After the conclusion of its Season 1 run in April 2022, Severance is now gearing up for its much-anticipated comeback at the start of 2025. With a significant gap of almost three years between seasons, viewers might find themselves in need of a refresher on the events that unfolded in the final moments of Season 1's last episode.

Unraveling the Mysteries of Severance's Season 1 Finale

Work Persona and Personal Lives: Lumon's Unique Procedure

Severance takes us on a journey into the lives of a group of workers at Lumon. These employees have agreed to undergo a remarkable procedure that separates their work persona from their personal lives, creating distinct "outie" and "innie" personalities. When they enter the Lumon building and take the elevator to the appropriate floor, their innies are activated, erasing their outie memories until they leave the building. This unique setup forms the foundation of the show's intriguing narrative.

In the finale, the Macrodata Refinement team at Lumon, consisting of Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Britt Lower), Dylan (Zach Cherry), and Irv (John Turturro), devised a plan to liberate their innies into the real world through an overtime contingency. Dylan managed to infiltrate the system within Lumon and disable a setting in the severed employees, enabling innie Mark, Helly, and Irv to awaken in the real world.

As the innies woke up, Mark found himself at a party hosted by his outie's sister Devon (Jen Tullock) and brother-in-law. Interestingly, this brother-in-law is an author whom the innies hold in high regard at Lumon. Additionally, Mark encountered his boss, Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette), who is known to his outie as his neighbor Mrs. Selvig. Eventually, Mark accidentally referred to Harmony by her last name, giving away the true nature of the situation, and she fled to warn Lumon.

The Realization and Consequences

Mark's discovery that Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman) is actually his "dead" wife Gemma, as seen in a wedding photo at Devon's house, added another layer of complexity. However, before he could make this revelation clear, the overtime contingency was deactivated, leaving him only able to shout, "She's alive," at the party before the episode ended.

Innie Irv awakened in his outie's home, which was adorned with various paintings of a dark and foreboding hallway reminiscent of the spaces found in Lumon's labyrinthine building. With no clear explanation for this, Irv set out to find Burt (Christopher Walken), a colleague with whom he had developed a romantic connection at Lumon. But when he reached Burt's door and noticed that he had a significant other, Irv hesitated and decided to turn back before his innie was deactivated.

The most jaw-dropping moment of Season 1's finale was the revelation that Helly's outie was actually Helena Eagen, the daughter of Lumon's CEO. Awakening mid-speech at a company soiree, innie Helly realized her true identity and began to expose the horrors that innies endure while working for the company. When her innie control was taken away, viewers were left wondering about the impact of her words on Lumon and its future.

Dylan's efforts to keep the overtime contingency active got him into trouble with the terrifying Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman). As Severance prepares for its return, the questions surrounding these events and the characters' fates continue to linger. What will happen when the series returns? Stay tuned and share your hopes for the next season.

Severance, Season 2 Premiere, Friday, January 17, 2025, Apple TV+More Headlines: