In Episode 8 of Severance Season 2, titled "Sweet Vitriol," Harmony Cobel returns to her hometown, Salt’s Neck, reflecting on her troubled past and her estranged relationship with her radical relative, Sissy. Harmony, fired from Lumon, seeks a valuable notebook containing her designs for the severance procedure, which she reveals she invented. Her tumultuous reunion with Sissy unveils deep-seated family issues and painful memories of child labor at Lumon. As she escapes the town with a friend, Harmony grapples with her loyalties towards Mark and her desire to undermine Lumon, setting the stage for potential conflict and resolution.
Warning: This article includes spoilers for Episode 8 of Severance Season 2.
A lot has transpired in the world of Severance, from MDR’s ORTBO, Irving and Burt’s dinner, to Gemma’s attempted escape from Lumon, since we last saw Harmony Cobel speeding away from Helena Eagan and her bodyguard in Season 2, Episode 3.
For fans of Patricia Arquette, Episode 8, titled “Sweet Vitriol,” reintroduces Ms. Cobel prominently. The unusually short 38-minute episode starts with Harmony arriving in the grim seaside town of Salt’s Neck—the destination we previously saw her heading towards in Episode 3 before she returned to Lumon to make one last effort to reclaim her authority as the head of the severed floor.
We quickly find out that Salt’s Neck is Harmony’s childhood home and a once-thriving Lumon company town that has been ravaged by its corporate benefactor. Many of the town’s residents have fallen into ether addiction, introduced by Lumon and now sold by Harmony’s childhood friend and unfulfilled love interest, Hampton (James Le Gros). Although past grievances linger between them, a strong bond of loyalty persists. Harmony asks him to take her to the home of her estranged relative, Celestine “Sissy” Cobel (Jane Alexander), who raised Harmony after her mother fell ill.
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Sissy is labeled a “pariah” in the town and is a fervent follower of Kier’s core principles: vision, verve, wit, cheer, humility, benevolence, nimbleness, probity, and wiles. It’s evident that her strict parenting made Harmony’s childhood—where she was subjected to child labor alongside Hampton at Lumon’s local factory—a nightmare.
Angry about being fired by Lumon earlier this season, Harmony is determined to unlock her deceased mother’s room, believing she can find something precious from her past. The breathing tube Harmony carries belonged to her mother, Charlotte Cobel, who died while Harmony attended the Myrtle Eagan School for Girls. Charlotte reportedly despised Lumon and was not a follower of Kier. Harmony confronts Sissy, accusing her of taking the tube from her mother’s throat and causing her death before Harmony could say goodbye. Sissy later asserts that it was Charlotte who removed the tube herself.
Not coincidentally, The Lexington Letter, a free companion e-book created by the Severance team to expand the show’s universe, mentions Lumon’s “feeding tube devices” (seemingly similar) in an anecdote about how a Nashville newspaper tried to publish an exposé and was subsequently “sued into oblivion,” folding six months later.
Ultimately, Harmony discovers a notebook filled with her designs co-opted by Lumon, hidden in a makeshift basement outside Sissy’s house. We learn that young Harmony was an exceptional talent, selected by the Eagans to attend the Myrtle Eagan School for Girls and honored with the Jame Eagan Wintertide Fellowship. Then, comes the dramatic revelation: It was Harmony, not Jame, who originated the severance procedure. “Mine! My designs,” she exclaims at Sissy. “Circuit blueprint, base code, overtime contingency, Glasgow block. All of it.”
Harmony reveals that the Eagans have warned her that claiming credit for her inventions would result in her banishment. Just then, a car, presumably belonging to a Lumon enforcer, arrives on the desolate road toward Sissy’s home. Harmony escapes in Hampton’s truck, but it’s clear that Lumon won’t let her off that easily.
As Harmony drives away from Salt’s Neck, she finally answers Devon’s (Jen Tullock) persistent calls throughout the episode. After learning that Mark (Adam Scott) has begun his reintegration under Reghabi’s (Karen Aldridge) guidance, Harmony quickly resolves to assist Mark and possibly embark on a mission to dismantle Lumon.
Understanding that Harmony is the architect of the severance procedure, she could also be the sole individual capable of reversing it safely. However, given her connection to Mark and her ambition tied to Cold Harbor, she likely won’t easily abandon her life’s work. Harmony’s shifting allegiances may determine the fate of not just Mark, but also Gemma and the other innies. We’re left to ponder what her true motives are.