‘Severance’: 10 burning questions that need to be answered in Season 3

Warning: This post contains spoilers about Severance Season 2.

What happens next?

Severance's Season 2 finale answers some critical questions — the purpose of Cold Harbor is revealed; we finally know what the goats are for — but it sets up many more. Here are 10 lingering head-scratchers that Severance must address in Season 3.

Why Mark?

Mark (Adam Scott) seems to be some kind of chosen one, but we don’t know why. What about him, a seemingly ordinary man, made Lumon choose him for this vital task? There are theories that Lumon, for some reason, sees him as the reincarnation of Kier Eagan or that he and Helly will produce a child that is the reincarnation of or true heir to Kier Eagan. Or maybe he and Gemma (Dichen Lachman) just happened to be in the right/wrong place and the right/wrong time, and their connection made them perfect test subjects, and Lumon exploited the opportunity Gemma and Mark presented. In this version, everything that’s happened with Mark S. and Helly (Britt Lower) has been an unplanned side effect of giving people sentience without freedom.

Are Mark, Helly, and Dylan about to pull a Les Mis?

All season long the innies have been pitted against their outies. In the finale, Mark leaves Gemma for Helly; Helly comes close to shivving Jame Egan (Michael Siberry), CEO of Lumon and Helena Eagan's father; and Dylan (Zach Cherry) is devastated by being cut off from his outie's wife, Gretchen (Merritt Wever). The tempers are boiling. Beyond MRD, we know there's growing discontentment throughout the Severed Floor as the teams in Optics and Design, Choreography and Merriment (we need more marching band action!), and Mammalians Nurturable (we need more goats!) and are all slowly coming to terms with their dire situations. Is there an epic battle brewing for Season 3?

Will Helly R. become Helly Eagan?

As noted, there’s a scene early in the finale where Jame Eagan visits Helly R. on the Severed Floor and tells her that he doesn’t see Kier in Helena, but he sees him in Helly's anger and rebelliousness and “fire.”

“You and your family created hell, and you’re going to burn in it,” she says. “There he is,” he answers.

So this raises some interesting questions. Would he somehow appoint Helly R. as his successor, not Helena Eagan? Would Helly accept this? She hates Lumon more than anyone, and it seems unlikely she would want to become its CEO, but what if that was the only way she could ensure her survival? How would it work for an innie to become the dominant half of a severed body?

Is Gemma finally safe?

There’s still plenty about Gemma we don’t know. Did Lumon stage her accident, possibly with the involvement of Burt (Christopher Walken)? How seriously injured was she and how did Lumon revive her? Between her 25 severed personalities and the trauma of seeing her husband run off with another woman, will she be able to cope with life on the outside? And if she somehow escapes Lumon HQ, can she really trust sister-in-law Devon Scout-Hale (Jen Tullock) given some of the latter’s mind-boggling decision-making this season — not the least of which has been leaving her newborn in the care of her doofy husband Ricken Hale (Michale Chernus).

Will Mark face manslaughter charges?

Let this sink in: Mark accidentally killed a guy. What’s going to happen with that? Can an innie go to prison? Would he be punished inside of Lumon? Who would even be held responsible for Drummond’s death since it happened during the transition between Marks? Will it just get swept under the rug? It will be fascinating to see what the fallout will be from this.

How will Milchick turn on Lumon?

Season 2 is setting up Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman) to snap and defect from Lumon. His negative performance review, Drummond policing his language, and the company blaming him for things that are not his fault are pushing him toward the edge. If he’s fired over what happened in the finale, will his disgruntlement make him an ally of Cobel and/or anyone else trying to fight Lumon? Could he be key to turning the tide in the looming rebellion?

What does Cobel really want?

We learned in Episode 8, “Sweet Vitriol,” that Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) is the true inventor of severance and was a true believer in the cause (and still believes, to some degree) but has become disillusioned by being cast aside. She wants credit for her creation, and if she doesn’t get it, she will burn Lumon to the ground. That’s the most obvious explanation. But Cobel is so dishonest and plays her cards so close to the vest that it’s hard to be sure about what she wants or how she intends to get it. Even though we’ve learned more about her, she remains inscrutable.

Will we see Irving again?

In Episode 9, “The After Hours,” Burt takes Irving (John Turturro) to a train station and tells him to leave and never come back for his own protection. Irving was investigating Lumon, and it was going to get him killed. Burt knows what Lumon is capable of because Lumon sent him to take Irving to be killed. But Burt loves Irving, and rather than drive him to his death, he sends him away. But it seems unlikely that that’s the last we’ll see of Irving. Someone that dogged doesn’t give up that easily. But how will he return, and what will happen when he does? While we’re at it, will we learn more about Burt’s sketchy backstory. And while we’re at it, is there any world in which Irving and Burt can find their happily ever after?

Will we see Miss Huang again?

Also, in “The After Hours,” deputy Severed Floor manager and literal child Eustice Huang (Sarah Bock) got shipped off to Svalbard when her rotation was complete. The theremin-playing, Milchick-sabotaging kid became a fan favorite when she was introduced in Season 2, and her storyline ended very abruptly, so hopefully, she will return in Season 3.

What’s Lumon’s endgame?

Even after two seasons, we’re still not quite sure what Lumon is up to. Fascinating fan-splanations abound, however. Severance is the first step to creating living vessels to house the consciousness of the dead, notably the one-percenters bankrolling Lumon — perhaps even Kier Eagan. The waffle parties are a front to have severed employees unwittingly impregnate Lumon-ites to create a supply of true believers. Severance is a tool that can be wielded by the powerful to subjugate the masses. These are just a few of theories, and we won’t know the truth until Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller are ready to tell us what Lumon is really up to.

Season 3 can't get here fast enough.