Severance season 2 has only just returned – but viewers have already been combing the opening episode for clues.
The return saw Mark’s (Adam Scott) innie resume work at Lumon with a new team after he and his co-workers staged a coup that allowed their innies and outies to briefly co-exist.
The so-called ‘Macrodat Uprising’ led to ‘severance reform’, including greater welfare measures for employees, but Mark is told his original team Irving (John Turturro), Helly (Britt Lower) and Dylan (Zach Cherry) refused to accept the new deal.
After failing to bond with his new co-workers, Mark eventually manages the board to convince his original crew to return to Lumon – but viewers are convinced something is awry.
On Reddit, Severance fans are convinced that Helly’s outie, Helena Egan, heiress to the Lumon empire, has gone undercover as Helly to influence Mark and the team.
They have offered multiple reasons for their ‘mind-blowing’ theory including Helly’s behaviour toward Mark, her explanation for her outie’s life and her ‘fumbling’ with her computer station.
ReadMyStuff explained: ‘I’ve seen a number of posts where people are convincing themselves she isn’t. But upon my third rewatch of the new episode I simply cannot not present the case for why Helena has gone undercover as her innie as part of a clean-up/revenge plot against our macrodata refiners.’
One of the user’s reasons was that when Helly returns to her workstation she ‘fumbles’ with the on-switch on the back for a second. However, in an earlier scene, viewers see Mark’s muscle memory kick in and flick it on the first try.
Dylan and Irving also successfully turned on their computers on the first attempt without issue.
Agreeing, Bodge5000 said: ‘For such a small detail, to me the power button feels like the smoking gun. Everything else can be explained away quite easily, and when I first started reading this theory I found it all quite easy to dismiss, but that one little detail really sells me on this. I still wouldn’t say I’m 100% certain either way though.’
ReadMyStuff was also perplexed by Helly’s cold reaction to Mark discussing his wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman), who he believed to be dead but he found alive in Lumon working as Ms Casey, a therapist.
Sharply, she tells him: ‘Technically still she’s not your wife…your outtie bought the ring.’
They argued it was a comment more in line with Helena’s agenda as it ‘reinforces the separation between innies and outies.’ It is also an out of character cold remark from Helly, who is generally supportive of Mark.
Reddit user Cissumlord added: ‘It is blowing my mind that people aren’t seeing the cruelty in that smile. To me, the derision and disgust are so clear but I see people acting like she was jealous or something? Wild.’
Viewers also noted that Helly lied about her outie and rather than telling Mark and the others she was Helena Egan, she instead said she woke up in a regular apartment.
She also mentioned she saw a ‘gardener’ even though their rebellion happened at nighttime and she lives in an apartment block – which Irving pulled her up on.
Explaining why that comment doesn’t feel authentic to Helly, ReadMyStuff said: ‘To most people a gardener would be a luxury, perhaps not to Helena. And the idea of a gardener for apartments at night is simply laughable. Then she follows up with “maybe he has a different job during the day”.’
Time will tell if Helly is an imposter but fans have already declared Severance season 2 as ‘peak television.’
Among them was @dinmurdock, who declared on X: ‘What an opening scene.. this is a true masterpiece. #Severance.’
Echoing their sentiment, @Hei5enberg501st raved: ‘The first scene alone made the almost 3 year wait for S2 worth it. Peak television is back. #severance.’
Severance has also been a critical success – with both seasons holding a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Severance is available to stream on Apple TV Plus.
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