#Severance creator Dan Erickson says 'a lot' of S3 is 'mapped out'

“There is an endpoint for the series as a whole, and we know more or less how many seasons we are going to do"

(via @Variety) pic.twitter.com/m9esduBK4L

— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) January 18, 2025

Great listen, after which I'm convinced it's Helena and not Helly, while they also bring up an interesting theory that Ms. Huang could maybe be the daughter of Mark and Gemma…

Pals pals pals!! SEVERANCE is back!!!!! @RobMahoney and I will be here every week to break it down on the Prestige TV feed so we want your theories and thoughts. Come on down to the pineapple bobbing tank. Water's fine. https://t.co/Lpgh1Xmx9u pic.twitter.com/59IXtfvSFb

— Joanna Robinson (@jowrotethis) January 17, 2025

walton91 said:

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I have not watched this episode yet, but in one of the S1 recaps I watched it referenced some extra info beyond the episodes themselves. Apparently the writers created some material I think was called the Lexington Letter which suggested there are additional MDR severed employees at another Lumon office location

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https://books.apple.com/us/book/severance/id1613220757

Its basically a long email from a former Lumon employee to a Topeka newspaper. Not going to spoil it in case anyone wants to read it and hasn't yet, but the gist was: She was in MDR at the Topeka office, and her and her innie start passing notes using a non-alphabet encoding from her childhood.

It also includes the MacroDat Refinement Handbook that the employees receive.

It says it is 43 pages (on my phone), but reads much much shorter than that.

Started watching season 1 last week, now caught up.

How the heck did I miss this show when it came out? Seriously the best thing I've watched in a long time...only The Penguin comes close sniffing the same league.

First thought is that it's Helena, didn't consider that it was Helly until I read some posts here. Something just seemed...off...from the first moments of the innie's return, even before she talked about her experience on the outside. Could just be the writers mind f****** with us again, who knows.

Nothing more to add that hasn't been already mentioned but between Helly and Ms Casey, count me in with Team Casey. Her voice and expressions during the wellness sessions just oozes sex.

So what do y'all think the new Hall Pass incentive is? I guess it could literally just be a hall pass allowing innies to make sanctioned visits to other departments or would they actually allow an innie time outside as a reward?

The other thing I was wondering about is the vocabulary of the innies. Gwendolyn Y. asked Mark S. about the sky and wind so she knows those words but has no idea how to conceptualize them. Do innies have the same vocabulary level as their outties?

Sex Panther said:

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We are so back...

I think we're supposed to be unsure whether or not Helly is actually Helena Eagen, and it may be a while before it's revealed. I do think it is Helly - but her emphasis that the innies and outies are not the same person with obvious disdain could go both ways for who was saying it. But it makes sense she wouldn't want to tell the team who she really is.

I think the newspaper article and them being famous on the outside and causing Severance reform is a lie. The paper was The Kier Chronicle. I loved all the blacked out redacted marks on it though.

The video with Keanu was so weird and amazing... Awesome first episode. Can't wait to see where this goes...

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Are you saying that the voice of the building was Keanu? I missed that.

I think the most important thing about this episode is that they now have salsa.

Tangentially related

this is unbelievable..

Hunyuan AI’s video-to-video model can now replace actors in any film scene, and capture even the subtle expressions..

pic.twitter.com/adnWkckBsT

— el.cine (@EHuanglu) January 18, 2025

2025 in A.I. will be insane!

Has anyone read The Lexington Letter? It was released on Apple Books and has some kind of Lumon backstory?

My wife and I are curious but don't want to ruin any of the mystery.

This show weird me out. Makes me uncomfortable watching. I can't put my finger on why.

bagger05 said:

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Has anyone read The Lexington Letter? It was released on Apple Books and has some kind of Lumon backstory?

My wife and I are curious but don't want to ruin any of the mystery.

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It's actually a really short read. Not bad, it gives a little bit of an outies inner-dialouge on their perspective of their innie.

From pg 13 on this thread btw:

Mr President Elect said:

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https://books.apple.com/us/book/severance/id1613220757

Its basically a long email from a former Lumon employee to a Topeka newspaper. Not going to spoil it in case anyone wants to read it and hasn't yet, but the gist: She was in MDR at the Topeka office and her and her innie start passing notes using a non-alphabet encoding from her childhood.

It also includes the MacroDat Refinement Handbook that the employees receive.

It says it is 43 pages (on my phone), but reads much much shorter than that.

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TCTTS said:

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Great listen, after which I'm convinced it's Helena and not Helly, while they also bring up an interesting theory that Ms. Huang could maybe be the daughter of Mark and Gemma…

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This was my first thought when I saw her.

TexAg2001 said:

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TCTTS said:

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Great listen, after which I'm convinced it's Helena and not Helly, while they also bring up an interesting theory that Ms. Huang could maybe be the daughter of Mark and Gemma…

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This was my first thought when I saw her.

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Same.

In S1 on a date, Mark mentioned that he and Gemma tried to have kids but it didn't work out. Season 2 would be 2.5-3 years after Gemma died, so that scenario oMark would have given up his 7-8 year old daughter and lied about her on that date.

Or Lumon scienced up a daughter that aged quick

It's got to be Helena down there. After the uprising there is no way Lumon would let her get severed again. The only question is what is their motivation to bring them all back and inject Helena in the group.

Haven't been all the way through this thread so if it's been discussed I apologize, but where do we think this takes place? I was thinking Colorado or upper Northeast? Or is it just some nameless place?

Nameless place. I don't think they have ever mentioned any kind of region or area. That Lumon office building is located in New Jersey for what that's worth. I've always pictured Wisconsin or Minnesota in my head

I'd always assumed/pictured Pennsylvania or New York area. Not sure why.

I had Oregon, ha.

I've always pictured upstate New York, but either in a recent podcast or recap video (I can't remember which) a host off-handedly mentioned that we've apparently seen an abbreviation for the state on a license plate or something, and the two-letter abbreviation is for a state that doesn't exist. Not to say that it's some kind of alternate dimension or whatever, more that the creatives are simply choosing to keep it nondescript/anonymous, that this could be Anywhere USA, etc.

Found mention of it online...

Quote:

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"Severance" is set in the fictional town of Kier in the fictional state abbreviated PE.

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That said, it's filmed in the Hudson Valley, NY, and in New Jersey, as mentioned earlier.

One of the videos mentioned this and saw an address on some mail that identified Baird Creek in a fictional state of PE.

Is episode 2 our tonight at 8:00pm CST or will it be 11:00pm CST?

8:00pm CST.

TCTTS said:

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8:00pm CST.

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My innie is ready.

About to finish a rewatch of season 1.

I flew into Dulles for work this week. Flying in over some of the snowy forests with no foliage reminded me a lot of this show. Jumped on the metro through the Reston area and the snow/trees combined with building after building with the same bland architecture also reminded of the Lumon campus. It set a really depressing tone for that train ride.

I'm sure if you live in that area in the Northeast, the show is extra relatable. I could almost hear the piano playing.

Welp, there goes the theory about Helena being down there.

Wonder what the Cold Harbor thing is?

CheeseSndwch said:

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So what do y'all think the new Hall Pass incentive is? I guess it could literally just be a hall pass allowing innies to make sanctioned visits to other departments or would they actually allow an innie time outside as a reward?

The other thing I was wondering about is the vocabulary of the innies. Gwendolyn Y. asked Mark S. about the sky and wind so she knows those words but has no idea how to conceptualize them. Do innies have the same vocabulary level as their outties?

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Imagine you woke up with all your knowledge except for anything about yourself. They know about it but can't experience it.

I was thinking that too. I do they Helena is jelly of helly though.