‘Severance’ Season 2, Episode 8 Recap, From James Le Gros And Jane Alexander To Salt’s Neck And Ether

Sissy, Charlotte Cobel, And Hampton Explained

“Sweet Vitriol” introduces two major characters and shares some long-awaited backstory on a third: Charlotte Cobel. Since we first saw Charlotte’s breathing tube on Cobel’s Eagan shrine in Season 1, we’ve wondered who exactly the former Severed Floor manager lost and how. Episode 208 confirmed suspicions that Charlotte was Cobel’s mother, who died while she was away at school studying and impressing Jame Eagan with her smarts. We learn that Charlotte “hated” Lumon (more on that later!) and that Cobel was heartbroken because she never got to say goodbye to her mother.

Season 2, Episode 8 also introduces us to the woman who Cobel blames for her mother’s death: Sissy, played by Jane Alexander. While it’s clear the two women have deep history with one another, it’s never explicitly stated who Sissy is to Cobel. In an interview with Decider, however, Patricia Arquette confirmed that Sissy (or Celestine “Sissy” Cobel) is her character’s aunt. Sissy is a major Lumon loyalist who was once awarded a plaque that reads: “QUARTERLY STRIVER, 4th Quarter Year of Vision – Youth Apprentice Matrion.” We also learned that she’s “a fucking pariah” in Salt’s Neck, because still lives by Lumon’s nine Core Principles after the company destroyed the town. Towards the end of the episode, she even proves she’s more loyal to Lumon than her own niece.

Then there’s Hampton, the man who called Sissy “a fucking pariah” and wants her to “drop dead.” Played by James Le Gros, Hampton is Cobel’s go-to guy in Salt’s Neck. She finds him working at The Drippy Pot Cafe and asks him to meet her at “the factory” because she needs his help. There, we learn that the two go way back and worked together at Lumon’s (now closed down) ether factory in Salt’s Neck when they were kids. (KIDS!) We later learn that Hampton sells and distributes ether to people in town, fueling the devastating ether addition. Though he hates Lumon, he seems to have eyes for Cobel. We don’t know for sure if the two were old flames back in the day, but in “Sweet Vitriol” they do share a kiss after getting high, he gives Cobel his truck, and he braves Lumon’s wrath to help her escape.

Salt’s Neck And Lumon’s Ether Lore

Though we first learned about Salt’s Neck in Season 2, Episode 3, we had no idea just how connected to Lumon (and some of the show’s key mysteries) Cobel’s hometown was until Episode 208. The Salt’s Neck scenes (which were filmed in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador) depict a frigid, grey, largely abandoned town that Lumon destroyed. How? We don’t know all the details, but the factory and ether play major roles in the demise of Salt’s Neck and its people.

When Cobel first arrives, she sees a man outside inhaling ether and coughing. And in The Drippy Pot Cafe, Hampton gives a man a bottle of ether “on the house” while an older woman with an oxygen tank is sits the counter. What’s with all the coughing and breathing issues in this town? Ether! As noted above, Cobel’s mother Charlotte was hooked up to a breathing tube before she died, and Arquette told Decider that Cobel’s mom — who hated Lumon — had become an ether addict. And Ether was so readily available in the town because Salt’s Neck operated that since shuttered factory (like the one where Kier and his wife Imogene allegedly met at).

The name of Episode 208, “Sweet Vitriol” references diethyl ether, defined as “a sweet-smelling, highly flammable hallucinogenic anaesthetic that could induce euphoria,” which further stresses the importance of the compound. (There’s even speculation that you can’t spell “diethyl ether” without DIETER.) We also learned that Cobel and Hampton worked together at the factory when they were kids. Hampton recalled manning the vat for 10 hours, while Cobel remembered getting high off of ether when she was only eight years old!

When Cobel told Hampton the town was older and frailer than she remembered, he replied, “Yeah, well, with the market readjustment from a few years ago and the fluctuating interest rates, there was a retrenchment from some of the core infrastructure investments.” What exactly led to the downfall of the town, and Lumon shutting down the factory and taking business elsewhere? Severance doesn’t want us to know quite yet, but with the Lumon Industries symbol on old buildings and a sign that reads, “Kier Eagan’s Lumon Ether – There Is A Miracle Cure For Ma—” it’s clear the town is a Lumon graveyard and ether plays a larger role in the company’s lore than we initially thought.

Sissy’s Eagan Shrine

Remember Cobel’s Eagan shrine from Season 1? In addition to her mother’s breathing tube, the ode to the Eagans featured a framed photo of Kier, a photo from Myrtle Eagan School for Girls, a ticket to the 7th Annual “Kiernival,” several diplomas, a mask, and various other company-related keepsakes. Well, Season 2, Episode 8 revealed that Sissy has an elaborate Eagan shrine in her bedroom, too, which may be even more intense than her neice’s. In addition to a Kier photo, it features small versions of the four tempers masks seen at the Waffle Party, Lumon newspaper clippings, candles, cards that represent the nine Core Principles, flowers, artwork, inspirational sayings, and more. What else did you spot in Sissy’s room?

Cobel’s Lumon Loyalty, The Wintertide Fellowship, And More

On top of the fact that Cobel is from an abandoned Lumon town, she worked as a child (!!!) in a Lumon ether factory, has a Kier-obsessed aunt, and her mother’s death has ties back to the company, “Sweet Vitriol” gave us even more insight into Cobel’s past and the reasons for her Lumon loyalty.

One major revelation is that she received the Wintertide Fellowship back in the day, the same fellowship that Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) is currently pursuing through her work on the Severed Floor. Viewers who thought Miss Huang was suspiciously young to be employed, it seems like “child fucking labor” is classic Lumon!

When Cobel returned to her childhood bedroom and looked at the height chart carved into the door frame, it appeared to show her growth up until age 12. So did Cobel leave home at age 12? We knew she went to Myrtle Eagan School for Girls, but in Episode 208 Sissy said Mr. Eagan “saw Kier” in Cobel and no apprentice was more industrious than her. And towards the end of the episode when Cobel searched the shed at her childhood home, she looked through old belongings from her schooldays which revealed she was Valedictorian of her class and received a bust of Jame Eagan’s head with a nameplate that read “JAME EAGAN WINTERTIDE FELLOWSHIP – HARMONY COBEL – YEAR OF WILES.” Inside the bust? Cobel hid a notebook, the contents of which low-key blew our minds…

Hold Up: Did Cobel Invent SEVERANCE?!

After Cobel retrieved her old notebook she marched back into the house with every intention of leaving, but when Sissy suggested she owes everything she has to the Eagans, Cobel popped the hell off — and for good reason.

“MINE!!!!!!! MY DESIGNS!!! Circuit Blueprint, Base Code, OTC, Glasgow Block — all of it!” Cobel said, waving the notebook in front of Sissy’s eyes. When Sissy replied, “Jame Eagan was the inventor,” Cobel sassily snapped, “So I’ve heard!” But her notebook told a different story. As Sissy flipped through Cobel’s impressive severance-related designs, formulas, and findings, she said, “Extraordinary. Why have you never spoken of this?” Cobel claimed, “I was told Kiers knowledge is for all — that if I sought credit I would be banished.” And, uh, that explains…A LOT! Looking back at Cobel’s obsession with Mark, her desire to manage the Severed Floor and oversee the completion of Cold Harbor, her interest in reintegration — she had a personal investment in the technology! And the Eagans (or at least Jame) fully denied her any credit for it! No wonder she’s furiously speeding around in her car!

So did Cobel singlehandedly create the severance procedure? Or did she notably contribute to the process? Patricia Arquette shed some light on the jaw-dropping reveal. “The conversation with Cobel is how much did she have to do with the original chip? And some of that was a surprise. And how exactly did that come about?” the Severance star said. “It’s more like they were all working on this thing, but they were stumped. And she’s the one who kind of brought it together and it was always spoken about as it was this manifestation of Kier’s dream — in current reality and with new technology — what would that look like?”

“She’s in the structure of this organization that will never give you personal credit. Everything’s for the greater good. It’s unseemly to take credit,” Arquette continued. “We see this in echoes of different structures, different religions, different things throughout history. And that’s part of her thing, she will never get acknowledged the way she feels she should by this organization.”