Spoilers below for anyone who hasn't yet streamed Severance's Season 2 premiere with an Apple TV+ subscription, so be warned!
One of my biggest TV obsessions has finally returned, with Severance arriving on the 2025 premiere schedule three years after that first season's cliffhanger had everyone wondering if Mark would actually remember yelling "She's aliiive!" before being pulled back into his outie's reality. Answer: he didn't. But creator Dan Erickson's team still filled the episode with myriad other answers and new details to gnaw on until the next episode of this critically acclaimed season arrives.
Of all the wild and unpredictable quotes, discoveries, changes and introductions on display in "Hello, Ms. Cobel," what drew my attention the most was Lumon's bonkers "Microdat Uprising" video that Milchick showed to Mark, Helly, Dylan and Irving as a way of welcoming them back, seemingly months after the events of the previous episode. So join me in obsessively running through some of that video's most oddball and questionable details.
1. Does Lumon Have Its Own Animation Studio?
So, I already didn't believe when Milchick told Mark it's been five months since the "Uprising," but even if that were the case, I have trouble believing Lumon either employs animators skilled enough to create it, or that they would outsource such a job from a professional. Especially considering the lo-lo-fi CGI shown in past animated clips.
2.. "Lumon Is Listening"
Pretty ballsy to start this video off with a double Lum-ontendre that very clearly points out that this workplace is a surveillance state, but in such a celebratory way that it seems like it actually does mean the best-case version, that Lumon wants to appease the Innies' needs.
3. The Slightly Different Building Setting
Viewers are aware of what the immediate area surrounding the Lumon building looks like, even if only in snow-covered form, and the version seen in the video doesn't quite look the same. I get that there was no reason for the animators in this case to go 1:1 with the recreation, but why make it similar at all if not?
4. Why Is This Building Branch 501?
As the animated building itself points out, it's classified as Branch 501, which makes it sound like it wasn't the first administrative building the company built. Yet, it's then stated that the building was "sired" in 1870 as an illustration shows a home sat in the same spot all those years ago, followed by a time-lapsed look at its evolution over time. But maybe other buildings did come before it, and the home was only repurposed after its owner's death.
5. Nope To That Giant Winking Kier Egan Face
I wouldn't even like that giant wall of Kier Egan's face even if it didn't blink. But the fact that it does is extra justification.
6. I Wonder If All The Other Employees Shown Are Actual Lumon Workers
Since animated versions of Mark, Helly, Dylan and Irving are all seen in the video, does that mean every other claymation character represents someone else working in the same building? I get that we might never meet even a tiny fraction of those who work anywhere between the surface and the Severed Floor, but I do wonder about the workers seen in that setting.
7. "My Basement Floor"
More straight-up lying from the Lumon Administrative Building. (Perhaps buildings have looser moral codes in such respects.) We know that in order to reach the Testing Floor, employees have to go down, which would make THAT the basement.
8. Lumon Is Located In 206 Countries
For all that it seems like Lumon has its work cut out for it just at the one Kier building in the fictional state abbreviated as PE, that workforce is apparently small potatoes compared to the brand's global reach as a whole. I'm not entirely sure if we should believe the video's claim that it operates in 206 countries, and part of me can't help but suspect this whole operation of being smaller than it claims. I couldn't quite tell if anything was different or off about the lit-up globe used in that moment.
9. No Running In The Halls, Lest You Tickle The Walls
I honestly don't understand if the wall claiming its ticklish is supposed to be anything other a blatantly patronizing way to curb running down the halls. But at least Irving thought it was worth a chuckle, even if Ms. Hwong wasn't amused.
10. Bluebirds Of Happiness?
I'm not entirely sure if those are meant to represent "bluebirds" as a species, or just to offer the general idea of the bluebird of happiness. (The Lumon building talks about happiness when they're shown, so I'm definitely connecting them, especially since blue is such an important color in this universe.
11. Team MDR's Efforts Get A Cinematic Dramatization
The section that actually covers the "Uprising" is a wild case of corporate gaslighting, and to the people who actually made it happen. The video makes the foursome's efforts appear far more organized, confident, and Mission: Impossible-esque, even though the people watching it know it wasn't nearly as smooth.
12. "Let's Burn This Place To The Ground"
Echoing the notion that Lumon Is Listening, the video features Irving's actual voice making the rebellious suggestion above, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that MDR's conversations and actions are always being seen, heard, and recorded.
13. Twirling, Burning Irving
I get the idea of Irving's burning scalp visually denoting his hotheaded nature in regards to his threatening words, but I'm perhaps less aware of what the synchronized spinning choreography was about. I'm going to pretend that it means Outie Irving is a dancer.
14. They Even Animated Mark And Helly's Kiss
As much as Mark and Helly's smooch outside the elevators was set up as the "Love" quadrant of this epic-seeming tale, I think it's pretty weird that Lumon would so willingly draw attention to that interaction without ulterior motives beyond shaming the two characters in front of their cubicle mates.
15. Were Cobel And Milchick Giving Advice On Building Plans?
While I could be wrong, it appears to be Cobel and Milchick talking to a blueprint-holding building contractor. But even if that's not correct, it does present a question similar to "Who animated this video?" Lumon seems like the kind of place that wouldn't hire random outside contractors, and would only want to work with trusted partners, but is there anyone in the outside world who might have secrets or helpful knowledge about the building that could help the Outies?
16. "Tasty New Snacks"
- Fruit Leather
- Cut Beans
- Christmas mints
- Salsa
I want a few of whatever snack made Dylan go all psycho-orgasmo, except all of the options above sound terrible as vending machine purchases, so maybe I'll pass. But still, what a sad list.
17. That Hall Pass Is Too Little, Too Late
With Irving's trips to see Burt helping to stoke the fires of the Uprising, making Hall Passes a new incentive after forcing Burt into retirement feels like an incredibly malicious middle finger at John Turturro's character.
18. How Can Bobbing For A Pineapple Possilbly Be An Incentive?
Less directly targeted than the Hall Pass, at least I think, is the notion that Bobbing For Pineapples makes any sense to anyone. It's a non-incentive of the highest order, since the only way to succeed is through self-harm. So maybe it IS a cheap shot, but aimed at Helly, who is indeed the one whose head is dunked rather violently below the water, with her eyes going all wonky at one point. Foreshadowing for Helly, or just quirky animation?
19. Ain't Nothing Playful About That Mirror Room
Lumon taking more shots at Irving by reflecting monstrous visions of himself within the "playful" mirror room. (Maybe that's what the contractor was holding blueprints for.) The way the final distorted face remains reflected in the water during the scene transition is all kinds of foreboding. Whoever put this together at Lumon was not aiming to deliver comfort whatsoever.
20. In The End, Kier Still Gets The Glory
Despite starting off with the MDR team being hailed as quasi-heroes, the video ends perhaps predictably not by repeating their praises, but by giving all the graciousness and credit to Kier Eagan.
Even with all of those thoughts above, there are other tidbits I could go on about, such as being kind of disappointed the reflective pool had no goats slurping up its water. But hopefully more of those details are on the way soon. Thanks for taking this laborious and important journey with me.
New episodes of Severance hit Apple TV+ every Friday.
