Episode 8 of Severance Season 2 takes us away from the Lumon factory for a fairly grim trip down memory lane, with Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) heading back to her childhood home to retrieve something important.
The house itself is cold, barren, and unwelcoming, but it does contain a few props and details that help shed more light on why Cobel is the way she is.
From Lumon plaques to old school annuals, we've rounded up some of the things you may have missed.
What clues are there in Harmony Cobel's childhood home?
The first thing we see as Harmony rushes upstairs is a Lumon plaque on the wall. This reads:
Quarterly Striver
4th quarter
Year of VisionYouth Apprentice Matron
Celestine "Sissy" Cobel
"Sissy" Cobel is presumably Harmony's elderly relative — possibly an aunt? — who's less than happy about her sudden arrival. The wider implication is that Harmony has very much grown up in a Lumon family. The company has always been a part of her life, because it's been part of the lives of the generation above her.
This is emphasized even more in the next room Harmony searches, which contains a shrine to Kier Eagan similar to the one we saw her sitting in front of in Season 1. At the top of the shrine are four statue heads representing the four tempers: woe, frolic, dread, and malice. There's also a news cutting titled "Jame Eagan Assumes Role as Lumon CEO," a poster titled "Work-Life Balance," and cards showing "Lumon's Core Principles." Behind the image of Kier, meanwhile, is a card that reads "YOU MUST BE CUT TO HEAL." All of these things act as a reminder that Lumon is every bit as much of a religious cult as it is a company.
Finally, when Harmony goes outside to the store, she finds a book titled Annual Reminiscences. The logo at the top is "ME," which apparently stands for the "Myrtle Eagan School for Girls." Inside are photos of a teenage Harmony Cobel with a hockey team, a photo of her as class valedictorian, and finally a picture of her above the heading "Jame Eagan Wintertide Fellowship."
Are any of these small details going to be the key to unlocking Severance's deeper mysteries? Probably not. But they go some way to showing just how deep Lumon's roots go, and how much of an impact the company has had on local communities and the families within them. Episode 8 gives a clear insight into why Harmony is the way she is; she's essentially been groomed by Lumon from a very young age, with the company dominating everything from her education and working life to her religion and home life.
Severance Season 2 is now streaming on Apple TV+, with a new episode every Friday.
