We’re only one episode into Severance Season 2, but the elaborate fan theories are already flying.
Severance Season 2, Episode 1 spoilers ahead.
From thoughts on Mark’s Cold Harbor file to questions about the man in the hallway in Season 2, Episode 1, “Hello, Ms. Cobel,” there’s lots to mull over before the Apple TV+ series returns with another new episode on January 24. Among the heated debates between fans who’ve seen the Season 2 premiere, one major theory involving our dearly beloved Helly R. (Britt Lower) stands out from the rest. So Decider is breaking it down from all angles and will update this article as the series progresses.
Here’s what all the fuss is about: Shortly after Helly, Mark (Adam Scott), Dylan (Zach Cherry), and Irving (John Turturro) reunite on Lumon’s Severed Floor, they got some much-needed alone time to debrief on everything they learned about their outies when the Overtime Contingency (OTC) was enabled. After Mark told the group that Cobel (Patricia Arquette) was at his sister’s house and his outie’s wife is Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman), he asked Helly what she saw when she woke up in her outie’s body. Fans expected her come clean about crashing the Lumon gala and learning her outie is Helena Eagan, CEO in waiting. Instead, she straight-up lied! Noooo!
Helly told her pals that she lives by herself, “saw the inside a really fucking boring apartment,” and “was watching some nature show on TV wearing sweat pants and a Save The Gorillas shirt.” In case that wasn’t suspicious enough, she said she went outside and found a gardener, told him everything, and he promised he’d tell his brother (a cop) all about Lumon’s nefarious operations. When a suspicious Irving pressed Helly about the “night gardener,” she doubled down, suggesting that maybe he has a different job during the day. Her MDR teammates moved past her bland story, but viewers couldn’t help but wonder why the heck Helly lied.
In fans’ minds, one of three things is happening. The simplest explanation is that Helly is ashamed (and maybe even scared) to tell the truth, which makes complete sense, given the fact that her family is the reason they’re all there in the first place. Perhaps she’s unsure how her pals will take the news and is waiting for the right time to break the news. And who could blame her? Her outie’s family sucks!
Considering Lumon has mastered the high-tech brain game, there’s also a chance that Lumon tampered with Helly’s brain or manipulated her memory after the gala fiasco in order to protect the Eagan family name and the company’s reputation. Maybe this is the Helly we last saw on the Severed Floor, but Lumon’s influence over her mind now extends beyond the typical Severance procedure.
Finally, some fans fear that post-OTC, Helena Eagan descended to the Severed Floor to do damage control and is simply posing as the innie we know and love. But how would Helena get to the Severed Floor without her chip activating?! Will the questions never cease? It’s a bold claim, but in the spirit of fleshing each theory out, here are some Helly scenes that Helena Truthers are putting under a microscope.
Ultimately, we’ll have to keep watching to see what the deal with Helly is this season, but whichever theory proves true, one thing’s for sure: Britt Lower is scary good in Severance.
New episodes of Severance Season 2 premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.