Warning: the following contains SPOILERS for Severance.
Severance star Patricia Arquette teases coming revelations about why Harmony Cobel is so obsessed with Mark. Severance season 1 introduced Arquette as hard-core office boss Cobel, who keeps an eye on things on Lumon’s mysterious severed floor. But Cobel actually lives a double-life, also posing as Mrs. Selvig, the kindly neighbor of Adam Scott’s severed worker Mark Scout.
Severance of course is a show built upon mystery and slow revelation. And there was arguably no season 1 mystery more perplexing than the nature of Mrs. Cobel’s actual relationship with both halves of Mark. Audiences could only guess why Cobel would not only pose as Mark’s neighbor, seemingly keeping a watchful eye over the clueless Lumon employee, but also use her Mrs. Selvig persona to worm her way into the life of Mark’s sister Devon by serving as the new mom's lactation coach.
Fans hoping for some answer to the nature of Cobel’s interest in Mark before the end of Severance season 1 unfortunately did not get their wish. But it seems answers are in the offing, at least according to Arquette, who addressed the issue of Cobel’s Mark obsession in an interview with Vulture. Of course Arquette was unwilling to give details, but she did indicate she is privy to the truth about Cobel. “I know the answer to this, but I’m not telling yet,” Arquette said, adding “It could ruin some things.” The actress went on to say:
Yeah, there is an answer to that question. It’s also rooted in Harmony’s deep inner self. Mark is a special project she’s working on. That’s all I’m going to say about that.
Arquette's Harmony Cobel of course went through her own rather harrowing journey throughout the course of Severance season 1. Initially she seemed like an unflappably icy and controlling boss at Lumon, and later was revealed to be an actual true-believer in the teachings of Lumon founder Kier Eagan. But the rug was pulled out from under her when she was ultimately fired by Lumon, causing all sorts of emotional turmoil to burst out from behind her cool exterior. Severance season 1’s cliffhanger finale then opened the door on Cobel redeeming herself in the eyes of Lumon as she raced to stop Mark and company’s “escape” from their lives as innies using the overtime contingency.
Unfortunately the clock ran out on season 1 before Severance had a chance to address why exactly Cobel is particularly interested in Mark. Of course the show did reveal that Lumon has been doing very evil things behind the scenes, including apparently faking the death of Mark’s wife Gemma and imprisoning her as the innie Ms. Casey. Whatever Cobel’s “special project” is regarding Mark, it’s a safe bet it has something to do with the whole Ms. Casey/Gemma situation. And of course after that Severance season 1 cliffhanger, innie Mark now knows that Ms. Casey is actually his wife, which is bound to complicate things for both him and his outie. The truth about Cobel and her interest in Mark is indeed one of the biggest questions fans can’t wait to see answered in Severance season 2, and it seems there’s a good chance that at least some information will be given up when the show returns to Apple TV+.
Source: Vulture