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When Severance‘s first season was airing, I called its opening credits sequence “the best on TV” — and for good reason. With visuals by artist Oliver Latta (aka Extraweg) and typography by Teddy Blanks, this title sequence immersed viewers in the nightmarish world of Lumon Industries, as well as the tension between Mark’s (Adam Scott) Innie and Outie lives. Uncanny and unforgettable, the sequence went on to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design.
In Season 2, Severance reshapes its opening credits, maintaining the signature 3D CGI look but switching up the actual content of the visuals. Some images, like Mark jumping into his own head, remain the same, but for the most part, we’re seeing totally new things here.
Another change from season to season is the fact that, while Season 1’s credits are more evocative of Severance‘s overall feel, Season 2’s credits gesture more to the plot of the show. The sequence doesn’t just feature Mark anymore — Helly (Britt Lower), Gemma/Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman), and Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) all make appearances, putting further pressure on Mark’s dual selves.
But what else can Severance Season 2’s opening credits tell us about what to expect from the season? Let’s break it down. Here are 10 fascinating details from Severance Season 2’s opening credits.
What’s with all the balloons?
Latta incorporated balloon-like images into the Season 1 credits, with Mark carrying around a floating clone of himself, complete with multiple legs, arms, and heads. In Season 2, though, we get new spooky opening credit balloons. This time, the balloons are Mark’s inflated head, with his tie acting as their strings. It’s a fun echo to the blue balloons Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman) gives Mark in the Season 2 premiere, each with his face on them. Yet there could also be a deeper meaning to these head balloons.
When we first see one of these balloons in the trailer, it’s coming up through an elevator — presumably from the severed floor. Could this suggest Mark’s Innie consciousness breaking through into the Outie world? That would only be possible if Mark underwent the dangerous reintegration process Petey (Yul Vazquez) underwent in Season 1. Based on the Severance Season 2 trailer, we know reintegration pioneer Reghabi (Karen Aldridge) is back, so the idea of reintegration is certainly on the table. Plus, the image of Mark’s Outie figure trying desperately to hang onto the head balloons evokes the idea of Mark trying to recapture his own memories, something he could only do through reintegration.
Let’s take a trip into Mark’s brain.
The Severance Season 2 opening credits continue with Mark climbing down into the depths of his own brain (rendered in a disconcerting shade of green). In a shallow pool of water, he sees his reflection become first Helly, then Gemma, both of whom take off running in different directions. The moment certainly serves as a visual representation of Mark’s different selves having different love interests, but it also highlights just how complicated these romances could be. Innie Mark wants to save Gemma for his Outie’s sake, but what happens to his and Helly’s romance if Outie Mark and Gemma decide to flee far from Lumon? Is a future even possible for them, when their Outies are responsible for whether they live or die?
Babies, babies, everywhere.
There are so many creepy, faceless babies in these opening credits — and one baby Kier Eagan at the very end! So what’s the deal with them?
The babies could hint at a number of things, like the infantilization of Lumon’s Innies, who are often treated like children in work clothes. (Later, Mark has what looks like jars of baby food on his table, adding to this idea.) But the babies could also point to some of Lumon’s more nefarious activity: Could they be raising children to live solely on the severed floor, like they raise baby goats? Is that Miss Huang’s (Sarah Bock) whole deal? (Lumon’s LinkedIn page says otherwise.)
Innie Mark and Outie Mark are interacting!
In the Season 1 opening credits, Innie and Outie Mark interact somewhat — but not to the extent that they do here. From spotting each other with flashlights to carrying one another through surreal landscapes, the pair actually seem to be working together. Perhaps Mark’s Innie and Outie will find a way to communicate with each other as the season goes on.
Mark removes his severance chip.
Another striking image in these opening credits is Mark dragging his own severance chip out of his brain. If that’s not a clear nod to reintegration, I don’t know what it could be!
Is the sunken car a reference to Gemma’s car accident?
At one point in the credits, Mark traverses an icy body of water. (One might call it a… Cold Harbor.) In the background, a car lies half-submerged beneath the surface. Could this be a reference to how Gemma (supposedly) died in a car crash, and how the memory and grief associated with it always lurk in Mark’s subconscious?
The car also looks like Cobel’s car, which we see her driving away into the darkness at the end of episode 2. Maybe Severance is foreshadowing a car accident in her future — perhaps by Lumon’s hand? — in which case it seems like Lumon has a suspicious pattern of car crashes.
A terrifying field of goat-Marks.
Perhaps the most bizarre image of the entire credits sequence is when Mark carries himself through a field populated by uncanny creatures. On one side of the field, where Innie Mark carries his Outie, headless Innie Marks roam on hands and knees through the grass, along with massive rolling Gemma heads. The other side of the field is the inverse: Outie Mark carries his Innie, headless Outies populate the field, and the rolling heads are Helly’s instead of Gemma’s.
The terrain is similar to the new and improved Lumon goat room teased in the Season 2 trailer, and the whole tableau further highlights the differences between both versions of Mark (especially their love interests).
Ms. Cobel has her eyes on Mark, Gemma, and Helly.
Turns out the entire field scene was actually playing out on a book Cobel is reading, positioning her as the great orchestrator and observer of Mark’s entire odyssey. While it seems like Cobel has cut ties with Lumon by the end of episode 2, could we see her return and take the reins once more? It’s clear she has a deep interest in the severed floor, and in Mark and Gemma’s interactions in particular. Perhaps this season we’ll find out more about why she so invested. (And no, Mr. Milchick, I know it’s not because she wants to be in a throuple with Innie and Outie Mark!)
Helly and Gemma alternate in the elevator down to the testing floor.
In one of the title sequence’s final moments, Latta conjures up the terrifying hallway and elevator leading down to the testing floor of Lumon. Gemma stands in the elevator, but as we draw closer, she flickers into Helly and back. Once again, the credits are emphasizing each of Mark’s respective love interests, reminding us that this is one complicated love triangle. But the flickering imagery adds an extra layer to the moment, as it recalls Petey’s quick changes between his Innie and Outie memories during his reintegration process in Season 1. If Mark does reintegrate, as these credits and Reghabi’s appearance in the season suggest, could he mistake Helly for Gemma? Or could his memories overlay the two, given that they occupy similar roles in his respective lives?
Mark climbs out of his own head.
Severance Season 2’s opening credits end with a disturbing bang: an image of the back of Outie Mark’s head opening up and Innie Mark prying his way out. Pair this with the earlier images of Mark removing his own severance chip and Innie and Outie Mark interacting, and the prospect of reintegration is almost 100 percent certain. However, given how eerie these credits are, as well as the body horror implications of this final image, it’s clear that it won’t be an easy (or pretty) process.
Severance Season 2 is now streaming on Apple TV+, with a new episode every Friday.
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“Severance” switches up its title sequence in Season 2. Here are 10 fascinating details to keep an eye out for.
