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With the premiere of Severance season 2 on January 17, 2025, the award-winning series has returned to answer the most pressing questions about Lumon's secret activities related to its severance program. The season's third episode, titled Who Is Alive?, added more confusion to the mix by introducing a location called Salt's Neck and the goats as important clues in solving the mystery central to the series.
Following the episode's release on January 31, the show's director and executive producer Ben Stiller confirmed on The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott that Salt's Neck holds significance in Cobel's life and is connected to her past.
The official synopsis of Severance season 2, as per Apple TV, reads:
"Mark and his friends learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe."
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Disclaimer: This article contains speculations about Severance season 2 and reflects the author's opinions.
Exploring Cobel's connection to Salt's Neck from Severance season 2 episode 3
After Helena offers Harmony Cobel to join the company's advisory board in Severance season 2 episode 2, the latter packs her bags and drives off in the dead of the night. However, her neighbor Mark confronts her about his supposedly dead wife Gemma being alive before she speeds away.
On January 24, 2025, Patricia Arquette, who plays Cobel in the drama series, spoke to Decider about her character having a soft spot for Mark.
"I think... (Cobel) does have this fondness for Mark. And there is something going on that she doesn’t really want to not have access to either, anymore. And there’s a thread of her own personal story that she’s projecting onto (Mark’s) experience, and wanting it to turn out a certain way for her own closure of her own unfinished business."
Furthermore, Severance season 2 episode 3 opens with Cobel driving along a snowy road with no landmarks in sight. She continues driving around for some more time before stopping at a road sign that reads, 'Salt's Neck 238.' It must be noted that Salt's Neck is not a real location and is fictional, like the town of Kier.
After staring at the sign for a few seconds, Cobel drops her gaze to the breathing tube lying next to her on the passenger seat, before taking a U-turn and driving back to Lumon. The breathing tube was first seen in episode 8 of season 1 as part of the Eagan shrine in Cobel's home, which she destroys after being fired from Lumon.
The candle-lit shrine contained a framed photo of Kier Eagan and various Lumon-related keepsakes, along with other cherished items, seemingly from Cobel's childhood. Among them was the breathing tube and a hospital bracelet belonging to a certain 'Charlotte Cobel' born on March 17, 1944.
The episode's director, Ben Stiller, and lead actor Adam Scott have confirmed that the breathing tube and Salt’s Neck are somehow connected while appearing on the latest episode of The Severance Podcast.
"We don’t know what (Cobel’s) thinking, but we get the sense that Salt’s Neck and that breathing tube are connected. And we know that breathing tube, if we look closely in last season, had the name Cobel on it."
What do 'the goats' mean in Severance?
The presence of goats and an entire department dedicated to them is one of the most puzzling mysteries of the dystopian series. The goats are first seen in episode 5 of Severance season 1, where Mark and Helly encounter a man bottle-feeding baby goats in one of the severed floor's rooms. Before shooing the two away, the man says:
"You can’t take them yet. They’re not ready."
One possible explanation is that the goats are being raised as test subjects for Lumon's secret experiments before they can be tried on severed individuals.
In episode 3 of the second season, Mark and Helly stumble upon the goats again while searching for Ms. Casey. They revisit the goat room and walk through a small corridor to find a pasture of grazing goats at the end. The duo soon learns that the room is called the 'Mammalians Nurturable Department' by Lorne, the department head.
Adding to the bizarre scenery is a person dressed in a black goat costume with horns. Also, the department's workers are dressed in old-fashioned farming clothes, including one dressed as a milkmaid. Furthermore, the place has numerous husbandry tanks, where Ms. Casey used to conduct her wellness sessions, as informed to the duo by Lorne.
Before leaving, Mark and Helly are asked to show their belly buttons to prove they don't have "pouches." This scene aligns with theories of cloning or some type of artificial creation. However, the show's cast seemingly debunked this theory in an interview with Entertainment Weekly on January 9, 2025, with Adam Scott calling it "boring."
Follow us for weekly episode recaps of Severance season 2 right after its release on Apple TV+.
