Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet watched Severance’s Season 2 finale with an Apple TV+ subscription, so be warned!
It seems like Severance’s long-awaited second season just arrived, and yet we’re already in post-season mode, with so many details to speculate about ahead of the already confirmed Season 3 (with reported changes for the creative team). From Gemma’s reaction to iMark and iHelly to the wild reveal about the goats’ importance to a mother-flipping marching band, the finale delivered all the goods while still leaving plenty of storylines unconcluded.
One massive example that fits the bill is Mark’s current reintegration status, which was seemingly put on hold after his at-work nosebleed that resulted in him going into a mini-coma. We haven’t seen Reghabi since Episode 7, when she hit the road after Devon threatened to call Ms. Cobel, and it’s entirely unclear how many more treatments he might need, or what effects the treatments are having on his body.
Now, I can only assume I’m not the only Severance fanatic who’s believed that Mark’s coughing fits in Season 2 are a side effect of the reintegration process, similar to the headaches and nausea that we already know about. But what if they’re completely unrelated? Creator Dan Erickson somehow made that question relevant when asked by iO9 to clarify if the coughing is a consequence of the medical procedure. In his words:
[Pause] Hmm. You might get a different answer from somebody else.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, what?!? I mean, obviously if someone called up a 911 operator or pizzeria and asked that same question, they'd get a different answer from whatever Dan Erickson would say. But that's almost definitely not the context that the Severance creator was speaking of.
Instead, he seems to be saying that fans might get a different take on Mark's coughing if they'd ask, for instance, star Adam Scott about it. Or one or more of the writers. Or even Reghabi herself. (Not the actress, but the character, who would probably deny that she had anything to do with his respiratory issues.)
Dan Erickson clarified his own belief, but while still seemingly making it clear that his word is not necessarily bond where this detail is concerned.
To me, that is a side effect of the reintegration. That’s sort of how I view it.
"Sort of how I view it" is such a baffling way to phrase a response about something that Erickson likely knows a full answer to. Because if it isn't a side effect of the reintegration process, then what are we talking about?
Is it possible that Mark is suffering from some other kind of malady that no one is aware of yet, least of all Mark himself? Is there some kind of long-gestating side effect that comes with working on the Severed Floor?
That one doesn't seem as likely if Adam Scott's character is the only one who's been coughing, but there could obviously be other symptoms that we're not clocking properly. What if one of the symptoms is "falling in love with your Outie's wife?" If that's the case, Dylan is boned.
If Lumon's chips are having some kind of additionally detrimental effect on employees' health, that's a completely different angle for Innies to take in staging a revolution against the corporation. But it doesn't seem like the show's writers would wait until Season 3 to introduce that as a general idea.
That said, it wasn't until the Twilight Zone-inspired episode "The After Hours" where viewers were made aware that Jame Eagan has apparently been impregnating various women, with some of them going to Lumon's birthing cabin to get the pregnancy taken care of, so to speak. So if that can be a "new" reveal, I guess it's plausible that we'll find out next season that Outie Mark has permanent bronchitis.
Here's hoping it won't be another three years before we finally make it back down the elevator to see what kind of delightful new art will be on the wall next.
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