Thread by @PossumCounty

It’s Sunday. If you haven’t seen #Severance /Ep 7, please stop reading. This is going to be my thread on the show, with spoilers. I’m obsessed, so this will be epic.

Sorry for any typos. I had a stroke some years back & I still have some issues. Ready? Let's go!

1/54

WTF is Lumen doing? They’re developing a medical/technological devise that can be sold as the equivalent of aspirin and smartphones. Anything a person might be uncomfortable experiencing, just Sever them. Create an Innie to experience it, then turn it off!

2/54

Or, if the discomfort is in the past, leave the Outie behind, start a new personality (a new Innie). One that isn’t affected by the past. And move on!

There are tons of applications; we’ve seen 2. Those that have physical component -- Lumen is a Pharma co. So: pills.

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1.) Grief (Mark; Gemma/Ms. Casey)
2.) Birth (Gabby; unnamed woman discussed on TV who got pregnant while Severed)
3.) Other medical uses: Chemo, surgery/post-surgery, addiction, mental health issues, such as PTSD, trauma, overcoming sexual assault, child abuse, etc.

4/54

4.) Just evil: creating perfect victims for sexual assault, child abuse, “curing” gays (if that’s true, I hope Irving does burn the place to the ground, to a disco anthem), “curing” uppity women/POC (see note above), creating cult followers, political supporters, etc.

5/54

5.) Blackmarket: helping criminals by erasing victims/witnesses memories, creating Innie criminals who can’t rat you out, etc.

Lumen is also contains the Cult of Kier. This may be their downfall. They cannot see their own failures, because they are Saved By Kier.

6/54

What is the purpose of the Innies? They are an experiment, to prove that Severance works. As proof, they need to be down on the Severed floor for years. Their work is a combination of busy work, quality control, propaganda, creating cult objects & finally monetization.

7/54

Like prisoners, they create hatchets or raise goats that are sold on to pay their expenses. It's not well funded, or is too secret to be. Otherwise there would have been someone besides Graner on security, who would have caught Mark & Helly outside locked MDR.

8/54

And then Mark & Helly couldn’t have stolen the instructions for the Overtime Contingent (“OC”).

MDR will use the OC as part of their “escape/just tell the world, they’ll help us” plan. They will wake up one to three Innies when their Outies are outside Lumen.

9/54

Innie Irving is a definite: in one Apple ad, there is a clip of him driving a car while freaking out. This plan may span two episodes, because: Finale Cliffhanger.

If the Innies use OC for many eps, there had better be a dang good explanation for the lack of security.

10/54

C’mon, they’re not going to replace Graner? There has to be at least one other cultist that can stare at live feed of the Severed halls all day, or they’re not going to destroy the world, ok?

The only way the Innies can fight back is if one (or more) is Reintegrated.

11/54

The first will have to be Mark, because: main character. Plus, he’s the only one who’s seen Reintegration and knows it could be a death sentence.

The final plus: the big reveal of ep 7 is that Ms. Casey (the Wellness Center) is Mark’s supposedly dead wife, Gemma.

12/54

This partially explains Cobel’s weird obsession with Mark, living next door on the empty street, breaking in, stealing stuff, nosing around his sister. She wants to see if Love survives Severance: do their Innies know each other? Do their Outies know something's up?

13/54

It Lumen is trying to develop a “cure” for grief, or to make sure witnesses really forget, etc., it’s good Mark has no idea who she is. (When he is Reintegrated, look out!)

It also leaves a big question for how Lumen finds its human guinea pigs. If Gemma had died...

14/54

...finding Mark would have been: we need somebody suffering from grief to experiment on. There’s a local college professor who is barely hanging on. (It’s probably discussed ad nauseam in Rickens fourth book.) Let’s try to convince him to become Severed.

15/54

It looks like Lumen caused Mark’s grief themselves. Was Gemma/Ms. Casey kidnapped and her death faked for the experiment? Lumen is evil; perhaps. Did she actually die, and Lumen created a clone of her that for the experiment? Lumen is evil, this is Sci Fi; perhaps.

16/54

Still: why them? Gemma might be a cultist, so she volunteered for this experiment. If so, Mark’s headed for some serious WTF?

A huge scene in ep 7 was Mark meeting Regabhi & witnessing Graner’s murder. My fav part was Regabhi telling off Mark for getting Severed.

17/54

The more I see of the Innies, the more they remind me of kids. Lumen functions as dysfunctional parents. If Lumen says don't write yourself a note, that’s the rule. If you get tortured for writing a note, it's not Lumen's fault. It’s yours, for breaking the rules.

18/54

Lumen intentionally treats the Innies like kids. The handbook Helly reads on her first day is a good example. This "important" job is explained by a cartoon character & text that implies “Don’t worry if you don’t understand the files. Numbers are a Grown Up idea.”

19/54

Lumen distracts the Innies (kids) with toys & treats: finger traps & melon parties. If Dylan is in torment because he has a son in the outside world, give MDR a dance party. He’ll soon forget the kid. He won’t tell the others, because OC is Daddy's (Lumen's) secret.

20/54

The Innies accept the Cult of Kier unquestioning & use the Handbook & Kier quotes like “Mom said it was my turn”. When Dylan fights Milchick, he doesn’t punch — he bites. Helly is mad enough at her Outie that she tries to take her own life, even though she’ll die too.

21/54

After experiencing near death, Helly tells Mark the only thing she wants is to kill herself. Why? To show her Outie who's really in charge. Just like a child holding its breath until it gets its way.

Would it be possible for the Innies to grow into adults?

22/54

This would be necessary if the point of Severance is to have the Innies become the new Outies. It would be harder for Lumen to sell the idea of Severance as the cure for all inconveniences if a CEO comes through knee surgery with the emotional age of three.

23/54

But if the point of the Innies is to create the perfect cult followers, political followers, victims of all kinds, Lumen shouldn’t want growth.

At least for these Innies, Lumen doesn't want that. Its policies work to prevent them from having meaningful human contact.

24/54

When we meet MDR, their day-to-day world consists of only eight people. Five are Severed (MDR & Ms. Casey); three are management and are not. The MDR team spends almost all their time together, but they do not seem to have been chosen to reduce personality conflicts.

25/54

However, the MDR team could be chosen so each represents one of Kier’s Four Tempers, so the lack of team spirit could a feature, not a bug.

The Innies have been fed weird stories about the non-humanity of other Severed departments, so they are fine avoiding them.

26/54

The Handbook (Praise Kier!) discourages Romantic Fraternization & Relationships Beyond The Platonic. Milchick tries to dismiss best friends Mark & Petey as an “Office Friendship”. When Mark worries that Petey's dead, Milchick bizarrely says “Deaths don’t happen here”.

27/54

Mark already knows that quitting Lumen will “effectively” kill that person's Innie. So yes, death does happen there. But just to Innies (kids), so Lumen (the dysfunctional parent) doesn’t care.

Regardless of the terrible "parenting", the Innies can grow emotionally.

28/54

Burt, who has been Severed the longest, has adapted the Lumen Handbook into a more humane philosophy. He can find passages to support radical ideas like interdepartmental panels to find out WTF is with the goats; who cares if you fall asleep at work; and its okay to kiss.

29/54

After Petey’s disappearance, it doesn’t make sense to promote Mark. Why not Dylan, who is smarter & meets the department goals? Or Irving, who has memorized the Handbook & would obey every order? It only makes sense if the leader is supposed to fail & cause chaos.

30/54

But Mark grows from being the MDR Department Head. He goes to the Break Room instead of Helly & Gemma; he lets Irving spend time with Burt; he asks O&D for help figuring out Lumen.

But when the Innies don't accept Lumen’s authority, they are punished, even tortured.

31/54

Cobel throws a cup at Mark as a “learning experience”. When MDR teams up with O&D, MDR is locked in the next day. Burt is sent to the Break Room for collaborating, then forcibly retired. Irving rightly considers this murder. (Much much more about that later.)

32/54

Mark has a bruise after a visit to The Break Room. The “Lexington Letter” strongly implies Lumen uses waterboarding on the Innies.

A lot of major plot point stuff happened in ep 7. Mark is there at Graner’s murder, moves the corpse & throws up near the scene.

33/54

Alexia knows he’s gone for at least an hour & is “acting weird” when he comes back. Cobel notices when Mark throws away his clothes. He didn’t even take a shower, possibly leaving blood traces all over his house. With the police think Mark murdered Graner? Possibly.

34/54

Will it be a major story arc? Maybe Lumen will “get rid” of Alexia by forcibly Severing her, so she won’t remember. They may do so after Mark is secretly Reintegrated. But there really isn’t time for this in Season 1. There is too much that has to be addressed first.

35/54

We also learned that Cobel is going to the Eagan Family Gathering to prove that Reintegration exists. We will probably get a full choral rendition of “Kier, Chosen One, Kier”. Will we get more clues about why these crazies think Kier is Beyond Human? I hope so.

36/54

We are definitely about to get some deeply disturbing cult stuff, weirder even than “Kier Eagen Tames His Four Tempers” — the first painting that Irving & Burt bonded over.

There is an Apple ad where it looks like somebody is on Kier’s bed in the Perpetuity Wing...

37/54

...wearing a Kier mask. Is this for a creepy sexual thing? Are they going to sacrifice a goat/all goats to the Physical Representation Of The Chosen One? Will we see Outie Helly at this Family Gathering? Could she be the one in the Kier mask? (If so: awesome reveal.)

38/54

It’s possible the Eagans will not accept evidence that Reintegration works. Or they could blame Cobel for it (Petey was on her floor). So Cobel really has stop Regabhi, or she will be sacrificed with the next batch of goats. She’s such a great villain, I hope not.

39/54

Another possibility: Helly, the Eagan family member, has been sent to MDR to try Reintegration and Cobel’s not supposed to know about the process.

Finally: Burt’s retirement...

40/54

Before I start my main point, I have to say I’m an Old. I remember the Kodak ads that used “The Times Of Your Life” as the soundtrack. That song was also a hit record. Since I saw ep 7, I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. So Mr @BenStiller — well played.

41/54

My main point: I am not over #Burving. But Burt has fulfilled his dramatic purpose. Irving was the perfect follower; he met his soul mate Burt; Lumen killed Burt; Irving will now seek a vengeance like one that has never been witnessed by humanity. Maybe Burt is gone.

42/54

But #Severance hasn’t used disposable characters. Alexia could have been in 1 episode: their first date, to show what a mess Mark is. Gabby made Devon stumble upon the Plot To Sever Pregnancies and Win The State Senate Back For Evil. So we could see Burt again.

43/54

I have read some theories that Outie Burt and Outie Irving are married. I never thought that was likely. If Lumen wanted to make sure that Severance would keep you from remembering someone, a spouse would be a good place to begin that kind of experiment.

44/54

They would need more interaction by the spouses, to make sure that the memory didn’t show up later. Irving was in Lumen 3 years before he met Burt. And departments did not mix then. Now that Mark & Gemma are both Severed, it seems less likely. It’s not unique enough.

43/54

There are 3 ways they could bring Burt back. My favorite is #3.

1.) Innie Irving, while awake outside Lumen, meets Outie Burt. This is better if #2 is also true.

2.) Burt is not Severed. He remembers Innie Irving. This brings up questions/complications:

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2a.) Is Burt Reintegrated? Is he part of the Resistance?

2b.) Is Burt an evil Lumen flunky, and the dialogue about him being tortured in episode 7 was just for show?

2c.) Will this relationship work outside? Are they both free? Are they as messed up as Outie Mark?

47/54

3.) The Retirement itself was a sham. Instead, Lumen moved Burt out of O&D, because of his crimes of Actual Leadership, Interacting With Other Departments and Wrongfully Interpreting The Words Of Kier. (Those paintings are not there to help you Innies cope!)

48/54

Instead, Burt has been moved to The Department That Never Leaves the Severed floor. Petey mentioned this department once, ominously. Since Outie Burt will be “killed” this way, he will never wake up to question that he’s retired, WTF is he still going to work?

49/54

From Lumen’s POV, this is a “better” punishment. If Burt retires, he doesn’t remember his crimes. He got away with them! If he’s in the Department That Never Leaves, they can torture him more. Plus he has to live with the knowledge that Irving doesn't know he's alive.

50/54

It’s also a “better” punishment for Irving. He was not supposed to be at the party. He was supposed to be in MDR, worrying that Burt was in The Break Room. When Lumen trusted MDR to behave again & allowed them out, Irving would have obviously run to O&D to find him.

51/54

Irving would then be told “Oh, Burt retired” and be devastated. But it’s much “better” if he’s suffering for no reason. Because Burt is two floors down or wherever The Department That Never Leaves is.

52/54

It may be awhile before Burt and Irving meet again. MDR has to find the Department That Never Leaves. Or Burt has to find his way back through the endless hallway mazes. So, Season 2? (cough Mr @BenStiller there’s still time to save #Burving cough).

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Congrats! You made it through my endless rant.

Enjoy your Melon Party. You deserve it!

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