Warning: This article contains spoilers for Severance Season 2, Episode 1.
Summary
SeveranceSeason 2 has finally arrived, and the premiere episode raised as many questions as it answered. One plot point fans were left mystified by was the reason one character chose to lie about their experience in the outside world.
Created by Dan Erickson and largely directed by Ben Stiller,Severanceis a psychological sci-fi thriller onApple TV+. The series follows four coworkers working at a corporation named Lumon, whose jobs are so secretive it requires them to undergo a process known as severance to separate their work memories from their personal ones. Theending of Season 1 ofSeverancesaw the innies (work selves) rebel against Lumon by activating the overtime contingency, which allowed them to awaken their work selves outside the confines of the office.
Severance Creator Explains Key Plot Point From Season 2 Premiere
WhenSeverancepicks up in Season 2 the group of four: Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Britt Lower), Dylan (Zach Cherry), and Irving (John Turturro), are reunited and waste no time in sharing their experiences from the outside. While Mark and Irving are truthful, Helly’s recount of her experience is inaccurate. She claimed to have awoken in an average boring apartment where her outie was watching a documentary, but in reality, she found outher outie was an Eaganand the daughter of the Lumon CEO who had voluntarily agreed to join the severance program as an experiment. The reason why Helly would lie about such information to her colleagues has been a point of contention.
Creator Dan Erickson has cleared up why Helly lied in theSeveranceSeason 2 premiere, claiming that she is ashamed of what she learned about her outie. “There’s a lot of shame that comes with that, and there is a concern that her friends won’t accept her. She knows they all vilify the Eagans, and she is one,”Erickson toldVarietyin an interview.
“All of the characters were rattled by what they saw, in one way or another. And each of them has to make a decision when they come back as to how much of that they are willing or ready to share. Helly made the most horrifying discovery that she could have made — because she is, it turns out, what she hates the most. There’s a lot of shame that comes with that, and there is a concern that she won’t be accepted by her friends. She knows they all vilify the Eagans, and she is one. She doesn’t want to have to take on that baggage.”
Is There Another Explanation For Helly’s Lie?
This reasoning seems like a natural explanation of why Helly, who has typically been very open about her feelings, would suddenly be so secretive. Her colleagues seemed to buy her story at first, although Irving appeared suspicious after picking some holes in her recount, such as why she would encounter a local gardener during the night. For now, however,Helly’s lie remains intactand will no doubt be a source of tension as the story progresses. Of course, there’s also the possibility that there’s a deeper motivation for Helly’s lie that Erickson is withholding to allow for it to be a surprise for audiences.
SeveranceSeason 2 releases new episodes weekly on Fridays on Apple TV+.
