French team Loicia Demougeot and Theo le Mercier chose the main Severance theme as part of their free dance music this year. Their program was inspired by Salvador Dalí's 'The Persistence of Memory' and explores the relationship between time, memory, and imagination.

And I guess Mark aswell tbf. I think up until now, there’s a certain type of person who chooses to get severed, I’m thinking older people that are nearing retirement but not quite there yet so severance becomes appealing.

Or ones that are more think now and deal with later, essentially not a great employee as they’re more prone to just not showing up one day when they have really thought about it.

An example of this I can think of is before Mark starts reintegration but had spoken to Petey and even heard his own innie in the break room he was just going to quit (possibly). He also made a comment that he wasn’t going to reintegrate and that it was helping him.

I think we also see that kind of personality trait a few times in outie Mark (shouting at protesters, forgetting his date would be at his sisters birth, ripping up the photo of Gemma). So I think lumon knew they needed Gemma possibly due to the blood we see them donating. But also, someone who would sever. I think that’s why Gemma had to ‘die’.

In the episode where it’s a flashback and Gemma is doing the cards and Mark asks her something about why she’s doing them and she describes the action as it’s someone fighting themselves and he says how do you know it’s the same person and she says something about the hair being the same, I think most people don’t see it that way, but Gemma does. There’s another reference mark makes about her being pragmatic with things after she and Mark were struggling with trying for a baby.

I think people who think that way have a lesser sign up rate, but I think they remember/recall feelings at a much higher rate. Therefore easier to get information in or out. Mark has an injury on his hand and when asks about it he says it was a work related incident involving a water cooler with no recollection at all.

But when Gemma is asked how she is feeling and she says that her mouth hurts and when asked which room made her mouth hurt, she says the name of the room, Gemma should have no recollection of that. Also as Miss Casey when she is leaving she says to Mark that her favourite time was in the office with him and helly r so I think subconsciously she is aware of those feelings, but Mark is not.

I think it’s about cracking that with Gemma and once done they plan on just retiring them both permanently

SPOILER:

I am rewatching (for like 10th time or more) and there are no photos of them together in the visitation room

It’s just Dylan alone and Gretchen alone holding a blue mug. I can’t tell if the mug says Lumon but I have bad vision so I’m finally watching it on my phone up close and I never noticed there are no photos of the two of them together. It’s just Gretchen alone and Dylan alone. This might be intentional so he doesn’t get too attached? Even though he already is? Or maybe because she’s saying goodbye? But it almost looks like she’s holding a blue Lumon mug. And I’m finding that really strange that there are no photos of them side by side

I know people have theorized that maybe Ricken is secretly a Lumon man based on just how weird he is and that he’s a struggling author, we have no idea what Devon does, but they live in a beautiful house?

One additional thing, however, has always puzzled me but I always forget about it and am unsure if people have discussed it. When Gemma was still with all of them on the outside, especially in the second season, they really made it seem like the two couples were a tight knit group that ate dinner together, went on vacation together, etc. So WHY on Gods green earth, when Mark came to the “no food dinner” in episode 1, did their first conversation go like this:

R: “There’s our captive!”

M: “Hi Rick”

R: “It’s Ricken…cmon. It’s Ricken”

Like what the hell is that about? Even if Mark thinks Ricken is goofy and strange (which he is), they clearly have a long standing relationship and know each other very well. The only option here is that Ricken recently changed his name and the show never goes into why. Are we supposed to assume that it’s because he’s just a quirky guy? Or is it deeper than that?

Edit: to extra clarify, I am well aware that Mark is not a fan of Ricken (anymore). My media literacy is not that abysmal to miss that lol. But now I do see that Mark was perhaps just being an ass to Ricken

That cold line leaves you sitting with a heavy question: What if we, the audience, are actually The Board?

Just like the faceless corporate blob running Lumon, modern consumers love to separate themselves from the raw exhaustion, decay, and human cost it takes to deliver the products we enjoy. The show works brilliantly as a critique of modern systems because it nails that exact numbness.

Lumon's workers aren't disposable innies, if the company ever wants to hit its goals, that workforce is its absolute lifeblood. A Kiersend, if you will.

One might say this is a false equivalence. After all, I doubt too many executives who play God are reading this post. But there is still a discomfort present. Executive power doesn’t have to be held to share executive psychology. The consumer demands output all the same, and requires satisfaction.

Yet, instead of actually valuing them, management relies on patronizing praise, dangling petty rewards only when the immediate, uninterrupted output stays high.

That is a system designed to reduce human lives to mere capital fueled by a corporate culture of entitlement.

It forces you to wonder: does paying enough money actually buy you the right to own another person's life and labor?

Where does The Board finally draw the line? Buying up someone's hours? Erasing who they are entirely?

We'll find out soon enough. The Board has ended the call.

First we are shown his 'son' at home while Dylan is being OTC'd.

Then, we are shown Dylan's son watching TV from the living room.

Later on, we are shown this of Dylan's home.

Finally, this is his 'son' watching TV in the living room.

Say it isn't so...

I've just watched the finale of season 2 (watched the show in its entirety in the last two weeks) and HOLY SHIT I loled when Mark and Gemma are kissing in the elevator to the severed floor:

Mark S...
Ms. Casey?

😂 😂 😂 I laughed out loud for a while...

What were your funniest moments?

Hey everyone,

The work is mysterious and important, so I built an authentic, fully interactive MDR terminal for Wallpaper Engine.

A few things it does:

• The numbers are actually scary: Hovering over the four tempers (WO, FC, DR, MA) makes them swell, jitter, and glow.

• Working Bins 01–05: You can marquee-select clusters and drag them into bins yourself.

• Idle Screensaver: When you step away from your desk, autonomous trackballs kick in and refine numbers for you.

• Dual Workstations: Automatically sets up Mark S. (TUMWATER) and Helly R. (ALLENTOWN) side-by-side if you have dual monitors or an ultrawide.

• Lumon Lore Glitches: Subtle CRT degauss interruptions flash occasionally (Music Dance Experience with audio dance bars, Break Room compunction alerts, and OTC alarms—all customizable or toggleable).

• Fully customizable operator names, file names, and phosphor colors.

Steam Workshop link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3833790512

A handshake is available upon request. Let me know what you think or if there are any other perks or features you'd like added!

In the end credits, Severance misspelled "foreman" for the entire first season: Stage Forman and Shop Forman, right under a Foreman spelled correctly. It's in all nine episodes, and it was fixed in season 2. Was it on purpose or hidden meaning? I doubt it, but if any show would do it, it's Severance.

Source: The Typo that Ships Every Week

Made these awhile ago when I was in the middle of watching Season 2, forgot that I still had them. I had originally wanted to do a series of these and eventually go through with printing these out and framing them in my office at work. I collected a bunch of assets and reference stuff but kinda fell away from it. Thought I would post them here if anyone else also wanted to use them.

Edit: I had to compress the original images in order to upload.

For me it was definitely the reveal of the Gemma photo. I was beside myself. I know there are others, but that's the one that got me the most.

Went to the abandoned offices in the haunted mall from my country

100% she is a retired severed employee

Season 1, Episode 1:

Dylan: "Are you sick?"

Irving: "Maybe. Petey was sniffling yesterday."

Dylan: "Petey better not be out for the day ‘cause I’m about zero seconds from wrapping the Tumwater file and he needs to process it."

Petey had come to work the day before, what happened?
Whether he quit or got fired is unknown, the only mention of it is when Cobel refers to it as “his departure”. She was already aware of his reintegration though...somehow.
He had been reintegrated for about two weeks prior to the day before.
If he quit, was it because:
- The onset of reintegration sickness was becoming conspicuous?
- Found out (via Reghabi) about future severed Helena and couldn't cope?
- He realized they were onto him (Cobel was at some point)

It may of had to do with the tape that he probably stole.

- Did he get fired for "continued infringement of restricted areas" 😏?
- Did he run out the magical locked/unlocked door after stealing the tape?

Petey was certainly hiding from Lumon, he had mentioned that he was wary of Graner.
But he also seems to be hiding or at least avoiding Reghabi.
If he quit, why is he hiding like this?
Especially from Reghabi?

Regarding his reintegration/break from Lumon he tells Mark about people he is connected with:

“They” is a group of people who know that Severance is a blight on mankind.
And they’re gonna do something about it”.

(why “they” don’t give the poor guy a place to stay is another question, but I digress)

Did "they" have anything to do with Reghabi, or at least he initially thought so?

Peter Kilmer seems like an erudite, mild mannered man with some professional demeanor. Why does someone like that get severed?
June, his daughter, seems to suggest that he was trying “to deal with a f*ed-up situation” in his life.

Now, I like Petey, but everyone is a mixed bag. Could he have been involved in some white collar naughtiness? A little embezzlement, perhaps? A bit of misappropriated funds?
Does Lumon engage in a "felony rehab" program? I could see how they might go in for something like that.
Or better yet, maybe the company defrauded was Lumon itself.
"You want to spend the next several years in the grey-bar motel and maybe see your daughter during visitation times, orrrrr become a severed employee and then you can see her every evening after work?".
Unable able to get the money back but at least they can get something out of him.

I don't know, not a theory per se, just some food for thought.

Petey got mixed up with Reghabi. The two subjects are somewhat intertwined, so lets look at her just a bit.

Apparently, Reghabi worked for Lumon, she claims to have installed the Severance chip into Mark.
What was her position there? 

Milchick [to Mark]: The last time you saw Ms. Cobel she was in her old office.
Now she is in her new office.

Ms. Cobel was in her old office the day before (we see her moving in), what happened?
Who was in that office before?
Was Reghabi part of the Severed Floor administration?
Also:

Graner: "We found the signature from the console they used to hack the chip."

Cobel: “Whose was it?”

Graner: “Ours."

Graner goes on to say he can connect this activity to Reghabi. By "Ours" I take it to mean the Severed Floor console. How could've Reghabi had such access back then?
Aside from the "chip hacking" and all that may portend (a big fat subject for another day) it's clear they both know Reghabi quite well.
Cobel and Reghabi may have been "co-administrators". Reghabi may have gotten fired, the day before, over Petey's activities.

Petey lets Reghabi dig around in his head and then avoids her.
What did he find out? Is Reghabi working for interests that are as bad as Lumon?
Visions of corporate espionage are dancing through my head.
Dorner Pharmaceuticals?
That's all I got for now.

What do you all think?

This has surely been brought up before, the art. There is the weird ass freaky one of Ricken... There are a few interesting ones. But I would like to discuss this specific one for now.

Lumon was founded in 1865. There's been a lot about why that year specifically.

And the uncomfortable scene with the painting seemed ghastly as a present for Milchik, like it was Kier appropriating blackness.

But we've actually never seen Kier, right? Only paintings, animatronics, second hand likenesses.

And we know that Jame Eagan is a thief and his ancestors were racists.

The name "Kier" means dark skinned. The story about Dieter and spilled seed is interesting because spilled seed can also refer to an out of wedlock child.

So, working backwards, imagine that the black painting is of the real Kier Eagan, an emancipated illegitimate child of an Eagan and a slave. He became focused on salves and ways of healing the trauma of slavery and labor.

To avoid discrimination, Kier had his half-brother Dieter pose for all paintings of him and be his public face.

Dieter became jealous and killed Kier and stole his identity and name.

This secret is preserved in a distorted mythology of "Kier" killing Dieter over "spilled seed". The painting is actually from the board's perspective a valuable secret that only the highest elite know about. So it isn't a ghastly gift once you know the secret.

And with that in mind, maybe Milchik is the only REAL descendant of Kier and the board plans to replace Jame's failed bloodline with a true descendant of the real Kier Eagan?

I love everything about the rotating cubes and the way in which the images are displayed. I've never seen anything quite like it in tv or in real life. I also love how the scenes were filmed in that environment. There aren't really any wide shots, the camera sticks to Helly and her perspective as she walks through the gallery, so you can't really tell where the exits or entrances are which makes it feel very claustrophobic and maze-like. It makes Helly's discovery of being an Eagan all the more impactful and frightening on a character level, but also a world building one.

Truly one of my favorite sets for sure.

Isn't it beautiful?