Severance is the kind of show that begets speculation. Some fans have theories about the show’s central mysteries (it’s gotta be a cloning thing!); others have strong opinions on various ships (what if Helly and Gemma both leave Mark for each other??). And then there’s me. I’m over here thinking about the seminal work of one Dr. Ricken Lazlo Hale, Ph.D.

In the world of Severance, Mark Scout’s brother-in-law, Ricken, wrote a self-help book titled The You You Are. An advance copy meant for Mark made its way to the severed floor in season 1, inspiring MDR to rise up and trigger the OTC — you know the story. In season 2 episode 3, Natalie from Lumon visits Ricken to pitch an “innie” version of The You You Are, edited specifically for severed workers. Not suspicious at all.

Out here in our world, we were also blessed with a version of The You You Are. It was released on Apple Books on Jan. 31, the same day as the third episode of season 2. And this version… well, dear reader, it doesn’t quite match what we saw of the book in season 1 of Severance.

Surely it’s just a continuity error, I hear you saying. It would be really time-consuming to write a whole book just for a few shots in a TV show. It’s probably half lorem ipsum. I mean, sure, if you want to Occam’s razor it. But the team behind Severance is pretty detail-oriented. According to Patricia Arquette, showrunner Dan Erickson wrote 30 pages of The You You Are for the prop in the show. The writers released another tie-in........

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