‘She doesn’t like the direction Lumon is going’: Severance actor Patricia Arquette teases what to expect from Harmony Cobel’s arc in season 2
- Disconnection star Patricia Arquette reveals what’s in store for Harmony Cobel in season 2
- Harmony will “struggle” with its longstanding loyalty to Lumon Industries, Arquette teases
- Also this season she will be stuck in a ‘teenage vortex of emotional growth’
Disconnection star Patricia Arquette has teased what fans can expect as part of Harmony Cobel’s character arc in season 2.
Speaking to Ny Breaking ahead of the highly rated Apple TV Plus show’s return on January 17, Arquette suggested that Cobel will embark on a coming-of-age journey of sorts. Not only that, but she’ll spend much of this season questioning her loyalty to Lumon Industries, the clandestine biotech mega-corporation she’s faithfully served her entire adult life.
Major spoilers follow immediately Disconnection the last two episodes of season 1. Return now if you haven’t watched them.
In Disconnection Season 1, episode 8, titled “What’s for Dinner?”, Cobel was suspended as Lumon’s Severed Floor manager. That’s because she withheld information about Helly R’s (Helena Egan’s ‘innie’ persona) suicide attempt and her extracurricular activities under the alias Mrs. Selvig from the Lumon board. The latter included Cobel who spied on Mark Scout by posing as his absent-minded neighbor and was hired as a nanny for Mark’s newborn nephew.
In last season’s finale, however, Cobel spared Lumon’s blushes – and some potentially devastating press coverage – when the Macrodata Refiners, including Helly and Mark’s ‘innie’ (known simply as Mark S) temporarily escaped to the real world. That almost led to them exposing Lumon’s nefarious work practices, and it would have succeeded if Cobel hadn’t intervened at the last minute. Indeed, it is Cobel who realizes that the ‘innies’ have used Lumon’s Overtime Contingency program to break out, and at a Lumon gala he tries to stop Helly from revealing what is happening at the horrific organization.
So you’d expect Cobel’s sinister employers to thank her for saving their skin and possibly reinstate her as Severed Floor manager, right? Not so. I won’t spoil what happens in the first episodes of this season – my Disconnection The season 2 review contains some very light spoilers about the first four episodes, if you’re interested. Arquette also didn’t want to spoil anything major about Cobel’s character arc in the second installment of the Apple mystery thriller series, but she did tease where Cobel’s thinking is headed. Disconnection season 2.
“I don’t think she likes the direction the company is going,” Arquette told me. “She’s an old-fashioned enthusiast, and I feel like even though she did things that were outside the scope of the company, her intention was to do it for Lumon (and) because of the great care, and she’s very frustrated that the company doesn’t appreciate that at all, or doesn’t value her at all.
It’s like a child who has a parent who will never truly acknowledge or love him
Patricia Arquette, Severance actor
“She sees how much she has done and how critical she has been to the growth and trajectory of that company,” Arquette added. “It’s like a child who has a parent who will never really acknowledge or love him or her, so she’s always trying to get that kind of approval. At the same time, in this kind of teenage vortex of her emotional growth, she also kind of hates, so there is a desire to be loved by them and also punish them that she is struggling with.
For more information on the next installment of one of the best Apple TV Plus shows, including details on the cast, plot and trailers, read my Disconnection season 2 hub. Or read more of my exclusive coverage of the show’s next entry in the section below.