I love when shows end on a cliffhanger and then wait three years to release the next season.

I think this is a great summary of the first season. One thing I think you skipped in your analysis of Irving: his outie seems to be trying some sort of hypnotherapy to access his severed consciousness (or something similar to that), which is why he's using the repetition with the painting/Motorhead, the coffee and innie Irving's dosing, etc. The paint dripping hallucination happens early on for innie Irving and it's commented that the dosing is habitual. This lends credence to the idea that Irving is working for the resistance/Regabhi and correlates with the theory of him knowing Mark as a therapist. I freaking love this show!

8:20 I don't think Lumon is a metaphor for the dangers of religion. I think the religious/culty overtones are a metaphor for corporate culture.

I lost it at the Vought/Lumon mix up

When you think about this. Innies are *them* just without outside influence. Wouldn't this mean that Helly is actually very rebellious and stubborn but has learned to hide that side of her?

My unanswered question: what do they do for lunch?

Severed people on the inside never get to sleep. That alone is messed up.

I think the whole show is art.

I always thought the goats were a way of maintaining the innies' sense of reality distorted; Lumen knows there's an inevitable tendency for the innies to find answers, and rekindle their humanity, they've attempted it in the past, which lead me to believe some of those rooms were meant to be found in those instances of latent rebellion by the innies to shield them from reality with nonsense, like a way of mental isolation through uncanniness, and consequently discouraging further truth seeking behavior (i.e. going outside of your own box is shocking and uncannily terrifying and inherently irrational making said box preferable and predictable). It didn't have to have a convoluted explanation behind it.

I’ve never noticed that the R in Severance is split like that. How have I never seen that before??

This show was shot in my town.And about 20 years ago, someone spray painted red goats everywhere. Like with a stencil. I think Ben included this because the goat graffiti is a known thing in my town. They're called "The red goats of Kingston.

Omg, 'the good doctor therapy man with that weird little moustache'!!

Just binged this show, IT WAS AMAZING

some outies are innies. rickens friend group in particular. they act very strange. I believe rickens name may even be Rick N. save this tweet

We see Milchek out when he is in Dylan's house, think that he was one of the employees who is not severed and that was mentioned somewhere.

Just watched S1 and did not expect a cliffhanger, glad s2 isn't too far away

My theory was that Lumon is trying to bring back Kier. That it’s essentially a massive human computer making inputs into what will ultimately be the return of Kier’s consciousness. Not a clone but his consciousness. The main characters are putting computated stimuli into the appropriate emotional category, the products made in fabrication are repetitive in order to make a strong connection over each individual item Kier knew of in his life or that was most important to him. The goats idk

Fingers crossed. I have previously been burned by Westworld. That's one of the problems with mysteries. The payoff is almost impossible to pull off for these big setups.

The severance handbook which you can read online has a set of emails from a former employee who used a childhood language she made up to communicate with her altered self. They talk about what they think the numbers mean and coinsides it with an explosion that happened at the same time ( down to the min) in the outside world.

Irving's last name is Baliff. That is a guy who keeps order for the Judge in the courtroom. I think Petey and Irving were best pals which is why Pete told Mark I am your best friend, you are my very good friend. Irving is a major player here.... building up to something.

I love this account sm & I’m so stoked they’re talking about severance. It’s such a weird, cool premise. Can’t wait for S2

This show is highly re-watchable, the beginning credits and music is hypnotic too !!

Can’t believe season 2 is only coming out at January 17 😮‍💨

When you said Vought instead of Lumon I died

I hope mark was holding the photo of his wife when he shouted “ she’s alive ”

Great choice of background music around 5 min. Excellent analysis as well!

Lumon does biotech stuff and goats are kind of an important animal for biotech IRL, so even if it started out as a silly gag it surprisingly fits for Lumon to be raising goats. They can be used for cloning, making medications, etc.

“Vought.” 😂

The ending with the LOST sound effect was *chef's kiss* beautiful

About the first unanswered question, isn't there a short story about a bomb incident that is somehow linked to MDR's job?

I got the chance to talk to Ben Stiller and my only question for him was - what if they have a preexisting condition that they must take care of on the inside and the outside. He said he would have to think about it!

A small detail in the cene where Mark screams "shes alive" is that hes holding a picture of gemma and him in his hand so thats probably what everyone will notice and ask about

Irving is my favorite character, I love John Turturro. But his innie and outtie may be working as double agents because when Petey was hiding in Marks basement, Petey stopped talking about Lumen because “I’m afraid Irving’s gonna walk in” he said.

I just hope that creators know how this show ends. That, what was great about Dark, that they didn’t just followed the hype of the show like Lost.

I heard somewhere else the theory that Cobel has actually infiltrated Lumon to take revenge for the death of her mother so in that case she would be somewhat on Mark's side and trying to take down the whole company

I wonder if every time someone acts up, they just sever them again, making multiple severed employees within one person. This would make sense with the opening credits where there are multiple innie Marks drowning outie Mark. Perhaps Lumen doesn’t know yet the full impact of multiple severances, but they’re doing it for control. And the more someone is severed, the more the controls that keep the parts separate break down and memories break through in dreams, etc. Also, is the politician even aware of what he’s doing? Was he severed and his innie was groomed to advance Lumon’s plans and then was released via the overtime protocol? Also, if Lumon has been pushing for the chip to be implanted in children via that politician, it would create a world of children that could be raised as soldiers or spies, trained secretly in their innie, but the outie is oblivious. Then on the flip of the switch, that person’s innie could be flipped to the outside in any situation. Perfect societal control. That would explain the strange cards that MDR found in optics that looked like martial arts training cards. Why were those important? Secret army? Secret spies? Lots of fun plot theories to explore!

I watched this when it aired years ago. The wait for season 2 is fucking torture. This shit reminds me of the wait between lost seasons when it was still on

agree the show is a masterpiece of sci-fi and TV in general. second only to the first season of Westworld.

You said we only saw Milchick outside with Helly but we saw him in Dylan's closet too

I absolutely loved this show, hope season 2 comes soon

Just stumbled on this show and im hooked.

I just finished this show. This has been the only Apple show I've genuinely loved from start to finish. I love forward to your content on season 2, 9 months from now. 😆

Also i think the goats are part of making a self-sustaining town of severed employees who never turn off ( seen in the failsafe ). You can see on the map on the napkin a couple of houses. I think downstairs is a prototype town of pll who dont leave and goats ( such as goats milk) is a way to keep them alive.

considering how many metaphors hidden in just one single season, I expect that it couldn't be worse than out land or dark

I recommend reading George Saunders. It might loosen the grip. Cause and effect is not the point. Logic and intellectual explanation is secondary, just as it is in good comedy, or dreams. The real juice of this show is the mystery of how it makes you FEEL.

petey also mentions that he's marks best friend inside but he isn't his bestfriend back... maybe it's outside irving.

Im subscribing! Really enjoyed your commentary and discussion about the show. I felt the same in a lot of the topics! The best part is not even related to the show. I found myself thinking of West World during the video and how I only finish the first season. I was surprised when you mentioned that at the end.

I wonder if Helly would have been sent to a different department if Petey had stayed, and which department.

I definitely have to rewatch Severance before season 2 in January. Definitely forgot Ms. Casey is married to mark.

I’m surprised you didn’t mention anything about the “livestock” comment Helly made in the first episode. It’s when she’s meeting Mark for the first time and she asks “am I livestock” and he laughs and says “good lord no.” I’m also wondering what is up with the whole food less dinner thing…

This had always been my dream until I watched this show. Does everything have to be corrupted? Love this show. Thanks for upload.

I would like to see what a job at Lumon is like for a regular, non-severed employee, like someone who works above ground, and has nothing to do with the severed floor… do they still have all the cult-y stuff up there, or what? I’d say probably not, at least not to the same degree… but I’d like to see 🤷🏻‍♂️ also… I kinda hope they don’t actually explain too much, like ever. if Lumon is just a weird, mysterious entity throughout the show’s run and they plot is just about the characters and their various lives, I don’t think I’d mind.

All I know for sure is that there had better be a good answer for all these questions eventually and that I live long enough to see and hear them. Theories are all very well but, ultimately, they are empty until we see more episodes. I need my Severance fix!

Sweet, just watched the first season last sunday (yeah, binged it), So this video and the season 2 announcement are right on time for me 😁 lucky me I guess

I bet any money that the creators don't know the details of the full story. Like LOST.

#4 was a fantastic theory and my first time hearing it

Its crazy to me that alex the lion/zoolander is directing this show

We also see Milchik outside when hes at dylans which he was able to do of his own accord so its unlikely hes stuck at lumon Also im wondering if the innies are going to be wiped or something in order to allow them to go back to work. Maybe we'll have scenes with outie mark, old innie mark, and new innie mark.

Surprised you didn't mention O&D

@9:46 Is it just me that hears this scene every time i hear the phrase "The Numbers". It's like a Pavlovian tick. I played way too much of Black Ops

Can’t wait for season 2. I loved everything about this and I hope Ben Stiller keeps the weirdness coming.

I'm surprised you didn't really mention O&D, there was quite a lot of scenes near the end inside the floor which could of given clues

Lumon definitely fits the definition of a Cult "a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object." Kier is that figure

i think because the goats weren't really in the original plan they are going to be a part of a lower stakes but still important reveal. i think lumen makes their own food/drinks that they inject stuff into to help keep people subservient, and the goats just aren't ready to be milked/cooked yet.

Six more months.

❤ Love your videos sincerely. I can't wait for season 2 and your theories about it episode to episode

The Helena we see in videos/interacting with Helly R definitely comes across callous and arrogant - sure there's similarities to her innie (which I think is natural. Helly's rebelliousness kind of translates to a strong sense of self and entitlement - not unlike her outie)... but I do think that they'll keep the tension in the second season - which is really compelling. The show basically making us root for the servered personality over the "real" person.

I know it was a slip of the tongue, but I really want to see what a merger between Lumon and Vought would be like lol. Good video

You know if people keep waiting like 3 or 4 years between seasons people are going to forget and think the show is cancelled. There is another season of the Handmaid's tale supposed to be coming out also.

Milckeck was outside at Dylans house when he saw his child.

So I've watched several of your videos now and I think this one especially highlights your strength in analyzing the dual natures some shows have, also your 8 simple rules video for example, and I'd love to see you apply that to the Show "Kevin Can F Himself" which balances through Sitcom and Drama. I think you'd find the show interesting and have a lot to say on it.

Most interesting and original show I have seen since Mr. Robot. It's a serious look at the human condition. It's at once a compelling drama but has dark situational humor ripe with claustrophobic suspense - a 'cracked' mirror version of the Office if it had a baby with Twin Peaks.

What do you mean fully severed , like Cobel? She’s the same consciousness away from work and at work. I don’t get why she wants to keep such a close eye on Mark either.

Just finished the binge what a great show

Awesome video bro a lot of great leads, I like your Cobell theory. I could see Lumon owning other companies where they implemented the severance process. The Mark, Irving therapist theory makes sense, I don't see why you think Regabhi would work with Irving on the outside though?

Hoping for the 2nd season premieres soon!

I had forgotten about it. Been so long now.

what strikes me about harmony as well is that her 2 different lifes are a very strong parallel to the severance programm, emulating it. in this case we can perhaps take it literally as she is the only one with such a stark theme to her character as like you mentioned no other worker is that eccentric. she makes it her duty to split her work life and home life and the writers go out of their way to make it 2 extremes. it seem to me that she believes in a very specific vision for humanities psychology. the one thing she never changes in both her acts is her devotion. now if she just used parts of her life as some sort of inspiration to create these 2 personalities is another thing. a lot to contemplate about.

one cool thing they could go for is lumon essenrially planning to eliminate all present mdr workers besides helena. perhaps there is a way to set the memory cap for the inni back to 0 which makes them all docile again but to the price of having to re develope their characters for lumon once again. the mext step is removing the outies and other outer interferences so long it doesnt draw more attention which lets be honest isnt much because they are in the main worker city of kier.

I just want some of those haircuts explained!

Could you do a full recap of season 1? So many things you referenced I don’t remember at all 💀

A number of unanswered questions, with one being about mysterious numbers? I got Lost ptsd right now.

We see and hear Milcheck outside

Opening scene. If they put the conference table vertical instead of horizontal. It would look like Helli was literally being born. This part of Helena being created and birthed.

My question is if the break room is used for torture where do they eat lunch or dinner?

JANUARY FELLAS!!!!

There was side content released with the show called The Lexington Letter, it provided some clues that hint at what they're work is.... I believe it had sonething to do with eliminating competition(other companies)

u proposed milcheck being fully severed. but covered the whole dylan overtime contingency scene in the same video😭

What MDR is doing is the LEAST important question. They're not "doing" anything, other than providing biometric feedback to Lumen. Certain sequences of numbers trigger a certain response (a feature of the chip that is not explained to them) based on pre-op questionaires/testing. For instance, a certain sequence of numbers might show up to the characters subconscious as, let's say, a giant spider (or whatever that person has revealed to be their biggest fear, etc. IOW - response data, and alliance/enemy/conflict resolution, etc. is the only thing Lumen is mining for. The real question isn't even important, although it seems clear that they are working on a control mechanism for the general population.

"Vought"

Let’s hope the big Vought/Lumon merger goes through. I heard Waystar-Royco was considering a hostile takeover though…

I have my own theory on the theme of Severance, which centers on commentary on the Protestant Ethic. I believe the foodless dinner party in the first episode, the mystical worship of founder Kier Eagan, and the Luman Bible are clues to this theory. The Protestant Ethic values hard work and profit-seeking and strictly avoids worldly pleasure, idleness, and waste of time, which is what Luman employees are expected to do during working hours.

I believe Milchick isn’t who he appears to be. I think he gave the tape to Petey. What’s the deal with them making it a point to show him put a tape in his pocket? Wouldn’t the company have a better recording system? The tape recorder is his.

Isn’t the a protocol to erase their minds before going back to lumon

Am I the only person who thinks that Milcheck is a clone. I think that there is more than one. They can be inside and out, some like Cobel and others don't.

I’m hoping they pull off any revelations

I thought season one of Severance is one of the best things I've seen, however I hope that season two will conclude the story. I can't see how there could be a season three, so my fear is that the writers don't actually fully know where they're going with the story and that the show will be artificially extended because the show is popular. American TV doesn't know when to end a series. The Office: UK had 14 episodes, the US version 188. Please Ben Stiller, just give us two perfect seasons.

I just realized, in the final episode at Helly's expo or whatever you call it, in her black and white pictures she's in front of a Lumon computer. Clearly the outside world has modern tech, yet they're not hiding the fact that they use such outdated equipment on the severed floor? Does this mean the MDR is just an experiment and the work they do is pointless, and the outside world knows that it's just an experiment and that the old computers are just for show? Or what other possible explanation could they have given the outside world?

It should be an actual crime to release a show and then not have any plans or preparations made for the next season. How is it that the 2nd most valuable company ON THE PLANET cannot get out ONE season of a show (with almost no CGI) in the time it takes other shows to come out with 2-3 seasons?? Apple is really dropping the ball. At this point I'm doubting we'll even get a season 2. Who ever is in charge of Apple shows should be fired (at).

No one talks about marks sister, she is gonna have a huge role next season