20 burning 'Severance' questions we have after that finale
If you or a loved one watched Severance's jaw-clenchingly stressful, suspense-heavy Season 1 finale, you may be entitled to compensation. Just kidding, no Lumon perks for you. But we at Mashable have something better than a finger trap to offer: thought-provoking discussion.
We finally got to see some of our favorite Innies in the outside world, but the finale ended on a major cliffhanger and left fans with a slew of new questions. There are still lingering concerns about the baby goat department, the Lumon Board, and the Eagan family, though fans have some solid theories about the Macrodata Refinement (MDR) team's work, characters like Ms. Casey and Harmony Cobel, and Lumon's mysterious testing floor.
The most pressing question on the heels for Severance's Season 1 finale is, of course, when the hell is Season 2? But here are 20 other burning questions about the show to get your brain chips in a tizzy.
1. What's up with the Lumon Board?
Ah, the mysterious Lumon Board. They hide behind crackling speakers, communicate only through Natalie, and have spoken a single word throughout the entirety of the first season. A joy!
We first learn about the Board in the pilot when Cobel meets with Mark to let him know he's the new MDR department chief and Petey is no longer with the company. Cobel stresses the Board is present, but they won't be contributing to the meeting vocally. Classic. Later on, the Board refuses to believe Cobel's claims that reintegration, or a severed person unsevering and regaining all memories, is possible. But they say she can present her data to them IRL at the Eagan Family Gala. Before Cobel meets them, they fire her (via Natalie) for trying to cover up Helly's suicide attempt and spending so much time at Mark's sister's house.
"Oh fuck off, Natalie. Is the Board even there?" Cobel snaps post-firing. A man's voice (director Ben Stiller, is that you?) unexpectedly replies "yes" through the speaker. *chills*
So how many Board members are there? Who are they? Who hurt them? Is Helly, an Eagan, on the Board even though she's severed? And why did the Board just let Cobel walk out the door after terminating her employment? She knows too much, fam.
2. What is MDR doing with the numbers on their computers?
We know the leading theories: Dylan thinks MDR is blowing up eels with probes so "a desperate humanity" can populate the sea, and Irv thinks the group is cutting swear words out of movies. Both are solid guesses, but we still don't know what MDR is actually doing on those computers every day.
As Mark told Helly, "Each category of numbers presents in such an order as to elicit an emotional response in the refiner." Some numbers, for example, feel scary — though it inexplicably takes new hires a while to feel the numbers on sight. "We know you may be curious about what the numbers mean," the handbook reads. "However, knowing the true meaning behind the numbers would inhibit your natural intuition."
One leading theory is that MDR is teaching Lumon how to potentially manipulate emotions of severed people (!!!). Kier Eagan's statue explained "the four tempers" that define human beings are woe, frolic, dread, and malice. An eagle-eyed Reddit user noticed that when refiners sort data into a bin, four progress bars pop out, labeled WO for woe, FC for frolic, DR for dread, and MA for malice.
Perhaps the company is trying to better balance or understand the employees' tempers? Severance:The Lexington Letter, a "tell-all" companion book about Lumon, suggests MDR could be causing corporate espionage in the outside world, so there's also that to consider.
The files, which are carefully selected by superiors, also have cryptic, location-related names like Siena, Pacoima, Tumwater, and Eminence. According to Dylan, the team completes one in five files on average before they expire, "which is better than it used to be before Mark's freshman fluke." So why do the files expire? What info is so top secret that it can't even be shared with severed employees? Are the numbers actually meaningless? Maybe refiners aren't doing anything worthwhile, they're simply being observed. And what the heck was Mark's freshman fluke?
3. Sorry, can we talk about the baby goats?
In Episode 5, Mark takes Helly on a mental health walk and they hear the unexpected bleat of a baby goat, which sounds a lot like a crying baby. They find a door to a white room ajar, and inside is hay, a small white fence, and 10 baby goats, along with a disoriented man in a suit and tie who's bottle feeding one of the animals. When Mark and Helly appear, the man shouts, "They're not ready. You can't take them yet. They're not ready. It isn't time. Get the hell out of here. Go!" OK! *nervous laughter*
Oddly, this isn't the first time we've seen a goat-like figure in the halls of Lumon. Remember when Burt and Irv met outside of wellness and admired that painting of Kier taming the four tempers? A robed goat, or a ram (as the thick horns might suggest), is in the painting on the ground before Kier. That's also the painting that was reenacted by the waffle party dancers. Does the painting have something to do with the baby goat department? Possibly! The only other theory we have at the moment is from Helly, who, mid-egg bar experience, laughs and tells Mark, "I figured it out. The goats lay the eggs." Normally we'd laugh along with her, but Severance is so out there that we can't in good conscience discount that theory just yet.
4. Waffle Party: WTF?
Since we already mentioned it, let's get this one out of the way. What in the fresh hell was that waffle party? Like truly, who else thought "waffle party" meant Milchick would roll a sad cart of waffles into the MDR office and the refiners would get a tiny little sugar high from the syrup? I'm fairly certain no one had "Eat a stack of delicious waffles, proceed to the founder's bed, grab your Kier Eagan mask, and get ready for a sophisticated Lumon orgy" on their Severance bingo cards.
As noted above, the party features people in masks that resemble the four tempers from the Burt and Irv meet-cute painting (two women, a jester, and a horned goat/ram). They dance in front of the refiner of the quarter, who also wears a mask of Kier and sits on Kier's bed with a cat o' nine tails whip that has his nine core principles printed on each tail (vision, verve, wit, cheer, humility, benevolence, nimbleness, probity, and wiles).
Dylan ditched the party early to break into the security office and activate the overtime contingency for his pals, but had he stayed, what exactly would have happened? Severance creator Dan Erickson and director Ben Stiller described the bizarre work-related sexual experience as an ultimate employee perk, but we still have questions. Would each refiner have the same waffle party experience or are they tailored to individual employees? Who are those masked dancers? Has a severed employee actually become pregnant at work without her Outie knowing because of a waffle party? Don't think we're just going to forget about this waffle chaos in Season 2, Severance team. You have some explaining to do.
5. Why do eggs keep coming up?
It's time to chat about another cursed Lumon food: Eggs. We know that Kier's favorite breakfast was three raw eggs with milk (hideous), the Optics and Design team (O&D) once claimed they were doing an egg drop challenge in the team building room, and who could forget the "coveted as fuck" pre-waffle party egg bar? What's with all these freaking eggs? Vocal egg-hater Ben Stiller mentioned in a Twitter A&A that the egg bar was "necessary for the story," and perhaps that's just because Irv needed something soft to smash inside the handbook. But I can't help but wonder if there's an egg-citing egg-related storyline to come. Did the goats really lay them? Just tell me.
6. What does the O&D team do, and what was that ideographic card Dylan stole?
To recap: We don't know what the baby goat department is for, we don't know what MDR is doing on their computers, and we also have no clue what's going on with O&D. We're doing great!
MDR and viewers were originally led to believe that O&D was a two-person team consisting of Burt and Felicia. We assumed they were solely in charge of art, handbook totes, maintaining the office aesthetic, and whatever other optics and design issues arose. But in Episode 4, Irv learns that the team has seven members. It's later revealed that they spend their days creating different objects — from hatchets to watering cans — and no one knows why. My initial thought was that the big secret might be related to farming, because baby goats. Burt's best guess is that they're making supplies for "the executive wing upstairs."
Another bizarre takeaway (literally) from O&D are those stacks of ideographic cards that Dylan was analyzing before Milchick entered the room. Dylan slipped the card, which featured a graphic instructing two people to carry out certain body movements, in his back pocket before leaving. Later that night, Milchick enabled the overtime contingency and woke up Dylan's Outie in hopes of getting the card back, so you know those cards have to be important.
Before MDR devises to use this feature to wake themselves up on the outside, Mark suggests that MDR and O&D work together to figure out what they're all doing on the severed floor, so we hope to see more of their teamwork and information sharing in Season 2.
7. Is Ms. Casey/Gemma still alive?
Near the end of the season, part-time Innie Ms. Casey is removed from her role as wellness director and sent "back down to the testing floor." In her last session with Mark, she reveals that her severed life has only been 107 hours long and the eight hours she spent in MDR was the longest she's ever been awake. Just when you think her existence can't get any bleaker, Milchick sends her down a dark hallway (the same hallway Irv's Outie paints) and she takes the elevator down to (what I believe is) the department Petey told Mark about; the "one where you don't get to leave."
In Episode 7, we learn that Mark's wife Gemma — who supposedly died in a car accident shortly before he started at Lumon — is actually Ms. Casey. Cobel and Milchick know this, and that the two don't remember each other as severed Innies, but right before the finale ends Mark's Innie sees a photo of Gemma and connects the dots. "She's alive!" Innie Mark screams seconds before the end credits rolled. But is she?
Since The Lexington Letter reveals a severed employee died by car crash just like Gemma, it's clear that the company has a connection to car crashes. One theory suggests "Lumon is in cahoots with the (presumably Eagan-run) hospital" and takes brain-dead patients or people in comas to the office to sever them. Then, those patients are pronounced dead to the world and live/work at Lumon full time. Some people also wonder if Gemma worked for Lumon before she died, didn't tell Mark she severed, and then Lumon initiated the car crash for some reason. So perhaps it's possible Gemma's still alive, but trapped as Ms. Casey on the testing floor? Or maybe her Outie really is dead, but her Innie lives on.
8. What's up with Harmony Cobel's (aka Ms. Selvig's) Eagan shrine?
So much happens on this show that fans have largely forgotten to discuss the creepy, candle-lit Eagan shrine at Cobel's house. The concerning center for devotion and prayer contains a framed photo of Kier Eagan, a photo of a young girl in front of Myrtle Eagan School for Girls, diplomas, a waffle party-esque mask, a ticket to the 7th Annual "Kiernival," a small model of Kier's home, and other Lumon/Kier-related trinkets and memorabilia. Cobel worships at the foot of the shrine throughout the season, and after Lumon fires her she completely trashes it.
Perhaps the most noteworthy item here is a breathing tube/hospital bracelet that bears the name "Charlotte Cobel" and the birth date "3-17-44." Fans wonder if Charlotte was a family member, such as Cobel's mother. If so, there are theories that Cobel's mom died or is in a coma, was severed, and is currently on the testing floor of Lumon with Ms. Casey and others. Perhaps the reason Cobel is not-so-secretly intrigued by Petey's reintegration and pushing for Mark and Ms. Casey to remember each other is because she hopes her mother can come back to life in some capacity and remember her. Clearly there's much more to Cobel's story that needs to be unpacked in Season 2.
9. Speaking of that shrine, just how big is the cult of Eagan?
The Eagan family and philosophy doesn't just run Lumon. Cobel's shrine proved that for some it's essentially a religion, and we come to learn that the Eagan presence overlaps with education, medical facilities, banks, and more. We know the local Pip's Bar and Grille is likely named after former Lumon CEO Phillip "Pip" Eagan, Lumon has subsidized housing complexes, and the characters apparently live in or near Kier, PE. How much power and influence does this one family have? And is Kier Eagan really dead, or is he just down on the testing floor with a bunch of other former founders?
10. While we're on the Eagans, what the hell did Helly's dad mean by "my revolving"?
Helena's father, current Lumon CEO James Eagan and presumed son of Lumon founder Kier, seemed…unstable at that gala. He confronted Helena in the bathroom addressed her Innie's attempted suicide in shakey, drawn out speech.
"Are you still in pain? I cried in my bed when they told me what she tried to do to you," he said before thanking her for agreeing to speak at the gala. "Your grandfather would cherish what you've done. One day you will sit with me at my revolving."
So what the hell is a revolving? Is it a ceremony where they appoint a new Lumon CEO, send this dude to the testing floor, and pop a breathing tube in him?
11. What else can we learn from the security office?
When Dylan broke into the security office to enable the overtime contingency, we got quite a bit of insight into Lumon, its employees, and other ways that those severed chips can be used. We saw many names of other severed employees, including Harmony S and Devon F, whose chips aren't active but whose names have fans wondering if Cobel and Mark's sister are severed.
Abbreviations for other departments, including CE, CL, WN, TA, W&A, and D&R are also visible on the control panel. And before Dylan selects the "Overtime" feature, he scrolls past nine other system functions, which means those severed chips are able to do a whole lot more than make employees forget half of themselves in an elevator. We need to know more, but for now, the mysterious functions, along with some possible uses, are as follows:
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Beehive - Group mind control? Hive mind? Summons all severed workers to Lumon? Am I getting warmer?!
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Branch Transfer - Please let this be as simple as moving severed employees to different departments.
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Clean Slate - I fear this may be used to completely wipe (or reset) severed employee memories.
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Elephant - They say an elephant never forgets, so maybe this function restore full memories to Innies or Outies.
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Freeze Frame - I assume this feature stops a severed person in their tracks.
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Glasgow - Likely not a Scottish accent function, but instead one that can send severed people into comas. Yikes.
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Goldfish - Ted Lasso would probably say this feature either gives severed employees short bursts of memories or makes them frequently forget.
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Lullaby - This feature likely puts an Innie or Outie to sleep on command.
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Open House - If overtime awakens the Innies outside Lumon, does open house bring the Outies inside? Pure chaos.
12. Is Irving's Outie trying to make his Innie fall asleep?
Sleeping on the severed floor of Lumon is forbidden, per the handbook, but that doesn't stop Irving from accidentally nodding off every now and then. Whenever Irv dozes on the job he has nightmares of black sludge seeping into the office. And now that we know Outie Irv is an artist who blasts Motörhead's "Ace of Spades" while slathering black paint on canvases, we can assume that black sludge in his Innie's nightmares is paint. The connection leads fans to believe that when Innies sleep they can access severed memories in a sense, or at least tap into their Outie's subconscious mind.
When Irving goes home he repeatedly paints the dark hallway that leads down to Lumon's dreaded testing floor, but he does so while downing black coffee, as though he's purposefully trying to keep himself wired. Does he want to pull all nighters so his Innie will crash at work and tap into his dreams? Only time will tell.
13. How does Irving know about the testing floor?
Speaking of Irv painting that dark hallway, how the heck does he know about it? We know it exists because we saw Milchick bring Ms. Casey there, but in order for Outie Irv to know what it looks like, Innie Irv would presumably have to have seen it before.
There are several theories floating around as to why Irv's Outie is painting that hallway, and I can assure you, they're all heartbreaking. Some fans believe that both Irv and Burt worked together on O&D in the past. After all, Irv is an artist, so doesn't it make sense that he'd be on the design team too? One thought is that Irving and Burt worked together on O&D for years and fell in love, so Lumon separated them. It's believed that they both had their memories wiped with the Clean Slate feature seen on the security office computer system, and then Irving was moved to MDR using the Branch Transfer feature. Fans think that even after Burt and Irv were separated and reset, the iconic duo found their way back to each other again — despite the violent coup rumors meant to keep them apart — and thus, Burt was retired. Is anyone else crying? Please tell us there's another explanation.
14. Can we learn more about Petey's time at Lumon?
Per Petey's map, there are still quite a few departments that need investigating. Though there weren't any baby goats in his sketch, he did draw three houses off to the side and wrote, "Some people might live here," which remains a mystery. There's also something called the "Coil…of doom," which sounds disturbing, and he drew a number of twisting hallways, symbols, and people that still make no sense. When Petey reintegrated and met Mark's Outie he tried his best to recreate the map, which makes me think there's still more to learn from it.
I'm also deeply curious about how he snagged the Break Room tape and connected with Regabhi, the former Lumon employee who implanted the chips in their heads and helped Petey bypass his to successfully escape the severed floor. She seems to have cracked reintegration, but the how and why are still unclear.
15. Is it actually possible for severed employees to safely reintegrate?
The Lumon board seems pretty convinced that the severance procedure is permanent and irreversible, but we know that Regabhi helped Petey regain his work memories in the real world. We also know that Petey had horrible reintegration sickness — complete with nosebleeds, headaches, interspersed memories, and disorientation — and he died not long after escaping Lumon. So can severed people safely regain their memories?
According to Regabhi, "the procedure didn't kill Petey." She claims if he had "followed her post-op instructions and not simply run away at the first sign of sickness" things would have gone differently. So will we see her safely deactivating some chips in Season 2? Let's hope so.
16. How many people are severed out in the real world?
At the start of the series it's believed that Lumon only severs people for work, but we learn that Gabby Arteta, wife of pro-severance U.S. Senator Angelo Arteta, underwent some sort of severance procedure before giving birth to her third child (if not before her first two). Devon researches Senator Arteta and discovers he supports the procedure's legalization and is involved with Lumon. And we see the political couple again at the Eagan Family Gala. Gabby tells Helly she couldn't have given birth "without a little help" and scoffs at the idea of people wanting to outlaw severance.
But if she's stealthily using the procedure out in the world, how many other people are walking around with these chips inside their brains? And if she can use the chip to forget tiny chunks of her memory, imagine all the dangerous ways this technology can be used in society. Also are Ricken's weird-ass friends chipped or just annoying?
17. What's the deal with the crystal head cubes?
Mark's desk features a stunning crystal cube that's etched with his portrait and the words "Mark S - Allentown." It's placed on a light-up, rotating stand, and is quite the possession for someone whose desk isn't overflowing with perks like Dylan's. When Helly questions the cube, Dylan says, "That's not a prize, that's just something they gave him," to which I ask, "WHY?!" What's the deal with that head cube? Does O&D make them? And don't think I haven't noticed that Severance creator Dan Erickson has a shot of his own crystal head cube as his profile photo. Later in the series, Dylan requests a crystal cube with the new MDR group photo engraved on it as his prize for being Refiner of the Quarter. He takes it to the waffle party, and then carries it to the security office and sets it down before enabling the overtime contingency. It's not clear why, but I can't help but think he'll be using it as a weapon to bash Milchick over the head.
18. Why is Outie Irving investigating Lumon?
When the overtime function is enabled, Irving's Innie wakes up in his Outie's house and uncovers a box of his father's U.S. Navy memorabilia in his closet. Hidden underneath old uniforms he finds a stash of Lumon-related documents, including newspaper clippings about severed workers suing the company, Lumon invoices, a list of severed employees, and a map of Kier, PE with Burt Goodman's address marked alongside those of others we haven't met yet. It seems Burt's Outie was doing some serious Lumon research, but why?
19. What happens post-overtime?
When Milchick finally rushes the security office Dylan has no choice but to release the overtime switches, which restores Mark, Helly, and Irving to their Outie selves. But what happens now? For one thing, Dylan's trapped at work alone with Milchick. With Cobel and Graner gone, is Milchick left to run the floor alone, or does he have help down there? I'm still wondering who operated the overtime contingency when Milchick was at Dylan's house and Cobel and Graner were busy elsewhere.
If the other three refiners ever take the elevator back down to the severed floor they'll be flooded with outside memories. Irv will have seen Burt with someone else, Mark will know Ms. Casey was his wife, Helly will be well aware that she's an Eagan. There's always a chance that the Innies could have their memories wiped, but the damage is already done on the outside world. Helly set that Lumon gala ablaze, Mark's sister Devon wants to take his story to the press, and Outie Burt and Outie Irv are about to meet face to face. Dylan said flipping the overtime function was just the first step. So we can only hope they have a greater plan in mind come Season 2.
20. Before I go, can the Severance team publish The You You Are by Dr. Ricken Hale?
Ricken's book would be a surefire hit in The Great Resignation era. The team published The Lexington Letter, and Stiller recently revealed that Erickson has "basically written almost all of The You You Are," so why not pub that, too? Outies everywhere need Ricken's wisdom.
Severance is now streaming on Apple TV+.
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