Pointing out gabby makes her story really scary to me. Her innie wakes up with no memories, in an empty cabin, and she’s heavily pregnant. She carries out the most difficult and traumatizing part of the pregnancy, then never wakes up again.
@@nautilusfilesI think most of the people on board with severance politically just don't care bc they can't remember it. It's kind of like when you wake up from surgery. I've always wondered if you actually do experience some pain while asleep, you just can't remember it 😬
I thought it was even worse than that. I thought she was awake for two of the pregnancies. I thought after the first baby she said nope severance then the other two were for the innie.
This was also really sad for me because like yes childbirth was painful but it was also the best day of my life. the process of birth is so special between mom and baby, I can't ever imagine not being conscious and of sound mind during childbirth. It's so cruel to do to an innie in this situation too because it would be terrifying for someone who has no idea what is going on or going to happen to be forced into going through. Normally the chaos and pain giving birth leads to the payoff of having your baby put on your chest to hold and love right after. There is high risk and no reward for the innie in this situation whatsoever.
@@tehamill1 maybe so seen the finale last night it was the first time I’ve ever truly felt suspense. My heart was moving like I’ve done 1000 mile dash. And did you ended on a cliffhanger with no tension released
If Gemma was scheduled to be cremated the body would have been identified, moved off site, and "handled" for cremation. It would be an easy way for Lumon to switch her out in an unresponsive state. Pay or have a plant doctor/nurse/ward where they declare her "death" and quickly move to cremation. No one would be the wiser
This made me think, Lumon owns most of the town, maybe the body goes to a cremation center(whatever you call it lol) that's owned by Lumon, this would work with three theory that she was already severed and put in a state of death and the theory that they retrieve the body then severe her.
Yeah especially if Mark was badly hurt during the accident, they could've explained to Mark she was cremated… then kept her body alive + recovering, tho unconscious, and implanting the chip. Probably could've pulled it off without much of a hitch. Here's your wife's ashes in this lovely urn
We sci-fi TV nerds are well familiar with Dichen Lachmen, the actress who portrays Gemma. She was in Dollhouse and Altered Carbon, among others. Intriguing screen capture at 9:57! `C:\SYSTEM_FUNCTIONS` with options ``` BEEHIVE BRANCH TRANSFER CLEAN SLATE ELEPHANT FREEZE FRAME GLASGOW ``` Assuming these are severed modes, some of them are guessable: `CLEAN SLATE` is obviously (probably) a memory wipe, `ELEPHANT` has something to do with "never forget", and `BEEHIVE` is something to do with organizing people, possibly hive mind. `BRANCH TRANSFER` may be transferring locations within Lumon, but I also wonder if maybe it has something to do with the "darkest Gone Girl theory" at 10:26. In software versioning a "branch" is a different version of source code: If chips contain whole personalities, maybe there are different versions of personalities or memories and they can be "transferred". `FREEZE FRAME` maybe a reset to a specific point in time. `GLASGOW`? might refer to the Glascow Coma Scale which is used to evaluate consciousness after a traumatic brain injury: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Coma_Scale In context of Ms. Casey's accident, I think it's a possibility.
Hey Rendall! Glasgow is the one I'm looking at too, for the same reason. A mode that makes a severed person appear to be non-responsive sounds like the perfect way to get away with the crime minus all the fuss. I like your guesses on the other protocols. There are a few more that are in a different screenshot to speculate on. I should probably talk about this in the next ST video.
@@nautilusfiles The others seem to have fairly intuitive interpretations that may not be used in the story, but Glasgow? It's pretty unlikely a writer or production designer just picked a random city and threw it on the list without a purpose. It has to mean something.
I think Freeze Frame literally freezes the person in place, possibly for a set period of time, probably a short one if so. Could be used to keep someone from walking out into traffic, for instance. Or to provide a space of time till a Lumon employee could reach the person to perform some sort of maintenance or repair function. I did not know about the Glasgow scale, but I agree that is VERY intriguing!
My theory is that Mark signed the papers to allow Lumen to sever her after the accident. From his perspective she was as good as dead in the real world, but was told the severance procedure could give her some kind of life on the severed floor. This is why he agreed to be severed afterwards. Why is his grief is so visceral and raw even after time has passed. Why is that? Because he knows that his inney gets to interact with her every day, seeing her, talking to her, existing around her, but his outside self never gets to experience it at all and yet he knows its happening. A so close and yet so far type thing to the nth degree. How horrible every day would be to live thru, hence the drinking, but going back day after day because he knows that his other self gets what he wants so desperately. Then when he sees a chance to merge the inney and outey from Petey he sees there might be a way after all to be with her again.
Thanks! And of course, Helly said to Mark that they could be married to each other on the outside and never know it. How right she is, just the wrong person.. And it might be why Mark sabotages his chances with Alexa. He doesnt want to start new with her because he knows his wife is still alive. @@nautilusfiles
@@kjugirl Yah, that would explain why Mark is special enough to have Cobel watch him. Maybe she is the highest person at Lumon who knows about it, and she has her own agenda forfinding out that the severance procedure isn't complete or permanent. She doesnt seem to test the others to see if there is crossover. Just Mark.
The "pre-loaded chip" is the best theory I have heard so far. If the Egans are looking for immortality, then that would be the way. Just upload their consciousness into a chip, and then find a host body. It would also explain the MDR employees' ability to sort, as that skill would have nothing to do with their outies. Also if outie Gemma were brain-dead or comatose, the the chip of course would be the only thing keeping her going. This is giving me "Westworld' vibes: with the host pearls, and with the Delos immortality project. Nice summary and breakdown, as usual! :)
Hey, ravenelord! Agreed, it's the more elegant solution to their problem, imo. When you think about Kier's stated goals for mankind and how Lumon interprets and intends to make good on it, it would make a lot of sense for them to preload the chips with a "balanced" Kier approved personality that is amenable to what they seek to accomplish. I think we solved it! 😎😂
When Dylan activates Overtime we see him scroll past several other management functions. Since we know chips can be activated remotely, I'm certain that one of those functions is Lumon's preferred method of dealing with problematic Severed, something like "cause a car crash now" or "instantly wipe ALL memories". This would explain why both Gemma and Peg "died" in similar circumstances, as well why it was so difficult for Lumon to track Reghabi and Petey after they left the company. That's also the main reason why they want everyone to undergo Severance; they are not that powerful if you don't have their killswitch in your brain.
my hunch is that “she’s alive!” final shout of the season is a total Frankenstein nod, (“It’s aliiiive!”) supporting the theory that his wife did indeed die and this is some macabre resurrected or manufactured version of her
"The idea that they had a troubled marriage that he was in denial of the whole time"- I think you might be onto something here, because we see that he can have quite a temper and get quite defensive (from his interactions with the anti-severance protestors), and he also tore Gemma's photo up to "prove" he was over her, even if he later regretted it and taped it back up.
These are ALL great theories. It’s like a choose your own adventure book. Buy only one will actually be revealed in the seasons that follow. (Or none of them and we were all thrown for a loop). Great breakdown. Mrs. Casey /Gemma is interestingly *the* character the first season centers around, yet also the character we know the least about. Great story writing. We know *just* enough to stay interested long after S1 ended, but *not* enough so multiple theories all seem plausible. Love it.
Honestly, I would love it if the story turned out to be something we haven't even thought of yet. You're %100 right. The fact that we're all so concerned about this character is certainly testament to the quality of the storytelling. Thanks for coming through, always a pleasure.
Right? I like theory crafting as like almost this "fanfic with a set of rules (for fun!)" kinda thing where's its a choose your own adventure. I mean, even if only one gets to be true, the process of taking the little details and coming up with stuff that could potentially fit are still a very creative experience and something that adds interaction with the media. Like, it makes participation active, like a game, which is fun. I also have high hopes/expectations that this show will pick/have set up something that blows our minds and simultaneously feels perfectly aligned into place (hopefully not setting myself up for disappointment lol). I also like how so far they seemed to do it so well that *multiple* theories would fit the show/characters really well. I feel like that takes lots of good character writing and good grounded worldbuilding. I feel like even if it's any of the theories or combination of pieces of theories mentioned, that it'll still be presented in a way that'd surprise and amaze us. I think they really nailed how they did plot twist reveals in that first season. That's also a super important for this type of show.
@@nautilusfilesThat's true, I'm sure there's lots of things we haven't even thought of yet. I mean, they're probably not gonna reveal stuff in the first episode of season two- they have space to drop a lot more hints that could lead us to realize they're taking it on a totally different direction. Or maybe it would be just unexpected enough to where no one could possibly guess it yet it still flowed well. Really anythings possible since there's so much established uses of Severance yet limited audience view of everything. I think something no one's guessed could also be a likely and fun outcome too yeah :))) For me rather than "getting it right" & "coming up with the correct theory before it happens" what I prefer and like about the whole theory crafting thing of shows is just the fun of trying to create something new with the pieces we have. Whether its our own thing or it happens to be the same thing the creators were going for too.
If someone has made it to Nautilus Severance episode 10.. they’ve been warned 9 previous times about spoilers. Assuming they’ve watched these in order. And if not.. welp. 😅 They had better turn back into an outie, forget what they saw here, and go watch Severance.
@@evolv.e jajaj. yeah, i understand and share your point. But when you are searching videos about some show you are watching, youtube recommends u the latest ones usually so you get spoiled just by reading the titles of the videos.
I do think it's all theory and doesn't confirm anything (mainly because we don't know for certain that she is Gemma). That said, I can see how it could be perceived as a spoiler for someone who just happens to see it before watching the show. I'll probably change it when I get a chance.
Often after extreme deaths like car crash or a mass shooting for example, the doctors or morticians recommend that the family does NOT view the victims body, as it would be highly traumatic for the family to see their loved ones mangled broken body. So hypothetically if the hospital/Dr/morgue said you can’t see Gemma’s body she’s a mess after the car accident then that would explain how no one physically saw or confirmed her death. 🤔
That makes sense. How does family member identification of the body work in the real world? This comment makes me wonder about that cause ofc in movies they have a family member come in. Or if that's a thing, when does a family member confirming identification not happen.
@@ollie2111 the family can confirm the victim by tattoos, birthmarks, unique physical features etc. In extreme cases where the body is completely unrecognizable (such as a car crash or house fire or mass shooting) the doctors or coroner will confirm the victim by dental records.
I’m for the theory that Mark and Gemma were targeted by Lumon, but not because Gemma had gotten tangled up in confidential activities and became a threat to the company. I think it’s more because they were professors in history and Russian literature respectively that they would make good test subjects for observing how the lines between semantic, episodic, and procedural memory may blur and/or be affected under severance (e.g. Knowledge of language vs. the ability to speak, specific knowledge of history vs. memories attached to the process of said knowledge being obtained). They would make quite interesting lab rats in that regard, and we can make an educated guess that severance is still in an experimental phase based on what we’re shown in the show.
This thought also occurred to me in relation to the Lexington Letter. In there, Peg and her innie were exchanging notes in her kid language, which her innie could perfectly understand and write. And this all made it past the „code detectors“. It‘s possible that if Gemma were severed before that she and her innie started exchanging notes in Cyrillic, which might also not get detected by the code detectors. Putting her in a similar situation to Peg.
Great theories! I hadn't thought about Gemma possibly being a Lunon employee *prior* to the accident. And the rocky marraige/misdiagnosed alcoholic isn't something I've considered either. Both add some interesting layers. The last theory is what I've leaned to, a Techno-immortality where the consciousness is downloaded to the chip and can be put into any physical body. Made me want to rewatch the season for the fourth time lol. Season 2 started filming but will likely be delayed due to the writers and actors strike.
Hugh! Yeah, i don't think we will be watching any new episodes until Spring of 2024, given the current rate of progress with the strike (or lack thereof). I do think the "misdiagnosed alcoholic" theory is one I wouldn't mind seeing actually play out. Thanks for coming by, brother!
Same, I liked the layers it added and it made me want to watch it yet again 😂. I really hope the companies give workers what they deserve & need and it's not going to keep being this long wait. So far it seems like they aren't budging, sadly. I'm proud of the striking folks that they are able to keep pushing for those fair working conditions tho, apparently the contract proposal was laughable so they went back on strike again. I guess the contract negotiation was just the companies pretending to be at the table. But workers aren't falling for it. No bs faux compromise on workers rights & protections ✊📢🗣🪧
I believe Lumon had some control over her hospital care and exploited this once she died. Perhaps using her to try this kind of programme - having a task force made of formerly brain dead (or actually dead) people to complete work, without an outside identity. I think it's also possible that Charlotte may be in the same position as Gemma and could be a part timer. This is why Cobel is so interested in Innie Mark and Ms Casey's wellness visit. She even brings one of Gemma's candles to Ms Casey for her session with Mark. Is she trying to trigger a break down of Mark and Gemma's severance? Trying to see if there is a flaw in the severance scheme and would possibly allow Charlotte to remember her? There is definitely something behind Cobel's interest in Mark and Gemma/Ms Casey. She seems particularly focused on Mark. Edit: ahh - you literally state this in the video, I should have waited 😅
Yes a new Severance video!! I have watched your Severance videos multiple times - awesome content 👏👏👏 I love your character breakdowns and theories (and random bits of humor). I’ve seen Severance way too many times and I alway pick up something new in each watch. Regarding Gemma, she is the one person I can’t wrap my head around.Your theories are really spot on and allow her to be more built out as a character. One thing I always ponder - why did Cobel “fire” her? She lost Mark and Helly for just a moment, it didn’t seem like an appropriate response. MDR gets up to much worse antics. What does that action of firing mean for someone like Gemma? Was Cobel just testing Mark’s reaction to seeing her fired hoping it would jog his memory? Or something else is going on? I have a theory. What if Gemma is alive and well, living at Lumon, in the place on Petey’s map of “some people live here.” She could be full on the dark side, helping Lumon further their research and offered to have her chip implanted, similar to Helly. I’m not sure if the car crash was accidental, on purpose by Lumon, or a complete cover up. And perhaps her outtie told Cobel ‘I got enough data, take my innie out.’ Mark’s last words of the season were “SHE’S ALIVE!” Not ‘she’s at Lumon’, ‘I know her’ etc. The writers are so specific in their word choices, so this could mean something. I would love Season 2 to start off with Gemma’s POV.
I like the idea that Jemma's story of the crash would be different than Mark's. Mark was a sad man and Jemma ran out ofter an argument or a drunk situation - but Mark's sister said they all got along really well. Maybe mark was driving after a family event and he had too much to drink. This has happened before but this time his sister, Devin, suggests he stay and he does. So good! S2!!!!
Honestly, I'm really hoping this might be true. I think it would be a great twist and it gives Mark an opportunity to face the denial and proceed down that tried-and-true redemption arc, as far as writing goes. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!
I mentioned this on a separate video, but I believe there’s going to be a major reveal that the elevator is not the only place one transitions. It’s clear that the outies still function while innies are working (for ex. when the team transitioned back to themselves their outies were all in the middle of doing something already) it’s not like they were at Lumon waiting to leave work. My only question is what that reveal will be? I’ve seen multiple theories regarding clones. It’s also clear that the outies have to be gone sometimes, because people such as Mark’s relatives are well aware that he’s severed. So many questions, haha. Alright, my novel is done… for now.
Wait, Regabi invented the procedure? I'll have to watch that clip again where she was talking to Mark. I thought she said she was the one who carried out the procedure on him specifically but I don't recall her saying she invented it. Also, another great video my friend! These make my day!
In the Severance wiki, Reghabi is credited with its creation with a notable "allegedly" descriptor as a caveat, so now I am not sure because I can't confirm it either way.
It's interesting to me how Lumon coaxes people in, to make you think it's your idea to work for them. Like how Facebook, UA-cam, and TikTok use our own preferences to promote things to us. We are on our way to this in real life
I think its possible that next season Heleana will be one of the main villains and she will be torturing Helly, keeping her somewhere awful anytime she goes to the severed floor and the gang is going to have to figure out how to save Helly from her outie (while figuring out more about what Lumon is doing). Not sure where they're going with Gemma/Ms. Casey, but I'm sure we'll get answers about that too (and about Mrs. Cobel)
Miss Casey is the big puzzle for me. She's supposed to be dead, but there she is. There's next to no information about the accident, and if I could walk into the world of the drama, that's what I'd be asking questions about.
Currently in the process of rewatching season 1 and connecting to many more dots and coming up with so many new theories that I didn’t think of the first time. Highly rewatchable show so far. I hope they keep the mysteries active in season 2 instead of doing something so far out in left field to resolve too much. The mystery keeps my imagination active and makes the show more fun to watch.
@@nautilusfiles in a world where so many answers are a click away a mystery that slowly resolves as it deepens and branches out has me hooked. First day back at work a few weeks ago after my first watch through and I couldn’t stop thinking about the show. It was kind of strange to think that so many people, including myself, have an innie and an outie but might not even realize it. While my job is a grind I feel immeasurably more liberated and one hundred percent less surveilled than the Lumen drones. It’s a good feeling. Although it’s fiction it can help put reality in perspective, for better or for worse. I’ve now integrated with my whole self but both parts of me keep reeling in the possibilities of what could be happening and what could happen next. Defiant jazz is a great encapsulation of the emotional undertones of the show. While the show feels oddly soft and mostly quiet underneath the pauses and office ambience thoughts are going off on tangents only resolving on an unsettled hypothesis before another thought emerges. I want to know what happens if the elevator gets stuck halfway. Also I want to know where the elevator Ms Casey takes that Irving paints goes and what it does. Also can’t stop thinking about the goats and child bearing. There’s that scene at the birthing retreat place where Ricken asks Mark if he’d like to help him hang the kelp. At first blush it just seems like another random funny hippie thing to add on top of all his idiosyncrasies but I looked up if Goats eat kelp and surprisingly they do. The answer didn’t help me come to any conclusion but it’s just more references to goats that aren’t explicitly spelled out. In this scene the goat ritual was tied to child birth though which adds to the ‘kids as goats’ theory.
Yea I’ve watched it over 3 times back to back now. I’m gonna chill for a minute but I’m awfully tempted to watch again. Why do I find this dystopian world somehow calming as it is disturbing? It’s so full of “order” but brimming with inner turmoil.
my severance theory: the intercom that is used by the board and when helly wakes up is made by the optics and design 3d printers, as layer lines are visible when its zoomed in on the first episode
I can’t remember which episode it was, maybe the perpetuity wing one, where Kier or another higher up Eagan is talking about making the perfect person? I can’t remember the exact verbiage. I’m rewatching season one (not so patiently waiting for season two 😆) so I’ll update this theory! I think MDR is refining chips, like the one in Ms. Casey, to perfect each of the temperaments to make the perfect person/community. Great work as usual!
Okay shit I'm 2 minutes into the video so I haven't got to the theories yet, but when you said "was she alone in the car" I gasped and went "fuck, was *Mark* driving?"
What gave me the chills is the teaser for season 2 hidden in the iPhone 14 announcement. If you play the keynote for the Apple event at the very end after Tim Cook says bye to everyone there is a hidden clip of severance showing holly and Gemma on a train station. Look it up !
I think Gemma's simply part of their plans for Mark. My current theory as to what MDR is up to is that they're debugging the software for the chip. Each refiner seems to correspond to one of the four tempers: Mark is Woe, Dylan is Frolic, Irv is Dread, Helly is Malice. And they can only respond to their files. So each is removing the chaff from the chip in their assigned temper, the goal being to produce a being perfect in Keir's eyes. Gemma's there to drop the Woe. On another topic: Has anybody else noticed that the infographic cards in OD depict an adult using a fighting technique against what appears to be a young boy?
Aww man... now I have rewatch that episode to look at those ideographic cards again!? 😁😂 Jokes aside, thanks for commenting. I think the MDR/Four Tempers thing is what is happening. What breaks my brain is why they chose those particular people for the job (and why only one unit and not many teams of 4)?
Dichen Lachman being in this, and previously Dollhouse, a very similar show, is fascinating. Both shows about individuals 'opting' to be 'severed' in different ways. Your theories about the personality residing on the severance chip, and other folks' theories about what branch transfers and other operations could actually mean, further tie into interesting parallels between Dollhouse and Severance.
I think Gemma was chosen to be severed by Lumon, then Lumon targeted Mark to come work at Lumon (I'm unsure if they something to do with her car accident). They did this to show potential investors how powerful being severed is. Mr. Milchick even talked to Harmony about how good it is they don't recognize each other.
My theory is Gemma became a Kier fanatic, like Cobel, and is now on the mysterious 'Board', she orchestrated her death to go into it full time and test out how likely it was for her to get away with it. This is what makes her non severed self less appealing to Mark so he gets over his grief, comes back to himself and can continue with severed Helly. It keeps severed Gemma as empathetic too.
So if the chip is Pete, Cobel could possibly have her mother in chip form, what if she wants to use Gemmas body as a vehicle for her mother. There's holes is this but it gives cobel motive for her secretive interest.
Ooooh. I like the part about Cobel having her mom's chip. I mean she *did* grave-rob a man at his own damn funeral, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to say she could have found out her mom was Severed and she got her chip. I guess idk if I like the idea of her mom being Severed, but if they did decide to go that route I like the idea of Cobel having her tucked away on the chip, waiting to be able to use someone as a host.
We do know that Gemma was teaching Russian Lit at the college. Could the fact that she speaks fluent Russian hold any darker reasons for her to be working for Lumon? Or could that have made it possible for past code detection (which may have only been looking for English letters before being updated (similar to how in the Lexington Letter Peggy says they’re updating the elevator scanners after discovering “puglish”) and that’s how Gemma was able to discover some of the weird shit she wasn’t supposed to know that ultimately put her life in jeopardy?
This is a really interesting take on what ‘part time’ is meant to mean. I think clearly for someone like Gemma/Ms. Casey it does mean that. But I don’t think the Innie’s would take the existence of something like that so nonchalantly. To me part time innies implies that they simply work on the severed floor part time. So for someone like a counselor they’d just come in when they had appointments. Of course clearly with Ms. Casey she is actually barred from leaving. And I assume the same with Peggy K from the Lexington letter.
I think that's what the numbers are. Those are data blocks from the internet, the department the main characters works in, macro data, they sort through those blocks and each of those represents a factor about the individual who Lumen then choses. Like imagine your entire search history being represented for data brokers, and a social credit system, and you can't know what each number is, so it's behind a "Chinese Wall" so to speak, watch "Halt and Catch Fire" for more on that. You can see the numbers but not what they mean, but the border that forms the numbers represents the values of a person/perhaps how those relate to the 4 tempers or a social security number a la "Person of Interest" or "Massive Dynamic" and the Cortexiphan kids from Fringe. The border is a person, and the border is selected, then a corporate unit does it's own work. Finally, what if the "Board" is a single individual who is running one of the 4 tempers as severed personalities? Perhaps Helly's dad? Lumen reminds me a lot of the conspiracy theory "Monarch the new pheonix program" and an old episode of the 90s outer limits involving a radio tower. I mean, it's an old plot, but I love it.
Maybe they were together at the accident. Luman offered turning her back to life with severance and Mark started working for them in order to see Gemma again at some point in life. And for the numbers thing, what they are actually doing can be a neural map integration , they complete and redesign neural networks of the users so the future mastermind Eagan can get total control of their consciousness.
I find it interesting that Cobel seems to want Mark and Gemma, or Casey, to reconnect. She keeps sending Mark to the Wellness Center which, by Milchick's reactions, is very unorthodox. She watches them together like a reality show and seems to have an expression that she truly wants them to remember. Is Cobel being sympathetic? Or, is she trying to further prove that the severed procedure has glitches and some memories do tend to seep in.
I'm kinda curious about the town of Keir. Like when did Lumon grow into the huge corporate enterprise that it seems to be. Mark lives in Keir, but he has no neighbors other than Mrs Selvig/Cobel. How much of a ride is it to Devon's house, is she in Keir? Did they grow up there? Irving lives in an apartment complex type place, so is that also inside Keir… Irving has that list of names + address with a map… just makes me curious Why Mark doesn't have other neighbors is a sticking point for me.
Maybe when she got into a car wreck, she had previously signed a waiver saying that if she went into a coma or died, her body could be used for severance experimentation. She couldn’t have known her husband would have chosen to be severed after her death. But maybe he was swayed by people unknowingly who work there, so they could experiment with their close relationship. Edit: I posted this before you mentioned the theory😅
I think the chip holds consciousness post death, and they discovered that with Gemma. So, That's Petey line might allude to his innie consciousness is contained. This might be Lumon's real "purpose"- they found away to keep the dead alive, as their innie forms, in the world of severance.
@@nautilusfiles I get that and your assumption is probably right. Just funny that you first give away the biggest spoiler of the whole season and THEN add a courtesy warning. ;)
What if the macro data refinement with the numbers is them gradually uploading themselves to their chips so that their consciousness can then be transferred?
We assume that they have physical bodies when they are in Lumen. Perhaps it's a simulation type situation. Casey might be left over simulation while her actual body and outy personality might be dead. One of things Lumen might be trying to do is resurrection. Have a copy of their outy mind and be able to put it in a new body (or just create a simulation Heaven). The inny might be a bad copy/projection mind but their aim is to completely store a complete version of the outy. It would make you wonder what they are doing on the computers. Are they copying/editing their own minds? Gradually copying their personalities into Lumen while editing out negative parts/memories? Casey looks like an early bad copy.
What if Gemma was already a sleeper agent, like before she even met Mark she was already on the take, and her accident was just that, an accident, something Lumon never anticipated and her being here as Miss Casey is just them trying to recover their investment in her, but in actuality she was meant to perform some other role?
Yeah Idk how old the piece of media is, I hate when I run into spoilers on accident when I'm just trying to look up a meta detail about the show (have spoiled too many shows/movies/books just by trying to look up how many episodes or books are in a thing or what the order a movie series goes in, etc). Thank you for updating it Nautilus! :))
Because they spent so much time building up the relationship with helly B and Mark, Gemma cant be a love interest so they need to erase her appeal to Mark by showing she betrayed Mark. Probably she got involved with Lumin and became a cult member like Cobel and actually agreed to orchestrate her death to join fully. Non severed Gemma is probably deep in the cult. There needs to be something that is enough to kill off his interest (while severed Gemma is empathetic enough to try to help still) and let him be with Helly
if they turn mark into some kind of scumbag who’s wife hated him and his marriage was bad i’m done with this show. i sincerely hate things like that. the thing i do like about shows not being around for a while (long gaps between seasons) is that you can be less invested in them and it’s easier to not care.
She doesn't have to hate him to be unhappy, nor does he have to be a scumbag. He could be emotionally unavailable, or it could be related to the frustrations of trying to get pregnant unsuccessfully. I don't understand that other part of your comment, so I'm going to leave that one alone.
Yeah I hope its not that he's a scumbag, I was thinking more that it'd be layered and gray. I wouldn't like that either. I also don't *feel* like they're leading up to it being that black and white, but it *is* a possibility and I understand your concern wholeheartedly.
We don't actually know that Ms. Casey does not have an "Outie." The only reason the employees of the severed floor know they have an outie is because Lumen provides evidence that this is so. Lumen is also known to be an unreliable narrator. We have been told that Ms. Casey is only alive on the severed floor by Ms. Casey herself. She may very well have an outie persona that we have not seen yet. Kinda spooky.
What is Gemma was part of a program to create a severed baby or someone who has been severed since birth maybe she was approached by someone at lumon who claimed they could cure her fertility issues but something went wrong and they faked her death. I don’t know how that leads into her being on the severed floor but something like that great video as always.
Another thing is that state senator guy with Gaby the severed wife. He's obviously invested in Lumon in more ways than one. Sure any state office-holder/candidate wants power and money + Lumon's the big dog in that state district or whatever but it's the influence peddling in this case btwn politics power + Lumon's agenda that scares me
I like the idea of mark and Gemma not having a perfect marriage, but I don't think Devin would have lied to Mark's Innie about that at the party. She said they were all close and happy
Is it possible that Casey is a clone of Gemma? Perhaps they are trying to use the chips as a way to preserve memories and transfer them over to a cloned body once the original or previous clone copies die.
I think she was brain dead and they put the chip in her and it helps reanimate people. But it doesn’t bring back the person who they were before their brain death. And I think that is why she can be shipped off to the testing floor. Because when they flip the switch she is brain dead. And in her last scene with Mark she was like “yeah, I’m kinda weird.” And if you think about it, she is a bit weirder than the other innies. She feels a bit more robotic than the rest of them.
5:20 I'm sick and tired of Infertility Angst trope as if the only source of happiness for women comes from babies. What propaganda. Ben Stiller you better not go this way.
Sorry you feel this way. However, the ability to have a child being traumatic for women is not a trope. It's a fact of nature that effects most women who cannot have children.
No I don't think she was unhappy because she couldn't get pregnant as Mark had beautifully put it something along the lines of " we don't get the life we wanted but it's our choice to make do with the one we have"
@@nautilusfilesHiii! :) I like all the theories in the vid. I think they all fit in really well with directions the show would go in. As for if the accident was real/on purpose I like the idea that Lumon orchestrated some setup to take her and that the accident wasn't even real. I guess its true the accident probably had to be real if he mentioned he was in the hospital with her for a while. I also kinda like the possible idea that he always had a drinking problem. We usually assume the most direct thing which is "this is being shown because it was caused by this important plot thing: Gemma dying" but when done well its really fun when a detail becomes the same thing recontextualized into a really different or more in depth thing with a new perspective if we find out he always coped with life stress that way. I also like the fertility problems angle. I think both of those fit really well together too. Gemma struggled bc of fertility and Mark distanced himself through occasional excessive drinking that only got worse after she seemingly died. Specially since like you said each severed employee seems to have joined to distance themselves from their trauma or stressors, and I feel like that fits in really well with everyone else, even with added differences like Gemma likely being related to insider knowledge at Lumon. I didn't really notice the IVF line when I watched the show. You really do have to keep note of every detail with this one :) (I like shows where everything's a little clue like that, where you're more likely meant to feel impressed they were there on re-watch rather than guess them all right away haha- well, this one's still a theory but you know what I mean). Anyway, yeah, I like these. The only one I felt didn't make sense at all imo was one I saw in the comments 😆 (but to each their own :) ).
![Severance Theories #8 [Petey's Map + Theories]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fUglz4MjvFg/mqdefault.jpg)
![Severance Theories #8 [Petey's Map + Theories]](/img/tr.png)
Pointing out gabby makes her story really scary to me. Her innie wakes up with no memories, in an empty cabin, and she’s heavily pregnant. She carries out the most difficult and traumatizing part of the pregnancy, then never wakes up again.
I can't imagine how traumatizing that would be. I wonder if outties realize that their innie's trauma exists within their own psyche as well.
@@nautilusfilesI think most of the people on board with severance politically just don't care bc they can't remember it. It's kind of like when you wake up from surgery. I've always wondered if you actually do experience some pain while asleep, you just can't remember it 😬
This is reminiscent of how the higher classes treat the lower.
I thought it was even worse than that. I thought she was awake for two of the pregnancies. I thought after the first baby she said nope severance then the other two were for the innie.
This was also really sad for me because like yes childbirth was painful but it was also the best day of my life. the process of birth is so special between mom and baby, I can't ever imagine not being conscious and of sound mind during childbirth. It's so cruel to do to an innie in this situation too because it would be terrifying for someone who has no idea what is going on or going to happen to be forced into going through. Normally the chaos and pain giving birth leads to the payoff of having your baby put on your chest to hold and love right after. There is high risk and no reward for the innie in this situation whatsoever.
I am surprised you didn't tie the possible alcoholic angle with him being the driver in the crash (guilt, and hence the crying).
season 2 cant come soon enough.
Sadly maybe 2025 :(
@@tehamill1support the strike if you wanna see it sooner
@@tehamill1 maybe so seen the finale last night it was the first time I’ve ever truly felt suspense. My heart was moving like I’ve done 1000 mile dash.
And did you ended on a cliffhanger with no tension released
For real I can’t wait 😢
I'm already ready for the disappointment!
If Gemma was scheduled to be cremated the body would have been identified, moved off site, and "handled" for cremation. It would be an easy way for Lumon to switch her out in an unresponsive state. Pay or have a plant doctor/nurse/ward where they declare her "death" and quickly move to cremation. No one would be the wiser
This made me think, Lumon owns most of the town, maybe the body goes to a cremation center(whatever you call it lol) that's owned by Lumon, this would work with three theory that she was already severed and put in a state of death and the theory that they retrieve the body then severe her.
Something similar to how people were "obligated" to be cremated during the 2020 pandemic
Yeah especially if Mark was badly hurt during the accident, they could've explained to Mark she was cremated… then kept her body alive + recovering, tho unconscious, and implanting the chip.
Probably could've pulled it off without much of a hitch. Here's your wife's ashes in this lovely urn
We sci-fi TV nerds are well familiar with Dichen Lachmen, the actress who portrays Gemma. She was in Dollhouse and Altered Carbon, among others.
Intriguing screen capture at 9:57! `C:\SYSTEM_FUNCTIONS` with options
```
BEEHIVE
BRANCH TRANSFER
CLEAN SLATE
ELEPHANT
FREEZE FRAME
GLASGOW
```
Assuming these are severed modes, some of them are guessable: `CLEAN SLATE` is obviously (probably) a memory wipe, `ELEPHANT` has something to do with "never forget", and `BEEHIVE` is something to do with organizing people, possibly hive mind.
`BRANCH TRANSFER` may be transferring locations within Lumon, but I also wonder if maybe it has something to do with the "darkest Gone Girl theory" at 10:26. In software versioning a "branch" is a different version of source code: If chips contain whole personalities, maybe there are different versions of personalities or memories and they can be "transferred".
`FREEZE FRAME` maybe a reset to a specific point in time.
`GLASGOW`? might refer to the Glascow Coma Scale which is used to evaluate consciousness after a traumatic brain injury: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Coma_Scale In context of Ms. Casey's accident, I think it's a possibility.
Hey Rendall! Glasgow is the one I'm looking at too, for the same reason. A mode that makes a severed person appear to be non-responsive sounds like the perfect way to get away with the crime minus all the fuss. I like your guesses on the other protocols. There are a few more that are in a different screenshot to speculate on. I should probably talk about this in the next ST video.
WOW -- good analysis.
@@nautilusfiles The others seem to have fairly intuitive interpretations that may not be used in the story, but Glasgow? It's pretty unlikely a writer or production designer just picked a random city and threw it on the list without a purpose. It has to mean something.
I think Freeze Frame literally freezes the person in place, possibly for a set period of time, probably a short one if so. Could be used to keep someone from walking out into traffic, for instance. Or to provide a space of time till a Lumon employee could reach the person to perform some sort of maintenance or repair function.
I did not know about the Glasgow scale, but I agree that is VERY intriguing!
@@DawnDavidsonthats what I was thinking too, about Freeze Frame. That it essentially "pauses" them, including whatever pose they're in.
My theory is that Mark signed the papers to allow Lumen to sever her after the accident. From his perspective she was as good as dead in the real world, but was told the severance procedure could give her some kind of life on the severed floor. This is why he agreed to be severed afterwards. Why is his grief is so visceral and raw even after time has passed. Why is that? Because he knows that his inney gets to interact with her every day, seeing her, talking to her, existing around her, but his outside self never gets to experience it at all and yet he knows its happening. A so close and yet so far type thing to the nth degree. How horrible every day would be to live thru, hence the drinking, but going back day after day because he knows that his other self gets what he wants so desperately. Then when he sees a chance to merge the inney and outey from Petey he sees there might be a way after all to be with her again.
Oh wow, what an interesting theory! Nice job.
Dude! That blew my mind!
This is an interesting theory!
Thanks! And of course, Helly said to Mark that they could be married to each other on the outside and never know it. How right she is, just the wrong person.. And it might be why Mark sabotages his chances with Alexa. He doesnt want to start new with her because he knows his wife is still alive. @@nautilusfiles
@@kjugirl Yah, that would explain why Mark is special enough to have Cobel watch him. Maybe she is the highest person at Lumon who knows about it, and she has her own agenda forfinding out that the severance procedure isn't complete or permanent. She doesnt seem to test the others to see if there is crossover. Just Mark.
The "pre-loaded chip" is the best theory I have heard so far. If the Egans are looking for immortality, then that would be the way. Just upload their consciousness into a chip, and then find a host body. It would also explain the MDR employees' ability to sort, as that skill would have nothing to do with their outies. Also if outie Gemma were brain-dead or comatose, the the chip of course would be the only thing keeping her going.
This is giving me "Westworld' vibes: with the host pearls, and with the Delos immortality project. Nice summary and breakdown, as usual! :)
Hey, ravenelord! Agreed, it's the more elegant solution to their problem, imo. When you think about Kier's stated goals for mankind and how Lumon interprets and intends to make good on it, it would make a lot of sense for them to preload the chips with a "balanced" Kier approved personality that is amenable to what they seek to accomplish. I think we solved it! 😎😂
When Dylan activates Overtime we see him scroll past several other management functions. Since we know chips can be activated remotely, I'm certain that one of those functions is Lumon's preferred method of dealing with problematic Severed, something like "cause a car crash now" or "instantly wipe ALL memories". This would explain why both Gemma and Peg "died" in similar circumstances, as well why it was so difficult for Lumon to track Reghabi and Petey after they left the company.
That's also the main reason why they want everyone to undergo Severance; they are not that powerful if you don't have their killswitch in your brain.
my hunch is that “she’s alive!” final shout of the season is a total Frankenstein nod, (“It’s aliiiive!”) supporting the theory that his wife did indeed die and this is some macabre resurrected or manufactured version of her
Ooo good point!
"The idea that they had a troubled marriage that he was in denial of the whole time"- I think you might be onto something here, because we see that he can have quite a temper and get quite defensive (from his interactions with the anti-severance protestors), and he also tore Gemma's photo up to "prove" he was over her, even if he later regretted it and taped it back up.
I'll throw a melon party in your honour now. Great video
LOL! Thanks duko.
Thank you for still being invested in Severance and making these videos! I love this series so much
Glad you like them! It keeps me amped for season two!
You have NO IDEA how badly we needed this video from YOU. Made my whole morning. Thank you for continuing to share your thoughts on this show.
That's always good to hear. Thanks! :)
These are ALL great theories. It’s like a choose your own adventure book. Buy only one will actually be revealed in the seasons that follow. (Or none of them and we were all thrown for a loop).
Great breakdown. Mrs. Casey /Gemma is interestingly *the* character the first season centers around, yet also the character we know the least about. Great story writing. We know *just* enough to stay interested long after S1 ended, but *not* enough so multiple theories all seem plausible. Love it.
Honestly, I would love it if the story turned out to be something we haven't even thought of yet. You're %100 right. The fact that we're all so concerned about this character is certainly testament to the quality of the storytelling. Thanks for coming through, always a pleasure.
Right? I like theory crafting as like almost this "fanfic with a set of rules (for fun!)" kinda thing where's its a choose your own adventure. I mean, even if only one gets to be true, the process of taking the little details and coming up with stuff that could potentially fit are still a very creative experience and something that adds interaction with the media. Like, it makes participation active, like a game, which is fun. I also have high hopes/expectations that this show will pick/have set up something that blows our minds and simultaneously feels perfectly aligned into place (hopefully not setting myself up for disappointment lol). I also like how so far they seemed to do it so well that *multiple* theories would fit the show/characters really well. I feel like that takes lots of good character writing and good grounded worldbuilding. I feel like even if it's any of the theories or combination of pieces of theories mentioned, that it'll still be presented in a way that'd surprise and amaze us. I think they really nailed how they did plot twist reveals in that first season. That's also a super important for this type of show.
@@nautilusfilesThat's true, I'm sure there's lots of things we haven't even thought of yet. I mean, they're probably not gonna reveal stuff in the first episode of season two- they have space to drop a lot more hints that could lead us to realize they're taking it on a totally different direction. Or maybe it would be just unexpected enough to where no one could possibly guess it yet it still flowed well. Really anythings possible since there's so much established uses of Severance yet limited audience view of everything. I think something no one's guessed could also be a likely and fun outcome too yeah :)))
For me rather than "getting it right" & "coming up with the correct theory before it happens" what I prefer and like about the whole theory crafting thing of shows is just the fun of trying to create something new with the pieces we have. Whether its our own thing or it happens to be the same thing the creators were going for too.
i suggest changing the name of the video to [Ms. Casey Theories] to prevent spoilers. great video
If someone has made it to Nautilus Severance episode 10.. they’ve been warned 9 previous times about spoilers. Assuming they’ve watched these in order.
And if not.. welp. 😅 They had better turn back into an outie, forget what they saw here, and go watch Severance.
@@evolv.e jajaj. yeah, i understand and share your point. But when you are searching videos about some show you are watching, youtube recommends u the latest ones usually so you get spoiled just by reading the titles of the videos.
I do think it's all theory and doesn't confirm anything (mainly because we don't know for certain that she is Gemma). That said, I can see how it could be perceived as a spoiler for someone who just happens to see it before watching the show. I'll probably change it when I get a chance.
Often after extreme deaths like car crash or a mass shooting for example, the doctors or morticians recommend that the family does NOT view the victims body, as it would be highly traumatic for the family to see their loved ones mangled broken body. So hypothetically if the hospital/Dr/morgue said you can’t see Gemma’s body she’s a mess after the car accident then that would explain how no one physically saw or confirmed her death. 🤔
That makes sense. How does family member identification of the body work in the real world? This comment makes me wonder about that cause ofc in movies they have a family member come in. Or if that's a thing, when does a family member confirming identification not happen.
@@ollie2111 the family can confirm the victim by tattoos, birthmarks, unique physical features etc. In extreme cases where the body is completely unrecognizable (such as a car crash or house fire or mass shooting) the doctors or coroner will confirm the victim by dental records.
@@serenas5411 ahh, thank you so much! That's really smart & interesting, I didn't know that.
@@ollie2111my sister died in a car accident we saw her after the accident but before embalming.
@@liveandloveone801 I see. I'm so sorry you had to go through that btw
I’m for the theory that Mark and Gemma were targeted by Lumon, but not because Gemma had gotten tangled up in confidential activities and became a threat to the company.
I think it’s more because they were professors in history and Russian literature respectively that they would make good test subjects for observing how the lines between semantic, episodic, and procedural memory may blur and/or be affected under severance (e.g. Knowledge of language vs. the ability to speak, specific knowledge of history vs. memories attached to the process of said knowledge being obtained).
They would make quite interesting lab rats in that regard, and we can make an educated guess that severance is still in an experimental phase based on what we’re shown in the show.
This thought also occurred to me in relation to the Lexington Letter. In there, Peg and her innie were exchanging notes in her kid language, which her innie could perfectly understand and write. And this all made it past the „code detectors“. It‘s possible that if Gemma were severed before that she and her innie started exchanging notes in Cyrillic, which might also not get detected by the code detectors. Putting her in a similar situation to Peg.
Great theories! I hadn't thought about Gemma possibly being a Lunon employee *prior* to the accident. And the rocky marraige/misdiagnosed alcoholic isn't something I've considered either. Both add some interesting layers.
The last theory is what I've leaned to, a Techno-immortality where the consciousness is downloaded to the chip and can be put into any physical body.
Made me want to rewatch the season for the fourth time lol. Season 2 started filming but will likely be delayed due to the writers and actors strike.
Hugh! Yeah, i don't think we will be watching any new episodes until Spring of 2024, given the current rate of progress with the strike (or lack thereof). I do think the "misdiagnosed alcoholic" theory is one I wouldn't mind seeing actually play out. Thanks for coming by, brother!
Same, I liked the layers it added and it made me want to watch it yet again 😂. I really hope the companies give workers what they deserve & need and it's not going to keep being this long wait. So far it seems like they aren't budging, sadly. I'm proud of the striking folks that they are able to keep pushing for those fair working conditions tho, apparently the contract proposal was laughable so they went back on strike again. I guess the contract negotiation was just the companies pretending to be at the table. But workers aren't falling for it. No bs faux compromise on workers rights & protections ✊📢🗣🪧
I believe Lumon had some control over her hospital care and exploited this once she died. Perhaps using her to try this kind of programme - having a task force made of formerly brain dead (or actually dead) people to complete work, without an outside identity. I think it's also possible that Charlotte may be in the same position as Gemma and could be a part timer. This is why Cobel is so interested in Innie Mark and Ms Casey's wellness visit. She even brings one of Gemma's candles to Ms Casey for her session with Mark. Is she trying to trigger a break down of Mark and Gemma's severance? Trying to see if there is a flaw in the severance scheme and would possibly allow Charlotte to remember her? There is definitely something behind Cobel's interest in Mark and Gemma/Ms Casey. She seems particularly focused on Mark.
Edit: ahh - you literally state this in the video, I should have waited 😅
So great to have another Severance video!
Yessss more Severance content!!! And shoutout to the Rakim 🙏🏽
Yes! I happened to be listening to that song while I was writing, and it just worked.
Yes a new Severance video!! I have watched your Severance videos multiple times - awesome content 👏👏👏 I love your character breakdowns and theories (and random bits of humor). I’ve seen Severance way too many times and I alway pick up something new in each watch.
Regarding Gemma, she is the one person I can’t wrap my head around.Your theories are really spot on and allow her to be more built out as a character. One thing I always ponder - why did Cobel “fire” her? She lost Mark and Helly for just a moment, it didn’t seem like an appropriate response. MDR gets up to much worse antics. What does that action of firing mean for someone like Gemma? Was Cobel just testing Mark’s reaction to seeing her fired hoping it would jog his memory? Or something else is going on?
I have a theory. What if Gemma is alive and well, living at Lumon, in the place on Petey’s map of “some people live here.” She could be full on the dark side, helping Lumon further their research and offered to have her chip implanted, similar to Helly. I’m not sure if the car crash was accidental, on purpose by Lumon, or a complete cover up. And perhaps her outtie told Cobel ‘I got enough data, take my innie out.’
Mark’s last words of the season were “SHE’S ALIVE!” Not ‘she’s at Lumon’, ‘I know her’ etc. The writers are so specific in their word choices, so this could mean something. I would love Season 2 to start off with Gemma’s POV.
Love the theories. I'm ready for a rewatch. Thank you.
I like the idea that Jemma's story of the crash would be different than Mark's. Mark was a sad man and Jemma ran out ofter an argument or a drunk situation - but Mark's sister said they all got along really well. Maybe mark was driving after a family event and he had too much to drink. This has happened before but this time his sister, Devin, suggests he stay and he does. So good! S2!!!!
Honestly, I'm really hoping this might be true. I think it would be a great twist and it gives Mark an opportunity to face the denial and proceed down that tried-and-true redemption arc, as far as writing goes. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!
Love this , it’s like Lost all over again.. can’t wait for second season.
It definitely does give me the same feelings of wonder and mystery as Lost. Let's hope it's just the vibes that are similar lol.
Her name is Casey, aka K-C, aka Kier's children
I really like Severance, but it's gotten to a point where I enjoy these speculative videos from you more than the actual show
I mentioned this on a separate video, but I believe there’s going to be a major reveal that the elevator is not the only place one transitions. It’s clear that the outies still function while innies are working (for ex. when the team transitioned back to themselves their outies were all in the middle of doing something already) it’s not like they were at Lumon waiting to leave work. My only question is what that reveal will be? I’ve seen multiple theories regarding clones. It’s also clear that the outies have to be gone sometimes, because people such as Mark’s relatives are well aware that he’s severed. So many questions, haha. Alright, my novel is done… for now.
Wait, Regabi invented the procedure? I'll have to watch that clip again where she was talking to Mark. I thought she said she was the one who carried out the procedure on him specifically but I don't recall her saying she invented it.
Also, another great video my friend! These make my day!
In the Severance wiki, Reghabi is credited with its creation with a notable "allegedly" descriptor as a caveat, so now I am not sure because I can't confirm it either way.
Awesome as always
Thank you, Sam! Cheers!
It's interesting to me how Lumon coaxes people in, to make you think it's your idea to work for them. Like how Facebook, UA-cam, and TikTok use our own preferences to promote things to us. We are on our way to this in real life
These videos are absolutely dope. Relaxing and informative. Perfect while moonbeamed.
"Maybe keep your eyes on the icey road!"
Will you be doing episode recaps for season 2
Definitely, In addition to the usual videos
@@nautilusfiles will you watch the episodes and theory craft live?
first time seeing your videos but your media literacy is wild. you are very good at this.
Thanks, much appreciated! Glad you enjoyed it :)
I think its possible that next season Heleana will be one of the main villains and she will be torturing Helly, keeping her somewhere awful anytime she goes to the severed floor and the gang is going to have to figure out how to save Helly from her outie (while figuring out more about what Lumon is doing). Not sure where they're going with Gemma/Ms. Casey, but I'm sure we'll get answers about that too (and about Mrs. Cobel)
Miss Casey is the big puzzle for me. She's supposed to be dead, but there she is. There's next to no information about the accident, and if I could walk into the world of the drama, that's what I'd be asking questions about.
Currently in the process of rewatching season 1 and connecting to many more dots and coming up with so many new theories that I didn’t think of the first time. Highly rewatchable show so far. I hope they keep the mysteries active in season 2 instead of doing something so far out in left field to resolve too much. The mystery keeps my imagination active and makes the show more fun to watch.
The rewatch is a totally different experience!
Rewatches are great for this show. I think I've watched it maybe 5 or 6 times so far, and I still find things that I didn't catch on previous views.
@@nautilusfiles in a world where so many answers are a click away a mystery that slowly resolves as it deepens and branches out has me hooked. First day back at work a few weeks ago after my first watch through and I couldn’t stop thinking about the show. It was kind of strange to think that so many people, including myself, have an innie and an outie but might not even realize it. While my job is a grind I feel immeasurably more liberated and one hundred percent less surveilled than the Lumen drones. It’s a good feeling. Although it’s fiction it can help put reality in perspective, for better or for worse. I’ve now integrated with my whole self but both parts of me keep reeling in the possibilities of what could be happening and what could happen next. Defiant jazz is a great encapsulation of the emotional undertones of the show. While the show feels oddly soft and mostly quiet underneath the pauses and office ambience thoughts are going off on tangents only resolving on an unsettled hypothesis before another thought emerges.
I want to know what happens if the elevator gets stuck halfway.
Also I want to know where the elevator Ms Casey takes that Irving paints goes and what it does.
Also can’t stop thinking about the goats and child bearing.
There’s that scene at the birthing retreat place where Ricken asks Mark if he’d like to help him hang the kelp. At first blush it just seems like another random funny hippie thing to add on top of all his idiosyncrasies but I looked up if Goats eat kelp and surprisingly they do. The answer didn’t help me come to any conclusion but it’s just more references to goats that aren’t explicitly spelled out. In this scene the goat ritual was tied to child birth though which adds to the ‘kids as goats’ theory.
Yea I’ve watched it over 3 times back to back now. I’m gonna chill for a minute but I’m awfully tempted to watch again. Why do I find this dystopian world somehow calming as it is disturbing? It’s so full of “order” but brimming with inner turmoil.
There was no car crash she just left Mark, or they both volunteered for something, and they eternal sunshine’d with fake memories.
Such an amazing channel. It ruins a lot of other ones! Please keep going you are so so talented.
Wow, thanks! Really appreciate the high praise :)
my severance theory: the intercom that is used by the board and when helly wakes up is made by the optics and design 3d printers, as layer lines are visible when its zoomed in on the first episode
I can’t remember which episode it was, maybe the perpetuity wing one, where Kier or another higher up Eagan is talking about making the perfect person? I can’t remember the exact verbiage. I’m rewatching season one (not so patiently waiting for season two 😆) so I’ll update this theory!
I think MDR is refining chips, like the one in Ms. Casey, to perfect each of the temperaments to make the perfect person/community.
Great work as usual!
You’re crushing it dude, well done 🎉
Okay shit I'm 2 minutes into the video so I haven't got to the theories yet, but when you said "was she alone in the car" I gasped and went "fuck, was *Mark* driving?"
I had a similar reaction when I first came across the theory lol. It's funny how we assume so much without questioning the details. Good to see you!
What gave me the chills is the teaser for season 2 hidden in the iPhone 14 announcement. If you play the keynote for the Apple event at the very end after Tim Cook says bye to everyone there is a hidden clip of severance showing holly and Gemma on a train station. Look it up !
Thanks
Thank you so much!
Here he is! Love it! Great as usual!
You're the best, Eva! 😊
I really love your videos. Great to have something while we wait for season 2. Btw what happened to Silo recaps?
Thanks, Niko! Nothing has changed for the recaps. In fact, Silo ep 5 should drop Mon/Tue and 6 by the end of the week.
I think Gemma's simply part of their plans for Mark. My current theory as to what MDR is up to is that they're debugging the software for the chip. Each refiner seems to correspond to one of the four tempers: Mark is Woe, Dylan is Frolic, Irv is Dread, Helly is Malice. And they can only respond to their files. So each is removing the chaff from the chip in their assigned temper, the goal being to produce a being perfect in Keir's eyes. Gemma's there to drop the Woe.
On another topic: Has anybody else noticed that the infographic cards in OD depict an adult using a fighting technique against what appears to be a young boy?
Aww man... now I have rewatch that episode to look at those ideographic cards again!? 😁😂
Jokes aside, thanks for commenting. I think the MDR/Four Tempers thing is what is happening. What breaks my brain is why they chose those particular people for the job (and why only one unit and not many teams of 4)?
Oooooh I really love the Four Tempers thing, that fits each of their overarcing character personalities really well
Hey, good to see you again!
Hey, thank you! Good to see you too!
When Gemma was revealed at the end of episode 7 I actually screamed at my television
Loved this!❤
Thanks, Sara! Always good to see you 😊
Your videos are keeping me satiated until the new season
Dichen Lachman being in this, and previously Dollhouse, a very similar show, is fascinating. Both shows about individuals 'opting' to be 'severed' in different ways. Your theories about the personality residing on the severance chip, and other folks' theories about what branch transfers and other operations could actually mean, further tie into interesting parallels between Dollhouse and Severance.
great video as always 👏🏻
yesss!!! another one!!!
I like clone theory and coma theory, but what if she’s a twin?
I think Gemma was chosen to be severed by Lumon, then Lumon targeted Mark to come work at Lumon (I'm unsure if they something to do with her car accident). They did this to show potential investors how powerful being severed is. Mr. Milchick even talked to Harmony about how good it is they don't recognize each other.
My theory is Gemma became a Kier fanatic, like Cobel, and is now on the mysterious 'Board', she orchestrated her death to go into it full time and test out how likely it was for her to get away with it. This is what makes her non severed self less appealing to Mark so he gets over his grief, comes back to himself and can continue with severed Helly. It keeps severed Gemma as empathetic too.
I still think that charlotte is mrs cobels original name and mrs cobel and mrs selvig are 2 split personalities
So if the chip is Pete, Cobel could possibly have her mother in chip form, what if she wants to use Gemmas body as a vehicle for her mother. There's holes is this but it gives cobel motive for her secretive interest.
This could be the case, and an interesting plot direction at that!
Ooooh. I like the part about Cobel having her mom's chip. I mean she *did* grave-rob a man at his own damn funeral, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to say she could have found out her mom was Severed and she got her chip. I guess idk if I like the idea of her mom being Severed, but if they did decide to go that route I like the idea of Cobel having her tucked away on the chip, waiting to be able to use someone as a host.
We do know that Gemma was teaching Russian Lit at the college. Could the fact that she speaks fluent Russian hold any darker reasons for her to be working for Lumon? Or could that have made it possible for past code detection (which may have only been looking for English letters before being updated (similar to how in the Lexington Letter Peggy says they’re updating the elevator scanners after discovering “puglish”) and that’s how Gemma was able to discover some of the weird shit she wasn’t supposed to know that ultimately put her life in jeopardy?
I like the "that's Petey" theory.
Fire video bro
This is a really interesting take on what ‘part time’ is meant to mean. I think clearly for someone like Gemma/Ms. Casey it does mean that. But I don’t think the Innie’s would take the existence of something like that so nonchalantly. To me part time innies implies that they simply work on the severed floor part time. So for someone like a counselor they’d just come in when they had appointments. Of course clearly with Ms. Casey she is actually barred from leaving. And I assume the same with Peggy K from the Lexington letter.
I think that's what the numbers are.
Those are data blocks from the internet, the department the main characters works in, macro data, they sort through those blocks and each of those represents a factor about the individual who Lumen then choses.
Like imagine your entire search history being represented for data brokers, and a social credit system, and you can't know what each number is, so it's behind a "Chinese Wall" so to speak, watch "Halt and Catch Fire" for more on that.
You can see the numbers but not what they mean, but the border that forms the numbers represents the values of a person/perhaps how those relate to the 4 tempers or a social security number a la "Person of Interest" or "Massive Dynamic" and the Cortexiphan kids from Fringe.
The border is a person, and the border is selected, then a corporate unit does it's own work.
Finally, what if the "Board" is a single individual who is running one of the 4 tempers as severed personalities?
Perhaps Helly's dad?
Lumen reminds me a lot of the conspiracy theory "Monarch the new pheonix program" and an old episode of the 90s outer limits involving a radio tower.
I mean, it's an old plot, but I love it.
Gemma herself could be a clone, and Cobel is interested in seeing whether she could still access the original memories
Maybe they were together at the accident. Luman offered turning her back to life with severance and Mark started working for them in order to see Gemma again at some point in life. And for the numbers thing, what they are actually doing can be a neural map integration , they complete and redesign neural networks of the users so the future mastermind Eagan can get total control of their consciousness.
I find it interesting that Cobel seems to want Mark and Gemma, or Casey, to reconnect. She keeps sending Mark to the Wellness Center which, by Milchick's reactions, is very unorthodox. She watches them together like a reality show and seems to have an expression that she truly wants them to remember. Is Cobel being sympathetic? Or, is she trying to further prove that the severed procedure has glitches and some memories do tend to seep in.
I'm kinda curious about the town of Keir. Like when did Lumon grow into the huge corporate enterprise that it seems to be. Mark lives in Keir, but he has no neighbors other than Mrs Selvig/Cobel. How much of a ride is it to Devon's house, is she in Keir? Did they grow up there?
Irving lives in an apartment complex type place, so is that also inside Keir… Irving has that list of names + address with a map… just makes me curious
Why Mark doesn't have other neighbors is a sticking point for me.
The first episode helly r says said to him keep your eyes on the icy road. How do you know that he wasn’t responsible for the accident?
Maybe when she got into a car wreck, she had previously signed a waiver saying that if she went into a coma or died, her body could be used for severance experimentation. She couldn’t have known her husband would have chosen to be severed after her death. But maybe he was swayed by people unknowingly who work there, so they could experiment with their close relationship.
Edit: I posted this before you mentioned the theory😅
I think the chip holds consciousness post death, and they discovered that with Gemma. So, That's Petey line might allude to his innie consciousness is contained. This might be Lumon's real "purpose"- they found away to keep the dead alive, as their innie forms, in the world of severance.
Little late to the party. But can add she did play in the tv-series dollhouse where they could reprogram the mind so you could become someone else.
LOL, I love how you tell everyone that the dead wife isn't dead and THEN give the spoiler warning... >D
The video is a about theories. I would assume that anyone clicking on it is prepared for spoilers. The warning is a courtesy.
@@nautilusfiles I get that and your assumption is probably right. Just funny that you first give away the biggest spoiler of the whole season and THEN add a courtesy warning. ;)
What if the macro data refinement with the numbers is them gradually uploading themselves to their chips so that their consciousness can then be transferred?
We assume that they have physical bodies when they are in Lumen. Perhaps it's a simulation type situation. Casey might be left over simulation while her actual body and outy personality might be dead. One of things Lumen might be trying to do is resurrection. Have a copy of their outy mind and be able to put it in a new body (or just create a simulation Heaven). The inny might be a bad copy/projection mind but their aim is to completely store a complete version of the outy. It would make you wonder what they are doing on the computers. Are they copying/editing their own minds? Gradually copying their personalities into Lumen while editing out negative parts/memories? Casey looks like an early bad copy.
Shoutout Andy. Stand up guy
What if Gemma was already a sleeper agent, like before she even met Mark she was already on the take, and her accident was just that, an accident, something Lumon never anticipated and her being here as Miss Casey is just them trying to recover their investment in her, but in actuality she was meant to perform some other role?
good video as always but please change either the thumbnail or title, since it's a huge spoiler for anyone who stumbles across it haha
Yeah Idk how old the piece of media is, I hate when I run into spoilers on accident when I'm just trying to look up a meta detail about the show (have spoiled too many shows/movies/books just by trying to look up how many episodes or books are in a thing or what the order a movie series goes in, etc).
Thank you for updating it Nautilus! :))
Because they spent so much time building up the relationship with helly B and Mark, Gemma cant be a love interest so they need to erase her appeal to Mark by showing she betrayed Mark. Probably she got involved with Lumin and became a cult member like Cobel and actually agreed to orchestrate her death to join fully. Non severed Gemma is probably deep in the cult. There needs to be something that is enough to kill off his interest (while severed Gemma is empathetic enough to try to help still) and let him be with Helly
I can't believe we don't have season two yet. I'm thinking fall of this year.
if they turn mark into some kind of scumbag who’s wife hated him and his marriage was bad i’m done with this show. i sincerely hate things like that.
the thing i do like about shows not being around for a while (long gaps between seasons) is that you can be less invested in them and it’s easier to not care.
She doesn't have to hate him to be unhappy, nor does he have to be a scumbag. He could be emotionally unavailable, or it could be related to the frustrations of trying to get pregnant unsuccessfully.
I don't understand that other part of your comment, so I'm going to leave that one alone.
@@nautilusfiles long gaps between seasons. autocorrect hated a bit...
Yeah I hope its not that he's a scumbag, I was thinking more that it'd be layered and gray. I wouldn't like that either. I also don't *feel* like they're leading up to it being that black and white, but it *is* a possibility and I understand your concern wholeheartedly.
Gemma was severed before her accident and only the outie version died but not the innie?
We don't actually know that Ms. Casey does not have an "Outie." The only reason the employees of the severed floor know they have an outie is because Lumen provides evidence that this is so. Lumen is also known to be an unreliable narrator. We have been told that Ms. Casey is only alive on the severed floor by Ms. Casey herself. She may very well have an outie persona that we have not seen yet. Kinda spooky.
What is Gemma was part of a program to create a severed baby or someone who has been severed since birth maybe she was approached by someone at lumon who claimed they could cure her fertility issues but something went wrong and they faked her death. I don’t know how that leads into her being on the severed floor but something like that great video as always.
Another thing is that state senator guy with Gaby the severed wife. He's obviously invested in Lumon in more ways than one. Sure any state office-holder/candidate wants power and money + Lumon's the big dog in that state district or whatever but it's the influence peddling in this case btwn politics power + Lumon's agenda that scares me
They probably replaced gemmas body someone after the accident and before the funeral with one of those wax sculptures they like to make
I like the idea of mark and Gemma not having a perfect marriage, but I don't think Devin would have lied to Mark's Innie about that at the party. She said they were all close and happy
My 'comment for the algo' joke is that I am like half the comments already (again,, oops) 😅😂. :))
Take care and stay hydrated fam 👍🏼😎👍🏼
Hydrated and air-conditioned, if I can help it lol. Thanks, Ollie!
@@nautilusfiles omg, jealous of your air conditioner access haha. :)
Is it possible that Casey is a clone of Gemma? Perhaps they are trying to use the chips as a way to preserve memories and transfer them over to a cloned body once the original or previous clone copies die.
How did Peter’s chip came out without blood?
I think she was brain dead and they put the chip in her and it helps reanimate people. But it doesn’t bring back the person who they were before their brain death. And I think that is why she can be shipped off to the testing floor. Because when they flip the switch she is brain dead. And in her last scene with Mark she was like “yeah, I’m kinda weird.” And if you think about it, she is a bit weirder than the other innies. She feels a bit more robotic than the rest of them.
5:20 I'm sick and tired of Infertility Angst trope as if the only source of happiness for women comes from babies. What propaganda. Ben Stiller you better not go this way.
Sorry you feel this way. However, the ability to have a child being traumatic for women is not a trope. It's a fact of nature that effects most women who cannot have children.
doesnt she says that her life was just 100 something hours long at the point she was speaking with mark at the wllness room??
omg. i know you got soul? ffs. i might have to sub just for that.
No I don't think she was unhappy because she couldn't get pregnant as Mark had beautifully put it something along the lines of " we don't get the life we wanted but it's our choice to make do with the one we have"
Anybody have theories on why they call her Casey? Is she Case E?
Or maybe Gemma was driving because Mark was drunk and then she lost control of the vehicle
Yaaay
Hey, Ollie! :)
@@nautilusfilesHiii! :)
I like all the theories in the vid. I think they all fit in really well with directions the show would go in.
As for if the accident was real/on purpose I like the idea that Lumon orchestrated some setup to take her and that the accident wasn't even real. I guess its true the accident probably had to be real if he mentioned he was in the hospital with her for a while. I also kinda like the possible idea that he always had a drinking problem. We usually assume the most direct thing which is "this is being shown because it was caused by this important plot thing: Gemma dying" but when done well its really fun when a detail becomes the same thing recontextualized into a really different or more in depth thing with a new perspective if we find out he always coped with life stress that way. I also like the fertility problems angle. I think both of those fit really well together too. Gemma struggled bc of fertility and Mark distanced himself through occasional excessive drinking that only got worse after she seemingly died. Specially since like you said each severed employee seems to have joined to distance themselves from their trauma or stressors, and I feel like that fits in really well with everyone else, even with added differences like Gemma likely being related to insider knowledge at Lumon. I didn't really notice the IVF line when I watched the show. You really do have to keep note of every detail with this one :) (I like shows where everything's a little clue like that, where you're more likely meant to feel impressed they were there on re-watch rather than guess them all right away haha- well, this one's still a theory but you know what I mean). Anyway, yeah, I like these. The only one I felt didn't make sense at all imo was one I saw in the comments 😆 (but to each their own :) ).