Quote:
Originally Posted by Patek23
I remember. But what other purpose would a crib serve to provoke such interest—why would they care whether you had an emotional response to a specific crib, unless it held a deeper meaning? Memories of a miscarriage, two years after being kidnapped and subjected to that kind of trauma? I’m not sure I can accept that at face value as the emotional detachment they were aiming to measure. Lumon was clearly monitoring her and planning the abduction, so who knows what kind of games they were playing.
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My 2 cents on the purpose of this "experiment":
Lumon's whole schtick is to remove the emotion from humanity in order for it to achieve greatness. This is what has been learned anytime they refer to the ideas of Keir. The story of his brother in the woods is about removing base instincts for a higher purpose.
The idea of "Severance" isn't to remove the work/life balance, it's to remove people from their own emotions, both good and bad. Every room she goes into is meant to evoke a strong temperament or emotional state. That yields "data" that is then refined by Mark S. by instinct or his own emotional connection to the numbers, but also because of his unique connection to Gemma. Over time, that refinement helps them to narrow the focus of Severance so that it can fully block any emotional attachment to anything. They believe this will result in utopia.
The final test of "Cold Harbor" is to deal with something so severe and intense that there has to be an emotional response, and when there isn't one, they believe they have the solution.
The solution to what is a more fascinating question. It's very similar to the principles of Scientology, and also bears a lot of the same hallmarks of that "religion" running through a leader with his close disciples being in his "family", but also the subtle psychological torture and passive aggressiveness that many people in that faith experience. I could go on, but it's a more dystopian mirror image of Scientology, along with money and industry attached.
All that being said, this episode cemented this as one of my all time favorite shows. It isn't flawless, and there is a slow burn, but when they have big moments, they reaaaally have big moments. As someone else said, the visuals on this show are so evocative. I think it's easily the best cinematography I've ever seen in a TV show. I also think Milchick might be one of the all time great television characters, in both his subtle maliciousness, and his absolute ineptitude despite his best intentions. It's a fascinating combination.
I'm going on too long, but for me, this is up there with Breaking Bad and The Wire as one of the all time great television shows.