Season 2 Episode 8 of the AppleTV+ science fiction psychological thriller series Severance is a unique presentation considering that it sticks to just one character throughout its comparatively short duration. It is only Harmony Cobel that we see this week, and while the ex-floor manager at Lumon was definitely an important character even before, the revelations in this episode make her a more central piece in the overarching mystery. In turn, Severance season 2 episode 8 also indirectly gives us more information about Lumon Industries and its way of conducting business, especially before the severance technology had been brought into practice, or even invented.
Spoiler Alert
Where has Harmony Cobel been all this time?
Harmony Cobel was an integral part of season 1, as the manager of the severed floor at the Lumon office, until she was made a scapegoat by the company and fired from her job. When the MDR workers hatched a plan and reintegrated their severed selves for a few minutes using the Overtime Contingency program, the board members at Lumon found it easiest to blame everything on Harmony Cobel and fire her as a measure taken to prevent similar situations in the future. Everything was suddenly made out to be Harmony’s fault, with Seth Milchick, her assistant originally, who was promoted to the position of manager, even stating that it was she who enforced the draconian laws on the workers. The Innies’ desire to break the shackles of their unfair labor and fight for their own rights was basically considered an extreme reaction against the oppression carried out by the manager alone, and the higher-ups denied any responsibility.
Considering the fierce nature of Harmony that had been shown in the previous season, she did not really react as one would expect and was rather restrained in her dealings with the company, at least in season 2. On one occasion, she does try to negotiate a way back to Lumon and meets with Helena Eagan to discuss the matter, only to realize that there is really no path of return for her. The board members no longer backed her in any way and were only offering her an insubstantial role in the company, away from the main proceedings regarding severance and data refining. She wanted to be the floor manager once again, especially after Milchick had proven to be an utter failure in the position, but Helena was not willing to comply. This was the reason why Harmony finally gave up on Lumon, and as something seemed to click in her restless mind, she left the scene almost in the middle of the conversation and set out on a long drive to somewhere specific.
We hardly got to see Harmony Cobel after she set out on her drive in Severance season 2, and the only time she was mentioned was in the previous episode, when Devon Scout-Hale wanted to call her to help Mark’s condition. Now, at the beginning of season 2 episode 8, we see her driving along a seaside cliff, still headed to her destination of great importance. It is almost like she rests easy only after arriving at her intended destination, which is a small seaside town named Salt’s Neck, and her extreme determination is clear from the fact that she brushes her teeth at the very spot where she has parked. Harmony has not stopped at any hotel or establishment on her way to the town, and it is possible that she has not even taken any considerable break in the middle either. This makes it evident that she has been in a rush to reach the place, and the reason for her desperation is revealed later in the episode.
After arriving at Salt’s Neck and freshening up, Harmony immediately heads to the Trippy Pot coffee shop, an old and dainty location in the deserted town, and meets the owner, who seems to know her quite well. It is this man, Hampton, and another woman who lives away from the town in an old remote house who become the two central characters in this episode along with Harmony, and both of them are actually linked to her past. The fact that Harmony had not taken any breaks so far and had driven straight to the town, almost in a maniacal rage to find and prove the truth, is further evident from the fact that she passes out after lying on the bed at the remote house and spends hours conked out.
How is Harmony related to the town?
Harmony Cobel’s relation to the town of Salt Neck is gradually revealed through her conversation with Hampton, as she had actually grown up at this very place. Harmony was seemingly born in the town, which was once buzzing with people and bore no resemblance to the desolate empty streets of the present, and she spent her entire childhood at this place. Her aunt, Celestine ‘Sissy’ Cobel, was also an employee at Lumon Industries, which had a base in Salt’s Neck. As Harmony grew up, she was sent to a boarding school called Myrtle Eagan School for Girls, owned and run by Lumon. She was an exceptionally bright student and became not just the valedictorian but also the recipient of the prestigious scholarship program offered to a single student for their academic brilliance. This scholarship was directly funded by the Eagan family, and this meant that Harmony had been close to the founding family of Lumon since her childhood days.
Despite the successes in her academic life, Harmony’s personal life was not as easy, for her mother, Charlotte, suffered from some serious ailment, and it is suggested that she held her workplace responsible for her fate. Charlotte used to seemingly work at the Ether Mill, which was owned by Lumon Industries, and her ailment was possibly caused because of the conditions in the factory. Charlotte’s sister, Sissy, whom we see in the present, living a secluded life at the remote house in Salt’s Neck, then started to look after her and also young Harmony, but her presence ultimately went on to create more troubles for the family. When Charlotte died, Harmony believed that it was her aunt who had pulled the cord on the machine that kept her mother alive, and so she held the woman responsible for killing Charlotte. Harmony still believes that Sissy did so because she was blindly dedicated to Lumon, and during the later stages of her life, Charlotte had turned against the company and developed an intense hatred against her former bosses.
During her very childhood years, Harmony seemingly developed a strong friendship with Hampton, and it is hinted that they even had a romantic relationship for some time. The young man became a strong support in Harmony’s life, and he too had immense hatred for Lumon after being associated with the company to some extent. But when Harmony finally left the town and decided to work for Lumon, he was left distraught and aggrieved, and this is why the two of them currently share a very awkward bond. The man stayed on at his small hometown, even after most people left, or perhaps even died, and he became a drug dealer of sorts, selling his wares to the very few elderly people left at the place. However, towards the end, Harmony does kiss him, which suggests that the romantic chemistry is still present to a certain degree.
What is the true nature of Salt’s Neck?
The small town of Salt’s Neck looks like an old mining town of sorts, with some serious mysteries of its own. There are hardly any direct clues in the episode from which to guess what the town was built for, especially since it is absolutely deserted at present, and the only people seen are those inside the coffee shop and a vagrant seen by Harmony at the parking lot. Based on the information provided later on, Salt’s Neck had been established, or at least taken over, by Lumon Industries, which developed the town into a bustling community, with everyone working in the company in some capacity. What is concerning is that youngsters like Harmony and her friend were employed to work for the corporation at a very young age, and the man even calls their experience forced child labor.
It is evident that while Lumon built most of the facilities at the town in order to ensure that it had a steady supply of workers and they did not leave for better opportunities elsewhere, the company hardly cared for the employees or their families. This is why Charlotte had turned against the company after she fell sick, definitely directly because of her work in the Lumon Ether Mill, and because no measure was taken to help her situation. It is also evident that Sissy, a loyal employee of Lumon, ensured that her sister would not be able to take her complaints against the company to any serious authority.
While the Lumon factory at Salt’s Neck initially thrived, the nature of their business eventually changed after the severance program was invented, and this new innovation ultimately turned the bustling community into an almost ghost town. With the loss of jobs, the town is now suitable only for drug addicts, and they are the ones who have stayed back. Hampton is heard talking about this invention in a negative but indirect sense to Harmony, and he almost holds her partly responsible for the present state of the town, seemingly because she had also left to work for the company and eventually became a floor manager as well. In this sense, Salt’s Neck does feel like an old mining town that was once prosperous but could not keep up with the developments of the modern world.
Why exactly does Harmony come to town?
Although Harmony always felt that her aunt specifically, and Lumon, in general, was responsible for the death of her mother, she did eventually decide to continue working for the company. She was selected for the prestigious scholarship offered by the Eagan family, and it seemed like her loyalty had been bought by Lumon through these academic opportunities. But there was an even bigger reason for Harmony to continue working with the company, and this is indeed the same reason she has returned to Salt’s Neck after all this time. It was actually Harmony Cobel who had come up with the idea of severance, as she had first started researching splitting the human consciousness into multiple parts.
However, Harmony never got the credit for the invention, and it was the Eagans who unjustly took over the project, which was perhaps their plan all along. The scholarship was basically started to have young students start researching on various matters that could be used by the company, only for the Eagans to take credit for these ideas and market them as their own. After being fired from Lumon and realizing that the company was also not ready to listen to her demands, Harmony finally turned against them and decided to take a stand for herself and also the severed employees. While her stance remained a bit unclear till now, the events in episode 8 confirm that she has finally turned against Lumon.
Harmony travels to Salt’s Neck to visit her old house, where she had grown up and where her mother experienced a painful death many years back. Although her aunt, now an old woman, still lives at the house, Harmony searches the whole place for her old diary, which contained all her initial ideas and work on severance. She is ultimately able to find the diary from the shed outside the house, and although Sissy tries to burn it to ensure there is no evidence against Lumon, Harmony is able to fight her off. She then leaves the town with her diary, seemingly with the intention of proving to the world that it was she who had invented the miraculous science of severance, and not any of the Eagan family members.
What does the phone call at the end imply?
During this whole time, Devon keeps calling Harmony on her cellphone, but the latter keeps ignoring the calls. It is only at the end of Severance season 2 episode 8, when her personal mission at Salt’s Neck has been completed, that she picks up the call and learns that Reghabi has been trying to reintegrate Mark’s severed selves. Interestingly, Harmony is alarmed by this development, which suggests that Reghabi’s reintegration process cannot actually work and will only cause harm to the Outie. It is left unclear why Devon makes the call to Harmony in the first place, since she was seen changing her mind after initially wanting to call Mrs. Selvig to save her brother. It might be that something else had transpired, and Devon had again lost hope in Reghabi’s promises. After all, it would indeed be a massive twist if Reghabi turns out to be the bad guy in this narrative while Harmony Cobel redeems her character. It might also be that Devon calls Harmony despite her brother waking up, meaning that the two ex-Lumon scientists will now join hands to come up with a reintegration procedure. The decision to keep us away from the rest of the characters and the main stage of drama in episode 8 makes the future of Severance season 2 all the more exciting and fun to look forward to.
