Severance S2 E8 - Sweet Vitriol

Our girl Cobel is BACK BABY! We discuss this divisive episode and give you our best theory on Cold Harbor. You don't want to miss this one!

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WHAT WE KNOW FROM EPISODE 8:

1. WHAT HAPPENED: The entirety of this episode takes place in Salts Neck, which we find out is Cobel’s hometown. She goes back and meets up with an old friend who brings her to her aunt Sissy’s house (which is where she grew up and also where her mom died). In this episode we find out that Cobel was the original inventor of the severance procedure. We learn she went back to find her old notebook containing all her notes on severance. The episode ends with Cobel finally answering Devon’s phone call, where she says “tell me everything”. 
2. Hampton & the ether factory: I didn’t love the scenes between Cobel and Hampton. I found myself getting bored honestly (SORRY!)
3. What we learn about Cobel: Wintertide, was away at school and didn’t get to say goodbye to her mom
4. Cobel is over Lumon: Cobel’s “why” is her lost relationship with her mother (which we already knew). This episode we learn pretty concretely that her love of her mother is deeper than her love for Lumon. It’s also notable that her mom hated Lumon.
5. Was it believable that Cobel invented severance many years ago? I’m not sure. It seemed a little out of character based on what we’ve seen from her. I wish they would have shown her knowledge a little more throughout.
6. Devon: People are suspicious about Devon and what she knows. I don’t think she in with Lumon. She’s just trying to help her brother and knows that Cobel doesn’t work for Lumon anymore. At the end of the episode she tells Cobel they have an idea. People are thinking it’s the same birthing retreat idea - to go there and somehow switch Mark to his innie so they can talk to him.
7. Cold Harbor: I previously thought Cobel’s interest in severance was to somehow bring back her mom. I think now we see that it’s not that. 
   
   1. Listen to the episode for our theory! We think this episode only solidified it.
8. What happens next? Cobel has her notebook and now is connected to Mark and Devon. Will she help Mark bring Lumon down?
   
   1. The song that plays at the end when Cobel drives away sounds a lot like a “ready to give them hell” type of song.

2. Reddit stuff
   
   1. Ether factories didn’t produce ether but were a primitive form of severance. It would make sense then why the ether mill in Salt’s Neck is no longer in use. It doesn’t need to be now that they have the chip. It also makes sense as to why Sissy seems to be a pariah in the town and that the relationship between Sissy and Harmony is so tense. The town (and Sissy) blame Harmony for the downfall of their community.
   2. Andymeek on Threads: Maybe Dieter Eagan is just Kier after having inhaled ether. “Sweet Vitriol” is what people used to call diethyl ether, two words you can smush together to make “Dieter”
   3. Cold Harbor Theory - From VaguePenguin on Reddit: “Cold harbor isn’t about Gemma and her accident. It has to do with that place. Sissy changes her stories about Harmony’s mother, so I think it has to do with Harmonys mother or once the file is completed, the whole town is probably severed and they are going to flip a switch on that town. I think each town listed in the files, once completed, flips a switch for everyone. At one point, I think Lumon had control of each town and had the whole town get the chip. So when Mark and his team completed the first file, it was huge because it’s the first mass severed switch.”
3. Next episode: The After Hours “Mark and Devon team with an ally. Helly investigates further.”

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Thanks for listening! We'll see you next Monday for the penultimate episode! *trying not to cry*

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ALSO - we want to hear your theories on Cold Harbor! Go to @listenafterwatching on Instagram and sound off on our latest post!