Sumith Prasad
The eighth episode of the second season of Apple TV+’s science fiction series ‘Severance,’ titled ‘Sweet Vitriol,’ revolves around Harmony Cobel, who returns to her mysterious past life after failing to strike a deal with Helena Eagan to regain her job at Lumon Industries. As she delves into her childhood and growing years, we see a different, vulnerable Harmony who harbors immense anger towards her former employer. Even though she is not in Kier, she is not far away from the radar of the Eagans, which forces her to embark on a journey that may connect her with the newly reintegrated Mark Scout! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Harmony Cobel Has Remained in Salt’s Neck
‘Sweet Vitriol’ begins with opening a window into the current life of Harmony Cobel, who has been living in Salt’s Neck after her unsuccessful attempts to get her old job at Lumon Industries back. The former severed floor manager lives inside her small car and droves around the isolated town in the middle of a harsh winter. Meanwhile, Hampton, a waiter or proprietor of The Drippy Pot Café, engages in conversations with the regulars at the place, discussing recent developments in the region. He also gives a covered bottle to one of his customers. This bottle seemingly contains an unconventional drug called diethyl ether, which is alternatively known as “sweet vitriol.”
Hampton’s uneventful day turns around when Harmony arrives at the café, asking for a coffee. Her presence instantly changes the former’s demeanor, revealing that they are quite familiar with each other. Even though the man is not at all excited to meet her, he cannot ignore her. That’s why he follows her when she asks him to meet her at the Lumon factory in the town. In no time, he reaches the place with visible disdain towards the establishment on his face. As it turns out, Harmony and the waiter were colleagues in the past. In other words, like the former severed floor manager, Hampton also worked for Lumon.
Interestingly, Hampton is an outspoken critic of Lumon. He apparently left the company because he wasn’t interested in working as a child laborer for the multinational corporation, which explains his contempt towards his former workplace. Harmony arranges their meeting to seek help from him. She wants to drop by the house of Sissy for something important. Since she fears that the possible people who watch her for Lumon may identify her car, she asks the waiter to take her to the place in his truck. The man tries his best to dissuade her from meeting her relative, but she insists on moving ahead with the plan.
Harmony Cobel Meets the Fierce Sissy Cobel
With the help of Hampton, Harmony eventually drops by the house of Celestine “Sissy” Cobel, a devoted Christian. While the episode does not explicitly establish their relationship, the latter is highly older than the former, indicating that the fired severed floor manager is the niece of the other woman. This conclusion also aligns with the way Sissy talks about Harmony’s mother, who should be the religious woman’s sister. Both of them are not thrilled to meet each other, and a fight soon breaks out when Harmony learns that Sissy has given away her belongings.
Harmony is back in her childhood home to look for something. She finds that her mother’s room is locked by Sissy, paving the way for another confrontation. The former Lumon employee blames her aunt for pulling the plug on her parent, only for the latter to justify her actions by stating that she was merely trying to free their loved one from immense pain. Harmony eventually finds the key to her mother’s room and comes across the equipment used to support the latter’s life. She connects an air pipe to the machine and breathes through the same, just like how her mother before dying.
Harmony lays on her mother’s bed and cries for quite a while. She seeks comfort in that space and lets her grief come out. Meanwhile, Hampton checks in on her. He brings a bottle of what seems to be sweet vitriol, and together, they try to get high. As they relax themselves, Harmony sets out to look for the thing she has come to find. She is convinced that her mother wouldn’t have thrown away anything important, which leads her to an underground storage space near the house.
Harmony Cobel is Revealed as the Real Creator of Severance
Harmony’s meticulous search finally leads her to an award she received as a Wintertide fellow—the same fellowship Seth Milchick mentions while warning Miss Huang. The former severed floor manager received the same while she was a student at Myrtle Eagan School for Girls. Inside the bust, Harmony finds a notebook she deems immensely valuable. She returns to Sissy and shows her aunt the foundations of the severed program she had created, which includes procedures such as the overtime contingency protocol and Turkish block. Harmony clarifies that all Eagans did was steal her credit.
This astounding revelation leaves Sissy, a beneficiary of Lumon who remains committed to the company, dumbfounded. To protect the reputation of the Eagans, she tries to snatch the notebook and burn it down, only to fail. Harmony clings to the evidence that she created the severance program decades ago when she was just a young girl. This detail sheds light on the mystery behind the actual “age” of the severance department. Harmony’s secret contradicts the popular belief that it was opened twelve years ago, which can be paralleled with Fields’ claim that he got together with Burt Goodman around twenty years ago in the sixth episode of the second season.
Meanwhile, a car appears out of nowhere in the locality. Hampton rushes to Harmony to warn her about the people who are after her. Since Mr. Drummond has already been to the house once, she knows that the Eagans are keeping an eye on her. She wants her aunt to remain silent about her visit, but Sissy makes it clear that she cannot lie to the representatives of Lumon. The religious woman also adds that Harmony’s mother removed life support with the latter’s own hands. Unfortunately, the former Lumon employee does not have time to process this emotional revelation. She gets inside the waiter’s car and drives away.
Harmony finally picks up Devon Scout’s call as she drives to an undisclosed destination with her notebook. The latter tells her that her brother, Mark, has undergone the reintegration procedure. His former boss is slightly annoyed with the turn of events but is intrigued enough to ask him to explain everything without missing a detail.
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