Severance (Spoilers)

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by MegaErtz

The brand name of the crib was "Cold Harbor." They show outtie Mark building it in a flashback.

Am I misremembering, or did Mark mention the crib in his basement during one of his conversations with Reghabi?

[Erick Estrada]

The whole innie elimination thing is not really explained. At the beginning of season 2 the crew minus Mark was effectively fired but when re-hired, their innies resumed from where they left off. If for whatever reason Irving was invited back to work for Lumen would he get a new innie or would they resurrect his innie? This makes me wonder if an innie can truly be eliminated from an outie if they later reintegrate.

[getbak]

So far, Gemma is the only person we've seen who has more than one innie personality, and it still appears to still be quite experimental.

If they had the ability to give someone a new innie, they likely would have done so when Helly was so troublesome to start, or when Dylan tried to quit and his outie refused.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The whole innie elimination thing is not really explained. At the beginning of season 2 the crew minus Mark was effectively fired but when re-hired, their innies resumed from where they left off. If for whatever reason Irving was invited back to work for Lumen would he get a new innie or would they resurrect his innie? This makes me wonder if an innie can truly be eliminated from an outie if they later reintegrate.

I'm pretty sure that what we've been led to believe so far is that the innie is still technically part of an individual's psyche. As far as we know, Lumon doesn't technically implant the personality, they isolate something that creates that personality. But we also seem to know that Helly R isn't quite what they were expecting as the result of Helena Eagan's innie. That being said, the innies are quite naive and typically easily brain washed into believing all sorts of stuff (minus Helly R). Early episodes, they discuss and debate things like what they think the outside looks like.

The disappearance of an innie is more philosophical (per the video camera and other discussions earlier in the series). Season 2 seemed to spend a bunch of time wrestling with the idea and blurring the lines about whether the innie is part of the original individual, or a distinctly separate individual. We have this about the hell/heaven debate with Burt, the anger Dylan has for his innie, then the acceptance of his innie, etc.

My understanding is that the innie "elimination" thing isn't true elimination/death. It's a philosophical debate about being both part of the same person, yet distinctly separate. Imagine if you were to do something that would ultimately lead towards you to end up in a coma where you don't know if you'll wake up. That's perhaps the first part of what Mark S is concerned about. The second part is then what happens upon reintegration, someone has to take precedence and someone has to lose something. Mark S/Scout is no longer separate and cannot simultaneously pursue his love interest with Helly R and Gemma. Someone is forced to cede to the other. There was a section where Mark S discusses reintegration and how Mark Scout likely take precedence because he has existed longer than Mark S. Even though it is it's own hell, Mark S technically has his own life and his own time in Lumon. Reintegration causes him to lose that life and time he calls his own and it was one of the things he mentioned in the conversation.

[Erick Estrada]

I assume if you walk out of the top of the elevator and never return that the innie is suspended until return, if the outie ever returns. Clearly any ailments pass through such as Mark's nosebleeds so death to an innie would also mean the death of the outie. I assume if everything goes through as planned for Lumen that Mark would have achieved his goal and would have been dismissed from Lumen with a package or something. Same goes for Dylan. Helly would have stopped integrating as it seems the reason for her innie was simply to ensure that Mark followed through with completing his task. So much is up for interpretation with this show lol.

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The whole innie elimination thing is not really explained. At the beginning of season 2 the crew minus Mark was effectively fired but when re-hired, their innies resumed from where they left off. If for whatever reason Irving was invited back to work for Lumen would he get a new innie or would they resurrect his innie? This makes me wonder if an innie can truly be eliminated from an outie if they later reintegrate.

Don't think it needed that much more explanation. If you never go back to the severed floor, the innie's life is effectively over and they've 'died'.

[troutman]

Greatest scene in TV history?



https://collider.com/severance-defia...ce-best-scene/

https://uproxx.com/tv/severance-creator-favorite-scene/

https://www.vulture.com/article/how-...-sequence.html

[Monahammer]

My biggest question right now- who are the others refining? Were they less important just because they were further from completion than Mark? They can't just be pointless decoys... right?

And the goats... They're more than just token sacrifices... The implied amount of killed goats seems much to great to simply be linked to the advancement of one refinement file. There were 50+ baby goats in that room...

[Fuzz]

I was thinking each severed person or personality(in Gemma's case) needs to be refined. So the other refiners are just working on creating more severed workers.


Dunno about the goats.

[Cappy]

I don't know if you all saw this, but the Milchick "drum line" outfit is eerily similar to an iconic Canadian outfit:

Spoiler!

Spoiler!

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Torture

Don't think it needed that much more explanation. If you never go back to the severed floor, the innie's life is effectively over and they've 'died'.

Even if they haven't "died", if they basically never wake up, it's not living either. It's basically like being comatose. Doing something knowingly that brings you to that state... I agree it seemed straight forward to me what Mark S' concerns were.

Originally Posted by Monahammer

My biggest question right now- who are the others refining? Were they less important just because they were further from completion than Mark? They can't just be pointless decoys... right?

And the goats... They're more than just token sacrifices... The implied amount of killed goats seems much to great to simply be linked to the advancement of one refinement file. There were 50+ baby goats in that room...

I think something important that is often glazed over is that Mark is a very good refiner. But perhaps what's strange is that he is refining Gemma. If an element of understanding the "feel" of the numbers, then presumably, you need to know the person you're refining?

Then someone like Dylan who keeps on getting tons of awards, I'd maybe assume he was refining himself? But I don't get what that means. He is indeed the only refiner we are aware of that was given the outie privilege and somehow allowed to communicate with his outie via letter (or at least shown). I don't know if that's sorta intentional or something. I don't believe this type of communication or interaction was intentionally allowed or shown for Helly, Irving or Mark OTOH.

I don't know... Mark specifically has stated he's completed 25 files and Cold Harbor is the 26th, so 50+ goats could make sense if there's someone else like Gemma... but based on the fact Gemma is a major milestone, one could consider that there are not. So I understand what you're wondering about.

We know Dylan has won the most completion awards in season 1. No idea how many Irving and Pete have completed. Helly shouldn't be too many based on how new she is.

[Torture]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Even if they haven't "died", if they basically never wake up, it's not living either. It's basically like being comatose. Doing something knowingly that brings you to that state... I agree it seemed straight forward to me what Mark S' concerns were.

Yep. Also now that I think about it, they did cover it with Burt's retirement and Irving's funeral.

Then someone like Dylan who keeps on getting tons of awards, I'd maybe assume he was refining himself? But I don't get what that means. He is indeed the only refiner we are aware of that was given the outie privilege and somehow allowed to communicate with his outie via letter (or at least shown). I don't know if that's sorta intentional or something. I don't believe this type of communication or interaction was intentionally allowed or shown for Helly, Irving or Mark OTOH.

Seems to me that Dylan's awards were just to keep him engaged and calm. Not so much based on actual productivity.

Also, while there were 50+ goats in the room only 'the best' was picked. Not every baby goat is being sacrificed because they don't all meet the criteria.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Torture

Seems to me that Dylan's awards were just to keep him engaged and calm. Not so much based on actual productivity.

Also, while there were 50+ goats in the room only 'the best' was picked. Not every baby goat is being sacrificed because they don't all meet the criteria.

I kind of agree about Dylan, especially given his commentary from the outside about not being good at anything... Perhaps he's also not good down there, but they are willing to boost his confidence/ego anyways?

Maybe they really are refining themselves.

The goats comment you've made it possibly true, but to me that points to them also being something else. Why would the goats need to meet certain criteria to be killed?

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Torture

Yep. Also now that I think about it, they did cover it with Burt's retirement and Irving's funeral.


Seems to me that Dylan's awards were just to keep him engaged and calm. Not so much based on actual productivity.

Also, while there were 50+ goats in the room only 'the best' was picked. Not every baby goat is being sacrificed because they don't all meet the criteria.

I mean, possibly? But why would they go that far to keep him engaged and calm to the point that he is refiner of the quarter on multiple occasions? To me, I'd assume it's more likely that he's actually good at the job vs being given a pile of participation ribbons. That being said, IIRC Dylan is the one that mentions that MDR often only completes a few files, so you could be right.

I looked it up and I think he said only 1 of 5 files before they expire. No idea if that 1 file is technically Marks. I don't recall and I can't seem to find dialogue about whether Dylan and Irving have completed files and how many. I seem to recall Helly did complete a file at one point in season 1 and Irving kinda smiles at her and says something like, "The first of many" and then in a non-chalant manner goes back to work on his file? Am I misremembering?

I know we're also heavily assuming that what the others are working on must be very different than Mark S, because Gemma... but other than the fact Mark has gotten further than everyone else, maybe the work is not much different to Marks work?

[edslunch]

Amazing finale! A very satisfying plot and so many over the top details. I loved the instruments being squeezed out while Milchick was trying to move the vending machine.

That’s probably peak Severance though. It’s hard to see where the show goes from here. The next time Mark leaves Lumon he will never go back, and he can’t stay in there forever, especially after killing Drummond.

There could be some interesting re-integration plotlines but the core mystery of innies vs outies is finished.

Looking forward to seeing what they come up with

[Strange Brew]

Great finale, thankful they brought back dancing Milchick. That episode really brought back the tone of season 1 which was lacking.

Overall season 2 is quite a drop from season 1 for me. Really lost some of the wonder, awe and amusement from season 1 and unfortunately some episodes were entirely too self indulgent.

Still some high quality television. Great performances and everything looks beautiful.

[Ashasx]

I thought the finale was very good but I'll be honest, after the Woe's Hollow episode I thought most of this season just dragged and wasn't very entertaining.

I think the finale sets up season 3 nicely though because I'm really not sure which direction they are going to take.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

I thought the finale was very good but I'll be honest, after the Woe's Hollow episode I thought most of this season just dragged and wasn't very entertaining.

I think the finale sets up season 3 nicely though because I'm really not sure which direction they are going to take.

I am pretty much with you.

The Severance procedure is a massive, groundbreaking event. If the big thing they are working on is some kind of "enhanced" severance procedure, that would be a quite a letdown in terms of a reveal.

The interplay between the innies and outies in the last two episodes was good. But the mystery of what is going on is a massive part of the show's appeal.

[GGG]

That was a really good show. Watched both seasons over the past month. Definitely missed the week to week speculation you get with a mystery box show.

My thoughts of where they are going is because Helly is an Egan with “the fire of Kier” in her is her dad is going to essentially use the OTC to flip her Innie and Outie. So Innie Helly becomes full time Helly. But her dad will use the threat of turning it off or Marks off to re-Eganize her.

So with the Innies and Outies all having real world access and Egan controlling it we get to answer the 2nd part of the Nature or Nurture question.

So we will get Innie Helly trying to not become Egan but eventually will cave and Outie Helena working with Outie mark and Maybe Cobel to overthrow Luman.

I think the general goal of Luman is to create eternal life and do “Get Out” style brain transplants. That’s what the goats are for. If you can put a Human brain into a goat you can transfer human to human. It’s would also be why Cobel was so interested in re-integration being successful. Essentially you take a person, block out there initial personality, then impart a new personality over top of it. It’s why they were so interested in the emotional experiences as to put a new brain in you need to ensure the old brain is sealed off.

This also brings up the question of who are other people refining? The Helly answer would be her father. Not sure about the other to. It’s possible the other teams are just set up to create a good work environment for the important refiners.

One funny thing I noticed watching this show is I am more interested in the relationships between the characters and the philosophical questions being asked than the mystery box. This is the exact opposite to the way I was with lost 20 years ago.

[Fuzz]

Interesting thought about the innie-outie swap, it seems they are really setting Dylan up for that.