Severance Season 1 begins with Helly Riggs (Britt Lower) waking up disoriented and alone in a conference room, where an interrogator questions her via intercom. Struggling to provide answers, she grows increasingly agitated. Meanwhile, Mark Scout (Adam Scott) is introduced as the new head of the Macro Data Refinement Department. Still reeling from the news that his best friend, Petey (Yul Vazquez), left the company after a risky reintegration process, Mark must now focus on helping Helly adjust to her new environment.
After Helly’s orientation is completed, Mark enters the room to meet her, but she panics and physically lashes out, injuring him. Despite the chaos, Mark manages to calm her down and takes her to Harmony Cobel’s (Patricia Arquette) office. There, Helly learns about the severance procedure—a surgical chip implantation that divides her personal memories from her work memories—and the agreement she signed to undergo it. This revelation sets the stage for the ethical and psychological dilemmas at the heart of the series.
Later, Petey secretly meets Mark to warn him about the dangers of Lumon Industries. Although Mark doesn’t recognize Petey due to the severance procedure, Petey, having undergone reintegration, remembers everything. He leaves Mark with a card containing an address, urging him to investigate further. When Mark returns home, his neighbor Mrs. Selvig greets him, unaware that she is actually Harmony Cobel in disguise, spying on him outside of work.
At Helly’s office welcome party, Mark expresses his sadness over Petey’s departure, but Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman) quickly reprimands him. As Milchick takes photos, Helly attempts to resign by submitting a letter, only to have it denied by her “outie” (her non-work self). Security head Doug Graner (Michael Cumpsty) catches her and takes her to the breakroom, where she is forced to repeatedly apologize for her actions, highlighting the oppressive control Lumon exerts over its employees.
In a later scene, Mark goes on a date with (Nikki M. James), his sister’s midwife, attempting to find some normalcy in his life. Afterward, Mrs. Selvig visits him with cookies, feigning neighborly kindness while secretly monitoring him. The next morning, Mark calls in sick and visits the address Petey provided. There, he and Petey discuss Lumon’s secrets, and Mark listens to a recording of himself in the breakroom. He also learns that Petey is suffering from severe reintegration sickness, deepening the mystery and danger surrounding Lumon’s practices.
Mark invites Petey to stay at his house, unwilling to let him sleep in the harsh conditions of the greenhouse. Meanwhile, at Lumon, Cobel sends Irving Bailiff (John Turturro) to conduct a wellness check on Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman), ensuring the severance process remains intact. Over pizza, Mark and Petey delve deeper into discussions about Lumon. Petey tries to convince Mark of the company’s sinister nature, but his only evidence is the voice recording of Mark in the breakroom. Mark, however, resists the idea of reintegration, explaining that the severance procedure helps him cope with the grief of losing his wife.
The next morning, as Mark leaves for work, Mrs. Selvig secretly searches his apartment while Petey sneaks out to avoid detection. Selvig takes a book sent by Ricken Hale, Mark’s brother-in-law, furthering her surveillance. At Lumon, Natalie (Sydney Cole Alexander) from the board discusses Petey’s reintegration with Cobel, highlighting the company’s growing concerns. Meanwhile, Helly discovers her resignation letter has been denied again and realizes any communication with her outie is blocked. Desperate, she attempts to flee but is caught and taken back to the breakroom, underscoring Lumon’s oppressive control.
Mark tries to update an office photo to include Helly but discovers a company blueprint hidden behind the old photo, drawn by Petey. Recognizing its significance, he decides to keep it safe. When Mark returns home, he finds that Petey has died from reintegration sickness. In the basement, Mark discovers Petey’s phone and uses it to contact Dr. Reghabi (Karen Aldridge), the scientist who performed Petey’s reintegration, setting the stage for further revelations about Lumon’s secrets.
After her punishment in the breakroom, Helly re-emerges, and Burt Goodman (Christopher Walken) from Optics and Design invites the Macro Data Refinement team to a gathering. Dylan George (Zach Cherry) declines, citing distrust, while Irving accepts the invitation. Later, Helly confronts Mark about the blueprint he found, prompting him to destroy it to protect them both. Meanwhile, Irving spots the book Selvig took from Mark’s apartment in a Lumon conference room and calls Mark and Dylan over after noticing Mark’s name written inside it.
The tension escalates when Helly, desperate for a way out, threatens self-harm in Cobel’s office unless she is given a camera to send a message to her outie. Cobel reluctantly agrees, but Helly’s outie once again rejects her resignation, leaving her trapped in the oppressive system. These events deepen the characters’ struggles and highlight the moral and ethical complexities of Lumon’s severance procedure.
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Mark attends Petey’s funeral, where Mrs. Selvig is also present—though for a different reason. She secretly removes Petey’s severance chip before leaving with Mark afterward. The next day at Lumon, Cobel arranges a wellness check for Mark with Ms. Casey. During this time, Helly, overwhelmed by her situation, attempts suicide by hanging herself in the elevator. Mark is ordered to go home after discovering Helly’s body, but he later learns she survived and is recovering in the hospital, with plans to return to work soon.
As Mark leaves Lumon that day, he finds voicemails from Ricken Hale (Michael Chernus) informing him that his sister Devon (Jen Tullock ) is about to give birth. He drives to the birthing lodge to be with her. When Ricken asks about the book he sent Mark, Mark denies having received it, unaware that Mrs. Selvig had taken it. Upon returning to work, Mark checks on Helly, who is back in the office. Cobel assigns Ms. Casey to monitor Helly for any further signs of distress, tightening the surveillance on her.
Mark takes Helly for a walk while Ms. Casey is away from the office. Upon her return, Casey informs Irving that Burt from Optics and Design (O&D) is waiting in the conference room. When Irving and Dylan arrive, Dylan accuses Burt of wanting to harm them, referencing a disturbing painting Milchick had shown earlier. At Burt’s request, Irving and Dylan restrain him and escort him back to his department. Meanwhile, during their walk, Mark shows Helly his half-finished blueprints, and she agrees to help him complete them. They stumble upon a room where a man tends to goats, revealing another hidden department, but they are quickly asked to leave.
Back at the O&D department, Burt introduces Irving and Dylan to his team, fostering a sense of unity. Meanwhile, Graner informs Cobel that Dr. Reghabi, a former Lumon scientist, has been aiding Petey’s reintegration. Mark, at home, finds Petey’s phone and answers a call from Reghabi, who warns him about Lumon’s dangers. Irving, inspired by Lumon’s founder Kier Eagan (Marc Geller), encourages his colleagues to unite with O&D. Mark realizes he hasn’t seen Ms. Casey all day and discovers she has been sent to the testing floor after her final wellness session.
Cobel confronts Mark about his unauthorized visits to other departments and revokes the Macro Data Refinement team’s hallway privileges. Undeterred, Mark and his team return to O&D, where they discuss the nature of their work. Dylan picks up an O&D card just as Milchick arrives, leading to a confrontation. Cobel sends Mark to the breakroom as punishment for the team’s disobedience. Later that night, Milchick tracks Dylan to his home to retrieve the O&D card. He activates the overtime contingency to access Dylan’s work memories, but the plan backfires when Dylan sees his son while connected to his work self.
At Selvig’s home, she learns Reghabi’s location and sends Graner after her. After a date with Alexa, Mark returns home and receives a call from Reghabi. Graner arrives at Mark’s house to confront Reghabi but is killed before he can act. Reghabi gives Mark Graner’s security key card and instructs him to bring it to work the next day, setting the stage for a potential breakthrough in their fight against Lumon.
The next morning at Lumon, Milchick retrieves the O&D card Dylan had hidden in the toilet and returns it to the Optics and Design department. Dylan, still shaken by the revelation of having a son, demands Milchick tell him the child’s name, but Milchick refuses. Meanwhile, Selvig continues her efforts to monitor Mark by attempting to befriend his sister, Devon. This subtle manipulation underscores the pervasive surveillance and control Lumon exerts over its employees, even outside the workplace.
At Lumon, Milchick organizes a brief music dance experience for Mark’s department. While the event is initially lighthearted, tensions rise as Dylan becomes increasingly frustrated with Lumon’s secrecy. Later, Dylan shares his experience of being awakened outside of work, revealing that the severance process can be compromised, allowing their innies to access memories outside of work. This revelation sparks a plan among the team to exploit this vulnerability.
Using Graner’s security card, they gain access to the control room and begin learning how to manipulate the severance procedure. Meanwhile, Cobel receives a visit from Natalie, who informs her that there is proof reintegration is possible, adding another layer of tension to the unfolding drama. When Mark returns home, he discovers a wedding photo of himself with Gemma (Ms. Casey), realizing she is still alive. This discovery shatters his understanding of the past and fuels his determination to uncover the truth about Lumon.
The next day at work, the Macro Data Refinement team convenes and decides to use Graner’s key card to access the security room and disrupt the severance process. After Helly completes her tasks, Lumon organizes a waffle party to celebrate their achievement. Dylan volunteers to stay behind and activate the overtime contingency, setting their plan into motion.
Cobel arranges a wellness session for Mark, during which he learns that Ms. Casey is being fired. Simultaneously, the Lumon board dismisses Cobel for hiding Helly’s suicide attempt, a decision that leaves her embittered and sets the stage for her later actions. After everyone leaves for the day, Milchick takes Dylan to Kier’s house for the waffle party. However, Dylan departs early to activate the overtime contingency, causing confusion as Mark, Helly, and Irving’s work memories resurface.
At Devon’s party that evening, Mark confides in Mrs. Selvig about his intention to quit Lumon. Selvig, now fired and resentful, encourages him, signaling a shift in her allegiance. Mark loses all recollection of those present, including his sister, but recognizes Selvig by her work name. This anomaly prompts Cobel to leave immediately and inform Milchick of the severance malfunction. Meanwhile, Helly seizes the opportunity at the Lumon gala to reveal her true identity as Helena Eagan and expose the disturbing truths about Lumon and its severance procedure.
As chaos unfolds, Mark discovers the wedding photo of himself with Ms. Casey and rushes to tell Devon that Gemma is still alive. However, his revelation is interrupted as Milchick successfully regains control of the severance process, restoring order but leaving the team’s plans in disarray. The episode ends with tensions at an all-time high, setting the stage for the next chapter in their fight against Lumon’s oppressive regime.
