Severance gripped viewers from its premiere in 2022 with its sci-fi twist on the idea of a work-life balance. The series follows Mark Scout (Adam Scott), who agrees to have his memory surgically divided between his job and his personal life—a process known as Severance—along with his fellow co-workers, for his job at Lumon Industries. Their “innie” is the version of themselves at work every day with no memory of their “outie,” or who they are in the outside world. The exact nature of their jobs at Lumon is a mystery, and one mystery has led to another in the two seasons the show has aired so far.
The dialogue in Severance often features some great lines. As is the case with memorable quotes from any TV show, the best of them are perfect representations of the show’s characters. But they also go even further, hinting at the show’s larger plot and themes. It’s no surprise that some of the best of them come from Mark’s brother-in-law, Ricken, and Lumon supervisor Harmony Cobel, two drastically different characters.
Severance
- Release Date
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February 18, 2022
- Showrunner
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Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman
10
“But surely beer and juleps cannot fill the void left by love. Indeed only wine can achieve this, but it is famously costly, which is why sadness is among the most recurrent issues facing the poor.”
Ricken Hale – Season 2, Episode 3 (2024)
In the Season 2 episode “Who Is Alive?” Natalie (Sydney Cole Alexander) reads a passage from Ricken’s (Michael Chernus) book, “The You You Are,” in which he talks about “the void left by love” and how beer cannot fill it—but wine can. The passage goes on to say that wine is expensive, however, which is why the poor are sad. Ultimately, the book led Lumon employees to rebel.
Despite its mysteries and their implications, Severance has some wonderful moments of humor—plenty of them come from Ricken and his book. Here, he shares his thoughts on love and heartbreak. He not only manages to have terrible insight on what is essentially self-medicating to combat loneliness, but he also impressively manages to be out of touch when it comes to issues of money and poverty, implying people are sad not because of their circumstances but because they lack wine.
9
“Under my literal nose unfolded a human drama of danger and intrigue, inspiration and love.”
The Lumon Building – Season 2, Episode 1 (2024)
Season 2 kicks off with Mark, Helly (Britt Lower), Dylan (Zach Cherry), and Irving (John Turturro) meeting with Milchick (Tramell Tillman) five months after the events of Season 1 in the Break Room, now changed from the dark, unsettling place it was when it was shown before. There, Milchick plays the group a new orientation video that will be shown to all new employees, which includes the Lumon building itself, voiced by the iconic Keanu Reeves, summing up the Innies’ rebellion.
The Lumon building’s recap of Season 1 was a great moment, and it included one of the best lines in not only the episode but the series so far. It wonderfully sums up the events of the first season without really saying much at all. It hints at the mysterious work of Lumon and the Innies’ attempts to find out what’s really going on, as well as the budding romance between Mark and Helly.
8
“The work is mysterious and important.”
Mark Scout – Season 1, Episode 4 (2022)
From the start of Severance, new employee Helly struggles with not having any memory of her life outside of work and her apparent inability to leave or quit. In the Season 1 episode “The You You Are,” she dismisses the work of Macrodata Refinement as “bulls**t.” Mark replies that the work is “mysterious and important,” a phrase which is repeated by other characters later in the series, and that Kier wanted them to face it together.
The exact nature of what Lumon and its employees do every day is indeed a mystery, and any answers the characters and viewers get only lead to more questions—and there are plenty of fan theories as to what’s really going on. The insistence that the work is “mysterious and important” hints at something larger going on, even when the tasks employees are given seem mundane and arbitrary, and it perfectly sums up the show.
7
“It’s important because it actually is or because you’re saying it is?”
Helly Riggs – Season 1, Episode 6 (2022)
The employees of Lumon are told their work is mysterious and important but don’t know the exact nature of that work. A Season 1 episode reiterates this idea, when Helly, Mark, and the others visit O&D and Irving says everything the employees do at the company is important. Helly pushes back on this and challenges its importance by questioning if it actually is or if it’s only important because Irving and others insist that it is.
The quote highlights the ways things can be given importance simply based on one’s attitude, as well as the fact that what Lumon and its employees are doing remains unknown—it might only hold importance to the Board without being truly significant. But it’s also very typical of Helly. Her entire season as an employee had been marked by her resistance to being severed and working there, and it’s not surprising she would question the “importance” of the work.
6
“The good news is hell is just the product of a morbid human imagination. The bad news is whatever humans can imagine, they can usually create.”
Harmony Cobel – Season 1, Episode 1 (2022)
In the first episode of Severance, Mark is promoted to department chief, and his first day in his new role doesn’t go so well. In a meeting with his boss, Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette), Harmony shares some wise words from her atheist mother, saying hell was made up by humans—but that humans can bring their imaginings to life. Mark doesn’t understand her point, and she explains that a department’s people are what make it good or bad.
Cobel makes the point that a place that’s supposed to be eternal punishment, the worst possible place a person can be, doesn’t exist—but that if people can imagine such a place, they can and probably will create it. She uses her mother’s insight as a parallel for Mark’s work. But the quote also hints at the atrocities humanity has committed over centuries, essentially creating hell on earth, and the fact that Lumon is one such place.
5
“You don’t value me. You fear me.”
Harmony Cobel – Season 2, Episode 2 (2024)
Season 2 begins with the repercussions of the Season 1 finale—while the premiere focuses entirely on the Innies, episode 2, “Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig,” takes place in the outside world and features a meeting in the conference room between Cobel and Helena. Helena thanks Cobel for her loyalty and work and asks if she’d like to return. Cobel tells Helena, “You don’t value me. You fear me.” Helena replies, “We fear no one.”
Cobel is a formidable character throughout the series—one could be forgiven for, indeed, fearing her. She doesn’t believe she’s a valued Lumon employee; rather, she believes Helena and her family are afraid of her, likely because of how much information she holds due to her position, and the tense moment between her and Helena highlights the fine line between the two feelings. The moment also demonstrates the striking difference between Helena and Helly.
4
“If you want a hug, go to hell and find your mother.”
Harmony Cobel – Season 1, Episode 4 (2022)
After Petey’s (Yul Vazquez) death from an “unknown ailment”—or reintegration sickness—Cobel expects to hear from the board regarding what happened in the Season 1 episode “The You You Are.” Graner offers her some comfort, telling neither of them were to blame for Petey’s death and assuring her the Board will understand. He doesn’t get the reaction he expected, however, as Cobel simply retorts, “If you want a hug, go to hell and find your mother.”
What might be a sincere moment with another character is anything but with Cobel. She has plenty of great quotes throughout the series, and her intense, ice-cold delivery is unmatched, but this is easily one of her best. It’s an incredible, harsh insult, and it’s hard to think of a worse one. It’s one to file away to use in real life, and it perfectly sums up Cobel’s character—cold, harsh and detached, even cruel.
3
“Fight for the freedom of the soldier next to you.”
Ricken Hale – Season 1, Episode 5 (2022)
In the Season 1 episode “The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design,” Mark continues to secretly read “The You You Are,” a self-help book written by his brother-in-law Ricken, which includes a number of platitudes which vary in their degree of depth and insight. One of the phrases that stands out the most to Mark is “fight for the freedom of the soldier next to you,” which is the push he needs to be more helpful to Helly.
Ricken’s book is full of wisdom—some of which is pretty silly—but his comments on fighting for someone else’s freedom are actually insightful. They also have an impact on Mark, or at least on Innie Mark. And of course, in true Ricken fashion, this flicker of intelligence is cheapened by what comes next, which is his thought that fighting for someone else would make a war “inspiring,” as though that’s a priority.
2
“Your so-called boss may own the clock that taunts you from the wall, but, my friends, the hour is yours.”
Ricken Hale – Season 1, Episode 8 (2022)
As Season 1 nears its end, “What’s for Dinner?” features more snippets from Ricken’s book, “The You You Are,” which the Lumon employees had found in the office—and it’s essentially the only book they’re aware of. Mark passages from it to his coworkers, and among those that resonated with them was one in which Ricken comments on the amount of control an employer has over employees. Meanwhile, Mark’s Outie attends Ricken’s book-release party.
It’s a reminder that although one might be spending their time at work, time is still theirs and they choose what to do with it. It’s an empowering sentiment and a powerful reminder of one’s freedom to choose how to spend their time. It’s also a particularly interesting sentiment in a show like Severance, where Lumon employees have no memory of their lives outside of work, they’re being surveilled and their options are limited.
1
“The surest way to tame a prisoner is to let him believe he’s free.”
Harmony Cobel – Season 1, Episode 5 (2022)
In “The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design,” Mark reassembles the map Petey drew after having destroyed it and asks Helly for her help. All the while, Cobel is watching them on cameras in her office, something Milchick. Cobel channels some wisdom from Kier Eagan, saying, ”The surest way to tame a prisoner is to let him believe he’s free.” Graner notes that there’s a Kier quote for everything.
Cobel uses Kier’s words to make a chilling observation on freedom and manipulation—while the quote can refer to a literal prison, it’s also touching on the ways people can be controlled if they believe they’re free. It’s a clear reference to the employees and their work at Lumon and suggests Cobel knows much more than she lets on. The quote is also a paraphrased version of a similar one by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky.
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