Irving is painting the testing floor entrance that Gemma enters, not the break room.

Milk, Mr.Milchick , Cobell (Cowbell) her being a lactation consultant, milk being drank throughout also by the goats. Water in the glasses around the table at Ricken’s dinner, in the glasses at Mark’s dinner with the “midwife”. Snow and icicles. Petey being triggered in the bathroom in the shower…Water & Milk hold information. So many more layers in this show. I love it!

I found helly really compelling. Like you said the same headstrong personality that makes her want to get out of there, is what is causing her outie to keep her in there. On top of that, chances are that she's been raised as a rich kid with a silver spoon in her mouth that hasn't had to work a real job a day in her life. She probably only agreed to the procedure not only for the political reasons, but also because it still means that "she" technically doesn't have to work anymore. She is the kind of person that doesn't just sit down to do a boring day job to make a living. So it makes perfect sense that her Innie would rebel at literally every opportunity to get out of there, even if she doesn't remember who she is. The Innies can't recall specific information but they still seem to recall general information. So while most of the other workers are probably familiar with the idea of working in an office or doing a boring job just to make a living, that experience is foreign to her, as if she's been kidnapped and transported to another world.

Black Mirror meets The Office meets Eternal Sunshine. And I’m so here for it.

The way Selvig constantly violates Marks personal space and invades his privacy is hilarious. Anyone else would've told their neighbor back off.

The driving skill is retained in the muscle memory, which isn't affected by the severance chip. Irving didn't remember the car, but once he figured out which was his and where the controls were, he automatically knew how to drive.

small but interesting detail on Irving’s paintings: he’s shown making them on multiple surfaces one wouldn’t normally use for a painting including slabs of wood and a peg board. I’m wondering if he’s trying to paint the picture on as many types of surfaces he thinks his Innie may encounter at work in order to trigger the memory.

Not only is Milchick a terrific dancer, his wardrobe change is the icing on the cake of the absurd MDE. The turtleneck is super hip and the whole scene (disco lights and all) kind of looks like something out of Laugh-In, or Soul Train, or Midnight Cowboy!

You missed a detail with Irv. That's not the break room corridor, which innie Irv doesn't seem especially traumatized by. That was my first thought when I saw the painting, but the details weren't right - later we see the true subject of the painting: the "testing floor" elevator that Gemma/Casey is taken to. That makes the mystery of Irv's paintings WAY more significant. Not only should outie Irv not know about that, but even innie Irv shouldn't have seen it. There's no indication that any of MDR knows about it. My theory is that Irv has actually been at Lumon much longer than his innie knows, and he's been severed at least twice. This third version's memories of the corridor are what outie Irv sees and paints. And the double-severance may also be the cause of his somewhat robotic behavior, like he's missing access to too much of his mind to have his full personality and intelligence. Bonus theory: at first I thought Irv had just been driven mad by visions of the corridor, driving him to paint it over and over. But what if he's not mad - maybe he's deliberately trying to get a message to innie Irv through repetition. Outie-irv and his original innie may even be reintegrated, and may have been working together to acquire the list of severed employees. Ever since his outburst to Milchick and the reveal of his outie, Irv quickly became one of the most interesting characters on the show.

I think Irv will play a pivotal role in Season 2. Was he working with Petey before being clean-slated (reset)? Were the files in his trunk a product of their investigation and was Burt in on it, and after they were caught, both he and Burt clean-slated and branch transferred (changed jobs and departments)? It was too odd a statement for Petey to say to Mark "I am your best friend. You are my 'very good' friend." Were Petey and Irv the best friends who were the first to start working on uncovering what is going on at Lumon? Irv has been there the longest and has been clean slated at least once if not more. Was he also branch transferred? Having worked with Burt before? Another KZfaq user had an excellent pick up. Irving's painting of the testing floor elevator includes the illuminated down light, which you can only see if you are standing outside, not inside. Did he have Milchick's job at one time? I thought that was brilliant. Peggy from the Lexington Letter may be referenced in Season 2. Just like Cobel hunted Petey, Lumon could have brought Peggy back to Lumon Headquarters in Kier and she may be like Gemma: a "part-time innie" (as Cobel refers to her), who only gets "switched on" for tasks. Since she's dead to the outside world, she can't have an outie. She would be among those who live there, like Gemma as Petey tells Mark. Maybe she will briefly appear in Season 2 as Casey's replacement until Casey returns. I can't see the creators releasing the Lexington Letter for no reason. I think Devon is going to be in danger next season. Even though Cobel wasn't present for the "She's alive!!!" part, she knows Mark had that private conversation with Devon, and she knows it was about Lumon. If she orders a clean slate on Mark, Irv, Dylan, and Helly (because we know she's getting her job back), Devon still represents a threat to Lumon for anything she might know from mark. Any threats need to be extinguished. They told us this with their manhunt for Petey.

I think we’re witnessing Irv’s outie doing everything he can to breakthrough to his innie’s psyche. He seems to be intentionally depriving himself of sleep w coffee & loud music & repetition of the image of the testing hallway . (Which suggests that Irving has possibly been at Lumon longer than he thinks, & has some traumatic memory of the hallway to the testing floor. Since we see settings like “elephant”, “hive”, “Open house”, & “clean slate” It makes you wonder if his innie’s memories have been wiped more than once. Maybe he’s been chipped longer & that’s how his black paint imagery seeps into his innie’s hallucinations when he’s falling asleep At his desk. Also his love for art & painting translates powerfully into his innie’s personality. I wonder if Irving was also in the military (could he have been in early Lumon trials for PTSD? Or would that explain his personal reason for deciding to become severed). The recon he was doing on the outside gave me the feeling that he had Burt’s name for a more sinister reason (maybe Burt had a larger role at Lumon than we were led to believe or maybe since they’re close to the same age they worked together in some capacity before their innie’s were wiped.) I’m dying to know if Burt will recognize Irving’s outie & what his outtie will have to say when Burt opens that door 😂

Dylan’s primary motivation seems to be Ricken’s book based on it guiding his actions after the Milchik jazz incident. His initial impetus was his son but he memorizes the book later and it’ll prob be a recurring theme that Ricken’s text guides the innies to enlightenment as Kier’s texts guided them to obedience. Weird that Kobel knew what number of books he had written and seems to be an expert on both authors

Listening to you talk about Milchik is my new favorite thing 🤣🤣

I'm guessing that Irving has PTSD, hence the painting. I wouldn't be surprised if he was involved in some type of undercover operations for Lumen back in the day. I have a feeling that his outi is going to be much different than he is. Maybe his outi suppressed his gay tenancies over the years. At the very least we know that he likes metal music (Motorhead). I'm guessing that Irving was Petey's best friend whereas Mark was Petey's very good friend. Irving and Petey are both fans of metal music from what little they've shown us.

These are fantastic analyses of all four characters, and I've loved your more recent in-depth ones of Helly and Irving, as well as of other characters! I particularly like here that you've highlighted how Mark's and Helly's innie and outie behaviours are mirrored to show that people's core personalities remain the same, even if they play out differently in different contexts. I just had one small thought about your analysis of Mark: I agreed with just about everything you said about him, and you're absolutely right that he's got a very passive, 'go with the flow' personality, but I'm not sure his tendency not to rock the boat is because he isn't prone to questioning things. I think there are hints that he's a quite analytical guy (after all, he used to be an academic), and that his outie is internally conflicted about his choice to get severed from the start, which is partly why he's so defensive about it. You can see that he's naturally drawn to new ways of thinking by how his innie devours Petey's map and Ricken's book, although he hides this from the others and outwardly defends Lumon to Helly because keeping his head down is how he copes with his situation. I think he avoids rocking the boat because he's very non-confrontational and avoidant, and has an instinct to suppress or numb his inner conflicts and painful emotions rather than confront them. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that, whether you agree or not, in a more in-depth video on Mark, assuming you're planning to do one at some point! Thanks so much for the great videos.

Hey this was a great analysis and I really love your speaking voice! (I usually listen to YT videos while I am working and the timbre/tone of someone's voice is nearly as key as content for me). This video was suggested to me and I watched a few of your other ones too...really great production value and interesting content, I hope your channel keeps growing!!

I decided to go back to the beginning of your analysis of the series and I'm so glad I did. If I hadn't then I would have missed the Marky Mark reference LOL So good!!!

Best. Voice. On. KZfaq. Hands DOWN!! Great analysis of the Macro Data characters…👏👏👏

I can’t believe Severance didn’t win a tonne of Emmys Adam Scott should have got one 💯and Patrica Arquette they were robbed I reckon

Good job on the vid, as a 1st time viewer o. Our. No channel, well done, great balance of memes,narration, analysis with your personal approach for the breakdown. I’m impress and will sub

Great break down of the characters. (I loved Dylan too!)

I haven't watched this show yet. But is it simply a given that when you work for Lumen, that's the last job you'll ever take because the lack of memory means all of your job skills developed at this ONE job can never be transferred..because you can't remember.

Just found your channel, and may i just say your'e video essays are A1 content AMIGO. Keep up the great work1

Beautiful editing! Love your vocal fades. Excellent script. Terrific voice. Subbed.

Well done. Like the low key approach

Excellent info.....I would limit audio dissolves as it lowers the audio on your track at the end of your segments

Excellent show with an excellent video about it

Dan Erickson actually wrote/created this.. just an FYI and Ben Stiller directed the show.. but it is the best sci fi show I’ve seen in forever ✌️🙏🤓❤️

This show was incredible to watch and has to be the best thing I have seen streaming I wonder if the "Clean Slate" protocol will be used next season Great video, Amazing analysis, the only note I have is the audio fade between sections is distracting

"Best sci fi series since the expanse" Alright, this guy fucks.

severance is so good!! so happy i found someone talking about it

My prediction is that Dylan is higher up in security with Lumen. I base this on how Milchik did not report him after the biting incident. Also when he is deactivated at home, notice how he looks at Milchik and says, are we done here? He does it with disdain, condescension and authority. So I think he is connected with some kind of higher authority on the outside

Ohhhhhh that's why ur not allowed to sleep. It will show ur subconscious which includes both ppl.

one thing pretty interesting about being Severed, is how it brings out the suppressed, and dark side of Outies. especially in Helly!

Cobel doesn't strike me as evil or even devoted to Lumon. She seems like a deeply wounded person who's extremely focused on either retribution or some form of restoring balance to her own life that was stolen from her. When she recites the 9 core principles she repeats only "wiles" - devious or cunning stratagems employed in manipulating or persuading someone to do what one wants. Her humanity shines through her pain in moments like joking around with Devon and hugging and whispering to Mark that he should leave Lumon. I think that as the cast expands Harmony will become an ally to our core cast a la Ben Linus's trajectory on Lost.

When i heard you say 'best scifi series' the first thing that came to my mind is 'its expanse', then you said 'since expanse', bro you got top taste.

Wouldn't it be nifty if Irving were some type of highly placed investigator, maybe from the CIA or a foreign power, maybe even a competitive industry? Probably just me dreaming, I really love that character! 😄

Will Helly have to go back to her innie job now that her outie's mission is fulfilled - get severed, get the photo ops, make the speech?

I thought the bin issue was a part of the show's theme of separation, not crossing the lines. As well as putting the right bin out at the right time.

good video, keep it up!

this is great stuff.

I've watched 3 of your essays - keep up the good work bruv. Excited to watch your channel grow. Do you have a background in writing or film theory?

We do need more of Irving and Dylan. Since innie Mark and innie Helly are still kind and headstrong, respectively, like outie Mark and outie Helly. It would be nice to see more of how their innies and outies copare Also, Helly's last initial is R instead of E. Could her innie's last name have been Roy (since Roy means King and she's the next CEO). And what would have happened once Jame died, if Helly hadn't woken up? I doubt they'd have kept her in MDR. And if she had gotten to that point before waking up, would she hate going to work once she's in charge? What if Jame had died right when she got Severed? Would she have just immediately gone to being the CEO still?

Dylan has been out of the cave and now can never go back. He has seen what is behind the shadows on the wall.

Here’s my question: Why did they let Dylan see his son? They must know these overrides let a bit of the outie into the innie. On the opposite end we see that Mark awakens and doesn’t recognize his own sister. Is there a larger program at play making it so they block family members out of even the subconscious if they are a deterrent to their severance? It could be their brains were just foggy during the override. I just think that in order for the innies to keep being functional and to survive that they REQUIRE some sort of their outie in their memory to be functional. They need to have a baseline premise of the person they are. Seems like all characters have this from the start with the one exception being Helly who awakens on the table. It’s obvious why Helly’s identity was held off to the end of the season but that makes me question if there is a greater reason they withheld so much about her outtie. Her outtie didn’t seem to recognize anything. Maybe she never leaves as it would be too great a risk for the company if she spoke out. Perhaps they are running extra programs on her. I have a theory that Helly was already part of Lumon before the start of the show with her on the table. I have a feeling they did some sort of reset on her to retire her innie’s memory. Maybe they even severed her differently. I’m still not convinced the tape of her rejecting her own resignation was or her own accord. With how Milcheck made her repeat the apology so many times who is to say that they don’t have people on the outside. Also her father looked like a robot and very similar to how the wax museum figure looked. Maybe Dylan is a workaholic and a single father who doesn’t get to see his son very often. Just shots in the dark. Lastly it seems to me that Lumon is a very new company that is retconning a long history to astroturf the few workers to make them feel a sense of being part of a greater purpose. I think they are in microdata refinement because THEY are refining the data on themselves and they are their own lab rats without even knowing it. This could also explain why they are largely kept to small group of them and discouraged from visiting other departments. Because certain numbers look scary to the operator then that may be put in the bin and discarded so that they will no longer be afraid of that code which makes them disobedient and in turn is used to program the other workers. I think Lumen is a company that is full of non severed workers outside of MDR. The artists don’t have any signs of being severed and we know MDR bosses at least appear not to be severed (at least not in the same way). I love this show and am rewatching season 1 until the next season comes out.

Dylan scenes as he would say "SLAP"😂

I saw in another video of yours that perhaps Burt & Irving had been together at Lumon before and had their memories wiped. But what if they’d been together on the outside and had no idea they worked together as Innies??

You said, Helly is the opposite of Mark... I guess that's where the attraction comes from. It's not like these two have an entire sea to fish from. They're literally the only f__kable people in each others lives.

Irving is not painting the breakroom hall way. That hallway is the testing hall way that he is painting. Mostly like he was reset at one point.

Milchick should have been a professional photographer, I mean he is but you know.

How do you make and edit the video I mean extracting the video clips and voice Over and tools used .. if you can make video of that as well it would really help

Really good series, I don't usually watch series, but this and Squid Game, those are interesting series

Would love if you did videos on "from"

It wasn't written by Ben Stiller. Just directed.

8:37 Huh...never realized her dress looks like a blue and green double helix. Makes me think of DNA + her dad just telling her about the early chips being blue and green when she was a kid. You gotta know they didn't have him mention blue and green for nothing (he could have just said how she said they look "pretty"). Wonder what that's all about. It's two of the 4 Lumon temperment colors...wonder where else we see this combo? I think the MDR and O&D people all wear blue and the MDR floor area is green. Combining the people with their work environment? Bit of a loose connection and not super insightful but idk maybe there are other more important clues we'll get in S2.

I hope this show ends up being worthy of the investment it inspires in us the way others failed to. Lost, Attack on Titan, GOT (I hear)

What's up with the fading audio?

Good video but that fade hours add to your voice at the end of each section is excessive. Kept having to adjust volume.

mark s outie is just like me

NONE of the mdr team's outies have any friends, do they?

Is it weird that I want to work there but not be severed..?

Audio gets weird at about 6:20.

Inner self. Outer self.. The terms already exist, you don't NEED to use the slang.

I think Ms cobel is reintegrated

I'm honestly wondering if Helly wants to take Lumon down. She's rebellious, determined, a firebrand as you said. Maybe she knew the core personality would go in, and destroy things from the inside. She can't do it, because her family probably has a lot of control over her on the outside, but she's probably not the kind of person to put up with being treated the way Innies are treated. Maybe she knew, or was hopeful that her Innie would wreak havoc. Also Irving's Outtie is painting the hallway Ms. Casey walks down when she's being retired, or perhaps to the "maybe people live here," part of Petey's map where people never leave Lumon. Irving might have been raised in a group home like Cobel. I honestly think the group home is where Lumon started their brainwashing techniques, and probably where they found their first candidates for the severance procedure. Irving looks close in age to Cobel. It's possible they have similar origins, and it's possible the dark hallway with the down elevator is where severance started.

Gotta be honest, I hate that millenials/zoomers invariably refer to dystopia as "like a black mirror episode" now. Sort of like how any music made before 1970 is "fallout music." This in itself, I feel, is dystopian.

Bags of milk, all around. Severed or not!