about how he’s “defending corporations like Lumon’s use of the controversial severance procedure.” 
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7. Okay, now, the Season 1 finale is really where there are so many details that you need to remember. First, it kicks off with Dylan staying behind at Lumon to initiate the overtime contingency that allows Mark, Helly, and Irving’s innie personas to be placed into their outie’s lives. 
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8. Helly wakes up to discover that she’s at a Lumon gala, and her outie is Helena Eagan, the daughter of Lumon’s CEO. It turns out she underwent the severance procedure to gain public support for legalizing the procedure. 
Apple TV+ She chats with Senator Arteta at the gala as well.
9. Mark learns that he’s at a party with Ricken (Michael Chernus), who is actually his brother-in-law. Earlier in the season, Mark’s innie was reading Ricken’s book after he found it at Lumon. This is when Mark’s innie finds out he took the severance procedure after Gemma’s death. 
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10. At the party, Mark encounters Cobel and accidentally refers to her as Cobel instead of Mrs. Selvig, which causes her to flee and go to Lumon, as she knows the overtime contingency is in effect. Eventually, she gets ahold of Milchick (Tramell Tillman), who races to stop Dylan and shut it down. 
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11. Irving wakes up and discovers his outie has been collecting information on severed Lumon employees, including himself and Burt (Christopher Walken). He finds Burt’s address and uses a map to go and find him. 
Apple TV+ Prior to this, Irving’s innie learned that Burt was retiring from Lumon.
12. Helly talks to her father at the gala, where he commends her for surviving what her “innie tried to do,” referencing her attempted suicide. He also reveals that because of her taking part in the severance program, everyone in the world could have a severance chip, too. 
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13. While his innie is in control of his outie’s persona, Mark tells Devon everything and implores her to have every inch of the Lumon facility inspected. He also reveals that Mrs. Selvig is Cobel, his boss from Lumon. 
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14. Cobel confronts Helly right before her speech at the Lumon gala. On stage, Helly introduces herself and says that “everything they’ve told you about severance is a lie” and that none of the innies are happy, and they are tortured. 
Apple TV+ Cobel threatens Helly that her friends and Mark will suffer if she ruins Lumon, too.
15. After trying to bribe Dylan to stop the overtime contingency, including telling him he has three children, Milchick busts into the room and tackles Dylan, thus stopping him from holding the two levers and continuing the procedure. 
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16. Eventually, Irving finds Burt and notices that he’s living with another man. Despite this, Irving approaches Burt’s front door, yelling his name, but the overtime contingency is shut down before they see each other. 
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17. And finally, while searching through the house for baby Eleanor, Mark finds a wedding photo showing himself with Gemma/Ms. Casey. He screams, “She’s alive,” just as the season ends. 
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Are you excited for Severance Season 2? What mysteries are you hoping to get answered? Tell us everything in the comments below!
Dial 988 in the United States to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The 988 Lifeline is available 24/7/365. Your conversations are free and confidential. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org. The Trevor Project, which provides help and suicide-prevention resources for LGBTQ youth, is 1-866-488-7386.
