Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Severance Season 2, Episode 2, “Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig.”
Severance‘s latest installment, “Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig,” is effectively one long flashback set before the second season’s premiere. So, where exactly does Severance Season 2, Episode 2 fit in the Apple TV+ series’ timeline?
When Does Severance Season 2, Episode 2 Take Place?
Severance Season 2, Episode 2, “Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig,” picks up immediately after the events of Season 1’s finale. We know this for several reasons. For starters, Episode 2 opens with lines of dialogue spoken by Mark Scout, Helly Riggs, and Irving Bailiff recycled from Season 1, Episode 9’s closing moments. Then there’s the first proper scene in “Goodbye, Mrs. Selving,” which – based on Mark and his sister Devon’s back-and-forth – captures the moments after Mark switched from his innie to outie incarnations.
Similarly, the unpleasant encounter between Helly’s outie, Helena Eagan, and her father, Jame, that follows the Mark/Devon scene clearly unfolds shortly after the end of Season 1. Helena’s still wearing the same outfit, and the cover-up statement she subsequently records describes Helly’s public outburst as happening “hours” ago.
What about the rest of Season 2, Episode 2’s chronology? Well, it seems that Mr. Milchick visits Mark, Irving Bailiff, and Dylan George’s outies that same night; after all, these scenes are intercut with Helena’s recording session. And Mark and Devon’s diner breakfast and Dylan’s job interview both play out the following day, based on Devon’s text message to Mark and these scenes intercutting each other (although that’s really quick work on Dylan’s part!).
Mark’s one-on-one with Milchick comes next, and the latter explicitly places this event within the same 24-hour cycle. Given the Mark/Milchick meeting overlaps with Irving’s moment in the phone booth, they presumably happen simultaneously. Mark returns to Lumon Industries the morning after; Milchick’s dialogue spells this out (apparently, he only had “48 hours” to assemble Mark’s new MDR team). Toss in the two extra days Mark punches in and out at Lumon before making his appeal to the Board and the day that followed, and Severance Season 2, Episode 2 takes place over five days.
Did Milchick Lie About Severance Season 2’s Five-Month Time Jump?
It sure seems that way. While Mr. Milchick’s claim in Severance Season 2, Episode 1 that five months have elapsed since Season 1 initially appears legit, Episode 2 suggests he’s lying to Mark about the Severance Season 2 timeline. As noted above, Mark came back to Lumon after just 48 hours, and his MDR pals were back at Lumon another 48 hours after that. That’s not even a full week, let alone several months, plural!
Why did Milchick lie about Severance Season 2’s supposed five-month narrative gap? As with everything Lumon’s managerial staff does, it’s hard to say for certain. But presumably, it’s yet another example of Lumon trying to control Mark’s behavior, by imposing additional distance between him and his (temporarily) fired fellow rebels.
Severance Season 2 is currently streaming on Apple TV+, with new episodes dropping Fridays.