In the letter, one of the ‘innies’ mentions completing a large file titled ‘Lexington’ at 2.30pm. Later that day, she learns a Dorner Therapeutics truck – belonging to one of Lumon’s competitors – was bombed at 2.32pm, killing six and destroying key devices.

The timing feels deeply, ominously, horribly suspicious. And, sure, it could be a coincidence, but this is Lumon after all: they’re twisted AF.

Natalie is a prisoner

A lot of people think that there is more to Natalie (Sydney Cole Alexander) than meets the eye – not least because of her anguished microexpressions.

“I genuinely wonder if she has some sort of modified Lumon chip, such that she’s almost like truly connected to the Board in her brain, but in a parasitic way, and they could just take her out if she ever stepped out of line,” says LimpEmu1021 on Reddit.

Yup, while she seems harmless within the Lumon workplace, it’s been hinted that Natalie could be part of a larger, sinister system – just like Georgina in Get Out. Georgina came across as friendly but was secretly complicit in a dark, oppressive agenda, unable to express her true feelings because of the control over her.

Could it be that Natalie is playing a similar role, trapped in a system that keeps her from breaking free? Maybe all of the dead Board members’ consciousnesses have been set up to speak via her, quite literally?

Milchick is a mole

Thanks to his superior dance moves and wonderful command of the English language, Milchick (Tramell Tillman) is something of a fan favourite – and that’s in spite of the fact he works for Lumon. It makes sense, then, that some are already attempting to find him a redemption arc.

“Milchick is very suspicious. He rarely says anything genuine or unrehearsed to other people, and never to the innies. There’s definitely a front he presents to the innies that is seemingly meant to be managerial [and] non-threatening, but it reads as so sinister,” reads one Reddit post.

Throw in his tale about the Grakappan (a fictional Swedish king who would disguise himself to spend time among the common folk in order to learn about their true needs) and a fair few fans are insisting that Milchick is a mole. That this was his way of telling everyone he was a mole. That his discomfort, too, over the adapted Kier paintings hammers this point home.

And yet… well, I think he’s a vindictive bully and an obvious metaphor for middle management: the ones who lack the power to make decisions, who are desperate to befriend their underlings (while never afraid to throw them under the bus), and who are expected to meet the demands of their superiors by any means possible. Yuck.

Lumon is planning Irving’s untimely demise

OK, bear with me on this one. When he’s talking to the ‘innies’, Milchick tells them that Irving is on an “elongated cruise voyage,” so all the other innies think he’s somewhere on a boat.

So far, so innocent… until the opening scene of season 2 episode 5, in which we see a mysterious Lumon employee picking up some dentistry tools from O&D and delivering them to the Testing Floor. His face is never shown, but we do hear him whistling a little ditty: The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. Which is, you guessed it, inspired by a real life freighter that sank in 1975, resulting in the deaths of 29 men.

I hope this is a stretch, because I bloody love Irving…

Severance season 2: 11 fan theories that could explain everything