Full spoilers follow for Severance season 2 episode 9.
We’re on the home stretch now, fellow Severance fans. With the penultimate episode of the hugely popular Apple TV Original’s second season out now, there’s only one more episode left before we bid farewell to this amazing show once more. Boo and hiss.
Before the 76-minute-long Severance season 2 finale arrives next week (March 21), though, there’s the small matter of dissecting this week’s entry, and speculating on what’ll happen in this season’s 10th and final chapter. So, make sure you’ve watched season 2 episode 9, aka ‘The After Hours’ before reading on because full spoilers immediately follow.
1. Mark’s ‘outie’ will interact with his ‘innie’ at Lumon’s birthing cabin retreat
There are a lot of moving parts in ‘The After Hours’ as the sci-fi mystery-thriller show positions its characters for next week’s finale. Three individuals end up in the same place by the end of episode 9, too, with Mark, Devon, and Harmony taking a trip to the Damona Birthing Retreat – i.e., a secret Lumon-owned location where severed women go to give birth.
The reason for this is simple: each birthing cabin has a severed barrier installed in its front door. Essentially, that means that, when a pregnant woman’s ‘outie’ crosses the doorway threshold, their ‘innie’ persona takes over. That means their ‘outie’ doesn’t actually have to go through the potentially arduous, traumatic, and/or life-threatening experience of giving birth.
Neither Devon or Harmony are pregnant, though. So, why has the latter, who’s allied herself to Mark and Devon following the events depicted in Severance season 2 episode 8, taken Mark and Devon to this remote retreat? Because they can use one of the cabin’s severed barriers to talk to Mark’s ‘innie’ – or, rather, Mark’s ‘outie’ can talk to his ‘innie’.
Currently, the only way for an individual’s two personalities to converse is through video recordings. We’ve seen that a few times in Severance; most notably when Helly or Helena has recorded a video message to their other half. It stands to reason, then, that Mark’s ‘outie’ and ‘innie’ could film themselves sending messages to each other to agree on a plan to finally rescue Gemma from Lumon’s testing floor.
Remember, Severance season 2 episode 7 revealed she’s been trapped down there for over two years and, considering ‘outie’ Mark has no way of getting to her, it’s up to his ‘innie’ to be the hero of the day and save his other half’s wife. I wouldn’t be shocked, then, if Mark’s two personas don’t record messages to their other half using the camera app on his mobile phone or, if there’s one to *ahem* hand, a hand-held camcorder within the facility.
2. We’ll see Mr. Bailiff – aka Irving – and Burt Goodman again in Severance
In an episode full of emotionally devastating moments, the potentially final appearance of John Turturro’s Irving Bailiff is a bitter pill to swallow.
To say Irving has been put through the wringer in the popular Apple TV Plus series is an understatement. In the real world, he’s a loner whose sole company is his dog. Before he was fired by Lumon in this season’s fourth episode (read my Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained piece for more), his ‘innie’ had a surrogate family in the form of the Macrodata Refining (MDR) team. He’d also seemingly found love for the first time in the form of Christopher Walken’s Burt Goodman.
Following his dismissal, he’s been in Lumon’s crosshairs. Remember, the intimidating Mister Drummond broke into Irving’s home and found his secret stash of investigation files into Lumon’s working practices. The cruel biotech corporation won’t want any of this confidential information being leaked to the press, so it seems they hatch a plan to get rid of Irving. Indeed, Helena tells her father Jame that Lumon is “seeing to Mister Bailiff” in this episode’s opening scene, which is her way of saying they’ve sent someone to dispose of him.
That would be the case, anyway, if Irving didn’t have an ally in the form of Burt. In my Severance season 2 episode 6 theories article, I suggested Burt was a bad guy and was working for Lumon. It seemed, then, that fans’ hopes of a happy ending for ‘Burtving’ would be a distant dream.
Well, ‘Burtving’ doesn’t like it’ll happen, but at least I was wrong about Burt being evil. Sure, he similarly breaks into Irving’s home and, in the two sinister-laced scenes between the pair that follow, it’s insinuated that Burt is driving Irving to a secluded area for a Lumon employee to bump him off.
As it turns out, Burt, who’s been seeking redemption for past indiscretions – he used to drive people to remote locations to be executed by whoever he was previously employed by – decides to drive Irving and his dog to a nearby train station. Not only that, he buys Irving a one-way, non-transferable train ticket to a destination that Lumon can’t track Irving down to. As long as Irving doesn’t return to his home or Lumon, he should be safe.
It’s a heart-wrenching and potentially final farewell to Irving as we watch him ride off into the sunset. That scene pretty much confirms we won’t see him in the season 2 finale, but I’d be amazed if Turturro doesn’t reprise his role down the road. Severance season 3 is already in the works, so we know another installment is on the way, and it simply wouldn’t be the same without MDR’s ‘dad’ throwing himself back into the fight to bring down the clandestine organization.
I’m also convinced this isn’t the last we’ll see of Burt. Sure, Lumon will likely come for him after he defied their orders with Irving, but I’ve got a feeling that Burt’s role in Severance‘s wider story isn’t over yet. I hope that’s the case anyway because ‘Burtving’ needs to live happily ever after. Make it so, Apple!
3. Jame Eagen will kidnap Helly and force Mark to choose between her and Gemma
Jame Eagen, Lumon’s current CEO, has always come across as an incredibly creepy guy, but ‘The After Hours’ just ratcheted things up a few notches in that regard.
For one, instead of joining her for breakfast like any normal dad would, he wants to watch his daughter and heir to Lumon Industries Helena eat her hard-boiled egg in episode 9’s opening scene. Then, when Harmony and company roll up at Damona Birthing Retreat, Harmony tells the on-duty guard a little white lite. Indeed, she says Devon is ‘pregnant’ and that “it’s one of Jame’s”.
Hold the phone, Harmony – are you telling us that Helena isn’t Jame’s only child? If that’s true, how many children has he sired? Did he have kids with the same woman or different ones? And did he have non-consensual sex with her or them to have more offspring? Whatever way you slice it, Jame is an extremely unpleasant person. Heck, if the answer to the last of those questions isn’t a good one, he’s an criminal in every sense of the word.
Clearly, Jame has no problem with doing terrible things – and that makes me extremely worried for Helly. In the final few minutes of episode 9, we see Jame creepily appear from nowhere on the Severed Floor. He watches Helly from afar from a few seconds as, while seated at her MDR desk, she pores over Irving’s note, aka the one with directions on how to get to the testing floor.
Finally, Jame says “you tricked me”, which obviously startles Helly, who responds with one of her classic “…the f***?” lines. That’s the last we see of the pair before episode 9’s end credits roll.
Jame’s not exactly been the warmest, most loving father to Helena, so my theory is that he’ll kidnap her ‘innie’ (i.e., Helly) in a bid to force Mark’s hand. We know Mark is going to return to Lumon in one of the best Apple TV Plus shows’ next episode because he wants to rescue Gemma. What’ll happen, though, if Mark’s ‘innie’ finds out that Jame is holding Helly captive? He’s in love with Helly, so he’ll want to save her over the wife of his ‘outie’, who Marks ‘innie’ has no affection for. I hope I’m wrong, but I can’t shake the feeling that Mark will be forced to choose between Helly or Gemma in season 2 episode 10.
4. Jame is personally connected to Cold Harbor
As Lumon CEO, it’s not unreasonable to believe that Jame has a vested interest in Project Cold Harbor. Clearly, there’s a lot riding on whatever this experiment is because it’s all anyone’s talked about since season 2 began (read my Severance season 2 episode 1 theories piece for more on that).
I believe that Jame is much more involved in Cold Harbor than any of us realize, however, and there’s a growing sense that it has something to do with rebirth or overcoming death (immortality, essentially) completely. There are countless fan theories that Lumon is trying to find a way to transfer a person’s consciousness into another vessel, host, or even a clone of the person’s own body. Indeed, plenty of viewers have speculated that this is the case and that Lumon is experimenting with such a procedure with the aim of bringing Kier Eagan – Lumon’s founder and cult-like deity – back from the dead.
It’s not out of the question, then, that Jame would have a personal hand in that. After all, Kier is one of his distant relatives and the man who created Lumon Industries. It’s in Jame’s best interests to oversee the seemingly impossible act of resurrecting Kier, with the added caveat that he’d go down in Lumon history as being the CEO who succeeded in that endeavor.
With Cold Harbor stuck at 96% until Mark returns to work, it’s an ambition that’s so close to being achieved, too. Going back to my previous point, I wouldn’t be shocked if Mark is forced to complete Cold Harbor before he can see Helly. Once he has, Jame will personally oversee the final stages of this experiment, regardless of whether it’s a success or not.
5. Seth Milchick won’t betray Lumon
Now this is an interesting one. ‘The After Hours’ implies that Seth Milchick is readying himself to follow in Harmony’s footsteps and rebel against his employers. Whether it’s telling Drummond to “devour feculence” (i.e., eat s**t) or his visibly emotional reaction to his phone call with Mark in episode 9’s latter stages, it appears that Milchick will be the latest Lumon higher-up to turn his back on the organization.
I don’t think he will, though. Milchick is more of a company man than Harmony is or any of the MDR team are. Sure, he’s cracking under the pressure of how things have panned out this season, but I think he simply lashed out at Drummond to prove he has the authority and strength to lead the severed floor, and ensure the mysterious and important work is completed. We’ll see if I’m right when season 2 episode 10 airs on one of the world’s best streaming services.
6. Dylan’s ‘innie’ won’t be allowed to quit
In more emotionally devastating news, Dylan’s ‘innie’ is alone once more. Indeed, after Gretchen, aka the wife of his ‘outie’, tells the latter that she kissed his ‘innie’, Gretchen realizes she can’t see Dylan’s ‘innie’ anymore because it has the potential to destroy her real-world family. Cue Dylan’s ‘innie’ trying to propose to Gretchen, her turning him down, and leaving Dylan’s disconsolate ‘innie’ to fall into a state of depression.
Angry about everything that’s happened this season, Dylan’s ‘innie’ makes the possibly dangerous decision to quit Lumon. He fills out an employee resignation form and, after being instructed to head to the severed floor’s elevator, he does so. One of episode 9’s final shots shows his ‘innie’ enter the elevator before the doors shut. The fate of Dylan’s ‘innie’, then, is left up in the air.
Unfortunately, we already know he won’t be allowed to leave. We’ve seen time and again that Lumon doesn’t allow its severed employees to quit. The only way an ‘innie’ can stop working at Lumon is if the company ‘fires’ (read: kills off) a worker’s ‘innie’. That’s what happened to Burt and Irving’s Lumon personas when they were left go. So, if you’re worried that we’ll never see Dylan’s ‘innie’ again, don’t be. He’ll be sent right back to the severed floor like any other employee would be.
I do wonder, though, if he’ll become Mark’s ace in the hole next episode. If Mark can convince Dylan to help him save Helly and Gemma, Dylan could have a vital role to play in another Severance season finale.
7. Sarah Bock’s Ms Huang has been sent to Svalbard so she can’t interfere at Lumon anymore
Amid all the goings-on in ‘The After Hours’, it’s easy to overlook the fact that Ms Huang has not only completed her Wintertide Fellowship program, but is also leaving Lumon’s severed floor altogether.
Early on in episode 9, Milchick informs her that she’s graduated and that she’ll be sent to the Gunnel Eagan Empathy Center in Svalbard, Norway, to continue her Lumon training. If any further proof was needed about how far-reaching Lumon is, the fact that it has an outpost in a remote part of a European nation is that extra piece of evidence.
But why is Ms Huang, whose first name is revealed to be Eustice in ‘The After Hours’, being sent halfway around the world? I think Milchick’s fast-tracked her graduation so she can’t snitch on Milchick or potentially help MDR. In season 2 episode 5, it was insinuated that she’s the anonymous informant behind the negative comments made about Milchick during his first quarterly performance review. She’s also expressed sympathy for the MDR team throughout season 2, too – an obvious example being when she apologises to Dylan’s ‘innie’ in episode 9. It’s in Milchick’s best interests, then, to get rid of her so she can no longer interfere.
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