Severance sadly sets stage for brutal finale [Apple TV+ recap]

In our Severance season 2 episode 9 recap of “The After Hours,” we find a bit of a letdown instead of the hoped-for hot rush to next week’s finale. Innie Dylan, having fallen for his outie’s wife, gets crushed emotionally and quits Lumon. Burt takes Irving for a ride — and seemingly permanent exile. Innie Helly gets Irving’s map to the mysterious Exports Hall, only to be interrupted by Jame Eagan. And Mark and Devon team with a former foe — former Lumon Industries loyalist Harmony Cobel — to enact a plan against the company. But we still don’t know the plan, with all the bickering going on.

It’s not like it’s a bad episode. It’s just kinda bad for a great show like Severance. It feels like everything is coming apart rather than coming to an explosive boil. Perhaps that’s the groundwork needed for a dramatic finale. We’ll see.

Last week’s episode gave us Lumon and Cobel backstories. Cobel returned to her dying hometown, site of a long-shuttered Lumon ether factory, and came away with proof she invented the Severance procedure. The return to Lumon and the other characters didn’t please me as much as I expected it would.

Severance season 2 episode 9 recap: ‘The After Hours’

Last week’s episode eight, “Sweet Vitriol,” brought viewers far from Kier, Lumon central and the Macrodata Refinement crew. It went to the bleak place where former severed floor manager Cobel (Patricia Arquette) came from. “Salt’s Neck” appeared to be a dying Lumon company town on wind-whipped rocky northern shores. The episode taught us more about Lumon, which essentially raised Cobel as a soldier. But she got what she wanted in that wasted little burg — evidence that she, not Lumon CEO Jame Egan (Micheal Siberry), came up with Severance procedure. And it appeared she steeled herself to join forces with Mark S. (Adam Scott) and others in the fight against the sinister company.

This week’s penultimate episode of Severance season 2 sets the stage for what I hope and expect will be a powerful finale, as multiple storylines should go from simmer to boil and several characters make decisive moves that will reshape the Lumon landscape forever. Probably.

Departures and desperate measures

The episode opens with a heartbreaking scene between Dylan G. (Zach Cherry) and Gretchen (Merritt Wever). After her confession to Dylan’s outie about their kiss, she delivers the crushing news that they can no longer see each other. In a moment of raw desperation, Dylan falls to his knees and proposes with a handmade paper ring. “My life started when you came here,” he pleads, but Gretchen tearfully declines and leaves him devastated.

This rejection proves to be the final straw for Dylan, who marches straight to Milchick’s office to submit his resignation. “I’m sure you know this is very disappointing and reeks of ingratitude,” Milchick (Tramell Tillman) scolds, but Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) — herself preparing to depart for the mysterious “Gunnel Eagan Empathy Center in Svalbard” following her Wintertide Fellowship graduation — offers a moment of genuine empathy. “I should have facilitated better,” she says. As Dylan heads for the elevator possibly for the final time, viewers are left wondering if this is truly the end of his innie’s existence. We never see him leave the building, by the way.

Irving’s forced exile

Meanwhile, Irving (John Turturro) returns home to find Burt (Christopher Walken) rifling through his investigative notes about Lumon’s connection to “disappearances or deaths.” Burt is particularly stung by Irving’s speculation that he was a “Lumon goon.” He defends himself with the telling statement that “with Lumon, it’s very specific language.” Walken is mesmerizing in the scene.

Their subsequent car ride reveals Burt’s past role as a driver who “never hurt anyone” but “drove people places” without asking questions — a damning confession that confirms Irving’s suspicions. In a surprising twist, Burt purchases Irving a train ticket to a destination as far from Kier as possible, instructing him never to return. Despite Irving’s heartfelt admission that “I’ve never been loved before, not really” and his desire to experience their connection as an outie, Burt remains resolute. The image of Irving and his dog boarding the train while Burt watches sadly from the platform is poignant.

Helly’s confrontation and Mark’s decision

Helly (Britt Lower) spends most of the episode attempting to navigate Lumon without Mark, confronting Milchick about Mark’s absence and later trying to memorize Irving’s secret map to the Exports Hall. Her determination is interrupted when none other than Jame Eagan appears behind her in the darkened MDR office. Ominously, he says, “You tricked me … my Helly.” It’s a cliffhanger that leaves us wondering about Helly’s fate at the hands of her outie’s father.

Outside Lumon, Mark and Devon have reluctantly allied with Cobel, who reveals a shocking truth. If Mark’s innie completes the Cold Harbor file, Gemma will die. When Mark challenges Cobel’s trustworthiness, she instructs him to call Milchick and claim illness to avoid suspicion. In a surprisingly human moment, Mark admits he simply “needed a day,” asking Milchick, “Isn’t that what Lumon’s about? Balance? I mean, work is just work, right?” The lengthy pause before Milchick’s response suggests these words hit home.

The episode concludes with Cobel smuggling Mark and Devon into one of Lumon’s birthing cabins, where she activates Mark’s innie. Mark S. awakens, disoriented but immediately recognizing Devon. She asked is he remembers what he last said to her, and he redelivers the earth-shattering revelation that closed Season 1: “She’s alive.”

Power struggles and rebellion

A fascinating subplot involves Milchick’s deteriorating relationship with his superiors. After being reprimanded by Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) for Mark’s absence on “what was to be Lumon’s finest day,” Milchick initially apologizes. But then he dramatically shifts tone. “Devour feculence. It means eat shit, Mr. Drummond.” He asserts his authority as manager of the severed floor, drawing clear boundaries for his responsibility that suggest cracks forming in Lumon’s command structure.

We also glimpse Helena Eagan’s strange relationship with her father, Jame, in a disturbing breakfast scene where he watches her meticulously eat a hard-boiled egg, commenting, “I wish you’d take them raw.” It’s a creepy callback to Kier Eagan’s dietary habits that hints at Jame’s obsession with tradition and control.

Severance season 2 episode 9 recap: The road to the finale

As “The After Hours” and this Severance season 2 episode 9 recap conclude, most of the major players are positioned for what could be a climactic showdown. Mark S. has been activated with Devon and Cobel in a birthing cabin. Helly faces a direct confrontation with Jame Eagan. Dylan has potentially resigned. Irving has left town on Burt’s insistence (but maybe he’ll return?). And the mysterious Cold Harbor file remains at 96% completion, with Gemma’s life hanging in the balance.

Almost like a dress rehearsal for a play where the whole cast suffered ill “tempers” at once, losing the thread, the episode sets the stage for next week’s finale. It leaves us, drained of energy just before the big finish, to wonder: Will Mark complete the Cold Harbor file? What does Jame have planned for Helly? Is Cobel truly an ally? And will any of our severed friends find the freedom and connection they so desperately seek?

Previous Severance recaps:

• Season 2, episode 8: Severance: Wavering Lumon loyalist faces demons, finds revelation
• Season 2, episode 7: An enlightening Severance finally tells Gemma’s story
• Season 2, episode 6: Mark S. risks all as Severance bonds are tested
• Season 2, episode 5: Severance: Innie Irving’s last words take on new meaning as Mark breaks through 
• Season 2, episode 4: Irving B. takes a brutal stand in the icy Severance wilderness
• Season 2, episode 3: Severance boldly sends Mark S. back to his Lumon beginnings
• Season 2, episode 2: Lumon deals with Severance outies in Overtime Contingency’s aftermath
• Season 2, episode 1: ‘It’s been a minute’ since we felt that Severance vertigo

Watch Severance on Apple TV+

Severance season one and season two’s new episodes now stream on Apple TV+. New episodes air on Fridays (though they’re usually available the night after 6 p.m. PT).

Apple TV+ is available by subscription for $9.99 with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle. Customers who buy a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.

After launching in November 2019, “Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 471 wins and 2,090 award nominations and counting,” the service said.

Apple TV+ is home to more than 200 exclusive movies and TV shows (including breakout soccer comedy Ted Lasso). The service also offers documentaries, dramas, comedies, kids shows and more.

★★★☆☆

David Snow

David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.

With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.

Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.

Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.