I think what you set out there is pretty much my guess too. The only thing I’m not sure about is this part:
Well, she was sent back to the testing floor, which everyone agrees will be the end of her conscious life. My assumption is that’s where she will get stored until they need someone else again, then she’ll be brought back out. I admit, that’s a pretty big assumption but it fits the facts as I see them, which is that Mark’s wife isn’t dead and her innie has only experienced 127 hours of conscious life.
Meanwhile, Irving’s outie repeatedly paints the hallway to the testing floor, so there’s definitely more going on than just whatever they’re doing to people like Ms. Casey. As far as we know, Irving has a normal innie/outie existence and other than the fact his outie is clearly interested in what’s going on inside there it’s not clear why he would know or care about the testing floor hallway.
I’m not disputing that Casey was sent back to storage. I just don’t think it’s clear that the reason was that Cobel “concluded they could not remember each other.”
Moderating:
If you are really upset by the comment, please just report it, and don’t derail the thread with a lengthy attack.
I, too, read that comment as body-shaming, and fwiw, i think it should have included some indication it was a joke, perhaps in spoiler tags. At least a link or something. It’s unrealistic to assume that everyone in a thread about one show has seen another. But it’s more disruptive to lecture other posters, especially after the post has been shown to be harmless.
Yes, I should have done that. Thanks for the reminder.
I just finished seasson 1 last night. My take on what’s going on is a little more mundane.
The whole separated floor is a series of experiments on separated people, trying to determine the limits of separation, whether they can be induced to reintegrate or remember what went on in their outie’s life. Basically Lumon is conducting a long-term medical device trial to get the severance device approved.
Also, the experiment is to see how to manage and control innies, given that they are a tabula rasa. You can’t motivate them with money or outside status, they aren’t motivated by responsibility to family or society. So how do you get them to work? Well, they turned corporate governance into a religion, and instilled it in the innies to give them someone to please. They’ve tested rewards from things as simple as a finger trap to parties, and ultimately sex. they are even trying competition and tribalism (separating the groups and making them fear each other).
They are working on the best practices for making a human who knows nothing at all into a productive, happy worker.
I suspect the ‘numbers’ are another test. Perhaps those numbers are shown on a screen in ‘testing’ along with positive or negative reinforcement while the innies are severed from themselves in some way, then the test is to see if they feel the emotions they felt then, even if they can’t remember anything that happened consciously.
The same with the ‘wellness’ sessions where they are told about their outie’s lives. And for Mark, having the session be held by his wife. They are looking to see if this triggers reintegration or at least an emotional reaction suggesting there is at least emotional leakage across the innie/outie barrier.
Severance itself seems like a product they want to sell. We already saw one application: A rich woman was severed so her innie would have to deal with late stage pregnancy and birth. Imagine all the bad stuff it would be nice to not have to experience. Going for a root canal? The dentist severs you with the implant you already have, and your innie goes through the procedure and you wake up just fine. It’s the ultimate sedative. Going in for Chemo? It’s miserable. Get severed, and you just wake up weeks later, after chemo is over. Work in a really crappy job? Get severed, and you never have to know about it. You get paid for work you don’t know you did.
To pull this off, Lumon has to convince the world that severance is not only fully controllable, but that the ‘innies’ like what they do and are happy. All those bad memories and traumas and failures of the past just wiped away, allowing your innie to have a full, rewarding life!
My take on Mark’s wife is that potentially she knew something about the shadiness going on, and rather than kill her they just kidnapped her, faked her death, and put her on ‘ice’ - that being severed plus jailed or comotose when she’s not severed. And having her on hand was the perfect opportunity for a final test with Mark, to see if seeing his ‘dead’ wife would spark anything - and it didn’t.
I think Irving is either a private detective or an undercover agent or something, sent to look into Lumon and find out what’s going on. He was hoping to be severed, then to somehow learn what’s going on with the innies and leave the information to his outie somehow. Hence drawing maps, finding out that you can’t smuggle out written stuff, etc.
I agree that the ‘special technology’ to prevent you from carrying writing out at the end of the day is likely a stop in the elevator where plain old people search you while you are in some kind of limbo between innie and outie. It’s the only thing that really makes sense given the tech we’ve seen.
I also suspect that part of the plot will be that separation appears to break down after some time. Petey reintegrated on his own, and he was there the longest. Irving is showing signs of reintegration (the paintings) and he’s been there second-longest. Maybe Cobel’s job is to figure out if Petey’s reintegration was a unique event or something that will happen to everyone, and they are doing all these tests to try to trigger reintegration.
Anyway, this is probably all wrong, but that’s where I’m at. Love this show.
“Severance” is a one season series that can be viewed on Apple+ and which, unfortunately, has been green lighted for a second season. I say, “unfortunately”, because the plot and events connected with it move so, very, very slowly. I mean, slooooooooooowwwwwwly.
I’ve watched six of the 9 parts of season one, and all of that could have been shown in just two parts. Even though the basic plot is intriguing, there are plot holes galore, and some of the goings-on are pretty ridiculous. My SiL insists on viewing all nine parts in order to give it a fair review but, in all honesty, I can’t imagine wanting to view a season two.
I didn’t find it slow at all and I am kind of mystified by that complaint. It’s like character means nothing and people just want loud action scenes. I was completely riveted and on the edge of my seat for every episode. It was incredibly tense! I think it’s one of the best recent shows and can’t wait for season two!
I found the first episode or two to be a little slow. Once the story picked up, however, I was fully invested. There are so many little pieces to the overall puzzle that I feel they have to be introduced slowly otherwise the narrative would suffer.
I really hope that Burt returns and after looking at the IMDB page, it seems that he is back for season 2. I can’t wait. Plus, I really want to more Music Experience scenes, maybe ‘Reckless Disco’.
I thought this was one of the best shows of the decade.
Are you sure, or is that just your innie talking?
Please try to enjoy all shows equally.
I guess it could be a slog if you’re not invested in the characters. The complete injustice of what is being done to the innies keeps me going. Every little violation of the rules is a huge win. And when they tear the whole thing down, I want to be watching.
I absolutely loved season 1, but I have concerns about it continuing past that season since we saw so much more than I expected in season 1.
I think the slowness is part of the experience. The innies are going through the same slowness. It makes me feel their miserable lives that much more.
Yeah, really. Completely immersed.
I’d love to hear what you think are plot holes, and what your opinion is after seeing the final third of the season.
You may have a point, but it still moves too tediously slow for my personal taste. However, I will be back to address your post after viewing the final three episodes.
I finished watching it and I liked it, but I thought ending it on such a huge cliff-hanger was kind of cheating.
I try to take “big mystery” shows with a grain of salt, since I’ve seen from experience how hard it is to take a show that is 70% intriguing mysteries and 30% decent plot in the first season and then mess with those percentages in the second and following seasons.
How so? Like just in general you don’t like cliffhangers, or is there something specific to this particular cliffhanger?