WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Severance season 2, episode 1!After dedicating her life to serving Kier Eagan, Harmony Cobel was fired from Lumon Industries ahead of Severance season 2. Portrayed in Severance’s talented cast by Patricia Arquette, Ms. Cobel served as the manager of the severed floor at Lumon Industries in Kier, PE throughout season 1. On the outside, however, Cobel was secretly posing as Mark’s neighbor, “Mrs. Selvig,” trying to manipulate him while also seeing whether his Innie’s thoughts and experiences could bleed over into his Outie's consciousness.
While Cobel was the most powerful character on the severed floor in season 1, it’s revealed early in Severance’s season 2 premiere that she was fired a few months before Mark’s return to Macrodata Refinement. In the time since, Harmony Cobel’s Lumon role was replaced by Seth Milchick, the former deputy manager of the severed floor. Even though Cobel was fired months ago, Lumon has yet to change the welcome message on Milchick’s computer from “Hello, Ms. Cobel,” which begs the question whether Cobel’s work with the company is truly over.
Cobel Was Punished For Macrodata Refinement's "Uprising" & Breaching Protocol With Mark's Outie
Cobel Wasn't Supposed To Interact With Mark's Outie & Was Unable To Stop MDR's Defiance
Cobel was fired for a few reasons after Severance season 1’s ending. For one, the Board discovered that she had been manipulating Mark’s Outie and accessing his life outside the office, which was against Lumon’s protocol. Cobel wasn’t supposed to interact or interfere with the severed employees’ lives outside of work, with her interest in Mark crossing what little ethical boundaries the program had outlined. To make matters more serious, Milchick explains that the Board mistakenly believed that Cobel had an “erotic fixation” for Mark and wanted to pursue both his Innie and Outie as a “throuple.”
Apple TV+'s acclaimed sci-fi show is finally back – here's Severance season 2's episode release schedule, including when the finale will premiere.
Another reason that Cobel was fired from Lumon is because she was blamed for not being able to prevent Macrodata Refinement’s “uprising.” As the one in charge of managing the severed floor, Cobel was responsible for keeping the Innies in line and ensuring they didn’t cross into the outside world on their own. Of course, the Innies would end up doing exactly that, culminating in their publicly exposing Lumon’s cruelty when Helly R. woke up in Helena Eagan’s body on the outside. Paired with her unsanctioned personal experiments, Cobel was punished for her inefficiency in managing and stopping MDR's defiance.
Where Is Cobel In Severance Season 2?
Lumon Still Has To Have A Hold On Cobel
Patrica Arquette’s Cobel is entirely absent from Severance’s season 2 premiere, but she’s confirmed to return in the future. After Cobel was fired, she likely also had to move out of Lumon-subsidized housing and relocate further away from Mark S. It doesn’t seem believable that Lumon would fire Cobel and let her go free, so she’s almost certainly still being watched by the company due to how much she knows about their questionable plans and operations. To continue keeping tabs on her, Lumon likely made a deal that still keeps her in their pocket without any official position of power.
New episodes of Severance season 2 release Fridays on Apple TV+.
Severance is a psychological thriller series featuring Adam Scott as Mark Scout, an employee at Lumon Industries who undergoes a "severance" procedure to separate his work and personal memories. However, as work and life personas mysteriously begin to collide, it quickly becomes clear that not all is as it seems. Created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle, Severance is one of the biggest hits on Apple TV+.
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