Refiners, we’ve come to the end of Severance season two. The Apple TV+ show is the streaming service’s most-watched, a critical hit, and, personally, a highlight of the past nine weeks.
What started in season one as a parody of office life with a bit of sci-fi thrown in has turned into nothing less than a televised treatise on the nature of existence itself. This season, we’ve seen the innies and outies of Lumon Industries’ four MDR refiners—Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dylan. They chose to undergo the severance procedure for various reasons, and all eight personas have suffered the consequences.
The season finale hits Apple TV+ at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 20. Fingers crossed it answers our many questions (Will Gemma survive? Can we have Helly R without Helena Eagan? Will Mark cut his hair if everything works out?).
As the credits roll, meanwhile, we can only hope there isn’t another three-year gap between seasons. Until then, we have a few tasks you can complete. Enjoy each one equally.
1. Ditch the Waffle Party for Some Pi
(Credit: Andrew Chilicki)
Who doesn’t have a cute little Raspberry Pi sitting around somewhere, waiting for a new use? On GitHub, Andrew Chilicki posted plans to 3D print the housing of an MDR computer and the code to program a Raspberry Pi to generate some scary numbers.
Chilicki says he was “particularly drawn to the show’s retro-futuristic tech and its signature aesthetic.” He put his coding background and 3D-printing skills to work to bring a smaller version of the MDR computers to his own desktop and put the plans up on GitHub for what he thought would be a few die-hard maker fans of the show, but once the news reached the rabid Severance fans of Reddit, Chilicki said it “took it to a whole other level.”
“The fanbase is so deeply invested in the show, and seeing their excitement and appreciation towards my project was really inspiring,” he tells us.
His favorite episodes of the season have been episode four (“Woe’s Hollow”) and seven (“Chikhai Bardo”), but when asked to make a prediction for the finale, he is as mystified as the rest of us since you can only expect the unexpected with Severance. Because of his deep ties to his Lumon-inspired product, there is one thing he wants: “I’m really hoping to see a deeper look into what ‘refining’ actually is and the true purpose of MDR.”
2. Speak to the Board
(Credit: poptrot)
Cut out the middleman that is Natalie Kalen and talk to the board directly by making your own Lumon speaker. MakerWorld user poptrot posted plans to 3D print a perfect copy, provided you don’t mind violating an untold number of Lumon patents and facing the wrath of Drummond. You can scale it to fit your smart speaker of choice right inside.
3. Refine Macrodata
(Credit: lumon-industries.com)
Severed or not, you can test your skills as a refiner with a browser-based macrodata refinement simulator at lumon-industries.com. When you see the scary numbers, grab them with your cursor and they’ll automatically get sorted into the boxes at the bottom of the screen. Just know that even when you’ve reached 100% completion on a file, you won’t get your head carved in lucite or a waffle party.
4. Listen to Severed
(Credit: Allen Stare)
Host Allen Stare does a scene-by-scene breakdown of every episode of Severance on the podcast Severed. The episodes about the first season are longer than the show itself and are filled with fascinating facts. There are also several episodes that examine media that have influenced Severance, like the Terry Gilliam film Brazil and the creepypasta The Backrooms.
For the second season, Stare produced 30-minute “epicaps.” Once season two is done, he’ll gather his research and give us all of the background we crave. Stare also has a direct line to Kier himself, or at least, the actor who plays him, Marc Geller, who he has interviewed for Severed.
5. Watch Crazy Stupid Podcast
We’ve probably all heard a few Severance theories that made you want to throw fans into a cold harbor. (Sorry, Miss Huang is probably not Gemma’s child.) Instead, watch Crazy Stupid Podcast’s episode reviews on YouTube. Adrian and Esther Battle-Marston talk through each episode with incredible insight into each character and the themes of the show in a way that will deepen your appreciation of the world the writers have created. You’ll find yourself reflecting on the you you are instead of connecting strings from hastily scribbled notes like Ricken hanging up kale in a birthing cabin.
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6. Hit Play on Music To Refine To
You can spend an entire workday listening to “Music to Refine To” from electronic duo Odesza. The eight-hour stream of about 20 minutes of music is based on the show score by Theodore Shapiro. The music is accompanied by footage of MDR doing their thing. And, of course, there’s a track named after the Music Dance Experience.
7. Read The Lexington Letter
(Credit: Apple)
If you want something to feed your theories, read “The Lexington Letter,” an official tie-in to the show that is free on Apple Books. It includes a letter from a Lumon employee who thinks she figured out the company’s mystery and the correspondence at the newspaper she contacts with her story. It also contains The Macrodata Refiner’s Orientation Booklet in case you want to brush up on it before accepting an offer from Lumon.
8. Connect With Lumon Industries
Expand your career and your mind by following Lumon Industries on LinkedIn. Its profile touts: “Giving employees the best work environment they’ll never know, with our patented and extremely safe Severance procedure.” You’ll find advice to bring into your own workplace, outfit inspiration that still fits strict office dress codes, and get the latest on the company’s expansion.
9. Dive Into the You You Are
A left-behind copy of The You You Are caused a revolution on the severed floor and online. If, like Outie Mark, you cannot get enough of Dr. Ricken Lazlo Hale’s words, Severance writers expounded on his wisdom in the form of this 30-odd (and we mean odd)– page book. Rather than read it, listen to the audiobook read by Ricken, or rather, actor Michael Chernus.
10. Serve Up Some Waffles
(Credit: Apple TV+)
The waffle party attended by Dylan G had some disturbing implications, but if you want to recreate just the waffle part of it, the Breville Smart Waffle Pro Square Waffle Maker turns out four Belgian-style waffles at a time and has a smart sensor to ensure perfect temperature and timing.
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About Chandra Steele
Senior Features Writer
