#brit lower

Spoiler/speculation warning.

Following last week's Severance episode, The After Hours, I've seen a fair amount of speculation that there's a secret Eagan hidden among the cast. When Mark, Devon and Cobel approach the birthing suite Cobel gets the guard to let them in by indicating a (fake) pregnant Devon and saying, conspiratorially, that she's "one of Jame's", thus suggesting that there are plenty of women who come to the birthing cabins secretly pregnant with Jame's babies. Ew.

As Severance loves its twists and is designed to make its audience try to figure out puzzles, it seems likely that we're supposed to assume that there are some other Eagan babies around. The only character whose father we know is Helena, so we can rule her out. Also, she is an acknowledged Eagan baby. Some people have suggested that Rickon, Miss Huang, or even Cobel herself could have been fathered by Jame. I have a different theory. I think it's Mr Drummond.

Drummond is a big old weirdo who turns up in season two and has a very creepy air. He could be mysterious for the fun of it, but I think there's a specific reason. It takes two to tango, and I think that he's the child of Jame Eagan... and Ms Cobel.

Here are my reasons.

In "Trojan's Horse", Drummond, Natalie and Helena have a meeting. Helena refers to Jame as "father", and Drummond also refers to Jame as "father". I mean, that's the biggest part of my theory. If you're looking for the person who might be Jame's child, start with the person who calls him daddy.

In "Goodbye, Mrs Selvig" there's a scene where Helena and Cobel are supposed to get into a car together. Then Drummond comes into view and suddenly, Cobel is terrified. She can't get away fast enough. Certainly, it could be because Drummond is super creepy, but I don't think Cobel scares easily and I don't think that she would be intimidated by one of the regular Lumon goons (big love to Irving). I think there's a personal history, and perhaps confronting your angry, estranged child would be enough.

Cobel seems to know what to say when speaking to the guard in "After Hours". It seems as though she's been in this situation before. But we know that the driver for the Eagan's unpleasant missions isn't Cobel: it's Burt! Perhaps, though, she was taken to the birthing suites because she, personally, was pregnant. We, the audience, also know that Cobel has some experience with motherhood, hence her (apparently successful) job as a lactation consultant. Hope Devon and Rickon's baby is okay... she seems to have vanished.

In the massively underrated "Sweet Vitriol", we see Cobel's backstory. She was brought up and groomed by Lumon, working in one of their ether factories. When Cobel hit adolescence (ish), she was shipped off to a special school for girls - the one Miss Huang now attends. So you have young women who have been taught to worship and obey the Eagan family, all in one place, all adjusting to life outside of their poverty-stricken hometowns. It sounds like St Trinian's. It also sounds like the kind of place absolutely rife with sexual exploitation. Sissy speaks about the Eagans as if they're gods -- would a young woman like Cobel say "no" to whatever an Eagan wanted?

Drummond himself seems to have absolutely gulped the Lumon Kool Aid. He doesn't have a huge amount of screen-time, but we know that he's involved in management - typical nepo baby - and has a "frolic" tattoo, presumably because he's so devoted to Lumon.

Let's triangulate. There's a cult leader who has access to young, vulnerable women. We have a woman who has experience of birth and "early years" care, and was one of the aforementioned vulnerable young women. We have a younger man who refers to the cult leader as "father" and can scare the woman. I think that Jame + Cobel = Drummond.

Give it up. You don't speak, you don't judge, you can't leave, you can't hurt me. You're just here for me to use.

Helly R. and Helena Eagan X Part Of Me / TOOL