Warning! This article contains spoilers for Severance season 2, episode 1.
In Severance season 2, episode 1, Mark S is faced with a new team of colleagues whom he tries to get fired from Lumon. The reasoning behind this links to Severance’s other cast of characters, namely Helly, Irving, and Dylan. After Severance season 1’s cliffhanger ending, the main question going into season 2 is what repercussions Mark and his fellow Macrodata Refinement employees would face for so openly opposing their superiors at Lumon. As it turns out, those repercussions were inflicted on everyone except Mark himself.
Following a brief attempt at escape, Mark finds himself back in his old office, only this time with some unfamiliar faces. After the blending of the lives of Severance’s innies and outies, Milchick reveals that Helly, Dylan, and Irving did not return to Lumon. This leaves Mark S with three new workers named Mark W, Gwendolyn, and David. Not knowing where his old team is after Severance season 1’s climactic Overtime Contingency, Mark attempts to get them back at the cost of his new colleagues and their jobs at Lumon.
Mark Tries To Get The New Employees Fired So His Old Team Could Return In Severance Season 2
Mark Needs His Team At Any Cost
Herein lies the reason as to why Mark tries to get his new team fired: he wants his old friends back. Milchick insists that it is impossible for Helly, Dylan, and Irving to return, yet Mark calls his bluff. The wronged employee hatches a plan to get his team fired by writing a note that outlines the difficulties of the severed floor to the outies. Mark S plants this note in Mark W’s jacket pocket, hoping that he is caught by Milchick and the team is removed for conspiring against Lumon.
Should Mark W, Gwendolyn, and David be fired from MDR, Mark S was hoping that Helly, Irving, and Dylan could return…
To Mark, this plan had one desired outcome. Should Mark W, Gwendolyn, and David be fired from MDR, Mark S was hoping that Helly, Irving, and Dylan could return. Eventually, Mark enacts his plan that leads into the latter half of Severance season 2, episode 1, and the return of some familiar faces after their apparent rebellion against Lumon, Milchick, and the spirit of Kier Eagan himself.
How Milchick Knew That Mark Wrote The Note Planted In Mark W.’s Jacket
Mark Overlooked Some Obvious Implicating Aspects
Despite hatching what was seemingly a foolproof plan, Mark S is caught by Milchick. After planting the note and returning to work the next day, in what is seemingly seconds for his innie personality, Mark finds Milchick in the office holding the note. Milchick sarcastically recites the note to the new Macrodata Refinement colleagues, leading Mark S to feign ignorance and shock at the fact that Mark W would attempt such a bold act of disobedience.
Milchick is not fooled, however, and knows for certain that Mark S was the author of the note and the mastermind behind the plan. This begs the question of how Milchick figured this out, bearing in mind that Severance season 2’s reforms mean there are no longer cameras and microphones in the MDR office. As it turns out, Mark overlooked the simple fact that Milchick recognizes his handwriting.
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Mark S apparently made no attempt to conceal that the note was written by his own hand. Moreover, Milchick is more than aware of Mark S’ previous rebellions against Lumon. The other employees are likely unassuming in that they conduct their MDR work without fuss or insubordination. As such, it is not difficult for Milchick to pin the act on Mark S rather than the unknowing Mark W, Gwendolyn, and David.
Does Mark’s Plan To Get His Team Back Work?
After all is said and done, the main question stemming from Mark S’ actions in Severance season 2, episode 1 is whether it worked. The initial attempt did not, as Milchick knew Mark S was the orchestrator of the plan and kept Mark W, Gwendolyn, and David in the MDR office as a result. As was evident in Severance season 1’s story though, Mark S is not one to give up after one failed attempt. Mark slips away from Milchick and manages to enter the manager’s office, using the speaker to contact Lumon’s mysterious board and demand his team be reunited.
Although Milchick is notably angry about Mark’s continued lack of obedience, his plan works. The next time Mark S comes down the elevator to the severed floor, he finds Irving, Dylan, and Helly doing the same shortly after him. The team is then walked through Lumon’s reforms to the severed floor before committing to their MDR work once more. However, it is made clear that the team is not done with trying to expose Lumon and uncover the mysteries that lie beneath the office building, setting the stage for Severance season 2’s future episodes with a united front.
Severance is a psychological thriller series featuring Adam Scott as Mark Scout, an employee at Lumon Industries who undergoes a “severance” procedure to separate his work and personal memories. However, as work and life personas mysteriously begin to collide, it quickly becomes clear that not all is as it seems. Created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle, Severance is one of the biggest hits on Apple TV+.
- Release Date
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February 18, 2022
- Cast
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Adam Scott
, Britt Lower
, Zach Cherry
, Tramell Tillman
, Jen Tullock
, Dichen Lachman
, Michael Chernus
, John Turturro
, Christopher Walken
, Patricia Arquette
, Sarah Bock
, Marc Geller
, Michael Cumpsty - Writers
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Dan Erickson
- Showrunner
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Dan Erickson
, Mark Friedman