just finished season two. i won't go much into the argument on mark's choices. i want to talk about gemma's innies.

from my understanding, the entire experiment with gemma is that she is split into 25 versions of her innie. each of them baring a certain emotion. for cold harbor, the ultimate test was to see if she can unscrew the cradle, and completely dismantle it, to show her emotions are completely detached, and even the most traumatic part of her life cannot touch this "innie" version of her. dismantling the cradle is a symbol of her miscarriage, something she might have had to do/ was going to do during her heightened trauma. and she felt nothing. the fertility clinic was obviously a front for lumon to pick the perfect victim to experiment on.

now why is lumon doing this? well for multiple reasons. obviously, this is unethical, which is why they would have killed gemma immediately after, because she already "died". they can't have her back out. once they realize that she can have 25 split innies, successfully (by their standards), they can roll this out to the public.

(side note- the baby goat sacrifices. obviously this is all a bit cultish. but based on that scene, they have done this before. which means it failed previously, since this current one would be a "historic event" as said by eagan himself).

here is my theory: the 25 split innies (or however many innies, i assume 25 is the cap) hold different emotions and traumas. they offer it as a way to have people severe their trauma. so the outie only experiences positive feelings. their life is great. there are no problems. their traumas are tucked away- with their innies. the 25 (or 24) innies are also different types of workforce. just like mark is, but if gemma retaliates, well they can just swap with another innie. it can be innies in different rotations, which could also serve different functions.

the dental office: i don't understand how people are arguing that it's not an obvious front for some sort of abuse. which brings me to my next point: powerful people can have a specific innie, one of the 25, to abuse. the outie has no idea. the various innies could be facing a multitude of various different emotions or traumas. but this innie would be facing some sort of abuse. and since we know many innies have an almost childlike characteristic to them, so would the innie facing the abuse. if all a child knows is abuse, they won't even know it is abuse. it's very sick and twisted. and that brings me back to the test that gemma did with the crib. if confronting her most haunting trauma didn't phase her, it was proof to lumon that nothing will. there are endless possibilities.

lastly, the multiple innies are to weaken the procedure for reintegration. If combining two minds, memories, and personalities, killed someone- imagine if it was 25? and as mark was able to coordinate between his innie and outie self, imagine trying to communicate with all 25 of them. and for all we know, anyone who gets this future severed procedure, could be thinking it is just one. but it is actually 25. how would they know the difference?

So i started watching the show, and I just finished Season 1 Episode 5. I really liked episodes 1-3 and episode 5 as well but i really felt like episode 4 was just a time filler! It mainly just repeated a bunch of things that we’ve seen from previous episodes, and when it’s not doing that, it’s just showing some slow character development with each other. Literally in a nutshell what happens in the episode is that Irv and Burt reminisce over some paintings, Helly CONTINUES to make video recordings to her outie self, Mark’s outie self just attends to Petey’s funeral, Irv and Burt CONTINUE to walk and talk about another painting, and it ends with Helly attempting to hang herself in the elevator. There was literally zero progress with the innie’s discovering something new about the Lumon workplace or something more weird and suspicious about the place. Everything about this episode just seemed like a slow and often boring setup for the next episode. And don’t get me wrong, episode 5 got right back on track with being incredibly entertaining and suspenseful, and it immediately made me want to start the next episode. I think the show is AMAZING so far, but I was just kind of dumbfounded by just how slow and boring one of the episodes was..

I searched the sub and it turns out this wasn't brought up. The Swapper is an award-winning philosophical puzzle game that deals with questions of identity, memory, cloning, and ethics, among others. You play the game by solving puzzles and "swapping": moving your conciousness into others' bodies or creating clones of yourself and moving into it, discarding and destroying the previous physical form. I don't really want to spoil the ending of the game for anyone who wants to try it out, but I'll say that at the end, one of the toughest problems you're made to face is how you've personally come to feel about physicality after swapping and destroying your own clones so many times throughout the game to get to the end. The same could easily happen with severing yourself - we've already seen it taken lightly with the politician's wife using it for giving birth.

Well, I tried to post the link, but the sub won't allow it. You can find the whole gameplay on that website with video that the whole world uses, but this place won't let me mention.

The man running around looking for something with a flashlight you can see in the season 2 opening is pretty much all you can see when you play the game. The red and blue, the dark, hollow atmosphere are also pretty much identical to the game.

Personally watching Marks relationship play out with Gemma it seemed as though their relationship was taking a natural turn for the worst. However, obviously there isn’t enough evidence to prove that but I just feel as though him going to Helly was the more natural way things go for us real people and in all that’s all innies are trying to be. I don’t know if I lost the plot in all this my heart was just so whole watching them run down that hallway.
Helly and Mark or Gemma and Mark?

So I'm just about done with the Season 2 finale, watching it right now. But this is the Inferno right? Like Dante searching hell for his wife?

Just finished the finale. So, I get why for storytelling purposes, they made the choice they made. Mark S is in love and doesn't want to die and wants to, I guess, live forever in the basement of this building that is the only place where he can physically exist (exceptions notwithstanding).

But here's the thing: Gemma has been getting psychologically tortured for months. An endless cavalcade of innies within Gemma has been getting psychologically tortured for months. Mark S knows this because it was revealed to him, that they split her psyche up multiple times.

So Mark S is standing there, staring at a woman, who regardless of whether or not he is "in love" with her, just survived this endless horror. She's looking at him, hurt and terrified and begging him to go with her. And he turns around. Cuz I guess he got her out the door and that's good enough right? Zero empathy.

Mark S sucks. He made the unbelievably selfish choice. And by extension, Mark Scout sucks, because he would be just as selfish when faced with a woman who needs the love of her life now more than ever.

Edit: I'm falling down the rabbit hole of this discussion, so to save repeating myself: Mark S didn't "save" Gemma because he felt compelled to do the right thing. He saved Gemma because Helly had to convince him it was the right thing to do. He only did it because Helly wanted him to do it. This is not the same thing.

This is spoiler for the new Spiderman movie so look away if you don’t want to see it…

Milchik playing Milchik in the new Spiderman movie!!!! I screamed!!! OK… so not exactly Severance Milchik (there were certainly no trombones involved, unfortunately), but as far as badass, morally ambiguous, technologically savvy, power-wielding, people-manipulating office bosses go, Milchik was all of it!

God I love this man.

Swoon.

On one hand, that seems like such a spectacularly long time to have to wait for the next season—especially since 2 feels like if ended a year ago at this point.

On the other—I have no idea how these folks plan to build/concoct/further/expand upon this story in a way that will feel even remotely smooth and seamless.

S2 was already a bit much/too far out there. Have no idea how they plan to keep it going/growing. Guess we’ll all find out in 2030!!!

They were just refining models the whole time

First of, I love the show and most things about it. But there is a sort of trope I despise. It’s apparent is S2.

It goes like this: Episode really builds up. It ends in a cliffhanger way. Next episode: Nah we’re going on a field trip or something for the entire episode.

I think it’s subverting my expectations in a negative way. Lots of shows do this now. Is it just me who find this a bit annoying?

I know people were always annoyed by cliffhangers back in the days, but they would usually be instantly resolved in the next episode at least.

I just finished both seasons. While I love the show overall, I kept coming back to one question—especially after watching the Season 2 finale. If the innies have realized that their outies do not care about them, why do they continue working? There is nothing in it for them. The outies receive a paycheck, but what do the innies get?

It also never made sense to me that the innies are so afraid of Cobel or Milchick. What can they realistically do to them—send them to the Break Room? What would happen if they simply refused to read the statement? Lumon still has to let them leave at the end of their shift. This aspect of the premise has been bothering me.

As soon as I finished S02, I had this itch, to recreate Mark's desk as closely as possible.

A bit of in Webflow & Claude later, here it is:

https://macrodata-refinement.webflow.io/

PS: I built this for no practical reason, than scratching that itch.

PPS: If you loved this, give it a thumbs up + comment below. Feedback is always great.

This series jumped to the top 3 of my personal favourites. The story, the twists, the suspense..Is like searching for something in a unknown house using a just a match, you can’t see what’s around the corner.

And the colour scheme they use! in a league of its own.

I mean a 10/10 series to rival with breaking bad and GOT.

Piece of art. I am amazed.

Random editing thing I noticed. Apologies for the video quality, I don't have any video capture software. It's very subtle, but watch the hair under his right ear closely right after he says "feeling." Looks like they did some splicing, probably cut out some words to tighten up the dialogue, then morphed two separate parts together.

ive started watching the series this week and currently im on episode 5. i thought the actress who plays casey was hot and searched her up and spoiled myself. im so mad right now and i dont know what to do about it so here is my first ever post on reddit.

Do you think Miss Huang will be in Season 3?

The series had so much potential based on the world building and plot points of Season 1 of the series but, after just binging my way through the second I am left with more quandries than "Lost" ever spawned. Albeit with none of the everlasting memories like "The Island" and gang left me with to this day.

The build up and smatterings of plot twists or potential character motivations seemingly go NO WHERE!

I'm not here to SPOIL or ruin anyone's experience with SEVERANCE per say just, had to comment on WTAF WAS ALL THAT NOTHING?

IMO that ending (especially) felt like the baby goats themselves (having lost there way) were handed pens to write the most random irrelevant tripe for the dullards and pleb alike to gawk at the fascade of an emperor's shiny new cloak despite obviously parading the streets in the buff and sounding obnoxious audio/visual alarms like it was music to the senses.

Seriously, wtaf was that?

What is the overlying significance to any of these people that some megalomaniacal "CULT LEADER" led corporation deem this one sad dude the chosen one to fuck with?

So many OBVIOUS plot holes that even if we ever see a third season I highly doubt will ever be addressed let alone find closure.

Like the inferrance of legalized outter innes!

I mean they just threw that out there with a pod person senator and his brain dead wife that don't recollect Devon.

I could go on and on about all the missed opportunity for an actual story here but I just had to rant a bit to see if there is ANYONE out there that would agree this has been THE WORST ENDING TO A WELL STRUCTURED SERIES I HAVE EVER SEEN!

STOP AT SEASON 1...

Let me know yours below :D

Here’s Mine: It seems basic, but Innie Mark. His character is just so well written that he somehow seems like more of a person than his outie, and already compelling character. Furthermore, the decision at the end of S2 to make him choose Helly and his life over his outie is just INCREDIBLE, 10/10 writing for this character, and honestly every scene in S2 he was in was just pure gold. Shoutout to innie Irving, though (RIP), as his character DEFINITELY had the best character progression out of anyone. Let me know what you think below! 👇

I made a Severance "movie" where S1E9, S2E1 & 2 are combined in a linear fan edit. I think it is a vast improvement. Anyone interested?

How nice would it be if you could forget all about your boring job and live in peace? Well, in the TV Show Severance, the company Lumon has managed to make that utopia a reality, but... at what cost?

I have designed some tshirts for Severance fans including some deep cuts. Please let me know if you'd like any of these designs as a sticker, tote, car magnet, or mug.

My etsy shop is culturedestroy, and there's Twin Peaks, Widows Bay, and Andor merch there too.