Severance Season 2: What Is Cold Harbor?

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With Season 2 of “Severance” now wrapped up – and executive producer/director Ben Stiller assuring us that we won’t have to endure a long wait for the next installment – let’s delve into some of the significant puzzles unveiled during this season. We’ll focus on Cold Harbor, discussing what it is, why it matters, and shedding light on its enigmatic nature.

Let me just pause here for a moment, let’s rewind and discuss the fundamentals of the show “Severance.” Produced by Dan Erickson, it unfolds in a universe where people can “sever,” implying that their “innie” goes to work at Lumon Industries, which developed this process, while their “outie” resides in reality. By dividing yourself, you can dodge unwanted experiences such as work, dental visits, airplane turbulence, or even childbirth… if you’re the “outie.” Conversely, if you’re an “innie,” you’re experiencing all of that and are not even regarded as a person by any “outies,” although you have your own individual behaviors, recollections, and thoughts.

The main idea is that the severance process shouldn’t appear enjoyable, stylish, or even remotely appealing, but unfortunately for Mark Scout (Adam Scott), he finds out this truth at the end of Season 2 during an argument with his inner consciousness, which eventually leads to a significant decision by his “innie” that will negatively impact his “outie” in a massive way when the show resumes for Season 3. This revelation ties back to the enigmas surrounding Cold Harbor, a concept initially introduced in the first season and further explained in the Season 2 finale titled “Cold Harbor.

Cold Harbor is extremely important to Lumon Industries on Severance

In the second season of “Severance,” we come to understand that Cold Harbor refers to a complex data refinement project led by Mark Scout’s inner self, Mark S., and it becomes clear that many projects within Lumon Industries’ enigmatic department are named after towns and cities (other examples being Allentown, Zurich, Cork, and Wellington). A notable episode, “Chikhai Bardo,” reveals what lies behind doors bearing these project names, particularly those labeled Allentown, Dranesville, and Wellington. Here, we discover that Mark’s actual wife, Gemma, played by the talented Dichen Lachmann, did not die in a car accident, as Mark’s outer self believes; her apparent demise was the catalyst for his exploration of the severance process due to his grief over her supposed passing.

In essence, the true character named Gemma, whose professional role at Lumon is as Ms. Casey, the wellness counselor, finds herself confined on a testing level deep within Lumon. Here, she encounters various scenarios ranging from uncomfortable to agonizing. For instance, in Allentown, she’s compelled to write countless thank-you notes, which she dislikes immensely (as we later learn through flashbacks), and it seems she writes them using her non-dominant hand, causing her pain. In Wellington, she has a dental appointment, while in Dranesville, she’s set for an extremely bumpy flight. All these locations mirror Mark’s different projects, leading us to understand that Cold Harbor is the ultimate challenge, symbolically speaking – the final test Gemma must face to fully examine the severance process’s boundaries.

This implies that their goal is to completely disconnect severed individuals’ inner (innies) and outer (outies) aspects, and once we understand what Cold Harbor truly represents, everything will make perfect sense.

Cold Harbor is an even more intense form of ‘severance’ — but we still don’t know everything

It’s worth mentioning that during the second half of “Severance” Season 2, all the higher-ups at Lumon, including Mr. Drummond, Mr. Milchick, and Harmony Cobel, seem fixated on Mark finishing the Cold Harbor file. However, we’re not privy to the reasons behind this obsession. This point is further emphasized in the episode “Chikhai Bardo,” which sheds light on Gemma’s situation since her perceived death. As a non-severed couple, Mark and Gemma have faced difficulties conceiving, and one of the series’ most poignant moments occurs when Gemma suffers a miscarriage. In a display of deep emotion, Mark destroys the crib they had constructed for their unborn child.

When Mark discovers Gemma, she is being compelled to dismantle the identical crib. This suggests once more that Lumon is striving to construct a variant of severance that’s so secure, no one will ever encounter any form of unpleasant emotion again. To achieve this, they subject Gemma to something extremely distressing in order to erase her memory of it.

During an interview following the Season 2 finale of “Severance,” Dan Erickson discussed the enigma surrounding Cold Harbor. He explained to Deadline, “Throughout the season, we’ve seen Gemma in various rooms with different alter egos enduring diverse hardships. However, what sets Cold Harbor apart is that it involves her engaging in an activity linked to a deeply painful aspect of her Outie existence. Instead of questioning if the pain moves from the innie to the outie, it appears we’re exploring the opposite now, delving into what this means and why it matters. I believe there’s much to discuss about this.

Despite all the revelations about Cold Harbor and Lumon’s puzzling experiments, Erickson admitted there are still many unknowns. He purposefully left room for interpretation, explaining, “We didn’t want to provide a step-by-step guide of what was being tested and why. This is because a significant aspect of this series lies in the discussions that ensue after viewing, allowing viewers to ponder it, debate it, and come up with their own theories, which only adds to the depth and richness.

You can stream the first two seasons of “Severance” on Apple TV+ now.

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2025-05-21 17:30