Severance Season 2, Episode 2 ended with a bang — or should we say, it ended with a blood-curdling scream from the great Patricia Arquette.
Spoilers for Severance Season 2, Episode 2 ahead.
The second episode in Severance‘s sophomore season, “Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig,” gave fans the confrontation they’ve been waiting for ever since Mark (Adam Scott) learned that his Lumon boss, Ms. Cobel (Arquette), was inexplicably posing as his neighbor, Mrs. Selvig.
The all-outie episode also showed the direct aftermath of the Season 1 finale’s Overtime Contingency cliffhanger, which included a tense conference room showdown between Cobel and Helena Eagan (Britt Lower). Helena denied Cobel’s request to return as manager of the Severed Floor, and though she offered her a “promotion,” Cobel took the made-up position as proof that the company didn’t value her. She said she’d consider the offer, but by the end of the episode, she was packing her car for what looked like a road trip out of Kier, PE. That’s when Mark saw her for the first time since the OTC.
“Who are you? I trusted you! I told you what I’d gone through these past two years! You were in my house. I ate your shitty fucking cookies!” Mark told her. “I thought you were quitting,” Cobel replied. “They convinced you to stay? Was a pineapple involved? You’re so easy to sway.”
Rather than stick around to catch up, Cobel hopped in her getaway car and started on her journey to god Kier knows where. After she pulled out of her driveway, Mark darted in front of her car and demanded answers, asking, “Why did you do this? What the fuck is this all about? Do you know something about Gemma?!”
Cobel took a few beats and sat in silence, processing his presence, his words, and her own emotions. Though she stayed silent, it felt like she really really wanted to tell Mark everything — especially after Lumon did her dirty. Instead, when the silence got to be too deafening, she laid on the horn, screamed at the top of her lungs, and sped away, leaving a baffled Mark in her dust.
Though Cobel ultimately ditched Mark, the moments of contemplation she displayed when he questioned her — not to mention several Season 1 moves that felt like they were made in his best interest — suggest there’s a part of her that longs to be honest; to try to save him from whatever fresh hell Lumon’s cooking up. Arquette agrees, but reminds us there’s much more to that story. The “why” is incredibly layered…
“Yeah, I think there is definitely a part of that in her, and she does have this fondness for Mark,” Arquette told Decider over Zoom. “And there is something going on that she doesn’t really want to not have access to either, anymore. And there’s a thread of her own personal story that she’s projecting onto his experience, and wanting it to turn out a certain way for her own closure of her own unfinished business.”
Though the details of Cobel’s history with Lumon and her deep desire to serve Kier remain unknown, Season 1 did make it crystal clear that there’s lots to unpack there. Don’t forget, she had a straight-up Eagan shrine in her house, complete with lit candles! In addition to a framed photo of Kier Eagan, the shrine featured a photo of a young girl in front of Myrtle Eagan School for Girls, a ticket to the 7th Annual “Kiernival,” several diplomas, a mask that’s begging to be worn at a waffle party, and various other company related keepsakes. Undoubtedly the most meaningful items included were a breathing tube and hospital bracelet that reads “Charlotte Cobel,” who fans think is Harmony’s mother.
After Lumon fired her, Cobel completely trashed her shrine. So it seems like she’s ready to reexamine her loyalty to Kier in Season 2. Fingers crossed that Severance gives us a deeper look into Cobel whole deal this time around.
New episodes of Severance Season 2 premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.