Severance (2022)

Season 1 Recap

At Lumon Industries, employees undergo a surgical procedure called "severance" that creates two separate identities: work-selves who live permanently in the office with no outside memories, and home-selves who forget everything about their job. Mark's basement team processes mysterious data until new hire Helly's desperate escape attempts spark a rebellion that leads them to explore hidden areas of their workplace and question their imprisonment. Through their investigation, they uncover Lumon's sinister scope of control, culminating in the discovery that Helly is Helena Eagan, heir to the Lumon empire who volunteered for severance as a PR stunt, while Mark learns his "dead" wife Gemma has been alive all along, working as their memory-wiped wellness counselor Ms. Casey. The season climaxes when the work-selves briefly gain control of their outside bodies: Helly storms her family's corporate event to denounce severance, Irving races to reconnect with a severed colleague from another floor, and Mark confronts the devastating reality that Lumon has been manipulating every aspect of his life, setting up an inevitable war between the company and the awakening consciousness of its severed workers.