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Severance S2 E8 - Sweet Vitriol (Uncut Reaction) (Patreon)

Published:
2026-08-13 15:34:00
Edited:
2026-08-13 15:34:53
Imported:
2026-08
Tags:

Content

You must provide your own copy of the movie/show to watch along with our full length reactions, as us uploading videos with the entire movie/show would be in breach of copyright and we have no intention in doing so. 

Learn how our members watch our uncut reactions here - https://youtu.be/SDZ__NHXFaw 

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Comments

tiramisujen ≽^•⩊•^≼

Completely agree with both in the intro I think there's a good chance Gemma went willingly. I think it ties into what we've been saying pretty much since the beginning that Lumon preys on the vulnerable. I absolutely think you're onto something Nick that Gemma was sold a lie, what that lie is I'm not sure, possibly that she'll be able to carry a baby to term, or perhaps that she'll be able to live without feeling the shame and disappointment she's been dealing with because of the infertility because Lumon is making a version of her who wont have those feelings or memories

tiramisujen ≽^•⩊•^≼

Damo I like your theory that Mark's balloon heads in the intro is a visual representation of what we saw as how many times a person can be Severed- a lot more than we previously thought! I've always taken the shots of Mark's head inflating as a representation of reintegration and trying to fit two minds in one person

tiramisujen ≽^•⩊•^≼

How did Millchick know Helena had sex with Mark during the ORTBO? Great question! We only saw 4 tents one for each of MDR and Milchick walks out of frame after Helena makes the joke trying to win over the others. But he's still there in the morning when Irv tries to drown Helena. So I'm leaning towards he was camping nearby and tents aren't sound proof 😂 I also go back and forth on whether Dieter Eagan National Forest is a real place or if it's some kind of simulation within Lumon headquaters

tiramisujen ≽^•⩊•^≼

Nick the woman who wrote the code and received no credit during the space race I think is probably Katherine Goble! You guys should totally watch Hidden Figures as it is about exactly this story!

Demanda

I do believe Gemma was probably continuing to go to the Lumon clinic to seek further treatment without Mark knowing, but I just don’t believe she was willingly involved in staging her death and letting Mark think she was dead.

Susen

I thought it was some kind of illusion, similar to the holodeck on Star Trek or something because of how the innies enter as if they're entering a room, there seemed to be doors they were passing through. And the whole place is coded for the severed employees, (I think) we hear the ding as they enter.

Shanti (cuchupacu)

“sweet oil of vitriol” is another name for diethyl ether (sulfuric acid distilled w ethanol), which was used in medicine as an early anesthetic. this is what kier and imogene eagan worked in, how they met, and what lumon was founded on before branching into broader medical and technological fields. the phrase “sweet vitriol” captures the extremes of lumon history (building up a town and abandoning it), as well as a culture/cult that nurtures and abuses its members.

Demanda

I don’t like the setting of this episode because it’s so bleak and too close to home for comfort- there are tons of has-been corporate towns like this across the US. But I LOVED the Cobel reveal. Her character has been one of the most fascinating mysteries of the show so far, and I love how the reveal that she invented severance and allowed Jame Eagan to take credit informs her character. When you go back and watch her scenes again, her conflicted feelings toward Lumon and her intense interest in reintegration and needing to stay on the severed floor all make complete sense. She has sacrificed everything for Lumon and must have been a true believer for a long time… but something shifted that had her going rogue and undercover as Selvig, and her relationship with Lumon has spiraled ever since. I love how complex her character and motivations are.

Brenno

As we heard before, Lumon’s ultimate goal is for world domination. I think they need more people to sign up for the severance chip. Instead of having people work for the company, they want to advertise it for everyday use like going to the dentist, flights, giving birth, etc. Some traumatising experiences that people would want to avoid. That’s why they’re testing these on Gemma.

Susen

Yes Irving and Bert had conversation about it beig depicted in one of the paintings (they showed it in the recap). Curious why you skip the recaps? They're typically targeted to remind you of information that will be significant to the episode (maybe that's why you skip it?) -

Susen

I couldn't find the necklace you were looking for - but was it Petey's chip? She made a pendant out of it earlier in the series.

Demanda

I thought maybe the whole thing was a simulation too, but if that’s the case why did Irv drowning Helena work? They would have just ended the simulation, surely, rather than let him expose Helena like that.

Ambrosia

We find out in the first episode that Lumon originally started as a topical salve company. At the weird dinner where no one eats, they are talking about the origins of Lumon and they mention that Lumon started in topical salves. Then the follow up to that comment is "what don't they make?!" which makes it sound as though they at some point started a manufacturing wing as well if they're known for making lots of products now. Additionally, when they were in Salt's Neck they mentioned the "ether mill" (which explains the town's huffing addiction). 8 year olds working in an ether mill.. my god.

Demanda

Remember that Lumon started as a pharmaceutical company. From the dialogue in this episode you can piece together a lot of the town’s history- Lumon arrived and employed a lot of people, including children in their ether mills. Harmony says that Sissy is the reason the town got hooked on it, which in addition to her devotion to Kier leads me to believe she also worked for Lumon. Since they started using as children, I suspect Sissy got the kids using it to get them through these long arduous work shifts. It seems like Sissy was a true believer and Charlotte was not, but Harmony bought into it and left her mother with Sissy to go to the Eagan school. Her mother seems to have died during the time she was at school, so several decades ago. I love that this episode explains Ms Huang’s presence, and at the same time you realize the purpose of Ms Huang’s presence this season was to set up this reveal of Lumon using children for labor and indoctrinating them into their cult. We can intuit that Harmony’s experiences at Lumon were similar to what we’re seeing now with Ms Huang, and I feel confident now that Natalie and Milchick had the same upbringing. Probably Drummond and Graner and maybe even Dr Mauer as well. Helena seems like she was raised differently but with the same principles, and Reghabi doesn’t feel like she comes from this world at all. Like perhaps she was just a surgeon that was hired by Lumon. This is all conjecture of course!

tiramisujen ≽^•⩊•^≼

Tbh I'm cynical enough to dislike that episode because I just get the impression it only happened in that way because they really wanted to film on location (much like this episode feels to me). I feel like everything that happened in it could have happened at Lumon. It seemed like a real stretch to let it happen and so much hinges on it

Demanda

I actually am not convinced that was Petey’s chip. The show probably meant for us to think that, but I think it might have been a prototype that Cobel wears because she invented it.

Demanda

At this point I think what they’re doing with Gemma (offering severance as a way out of experiencing pain) is how they get everyone to get the chip, but I don’t think that alone is their ultimate end game. I think they plan on permanently severing everyone once enough people have the chips, since we know they lie about how the severed persona is activated. I think their ultimate plan is to permanently switch everyone with a chip to their severed “childlike” persona to remake them as “Kier’s children”. I think that’s why the babies in the intro all have Kier heads.

Ambrosia

Also, now we know what leverage Cobel feels she is holding against the company when she said "you need me".

Demanda

On top of that, writing code was considered akin to secretarial work in its inception, and it was a “woman’s job”. Once it started becoming more valuable and lucrative, women were pushed out by the men who suddenly wanted those jobs. Women have been instrumental in shaping the technology we see today, yet in the modern era are constantly pushed out of the industry and “forgotten” when people discuss great innovators. But without Ada Lovelace and Hedy Lamar and these other women, we probably wouldn’t have the tech we have now. The in-universe treatment of Cobel might not be motivated by gender, but it definitely feels like the showrunners meant to evoke the parallel.

Demanda

Yeah they skip them because recaps often soft spoil the contents of the episode. I skip them for the same reason.

Shanti (cuchupacu)

celestine “sissy” cobel is definitely harmony’s sister and charlotte cobel was their mother. not only is sissy a nickname for a sister, but charlotte’s hospital bracelet had the birthdate 3-17-44 (march 17, 1944). when we saw harmony’s shrine, i’d suggested you have a look at the date because it would’ve made you realize charlotte couldn’t have been harmony’s child. sissy looks older because she probably is older than harmony and obviously lives a very austere life. when it was said that “she still lives by the nine,” it means sissy is a kier devotee who follows the nine core principles. harmony probably hasn’t lived at that house since she was twelve, which was when the last growth measurement was marked. her mother may have seen her infrequently (if at all) since she went to boarding school and blamed lumon. we see that harmony lacked love and nurturing despite her academic and professional success. she self-soothes like a child w the breathing tube on her mother’s bed.

Shanti (cuchupacu)

i think after kier and imogene got together lumon was founded on the same industry, but a public-facing division introduced the salves as an innocuous front. once they drained towns like salt’s neck of their workforce and resources, they abandoned them to focus on current activities.

Sheri

"This just got weird all of a sudden." - What, Severance? Weird? Naaahhh

Shanti (cuchupacu)

the plaque on the wall celebrates sissy’s work as a “youth apprentice matron,” meaning she was supervising children. that must be how she introduced them to huffing ether.

Shanti (cuchupacu)

from harmony’s yearbook: “harmony cobel, a beacon of academic excellence and leadership, leaves an indelible mark on the year of wiles graduating class. throughout her high school journey, she exhibited unwavering commitment to her academic pursuits, consistently achieved top grades and managing challenging subjects. beyond the classroom harmony actively engaged in extracurricular activities, leading the field hockey team as captain and acting as president of the goat husbandry club. we celebrate harmony’s journey not only for individual brilliance but also for the positive influence and inspiration she has imparted on her peers and educators alike.”

Shanti (cuchupacu)

i wouldn’t put it past her to have worn the real thing to keep it out of anyone else’s hands. wasn’t the pendant in this episode like a flat square crystal hanging by a corner? i couldn’t find anything similar in other episodes.

Brett Christensen

I am guessing he was tapping the to the camera feed of Ben Stiller filming that moment whilst standing on top of and trying to (but failing) not fall on top of Adam and Britt! There is an official podcast that relays that story, which is a great listen for anyone Jonesing before season 3.

Brett Christensen

Sissy’s actor is a bit of an acting legend for me. Jane Alexander is a 4 time Oscar nominee in the 70-80s, including the bookkeeper in All the President’s Men, one of my favorites. The quality of actors this show is able to attract is such a testament to the people involved and the quality of the writing.

Shanti (cuchupacu)

btw we saw another person serving at the café. that’s who dot was.

TLC

The tattered curtains and clothes in Charlotte's room was due to age and neglect...remember the room has been locked since Charlotte's death. The material has fallen apart from age and probably moths. That reveal! I got something right in my guesses!!!🥳🥳🥳 I took it from this episode that Sissy is Charlotte's sister and Cobel's aunt. The age difference, the "your mother" quote, the fact she was a matron of the apprentices or children when Harmony was a child and then when she was at the Eagan school for girls.

TLC

Damo, I think your merging this with HotD when Alicent takes her necklace off to bribe the maid🤣🤣🤣

Julie A

I’ve always assumed Sissy is Charlotte’s sister, not Harmony’s.

Julie A

I’m really glad the two of you liked this episode. A lot of people didn’t.

Robert

Haven't finished the commentary yet or read all the comments, so maybe mentioned already, BUT, this episode puts what Helena said to Harmony in a whole other light... "I think you over estimate your contributions and under estimate your blessings" or to that affect. Total slap in the face all things considered. That was just before Cobel saw the Luman enforcer by the car and hit the high road. Next two episodes can't come fast enough :).

Weird Magic

Me included. Really felt like this one could've been an email. Subject line: Cobel created Severance end of message Severance IMDB ratings S1 8.1 | 8.0 | 7.7 | 8.2 | 7.7 | 7.9 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 9.7 S2 8.0 | 8.2 | 8.5 | 8.9 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 9.1 | 6.6 you are correct - a 6.6 is really low for this type of prestige TV

Julie A

It’s definitely not my favorite, but I don’t mind it. I don’t think you can cover Harmony Cobel’s backstory in an email.

Sarah_M

💜💜💜💜

Nikki_KnotDoneYet

My great great aunt Jeuel (“jewel”) was one of the Code Girls during the war. She passed only a few years ago and I’m thankful to have had time with her. Thankfully there’s a book about it now.

MB

"Go fighting kids!" 😆 Such a fun double entendre – a "kid" is a baby goat and is the school's mascot

MB

Also, I like your theory about Cobel wanting to use Severance to take her mother's pain away. You asked what Lumon did prior to Severance...well, the ether mill is a big focus of the episode. Why was Lumon creating ether to begin with? Ironically, the same ether industry that destroyed the town when Lumon left is the same ether the residents still use to cope with the pain of their clearly difficult lives. Does Lumon cause pain, or take it away?

Melissa Redstag

I had a theory about the rooms. Each one seems to be in the theme of things people don’t like doing, or are afraid of. Like flying, going to the dentist, annoying Christmas cards. So I thought maybe they were doing these tests as a potential way to sell the idea of severance to the masses. Like “hey look, if you get severed, you can fly anywhere you want as your innie, and you don’t remember any of it”. Sort of the idea that you could use your innie for all kinds of things you don’t like doing on a daily basis. The birthing cabin place would definitely be a selling point as well. “Have your innie have the baby” in a luxury setting.

Nikki_KnotDoneYet

Ok, I’ve had a few days since I watched this with y’all. Here’s what I keep wondering: why on earth would Devon call Cobel? As a mother, there’s a zero percent chance that I would call someone who left my baby alone in a room, even if “safe” in a car seat. Also, knowing Cobel’s lies and relationship and forced odd proximity to mark I wouldn’t be able to trust anything out of her mouth. I can’t fathom why she’d be Devon’s go-to in these circumstances. This makes no sense to me given Devon’s character thus far. I watched the last 4 episodes on catchup…maybe I missed something that would explain this?