S2E27 - REWATCH07-PT03 - Chikhai Bardo - Severed: The Ultimate Severance Podcast

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Severed The Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hey that Refiner, Welcome back to the Severed Floor. It's
time to get into the third and final part of
our full breakdown of the season two episode Cheek I Bardow.
A quick spoiler warning just in case you must have
seen all ten of the season two episodes before you
begin this podcast. There are spoilers everywhere. This is Severed,

(00:36):
the Ultimate Severance Podcast. I'm your host, Alan S. Last
time we were following pre Severed Mark and pre christ
Gemma through the IVF procedure. It wasn't going very well.
We were just headed into a transition that was going
to take us back down to the testing floor. So
if you're ready, Refiner, it's time to reopen the file
called cheek I Bardow. As the shot comes up black,

(01:00):
we are back down on the testing floor. Someone moves
through the shot. In the foreground. There's a control pad
in the extreme foreground to the right of frame. Are
those hieroglyphics on the keys. We can't see them clearly
due to the angle, but what we can see looks
a bit alien. That's doctor Mauer, who bends down to
select a couple of buttons on the keypad. Interesting cut here.

(01:22):
Now that we know the Watchers are there, we get
a Watcher check in. There's an extreme close up on
the eye of Mark Watcher. He's dialed in on Jemma's
testing floor apartment and is watching what's happening there. I'd
love to get a look at the Watcher's job description.
I'm thinking the Watchers must be severed employees. You wouldn't

(01:43):
want anyone running around describing that bizarre job to a
normal person. I also wanted to mention something here about
Mark Watcher. Patron refiner Katherine s pointed out that Eric J. Carlson,
who plays Mark Watcher, is also Adam scott stand in
and photoed bub just like Irvwatcher was to Turo's stand in.
Eric has been standing in for Adam during all nineteen

(02:06):
episodes of Severance. Jemma is sitting passively in the real
Dieter Rams program six twenty chair maur is orienting a
couple of massive pieces of equipment around her. Whatever these
things are. They are mounted to the ceiling. The sending
arms have the look of X ray or other hospital
level imaging equipment. What we're going to be seeing in

(02:27):
operation doesn't really work. It was designed by Jeremy Hindle
based on the functions of a fluoroscope when using contrasting
dye or other contrasting substances. Of fluoroscope is an amazing
way to view joints in motion or makeup precise catheter insertion.
The machine shoots X rays through the area to be viewed.

(02:47):
The resulting image is picked up on a sensor placed
behind the area. Most florescopy units are large, self contained things,
appearing more like an MRI. This two part fluoroscopy system
ours using was designed by Jeremy Hindle and his crew.
The design description includes a rigged theatrical counter weighted system
with double safety for actor lift and pull into position.

(03:11):
This take on the fluoroscope is a lot more compact
and appears to be more functional than a traditional fluoroscope.
It's amazing how LUMAN can be so cutting edge and
even slightly ahead of the rest of the world with
some of their tech. But at the same time they've
got workstations in MDR based on computers from the late
nineteen seventies. The way maur is setting it up, there's

(03:32):
an image reader on one side. It's the large round
object sitting frame left of Jema's head. The item frame
right of Gemma is a signal generator. It's focusing a
beam of X rays or ultrasound or some kind of
imaging signal on the large round reader Jema's head with
severance chip is placed between the reader and beam generator.

(03:54):
The setup feels a little like when the dentist does
teeth X rays. It also looks a bit like the
monitoring system we saw in use during chip installation. Did
you check the framing on this shot? Gemma is also
just part of a person down here on the testing floor.
That's why we're only seeing her in about a third
of the frame. Robbie Benson has a seat in the

(04:15):
same clinical chair the nurse was using earlier.

Speaker 3 (04:19):
Now, are you anything?

Speaker 2 (04:20):
The shot changes to Mark Watcher's monitor view. The watcher
is looking at the same screen we saw a flash
across any Marx monitor at the end of the first
episode of season two. It's a close up on Jemma's
face with a vital signs readout, a graphic view of
her clodney plate, and the percentage completion of the various
bins contained within the file. Cold Harbor. The control pad

(04:43):
in front of the Watchers is what allows them to
change the main monitor input. We get a close up
of Mark Watcher clicking one of the buttons. The shot
on the main monitor changes to show the X ray
view of Gemma's skull. When she said my mouth hurts,
we could see her mouth open and head move. We
can clearly see her severance chip sitting just an inch
or so above her left ear. Maur is debriefing Gemma

(05:06):
on the day's e ends. Question about it, Oh, you
know the one where you were poking her mouth with
sharp dental instruments the Wellington, Yeah, exactly. Jemma's expression is
what I would call aggressively passive. She's being stoic, but
you can tell she's pissed.

Speaker 4 (05:26):
How many rooms did you visit today?

Speaker 2 (05:28):
Jemma is aware of most everything that's happening to her.
She knows how many rooms she visited six. What she
doesn't know is what happens to her once she's in
those rooms. Mar then lists the six rooms she entered.

Speaker 5 (05:42):
The billing room, the Lucknow Room, Saint Pierre, Karen's surick,
and the Wellington room. The Wellington excellent.

Speaker 2 (05:53):
Going back to our previous discussion, this list is one
of the reasons. I now believe Gemma only goes into
mark created rooms. There may have been a time when
she entered rooms created by the other refiners, but not anymore.
Each of these six is on Mark's list of completed files.
Mauer confirms that Gemma remembers nothing from inside the rooms.

Speaker 4 (06:14):
Nothing.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
I wish I knew what maur was looking for.

Speaker 4 (06:18):
How did you feel all?

Speaker 2 (06:20):
I'm betting she felt like she didn't want to go
into any of the rooms.

Speaker 4 (06:23):
Did you exit any of the rooms feeling despair?

Speaker 2 (06:28):
Interesting? If you were to plug the temper term woe
into it the sarus, One of the words that comes
back as a strong synonym is despair. Misery, sorrow, distress,
and sadness could also be used here, just as effectively.
Further Caidy, those would be synonymous with frolic. Mauer is
looking for imbalances in Gemma's tempers, but he doesn't come

(06:51):
right out and say the words. Jemma is ignoring this probing.
Something caught her attention in the hall today.

Speaker 6 (06:58):
There's only one room I haven't into yet, and today
I had a name on it.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
There's a pause, Cold Harber. I have so many questions
about how a physical room appears based on the data
refinement happening up in MDR. Did somebody from maintenance build
this room based on specs created by the refinement process?
Or did they just wake up one morning and it
was sitting there? After visiting Wellington, I thought maybe Mark

(07:25):
was creating the specifications for what happens in the room
based on his refinement, which sounds great, But how does
what he's doing get translated into a physical structure. Did
somebody put that name on the Cold Harbor room or
did it somehow appear spontaneously based on Mark's work? What

(07:45):
percentage of file completion causes the name to appear? Has
Jemma been seeing all of the other rooms appear on
the testing floor as Mark was refining those files? Jemma
is assuming she will be asked to enter this new room.

Speaker 6 (08:00):
What happens once I've been in all roads?

Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah, we're curious too. Mauer takes a long pause looking
at Gemma. He gets all mystical and vague.

Speaker 4 (08:10):
Here you'll see the world again, and the world was he.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
You, as in they will see the thought to be dead.
Jemma scout. Is that a good idea? What is he
even talking about. As much as this experience has beaten
Gemma down, there is still a flicker of hope in
her response to Mauer's cryptic message, So.

Speaker 4 (08:34):
See Mark.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
It was all a lie, but Mark at least had
some closure regarding the loss of Gemma. He saw the
wrecked car, identified the burned body, and received her remains
via post. Jemma was unceremoniously ripped away from Mark. His
grief is overwhelming, but at least it's something he can
set his sights on to deal with. Jemma has no

(08:56):
such possible relief. Her view of her current situation has
to be like that of a kidnap victim. We don't
know what she's been told about why she's down here,
but Jemma does remember Mark. She both misses and wants
to see Mark. I'm sure seeing Mark seems like a
distant dream, but she can't help but ask. Mauer continues

(09:17):
with the mystical bs.

Speaker 4 (09:18):
Mark will benefit from the world you're siring.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
This is getting creepy. Why would he use the word siring?
Is he trying to say Gemma is going to be
the mother of this new world? If so, maur needs
a new dictionary. Normally siring is a reference to the
male animal fathering offspring. Using it in relation to a
female is something new. Also, Mark benefiting from this world

(09:41):
is not the same as Jemma getting to see Mark
Maurs dancing around her question because he knows it can't happen. If,
as we've been told, entering Cold Harbor is going to
kill Jemma, there won't be any seeing Mark in her future.
When it comes to testing floor docs. I've always had
the sense Gabby is not an acolyte of Kure. She's

(10:02):
never said, but Ragabbi's whole rebellious attitude against the severance
procedure and Luman in general leads me to believe she
does not have a cure shrine somewhere in her house.
Mauer is a different story. He seems to have fully
embraced the cure.

Speaker 5 (10:19):
Mythos cure will take away all his pain, just as
Kear has taken with yours.

Speaker 2 (10:24):
What Gemma pain has kir taken away? She's suffering the
heartache of losing Mark, and her mouth is hurting because
of actions you took earlier today, doctor Mauer, Jemma seems
to be in a lot of pain, and I don't
see where kir is doing anything to help the cult
speak is more than Gemma can take. We know she's

(10:45):
not an adherent to the philosophies of the Grandfather. She's muted,
but her frustration boils over.

Speaker 6 (10:52):
Can you please just talk like a normal person.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
When talking to Vulture, Deechin Lackman singled out this line
as an example of the artistic leeway she's given on Severance.
She said she tried reading that line with all kinds
of different deliveries and intensities. She's never had the opportunity
to explore and collaborate the way she has on Severance.
Deechin delivered fifteen or sixteen takes of this line, all
with a bit different inflection each time. Jemma looks disgusted.

(11:20):
This situation is so incredibly soul crushing. Maur who I
would never consider to be a normal person, doesn't respond directly.
He might as well be looking at a bug under
a microscope as he deflects her question.

Speaker 4 (11:34):
Good night, Jemma.

Speaker 2 (11:37):
Dream sweet Mauer gets up and walks away. Jemma is
left seated in the six to twenty program chair between
the two big pieces of imaging equipment, the framing is
once again only showing us a third of the screen.
A slow cross dissolve transitions to pre wreck. Gemma sitting
pensively in the Nayak house. I think she's in the
bathroom we visited earlier, and inset show reveals either one

(12:01):
of the hypodermics or a thermometer sitting by Jemma's arm.
Mark is somewhere else in the house. Gemma winces as
she turns to the camera. Rather than go for coffee,
Gemma reaches over and closes the bathroom door. No details,
but things don't seem to be going well with the
IVF attempts. We're gonna be checking back in with unconscious

(12:23):
Audie Mark, but first you should wash your hands. Refiner
Severed will be right back.

Speaker 3 (12:31):
This is Mark geller Kiir Egan on Severance. When I
want to hear the latest details about the company I founded,
I listen to Severed the Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
Cut to current Oudie Mark still unconscious on his sad
orange couch. Devan was also grabbing a few minutes of
shut eye. She's sitting in a chair near Mark. A
noise causes Devon to rouse. It's Regabi.

Speaker 4 (12:57):
Is he okay? He's stable.

Speaker 2 (12:59):
She's checking out the IVY bag sitting next to Mark.
Regaby claims this was an isolated event. I would say
a gunshot wound could also be classed as an isolated event.
Being an isolated event doesn't make it any less damaging.
Regabi then gets all mystical Earth Mother on us. He's
journeying now, which is code for he's unconscious and I

(13:22):
can't really do anything else for him. Devon is putting
her coat on as she's still clearing away cobwebs from
her nap. Wake up, Devin, you haven't spent a lot
of time with Regabi, so you don't know. But she
doesn't answer direct questions.

Speaker 4 (13:36):
When he's ready to see what I mean.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
She's a human magic eight ball with no complete or
satisfying answers. Great sounds like Devon's learning. Regabi is checking
the display on a laptop. She's got a milk crate
full of cords and random equipment sitting on the table
next to her computer. I think I'm even seeing a
roll of duct tape in the crate. Seriously, Regaby's equipment

(13:59):
makes her look more like a band roady than a neuroscientist.
Devin asks if her Gabby really thinks this is going
to work and no other choice. Well, there are ambulances
and hospitals and real doctors, but Regabi would never consider
those as options. Devin pauses, remember her comment to Mark
when she first arrived last night, she was wondering about

(14:21):
contacting Gabby Arteta. Devin wants to tap into the whole
severed vibe happening out at the Demona Birthing Retreat. She
tentatively tries to broach the subject with Regaby.

Speaker 6 (14:31):
There isn't any cabin.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
Come again, Devin explains, it's a cottage where severed people
can become their innis. Well, of course Regaby's heard of it.
There's every chance she helped design and build it. She
looks up very matter.

Speaker 7 (14:45):
Of factly Timona Birthing Retreat.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
If she didn't help set it up, I get the
sense she was at least aware of the project. This
raises some interesting questions in my mind. If Demona is
its own venture and not associated with Luman, is the
same berthing cabin a feature they offer. Did Demona come
to Luman and say, hey, we'd like to offer this
severed experience to some of our guests. If they've got

(15:09):
a chip, could they access a berthing only any Demona
charges their wealthiest clients extra for the convenience, and everyone
is happy, except for the poor any who has to
actually experience the pain of childbirth. They probably aren't so
enamored with the severance technology, but who cares, They're just
an inny. Devin's reasoning is sound. She wants to take

(15:30):
Mark to the severed berthing cabin when he passes through
the barrier, they should be able to talk to his
any about what's going on with the severed Floorgabi stomps
all over this idea with both feet.

Speaker 7 (15:41):
And two completely different things.

Speaker 2 (15:44):
I originally interpreted that line to mean Regaby was claiming
Mark had a different kind of chip. I thought she
was saying the cabin wouldn't switch over a chip like
Marx because they're different things. I put that theory in
one of the proof versions of the show. The patron
refiners called me out on it. They to this statement
Asgabbi saying reintegration is an entirely different way of getting

(16:05):
information from the severed floor. She also believes it's a
better option than going to the inny like they would
be doing at the birthing cabin. I can certainly see
it the patron refiner's way. I do still think Regabby
believes she'd be giving up some control if she relied
on information coming from an inny. Regobby grabs a random
piece of equipment out of the milk crate and waves
it in Devon's direction. She says, this is how you

(16:28):
get Gemma out. Devon is not sold on Regabby's approach.

Speaker 7 (16:31):
Really this because this looks like hew, you call my brother.

Speaker 2 (16:34):
Regabby is visibly frustrated.

Speaker 4 (16:36):
You two are definitely related.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
So neither of them likes to be pushed around by
somebody spouting a lot of mystical bs. I'd say it's
an admirable trait. Devon puts on a tough girl persona.
You can tell by the tilt of her head, the
set of her jaw. Devon's done playing around with this
pseudo doctor and her milk crate full of spare parts.

Speaker 4 (16:56):
I could call her who you know who?

Speaker 6 (16:58):
Harmony Coobel. Wowing to do that, she runs the severed floor.

Speaker 2 (17:02):
Since she's been gone, Regabi has not been keeping up
with office politics at lumen Non anymore.

Speaker 8 (17:07):
She doesn't she might know how to get in the
cabin and fuck, she might know how to get to Jemma.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
If you can locate miss Cobell out in the barren
and desolate wasteland known as pe. Regabi is dead set
against this idea. She knows how dedicated a soldier Cobel is,
or at least was.

Speaker 6 (17:25):
She's Lumen through and through.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
After being unceremoniously dumped by Natalie, humiliated in the boardroom,
then terrorized by Helena Egan and the Mothership parking lot,
Cobell may not still be as dedicated to Lumen as
Regabi thinks. Regabi says Cobell was raised by them. This
must be a reference to the Myrtle Egan School for Girls.
Once we get to Salt's Neck in the episode's Sweet Vitriol,

(17:49):
we get more answers. It is Luman's way to pluck
the best and brightest out of their homes and spirit
them off to company housing and schools, much like what
they're currently doing with Mims.

Speaker 7 (17:59):
Woah, it's a risk, I get that, a risk.

Speaker 8 (18:02):
Yeah, she will turn you over to them, both of us.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
I don't know that she would not. This new Kobel
the unhoused on the run version of Kobel. Regabi claims
everything she's done to fight the program so far will
be lost. She says they will resume the reintegration treatments
as soon as Mark wakes up. These are a couple
of strong women, and this clash over Mark's unconscious body

(18:26):
is escalating. Devin plays the blood relative card here.

Speaker 8 (18:30):
Okay, I have custody of his brain.

Speaker 7 (18:32):
Now you don't, I'm calling her.

Speaker 2 (18:34):
Devon punctuates this statement by grabbing her cell phone and
of discussion. Regaby looks like she's going to be sick.
She starts to pack up equipment.

Speaker 6 (18:43):
And then I can't be a part of this.

Speaker 9 (18:45):
What whoa?

Speaker 2 (18:46):
Regaby is out of here. She's leaving a lot of
equipment at Mark's place for now. It looks like all
she's taking is the milk rate.

Speaker 6 (18:54):
Good luck.

Speaker 2 (18:55):
You can't leave him like this, Oh, she can, and
she is. Devin says she can do this without Regabi.
It looks like she's gonna have to try HP.

Speaker 6 (19:04):
Are you kidding? You're leaving now?

Speaker 2 (19:07):
Seriously, Devin, if you think about it, what was she
really doing? You're gonna be fine. Regaby continues to pack
claiming this is Devon's choice, not hers. Devon wants to
know what to do if he wakes up. Regabi has
one parting shot as she heads out the door.

Speaker 6 (19:22):
Do not call that woman.

Speaker 2 (19:24):
Devon is in a panic.

Speaker 4 (19:26):
Oh my god.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
She's back on her phone. We can see she's pulled
up the number for miss Selvig, but she hasn't hit
Sen yet. Hopefully Harmony still has this number turned on
and there's cell service out in the wide open area
between Kir and Salt's neck. Before Devin can summon Miss Kobel,
Mark stirs.

Speaker 9 (19:44):
Mark, what are you trying to say?

Speaker 2 (19:50):
What he's trying to say is the title of the episode,
chickai Embardo. I'm not sure why he said it, but
since Mark brought it up, we should probably take a
moment and to look at the title of this episode.
Cheek ii Bardo is a term that comes from Tibetan Buddhism.
It is interesting we've got another nod to Tibet, especially
since this also concerns Jemma. I decided to consult the

(20:13):
Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia for a definition. Chic i bardo is
an intermediate state that occurs at the time of death.
It is the first of three bardos the human consciousness
experiences immediately after death. The term bardo means gap or interval.
The Cheeki bardo is the gap between the dying person's

(20:33):
last breath and the total liberation of their soul. The
fact this bardo is only achieved when the person dies
is a bit chilling. This seems to support the warnings
about Gemma dying when she reaches Cold Harbor. The shot
cuts to a desktop. We're back in Mark's unconscious subconscious.
This is a flashback to Mark in Jemma's place. Several

(20:55):
instructional cards, like the ones we saw at O and
D are spread out on the desk. These are the
wordless combat cards. It was Dylan's theft of one of
these cards that prompted Miltchik to initiate an OTC. At
Dylan's home, Gemma is filling out a sheet of paper
while looking at the cards from the header. It looks
like one of those draw and win contests. If Gemma's

(21:16):
drawing is chosen, she could be the recipient of five
thousand dollars a week for life. It's a tempting offer.
No wonder Jemma is giving it a try. The original
draw and Win offers this scene as based on all
came from one place, Art Instruction Schools. Some of the
offers included cash prizes, but most were just to gain
admission into the school. The Minneapolis, Minnesota based company put

(21:39):
there draw This Pirate or Draw Tippy ads in comic
books and tabloid newspapers for more than one hundred years.
Founded in nineteen fourteen, Art Instruction was a real school,
and it did offer a recognized curriculum for artists. Famed
Peanuts writer and illustrator Charles Schultz was a graduate of
the course. His parents struggled to pay the one hundred

(22:01):
and seventy dollars course fee in the midst of the
Great Depression. Schultz, a native of Minneapolis, would go on
to be an instructor at the school. Fun side note,
it was Schultz's co workers at Art Instruction that inspired
him to create his own comic strip. Schultz worked with
fellow instructors Charlie Brown and Linus Mauer, and yes, Linus's

(22:22):
last name is the same as doctor Mauer. Sadly, drawing
Tiny or the Pirate or Tippy the turtle would be
fondly remembered as a twentieth century pursuit. Art instruction schools
stopped taking new students in twenty sixteen and were completely
shuttered by twenty eighteen, after one hundred and four years
in business. Mark picks up one of the cards to
get a closer look. It's the same card design any

(22:45):
Dylan nabbed from O and d oh. Hey, did you
catch the afghan draped over the back of the sofa
behind Gemma. We've seen it before. This is the same
afghan Mark put over his head to test out the
burnin light in his car towards the end of the
episode Who Is Alive? The chair Gemma is sitting in
here as a classic nineteen twenty eight design. This is

(23:05):
a sesca chair created by legendary architect Marcel Brewer for
the Gavina Group. You've probably never heard of Brewer, but
you may have seen his work. One of Brewer's most
famous architectural designs is the Whitney Museum of American Art
in New York City. Design house NOL acquired the Gavina
Group in nineteen sixty eight. That's when they started offering
this classic the original Sesca chair. The continuous line of

(23:28):
steel supporting the candileavered seat is considered one of the
most copied design concepts in twentieth century furniture. The Sesca
side chair from Knowl is currently available for one and
ninety two dollars. If you want it as an armchair,
add forty eight dollars. We're going to take a closer
look at these cards Jemma got in the mail. But first,
here's an extra vending machine token Severed will be right back. Hi,

(23:55):
I'm Adam Scott. I play Mark s on Severance, which
you likely he already no since you're listening to sever
did the Ultimate Severance Podcast. Gemma has an interesting take
on what we are seeing in the lumen card. Aren't
those two guys fighting?

Speaker 1 (24:12):
Now?

Speaker 8 (24:12):
It's the same guy fighting himself defeating his own psyche.

Speaker 2 (24:16):
Ego does this is an unusual interpretation? Mark wants to
know how she knows it's the same guy.

Speaker 4 (24:22):
There's the same which.

Speaker 2 (24:25):
Is kind of a strange reason. Don't you think it
doesn't make logical sense, especially coming from someone we know
to have some kind of advanced degree and who can
speak multiple languages. This response, along with Gemma's overall dumb
demeanor here makes me question what's really in those injections
doctor Boogeyman is prescribing. Was the Boutzemann Clinic conditioning Gemma

(24:47):
in some way even before she was taken into captivity
on the testing floor. A dumb and compliant Gemma would
be much easier to manage than the intelligent, proactive professor
version of Gemma. Would they do something like that to her? Oh,
I'm sure they would. Luman doesn't seem to have any
qualms about using the patient caregiver relationship for their own ends.

Speaker 9 (25:08):
I think came in the mouth.

Speaker 2 (25:09):
Mark's demeanor has changed in these scenes compared to their
previous loving encounters. He's more on this surly side, like
he's either agitated at Gemma or something she's done.

Speaker 8 (25:20):
Yeah, it's one of those things when you have to
draw a duck or a rabbit or whatever.

Speaker 2 (25:24):
Hold on a minute, where have we heard reference to
a duck or a rabbit previously this season? That would
be mister Miltchik and his Credenzis statue. The optical illusion
of the Wittgenstein drawing allows the viewer to see either
a rabbit or a duck.

Speaker 8 (25:38):
I think I go on to the mailing list of
the clinic.

Speaker 2 (25:41):
Yes, you did, and your name and address isn't all
they got from you either. Mark is not the least
bit interested.

Speaker 9 (25:48):
Why are you wasting your time with us?

Speaker 2 (25:49):
Based on Jemma's reaction, I'm guessing this is not the
first time Mark has dumped on some of her recent interests.
She pauses a bit chewing over this comment. She decides
he might be itching for a fire.

Speaker 6 (26:00):
Why are you being an asshole?

Speaker 2 (26:02):
Mark claims he's not being an asshole in this whole
thing just seems kind of weird. Jemma says she's enjoying
this whatever this is.

Speaker 6 (26:10):
Or it was until you ruin them.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
The emotional and physical toll associated with trying to get
pregnant is causing some cracks to appear in the happy
foundation of the Mark and Gema relationship.

Speaker 9 (26:21):
You might be overreacting a little bit, Gemma.

Speaker 2 (26:24):
Is it possible Mark is over the whole baby thing?
Infertility studies have shown it is the woman who is
more proactive in all stages of infertility treatment. They seek
it out first, and they tend to stay with the
various options for improving fertility far longer than men. Maybe
Mark just isn't in a baby kind of place anymore.
Jemma is annoyed. She tells him to not do that.

(26:47):
Mark plays dumb.

Speaker 6 (26:48):
Do what tell me how I'm feeling.

Speaker 9 (26:51):
I have no idea how you're feeling.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
My guess would be closed off, isolated, tired, and grumpy.
Jemma's assessment is a bit earthier, like shit beat to shit.

Speaker 1 (27:02):
See.

Speaker 2 (27:02):
Hormones and injections involved with the IVF procedure can take
a significant physical toll on fertility patients. Jemma is experiencing
this very physical toll, coupled with distress and pressure of
wanting the treatments to work. Mark's solution to her distress
is logical and peace says it very matter of factly,
so let's stop true. This would take the heavy physical

(27:25):
burden off Gemma and the emotional burden off both of them,
But it also means they're giving up on the dream
of having a child of their own. Mark seems very willing,
possibly too willing, to give up on this dream. Look
past Mark as he's making a sandwich in their kitchen.
See the big vase of thistles. When you start noticing them.
There are a lot of thistles in these flashback scenes.

(27:47):
Jemma looks away. Yes, she would feel better if they
just stopped, but this idea that they give up on
trying is more than she wants to deal with right now.
In case you miss the thistles, we've finished the scene
with a C on the base and a transition. The
light changes on the thistles much the same way it
did when we were looking at the close up of
Gemma's eyes following the dinner party. They get darker with

(28:10):
a bluish overtone, then finally our view of the thistles
slowly fades to black. We're transitioning down to the testing floor.
We come up from black with a light. It's the
light in Gema's sleeping pod. It pops on like an alarm.
Gemma slowly wakes up, rubbing her eyes and putting a
hand in front of the intrusive beam. Out on Gemma's

(28:30):
testing floor, Vanity, we are shown a close up of
Lumen branded health and beauty products. Katherine Miller and her
props team strikes again. From left to right. We've got
Lumen branded deodorant in the cucumber and mint scent. Next
to it is a tiny tube of lumen hand sanitizer
in citrus. To the far right of frame is lumin
antibacterial hand soap. No scent is listed on this product.

(28:54):
Two of the three items were shown involve hand hygiene.
Lumen is very into them the whole idea of clean hands,
possibly to the point of being clinical. Luman requires anys
wash their hands at least ten times a day. It's
in the employee handbook. Too much or compulsive hand washing
has been recognized by psychiatrists as an obsessive, compulsive response

(29:18):
to severe stress. It might also indicate an overwhelming sense
of guilt. Removing the guilt is translated to the physical
act of washing hands. This response can be traced to
the biblical reference in Matthew, where Pilot washes his hands
of the whole Jesus situation. Whatever the motivation, Lumen may
have turned an OCD compulsion into a company policy. I

(29:40):
can see the immunocompromised here being a bit of a germophobe.
His personal habits may be the original blueprint for this
unusual company policy. Gemma is flossing with one of those
little plastic floss sticks. Even after you're considered dead and
locked away in the deep basement of a multinational corporation,
dental health is still so important. Fun little aside here.

(30:04):
Most of the testing floor is Dan Erickson working out
some of his own personal demons. Dan told Mageable one
of the testing floor rooms he came up with was
a constant flossing room. Dan hates flossing. One of the
other writers pushed back, They like flossing. They argued, flossing
is satisfying. There was a writer's room debate as to

(30:25):
the general nightmarishness of flossing. Dan was voted down, so
no flossing room.

Speaker 9 (30:31):
Ouch.

Speaker 2 (30:32):
As she's flossing, you can tell Jemma's mouth is still
sensitive due to doctor Mower's painful probing. We get an
oddly close shot of Gemma now brushing her teeth. Jemma
makes up her cod and places some items on the
smooth blanket. Drawings have been tacked up at the head
of Jemma's sleeping pod. We aren't given a close up,
but many of these look like they could be thistle drawings.

(30:55):
Jemma steps to the closet holding her first outfit of
the day. After watching Gemma yesterday. I think she changes
for every room, or, if not every room, at least
four more than just the first room of the day.
She changed out of her dentist visiting dress by the
time she'd gone to the tennis room. There must be
time between rooms so she can go back to her

(31:16):
apartment and retrieve the appropriate outfit for the new room.
Opening the closet door this morning reveals a very lavish
and expensive looking woman's work outfit from the nineteen eighties.
It is, of course in lumen blue. Now that we
know the routine, there's no sitting with the nurse this morning. Instead,
almost as soon as we see the blue power suit,
Gemma is wearing it and she is zallying like her

(31:40):
dental visitation outfit. This complete ensemble includes a teased out
brunette wig along with some ornate and heavy looking earrings.
Gemma is launched into what has to be the most
intense and completely weird room on the entire testing floor.
We're not given a room name, and we only see
Jemma enter from a POV inside the room. Everything is

(32:00):
done in jump cuts, so we don't even see exactly
how she gets in her seat, but Jemma is on
an airplane. She's strapped into the seat of a commercial
jet that is in the air and experiencing incredible amounts
of turbulence. Our first view after the Zalie is out
a bouncing airplane window. Check those clouds. Illustrator Daniel Levilece

(32:21):
painted this cloud scene based on a photo provided by
William Eggleston. Pulling back from the window, we can see
Jemma pick up a glass off her tray table. The
motion is insane. Any commercial jet experiencing this level of
turbulence would wind up as a news story. We don't
get any details as to how this room is supposed
to work. It's obviously not pleasant, but it doesn't feel

(32:43):
like they're necessarily trying to scare her. It seems more
like they're trying to convince Jemma the huge and violent
movements of the plane are normal. We cut to a
shod from across the aisle as she tries to drink
out of the glass she just picked up. It's not
an easy task. A serving cart goes shooting by, propelled
down the aisle by the violent rolling of the plane.

(33:04):
A male flight attendant wearing an enormous mustache is chasing
after the cart. He falls and hard in the aisle
right next to Gemma. Before we cut away from the
wide shot, have a look in the overhead bins. You
can see what looked like spray painted suitcases. These are
props that would have been created by O and D.
In reality, these suitcases are foam rubber that has been

(33:25):
carved to look like actual vintage Samsonite luggage. Property master
Cat Miller told us the foam thing was supposed to
be a lumin innovation. If the suitcases were to fall,
they wouldn't want them to hurt Gemma, so Luman has
outfitted this room with foam stunt cases for looks. No surprise,
it was Pinko Platinkinov who sculpted these cases. He based

(33:47):
them on a classic piece of Samsonite luggage. Cat had
inner garage. We can tell this isn't a real plane,
or those overhead bins would be closed. There might be
some shifting of contents in those bins, you know, open
carefully after landing. These seats look like actual airplane seats,
but they are a bit bigger. That's because they were

(34:07):
sourced from a simulator. The fabric on the seats here
is custom. This is Maharam fabric. It's the same fabric
you'll see in use for the curtains in the Allentown room.
The cut back to Gema's POV reveals that our flight
attendant is doctor Maer. He's sporting a different wig in
stash today, along with a vest, dresshirt, and tie. He

(34:28):
looks just like a nineteen eighties era male flight attendant.
He's not torturing Gemma, but he is scaring the crap
out of her. Gemma screams when Maur falls into the
aisle next to her. Mauer, even through the noise and chaos,
continues to gaslight Gemma. This is perfectly on this version

(34:49):
of Gemma her turbulence. Any would have no reason to
think otherwise. I'm guessing this is the only way she's
ever experienced flying, so it must be normal. Maur is
hilarious trying to serve any Gemma a meal.

Speaker 4 (35:03):
Let's get you set up.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
He slams a segmented silver serving tray down on the
tray table in front of Gemma. This serving tray is
another creation of Make three, the same guys who gave
us the woe meter. Mauer continues to play the part
of flight attendant. After slamming the somewhat disheveled looking meal
in front of Gemma, he offers her coffee tea more blankets.
Another big drop causes Mauer to go flying up into

(35:28):
the ceiling of the plane. Gemma screams. This turbulence room
is one of the most involved and shocking rooms on
the entire testing floor. Beachin Lachman had some great stories
from this shoot. The whole crazy scene only lasts for
thirty seconds, Beachin told Vulture they shot in this room
for an entire day. The set is built on a

(35:49):
platform outfitted with hydraulic pistons in the base. It really
is heaving and rolling. Those aren't shaking cameras or CGI animation.
The movements. The entire set is really in motion. Deechen said,
you couldn't just walk on to and off this set
like usual. It's one of the many reasons this set

(36:10):
was her least favorite among the testing floor. One of
the things that made it hard to get around the
cameras were bolted to the floor. They couldn't be moved
out of the way. The performers were allowed to take
breaks during the day just so they could get a
few minutes away from this set. Deechen was able to
take anti nausea meds to try to help alleviate motion sickness,

(36:31):
even though she continued to have some symptoms. She says
the pills did help. Robbie unfortunately, couldn't take the motion
sickness meds because he was allergic. He had to tough
out the rolling and shaking without chemical assistance. I'm thinking
we might need a quick break from this room. Grab
a cup of coffee, Refiner Severed, We'll be right back.

Speaker 3 (36:55):
Hello, Refiners, It's Mark keller ker Egan on Severn. Don't
let your dreary, dead end job get you down. Do
what I do for a workday pick me up. Listen
to Severed, the Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (37:12):
The Insanity at thirty thousand Feet continues. On top of
everything else, it's loud. Mauer is trying his best to
stay standing next to Jemma. He's going through this standard
flight attendant offerings.

Speaker 8 (37:25):
Try get you anything else, Team another.

Speaker 2 (37:31):
On pillow. There's a huge drop which sends Mauer back
up to the ceiling. He then comes crashing down to
the floor. I'm hoping this was an ILM enhanced move.
He's a good sport and all, but surely they weren't
abusing Robbie Benson this much. Then again, Robbie may have
let them throw him around. Casting director Rachel Tenner said
Benson's audition tape was next level. She said she and

(37:53):
Ben Stiller both loved Robbie anyway, but for different reasons.
She was a fan because of ice castles. Ben is
more of a one on one guy. They were both
incredibly excited about adding such an amazing talent as Robbie
Benson to the cast. The fact he'd let you stick
bizarre facial hair on him and throw him around in
a plane that was just a bonus. Jemma looks terrorized.

(38:16):
She has not said a single word since entering this
bizarre room. We cut away from Gemma's horrified reactions. After
the cut, we're looking at a security monitor. On the
monitor is testing floor out Egemma doing some yoga on
a mat in her apartment. She's back in her green
lounge suit. Everything is again calm on the testing floor.

(38:36):
The room visits are over for the day. We've sampled
a few minutes from a couple of days. Imagine doing
this same kind of thing day in and day out
for the past two years. The monitor we're looking at
is the Mark Watcher monitor. There's a close up on
the keypad. A click takes us to a progress screen
showing the file Cold Harbor and its breakdown into the various.

Speaker 4 (39:00):
He's stuck at ninety six percent.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
There's a click and the display changes. We're now looking
at an empty MDR space through the camera in Marques's monitor.

Speaker 9 (39:10):
The nosebleed set us back.

Speaker 2 (39:13):
Remember Mark's kissing nosebleed after having the makeupnoner with any
helly sounds like Marx's nosebleed was not an isolated occurrence.
There must have been others we didn't see. Nosebleed would
make it hard to work at a computer. I've always
thought the nosebleeds were associated with Forgabby's reintegration efforts. Reintegration
takes a significant physical toll on the body. I'm kind

(39:34):
of surprised no one at Luhman identified the nosebleeds as
a possible indicator of reintegration. Luman is just certain there's
no such thing as reintegration, aren't they? These two maur
and Drummond remind me of Mutton, jeff Or Laurel, and Hardy. Unintentionally,
they provide a lot of comic relief. There's a cut
to Drummond's face as he's looking at the monitor.

Speaker 9 (39:56):
When he's done, You're gonna have to say goodbye to her.

Speaker 2 (40:00):
Relationship Maur may or may not have formed with Gemma
really bothers Drummond. He makes sure to remind Mauer at
every turn. It can't last. Drummond adds a coda here
to be somewhat cold and mercenary. Drummond seems to believe
deeply in the cult aspects of the Luman religion. Here

(40:20):
meets some spiritual need of Drummonds. This idea that Maur
will have to say goodbye is an ominous statement. We've
heard cold Harbor is going to kill Gemma. We're not
told how exactly, but all signs point towards a violent
and premature end. From his casey, the term cold harbor itself,
in some cultures is a reference to death. There was

(40:42):
the question about drowning versus suffocating. Cheekai Bardo is the
gap moment after the final mortal breath. All these breadcrumbs
we've been given are hinting at Jemma's death when she
enters this last room. Now Drummond is telling mar he's
going to have to say goodbye to her. Just the
gut feeling, But I don't think the plan is for

(41:02):
a happy reunion without emark Scout. We cut to a
drawer being opened, contained within our Lumen food pellets, displayed
in a very cool drawer organizer. Since the Lumen food
pellets didn't exist, neither did the organizer tray made specifically
to hold them. Guess what Kat Miller threw it over
to make three. They're the guys who produced the Woe Meter.

(41:23):
They also created this very cool organizer and display case
for Gemma's dinner pellets. Make no mistake, these things really
are edible. In one of its many divisions, Lumen produces
space aged processed foods designed for use by the trapped
testing floor patient on the go. We can see names
like Flaky dinner Roll, Macaroni and Cheese, and tender cassava

(41:46):
on the packets. These are concentrated, dehydrated entrees and side
dishes designed to provide all of the vitamins, minerals, nutrients,
and calories a healthy body needs while down on the
testing floor. We see a cake of rendered marrow, some
macerated kale, and candied carrots, among others. These concentrated food

(42:06):
cakes don't require refrigeration and have an enormous shelf life.
Once processed, the various entrees and side dishes are pressed
into a Lumen water drop shaped cake. Kat Miller told
us these Lumen branded food pellets were created with the
help of a food scientist. You're supposed to boil them.
We can see Gemma has placed three different colored cakes

(42:27):
into boiling water. According to Miller, these food pellets are
not only edible, they actually taste like what they are.
She said, there isn't any bison in the bison packet,
but it does taste like meat. There really are peas
and the pea packet. The crew did actually try eating
some of the various entrees and side items. Kat said
boiling doesn't really change the consistency, but it does bring

(42:50):
out the flavor. Adding these packets. The Gemma living experience
was a character choice. JLG wanted to show that Gemma
still retains some a ton me even on the testing floor.
She's allowed to select and prepare her own meals. That's
more choice than the anies get on the severed floor,
they have to eat whatever their oudy orders for them.
Jemma's dinner does come with a layer of Lumen weirdness.

(43:14):
Of course, it couldn't be real food. It had to
be boiled Lumen logos. The various garnishes were also created
by the food scientist. The presentation reminds me of the
restaurant seen in Brazil, same general theory, but they're entrees
looked more like ice cream scoops of different colored gou.
I feel like here on the testing floor we are

(43:35):
seeing the same level of distance between what the dish
started out as and what it looks like now. In Brazil,
they at least provided a little picture of what each
scoop of goo was supposed to be. Gemma has to
remember what it is she's eating. If you haven't already,
make sure to check the Severed origins breakdown of the
Terry Gilliam sci fi classic Brazil. Gemma clips on a light.

(43:58):
She's doing her red, but they don't let us see
the title of the book. There is a Lumen logo
on the cover. We discover later that Lumen has reprinted
a lot of Gemma's books in Lumen branded volumes. This
might be something from Tolstoi. Gemma's drinking as she's reading
Help me Out, Refiner, do a freeze. As she puts

(44:19):
this glass to her lips, am I nuts? Or is
she drinking a raw egg? I may be a bit
egg punchy, but I would swear that looks like the
yolk of an egg in the bottom of her glass.
The white might be a little more liquid than what
I would expect, but I really think she's doing the
kere thing and drinking a raw egg. Mauer's devotion to

(44:41):
the grandfather might be flagging a bit. After Drummond said
for kre in regards to giving up Gemma, there was
a long pause before Maur echoed him carefully. He doesn't
sound too thrilled about the prospect of losing his testing
floor subject. He does like her.

Speaker 6 (44:58):
You like her?

Speaker 2 (45:00):
Is wearing another bizarre bit of facial hair here. He's
got a dark black beard and mustache. If you were
to pass him on the street, you would do a
double take. It does not look natural. There's another part
of Maur's costuming that's a bit hard to miss. Drummond
can't help but comment on it.

Speaker 9 (45:16):
Why are you wearing that stupid sweater?

Speaker 2 (45:18):
It's white with a stylized snowflake pattern across the breast.
It's not the ugliest Christmas sweater I've ever seen, but
it's not subtle, that's for sure. Mauer refuses to answer.
He sets his jaw, looks a bit hurt, and walks
away without a word. When he turns sideways, you can
see the gap between the end of his beard and
his ear. There's no sideburn, just a blank spot along

(45:42):
his cheek. It's an awkward looking beard. Check the framing here.
Everybody down on the testing floor is being minimized, even
if they aren't severed. I've always believed Drummond is not severed.
I'm pretty sure maur also isn't severed, but sometimes I
do wonder he does some clue and bizarre things. As

(46:02):
Maer exits, we are given a wide shot overview of
the watcher room. Ah, this is sad. Look to frame
right of Mark Watcher. This must be a time after
the ort bow. The former IRV watcher is gone. His
workstation is still there, but the chair is empty. With
any IRV no longer a part of the MDR crew.
There's no need to have a watcher for him. Weirdly,

(46:23):
they entirely removed the workstation from the diamond desk, but
they just left it empty down here. I guess these
watchers don't have the same emotional connection to each other
like the Macrodads. If looks could kill, Mauer would have
collapsed on his way out of the watcher room. Drummond's
eyes are boring into the retreating Mawer's back with a

(46:44):
look of pure hatred. There's a cut to close up
of a ring in a jewelry box testing floor. Jemma
is retrieving what looks like a wedding band. She slips
it onto her left ring finger. A cut to her
face tells us this is not something she wants to
be doing, but she too. Jemma gets up from her
dressing table. Music begins under the scene. It's an instrumental

(47:05):
version of Baby It's Cold Outside. Desi Gomez is listing
on MSN showing all the songs in season two of
Severance has the artist on this one as backing tracks.
It sounds like it might be a karaoke track. Interesting
to note about the choice of this title. Baby It's
Cold Outside is not a Christmas song. It's always been

(47:26):
associated with Christmas, but only because of the weather. The
song never says anything about Christmas or even the holidays
in general. We're headed to the Christmas Room refiner, but
before we get there, you should probably wash your hands
one more time. Severed will be right back. Hey, this
is Ben Stiller.

Speaker 1 (47:46):
Thanks for listening to Severed, the Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (47:50):
We can hear Jemma in voiceover.

Speaker 8 (47:53):
Dear mister tisdown.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
The voiceover is leading the action a bit. The visual
is just leaving her apartment accompanied by her nurse. She's
wearing a very retro looking nightgown. It's red with a
quilted texture, like what you'd find in ladies winter weight
sleepwear from the nineteen fifties.

Speaker 8 (48:12):
I cannot thank you enough for the thoughtful Christmas gift.

Speaker 2 (48:19):
Gemma and her nurse turned the corner and head out
to another room on the testing floor. As the voiceover
rolls on.

Speaker 8 (48:27):
You sent my husband and guy this year.

Speaker 2 (48:30):
An automatic door slides open to reveal Gemma standing in
the hallway. She moves forward and experiences as Zoli into
the new room. She has switched over to a unique
inny that only exists in this room. They don't tell
us until the end of the day wrap up. But
this is the Allentown room Jemma has entered. We don't
see it in these inside POV shots, but each of

(48:52):
these testing floor room doors is angled to the hallway.
It's all part of the triangular design of the testing floor.
Jeremy Hndle said the intent of this design was to
prevent Audi Gemma from glimpsing what's going on inside any
of the testing floor rooms. By the time she's far
enough in to see what's happening, she's already switched to

(49:12):
that room's any The voiceover is narrating the body of
a thank you card as it's being written. It's a
weird thank you card, but by now I doubt that's surprising.

Speaker 6 (49:23):
We have never owned an electric crowder.

Speaker 2 (49:31):
We're cycling through closeups of various objects. There's the face
of a radio with German dial notations. It's the source
of the song. There's his stack of already written thank
you just waiting for stamps. There's a close up of
what Kat Miller told us was truly a vintage electric
d grouder sitting on the desk. You say, you've never

(49:51):
been gifted a grouder or d grouder down here on
the testing floor. It must happen all the time. Check
the close up on the thank you card. There's a
great goat silhouette cutout down in the corner. After she
says grouder, we get a close up on Jemma's hands.
She's writing with a nibbed fountain pen. There's more messing
with handedness here. Deitchen Lockman is right handed. I say

(50:16):
this with all the certainty of the being AI. Actually
I might be more certain than the being AI. For
some reason, she is writing out these thank yous with
her left hand. A number of theories we're floating around
in the aftermath of this episode. One redditor was sure
this was a lumin style punishment. If you are right
handed in the Allentown room, you're forced to use the

(50:37):
other hand just to make writing your thank you notes
that much more uncomfortable. You remember, it's Dan Erickson who
actually has the hatred of thank you note writing. I
agree with him completely. I despise the whole thank you
note industry. My wife is amazing when it comes to
thank you notes, birthday cards, Christmas cards. She organizes and
executes all of it with ease. If it were left

(50:59):
up to me, you'd still be waiting on a thank
you for our wedding gift from nineteen eighty seven. Geez,
this card just goes.

Speaker 8 (51:07):
On and we fuck forward too, and.

Speaker 6 (51:13):
On the many happy memories it will.

Speaker 2 (51:29):
Wow. Just watching her struggle through that was painful. Jemma
grabs her hand and rubs it. Make sure to check
the handwriting on the card. It's horrible. The combination of
left handed writing, along with writing what must be hundreds
of these notes has rendered Gemma's handwriting practically illegible. We
get a look at creepy doctor Mauer in the long shot.

(51:52):
Now we know why he was wearing that weird sweater
around Drummond.

Speaker 4 (51:56):
Come on now, sweetheart, it's the last one.

Speaker 2 (52:00):
We get a close up on maurs smug little smile
and his dancing blue Robbie Benson eyes. They distract you
from the so fake beard and stash. Oh, come on,
there's more to this note.

Speaker 6 (52:13):
Nothing selves Christmas like.

Speaker 9 (52:23):
Crowding.

Speaker 2 (52:24):
The social commentary is pointing out the cookie cutter aspect
of thank you notes. They aren't personal. They can't be.
You've got to write dozens of them after your wedding,
or birthday or Christmas. How could they be personal? They
all start to sound alike. Even when the gift is
something as absurd as a growder.

Speaker 4 (52:44):
It's actually a decrowder.

Speaker 2 (52:48):
Close enough you might want to freeze the long shot
of this room for a couple of minutes. The first
thing you should notice is that very snowy and very
phony view out the window. They had a white Christmas
wherever the supposed to be. Remember, based on the elevator
control panel in the security office, this testing floor is
at least fourteen or fifteen stories below ground. The view

(53:09):
out the window is a pretty but backlit picture at best.
A large, traditional, heavily decorated Christmas tree frames the shot
to the left here on the testing floor. This tree
is fake. The Scouts have a real tree in their home.
This tinsel and the decorations look just like the tinsel
and decorations that we will see on Mark and Jemma's

(53:29):
real tree from their flashback scenes. All of those bell
shaped ornaments were three D printed based on the ornaments
from the Scout's tree we'll see in the flashback. Beechen said.
She mentioned noticing this crossover between her audi and any
lives to some of the crew. She found it interesting
no one would comment about it. Hmmm. The tinsel in

(53:51):
particular proved to be a real headache on set. This
is traditional nineteen fifties era tinsel. If you aren't up
on your tinsel my history, you might not realize. We
banned tinsel in the US, starting all the way back
in nineteen seventy two. At least, we banned this stuff.
Tinsel had been mass produced using lead going back to

(54:12):
the nineteen fifties. Lead was cheap, and it provided a shimmery,
glittery surface that mimicked silver. Lead was also incredibly dangerous.
Aside from the fact it was highly flammable, Kids and
pets could eat the lead coated tinsel, even got some
transfer through your skin just by handling the stuff. It
doesn't take much lead to cause serious health problems. Lead

(54:33):
can damage the brain, kidneys, nervous system, and other organs.
It's been linked to learning disabilities and delayed development in children.
Lead builds up in the tissues based on repeated exposure. Thankfully,
Christmas in real time only comes around once a year.
On the testing floor, it sounds like they might be
on a different schedule. After banning the lead based variety

(54:55):
of tinsel, US manufacturers transition to plastic PVC became the
basis for almost all tinsel made since the mid nineteen seventies.
It's not as shimmery, and it doesn't lay the same
way on the tree. Oh yeah, it's also still pretty flammable,
but at least PVC tinsel won't give you heavy metal poisoning.
When Severance decided they wanted to use the real throwback

(55:17):
stuff on their tree, it was a little like bringing
anthrax onto set. You can still get lead based tinsel
from foreign manufacturers and in shady back alleys on eBay.
The Severance production crew had to put up signs warning
people not to eat or even touch the tinsel. Scan
around this Allentown room. It's definitely Christmas, but the gifts

(55:39):
seem off. There's a stand mixer, an upright vacuum cleaner,
a batting helmet. There seem to be several household items,
but everything is very monochromatic. This room is supposed to
be filled with items three D printed by O and D.
When creating this room, the testing floor would have been
sending orders to O and D for all the items

(56:00):
they needed to dress the room for an insane Christmas morning.
An item printed on a three D printer is made
out of the same material all the way through. Consequently,
it has the same color all the way through. In
order to get that look, the production team decided they'd
better really three D print all the things they needed
here in the Allentown room. Then they realized what an

(56:22):
incredibly time consuming and expensive job that would be. Three
D printers are very cool, but they are not fast
or cheap. Some of the items you see here in
Allentown have been three D printed. Most of them are
the real item given a code of spray paint. Spray
painting delivers the same visual effect. The item looks like

(56:42):
it's made from one material. Check the matching sofa and
chair in this room. There's a very heavy industrial feel
to these pieces, David Schlessinger said. Assistant set decorator Janelle
Marie found these items in poland Hindle love the depressing
Eastern Bloc esthetic given off by these pieces, he said.

(57:03):
The testing floor is a prison. It should not be fun.
This sofa and chair combo is functional, but it's definitely
not fun. The production camera tested a lot of greens
before arriving at the tone for this room. The drab
and depressing wall color was taken from the color of
the sofa. The TV on a stick is one we've

(57:24):
seen before. This is the bron FS eighty. It's the
same very cool Deeter Rams design TV Helena was using
to watch security footage in the boardroom back in the
episode Goodbye missus Selbig. It's not just the same kind
of TV. This is the same TV we saw Helena using.
They only have the one. This rare unit was on

(57:46):
loan to the production from the Brawn Archives. Severance sent
a production person to Germany to retrieve an accompany this unit.
No shipping or cargo holds for this baby. They bought
it a ticket for the flight. The production per and
was tasked with not letting this very special TV out
of their sight. They carted it through the streets to

(58:06):
get it to York Studios in a special stroller. The
resin table where Gemma is writing is another Quincy Ellis design.
They already had him on the phone for that conference
room table. Might as well add this one to the order.
In one of the reverse shots of Gemma, we can
see a big stack of strikingly emerald green envelopes. These
contain the many thank you She's already written. These very

(58:29):
rich looking envelopes were sourced from LCI Paper. They are
the three quarter euroflap eighty one t. If you have
your own thank yous to write, you can get envelopes
just like Gemma's for forty cents apiece if you buy
in quantities of one hundred or more. Deechin Lackman said
in a recent interview that this is her favorite of
the testing floor rooms. Turbulence is her least favorite. Alanown.

(58:53):
She just loves teachIn based this feeling on those things
she knows about the room and the character she plays
in it. Intown is the oldest room on the testing floor.
It was Mark's first completed file a good two years ago.
She thinks Jemma has probably been in this room more
times than any other room on the testing floor. If
her life here on the testing floor is filled with

(59:15):
nothing but room visits, she was probably in this room
almost daily. Back when they only had a few rooms
on the floor, there would have been a period of
building up the number of available rooms as Mark completed
more files. Deechen also thinks her allanown Any has probably
achieved a level of emotional development similar to that of

(59:35):
a teenager. That's why she plays these scenes with a
sneering sense of rebellion. None of this character development was
given to Deechin by a director or producer. These are
all conclusions she's reached after living with and studying this character.
It's kind of the thing that makes so many directors
and production people comment about this amazing cast and how

(59:56):
great they are to work with. Beechen's allentown Any asks
how much longer she has to do this? Well, weren't
you listening?

Speaker 4 (01:00:03):
I told you you're done.

Speaker 2 (01:00:05):
This punishment may be concluded, but we wouldn't want you
to gain any ideas. The torture is over.

Speaker 4 (01:00:10):
But Christmas has a funny way of coming back around
each year.

Speaker 2 (01:00:15):
He realizes he's saying this to an inny. He doesn't care.

Speaker 9 (01:00:18):
It's always Christmas.

Speaker 2 (01:00:20):
From her perspective, Yeah, it would be. Mauer says, let's
go and gets up from the creaky Polish recliner. Mauer
pauses on his way to the door. Gemma is rubbing
her sore left hand as she passes by. Maur, I
love you, yuck, hold it what. Jemma pauses and just
snickers at him. She tries to continue past, but he's

(01:00:41):
not letting her. Jemma stops and looks at him. I
said I love you yeah, and she laughed at you.

Speaker 9 (01:00:49):
Ah.

Speaker 2 (01:00:49):
But this is doctor Mauer, who controls the fate of
testing floor. Gemma and any this experience knows the stakes.
That's why she's able to force herself to say without gagging.
This is the very unique, rarely experienced call forward. This
is undeniably creepy and weird, but there is a reason

(01:01:11):
behind Mauer's incredible creepiness. This vignette has played out almost
word for word between Mark and Jemma the night of
Jemma's wreck. Mark was the one who didn't respond. It
was Jemma who had to repeat herself. We'll see the
scene in just a bit. Mauer seems to be using
this exchange as some kind of responsive reading. He already
knows what the responses are supposed to be. He needs

(01:01:33):
Jemma to say them correctly for some reason. Is this
a test? Is he trying to determine if there are
leaks in the chip? Maybe Jemma doesn't respond at all
to these phrases. They don't seem to have any emotional
impact on her. How are your hands, Refiner? After all
that card writing, you should probably wash them again. Severed
will be right back.

Speaker 3 (01:01:56):
Hello, Refiners, this is your beloved leader Egan. Actually it's
Mark Keller, who plays Kier Egan on Severance. For the
latest on stopping the Mdr Rebellion, I like to check
in with Severed, the Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (01:02:15):
Out in the hallway, Gemma is following her nurse and
rubbing her hand. We're watching from a camera high up
in the testing floor ceiling. Much of the extension to
the halls you're seeing here is being created by ilm
in the echo week distance Billie Holidays, I'll be seeing
you as playing Because it's Mark and Jemma's song. We
heard it on Mark State with Alexa and the night

(01:02:35):
he tore up Gemma's picture. It's become a staple of
the Severance soundtrack. After the disappointing I Love You exchange
in Allentown, Mower may be looking for some revenge. There
is a straight on view of the Deeter Rams Wall
Mount stereo system. Kat Miller pointed something out in our
interview that you can really see. In this shot, the

(01:02:56):
input selector's switch on the main control panel and two
of the switches on the reel to real look like
Lumen water drops. These are not later additions. Those are
the actual Deeter Rams designs for those selector switches. Gemma
is back in her mint green lounge suit. The song
seems to be doing its job. Jemma is remembering scenes

(01:03:18):
from her life pre Lumen. We flesh on her sitting
at the top of the stairs looking upset wood. What
sounds like dow rods can be heard clattering in another room.
Jemma tentatively looks over her shoulder. The scene cuts to
a baby crib in pieces on the floor. Also on
the floor a lamp and a low ball glass with
something amber on the rocks. This scene raised some questions

(01:03:40):
and an interesting discussion on the Patreon page. Is Mark
assembling or disassembling the crib? I interpreted this scene as
Mark going ahead with something he doesn't want to do.
He's putting the crib together, but he's not doing it
well or with any enthusiasm. Patron refiners Katie R. And
Kinsey B. Both called me out on this interpretation. They
see this scene as Mark taking the crib apart. The

(01:04:03):
decision to stop trying has been made. Jemma is grieving
on the stairs. Mark is grieving by ripping apart the crib.
Kdr even said grieving Mark is a drunk asshole. It's
how he copes. I can see both sides of this argument.
I do wish if we're supposed to see this as
the crib coming apart, they'd have shown us a more
completed crib. We saw it in the box and talked

(01:04:24):
about how Mark would not be able to build it.
Now we're seeing it in pieces. I wish, just for
a flash, we had seen a completely assembled crib. Billy
continues to kroon. There's a close up on the real
to reel pinch roller. You can see it spinning as
the tape flies by. Our visions are crossing over. Drunken
Mark is still wrestling with the crib pieces. It sounds

(01:04:44):
like something's going to get broken. There's a close up
of the spinning tape. There's a label on the tape
and a lumin logo on the label. What don't they
have their hand in? We keep flipping between testing floor,
tape machine and dysfunction at the scout house. Jemma is
sitting in the dark on the first floor as Mark
continues to roughly move parts of the crib around upstairs.

(01:05:07):
Anger and frustration is bubbling to the surface. Mark pulls
individual spindles out of the crib side and tosses the
whole thing on the floor. It sounds like somebody dumping
out a giant tub of tinker toys. Gemma puts her
head in her hands. This doesn't seem to be the
first outburst from a drunk and frustrated Mark. Gemma flishes
on a scene of Mark at the sink. This scene

(01:05:29):
is overlaid with blue and cold thistles are prominent in
the establishing shot. It's the same base of thistles we
saw earlier. Jemma enters the frame. She picks up a
dish towel to help. There is no contact between these two,
no kisses on the neck, no playful pat on the butt.
They have become tenacious thistles through sheer will. They're keeping

(01:05:50):
the house together, but at least for the time being,
the spark is gone from their relationship. The pressure of
trying to have a baby is overpowering the passion they
had for each each other. We go from reel to
reel to a turntable. Is the source of miss holiday?
Don't miss the Christmas flashback. Mark and Jemma are cuddling
on the couch with the tree right in the middle
of the shot. Recognize those multi colored bells at the

(01:06:13):
same ornaments we saw three D printed without all the
color down on the testing floor. This raises a concerning question.
How long have they been monitoring Mark and Jemma. This
Christmas scene probably predates their visits of the fertility clinic.
Luman has quietly been intruding in the scouts lives all along.

(01:06:34):
There is a theory out there that I enjoy. Remember
all the way back in season one, when Devin asked
Mark how things were going with his therapist, it was
a throwaway line after the no dinner dinner party, Mark
was having a sandwich.

Speaker 4 (01:06:48):
Hey, how's the good.

Speaker 7 (01:06:50):
Doctor therapy man with that weird little mustache?

Speaker 2 (01:06:53):
A therapist with a funny mustache? Could this have been
maur He does like to dress up and wear his
bizarre facial hair appliances. Has he been sneakily inserting himself
into grieving Mark's life? Along with kidnap victim Gemma's remember
how Mauer was eyeing Gemma when they first entered the
fertility clinic. They didn't know him, but he seemed to

(01:07:14):
recognize her. There was some history there, at least on
his part. I'm curious where else in the Scouts lives
Mauer might have shown up wearing his weird little mustache.
A closeup of Gemma with Mark on the sofa. Christmas
morning snaps to a closeup of Gemma down on the
testing floor. She's still in her mint green lounge suit.

(01:07:35):
Gemma is spacing out while eating a piece of key
lime pie. I think this is dessert after another dinner
of food pellets. At least the dessert looks normal. Out
in the hall, we can see the testing floor elevator
door open in the distance. It's doctor Mauer making his
way down to the testing floor for an evening meeting
with Jemma. The fact Mauer rides the severed elevator indicates

(01:07:57):
to me he's not severed, headed to Jemma's apartment for
their daily debriefing. The hallway is dark. The lights are
only on at the hallway junction. As Maur makes his
way through the hall check the action of the sidelights.
This is the testing floor alternative to the motion sensitive
overhead light panels. These sidelights were a Jessically Gangna innovation.

(01:08:20):
The lights on the testing floor that are motion activated
are at your feet. This makes sense. We're a floor
with overnight patients. You wouldn't want a night nurse to
be turning on all of the lights every time she
passes through the hallway. But you also wouldn't want to
put her in a position where she's tripping over things either.
The compromise is these floor mounted motion sensitive lights. They

(01:08:41):
get you safely to your destination without waking up everyone
on the floor. Mar's face appears in the vintage testing
floor version of a ring cam. He's adjusting his tunic
as the picture clarifies. The time on the security panel
tells us it is seven point thirty. I'm interpreting this
as being in the evening. Some viewers calling this seven
point thirty in the morning. I don't think that's the case.

(01:09:04):
We don't get any traditional cues like sun coming through
a window, but based on the routine we've seen so far,
Jemma's nurse would be with her in the morning. Maur
shows up the end of the day, Jemma pushes the
button to allow maur In heava Jemma. As Mauer enters
the apartment, we cut to a long shot giving us
an overview.

Speaker 3 (01:09:25):
Holy Fee.

Speaker 2 (01:09:26):
Jemma stepped over by the triangle table jutting out of
the wall. My hands hours of force. Thank you. Note
writing will do that to you. The pendent light above
the triangle table was designed by Joe Colombo. Joe also
designed the plastic chair sitting in front of her triangle table.
The light is called the Tridero Pendant. It was designed
in nineteen seventy four still Novo, a Milan based lighting company.

(01:09:49):
It's fixed to a black cable with a powder coated
white reflector. The chair is called the Universal, also a
Colombo design. It was created in nineteen sixty. It's a
one piece molded, stackable plastic chair. You see them everywhere
these days. Joe created the very first one. The Universal
is considered the first seating for adults made entirely of ABS.

(01:10:14):
ABS it is an abbreviation for the material. It's way
easier than saying acrylonitril buddhadyne styrene. This chair is part
of the Permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art
and Old advertisement about this chair touted its durability. The
ads said, quote, it won't age or break. You can
throw it out the window, leave it outside, put it underwater,

(01:10:37):
or take it to the North Pole or the desert.
It will always be like new unquote. You can also
take it down to the testing floor, where it would
make a good weapon. More on that in a moment.
While we're still in a long shot. Look in the foreground.
The reading lamp sitting at the end of Gema's sofa
is a C eleven eighty floor lamp. It was designed

(01:10:57):
by John Norman for design house Cassella. It's a UV lamp.
This is alluding to the Truman problem. If you've heard
the Origins episode about the Truman Show, you might remember
Truman needed to take vitamin D supplements since he was
never outside in actual sunlight. They were worried about rickets
brought on by lack of vitamin D. Jemma would be
in the same situation. She never leaves this subterranean prison,

(01:11:21):
she never has sunlight acting on her skin. The UV
light will help somewhat, but I'm also betting she's taking
some vitamin D supplements as well. What do you want
to bet their Lumen brand vitamin D tabs. Maur, in
his long white lab coat, puts his hands behind his
back as he ambles on into Gemma's living space. The
debriefing continues. They aren't using the fluoroscope for the seemings

(01:11:45):
rundown of the day's activities.

Speaker 4 (01:11:47):
What room caused your hand to hurt?

Speaker 2 (01:11:50):
One more quick piece of set deck? While we're in
the long shot. On the side table next to the
sofa is a solitaire game. It's a vintage nineteen seventies
model made out of metal and looseight. I'm sorry I interrupted?
What was that room that caused your hand to hurt?
All in town, Jemma has stepped to the counter with
her dirty dessert dish. She turns to Maur with a

(01:12:10):
plaintive request, I want to go home. Maur doesn't say no.
If he were to say no, then it becomes an
argument between he and Jemma. He doesn't want to be
the bad guy. Instead, he takes a much more insidious
route to shutting down Jemma's request.

Speaker 4 (01:12:25):
Your husband remarried last year.

Speaker 2 (01:12:27):
Jemma takes this news in without changing her expression and
he has a daughter. Now, this is devastating information. I
think Mauer has decided if there's nothing left for her
out there, maybe she won't want to leave so badly.
If her home has been destroyed by Mark's actions, then
there's nothing for her to go back to. This story
is perfectly calculated to cause Jemma maximum pain. Not only

(01:12:51):
has Mark moved on, he's also been able to have
the family you weren't able to give him. Of course,
he doesn't care about or even remember you, the failure
in his life. This new wife of his can give
him all the things you can't, namely a daughter. Now, Really, Gemma,
why would you want to go back to a situation
like that. Robbie Benson is the new face of insidious evil.

(01:13:14):
Sure it's all a lie, but Jemma doesn't know that,
at least not for sure. I don't believe you, but
I think some small part of her does believe him.
If Mark were really concerned about her, if you really
missed her, why hasn't he come to save her? By now,
Gemma is about to get very proactive regarding her imprisonment.
Before she does, you should probably hit the vending machine

(01:13:37):
refiner Severed will be right back.

Speaker 3 (01:13:42):
Hello, Refiners, It's Mark keller ker Egan on Severance. Don't
let your dreary, dead end job get you down. Do
what I do for a workday, pick me up. Listen
to Severed, The Ultimate Severance Podcast.

Speaker 2 (01:14:00):
Maer keeps grinding more salt into the wound.

Speaker 4 (01:14:03):
You've been gone a long time, Jemma.

Speaker 2 (01:14:05):
I wonder if Jemma knows how long she's been gone,
or if she realizes the outside world thinks she's dead.

Speaker 4 (01:14:12):
He's moved on.

Speaker 2 (01:14:13):
The underlying message is anybody who remembers you or cares
about you has moved on. Maur then tries to talk
Jemma down from the ledge she's on.

Speaker 4 (01:14:21):
Maybe you've moved on to m.

Speaker 2 (01:14:23):
Doesn't seem like it. She's still carrying a pretty bright
torch for Mark.

Speaker 4 (01:14:27):
In one of the rooms.

Speaker 3 (01:14:28):
What do you think?

Speaker 4 (01:14:29):
So?

Speaker 2 (01:14:29):
What is he implying here? Does this mean Jemma may
have a life somewhere in one of the testing floor rooms?
She wouldn't know it if she did. Did one of
her anies meet someone? I think Mauur wishes he was
the something she's moved on to. Jemma's expression is passive.
Deechen Lockman told Variety, Jemma has been on the testing
floor for so long, she's just numb. Maur turns away

(01:14:52):
from Gemma. He's monologuing about Jemma's experiences on the testing floor.

Speaker 6 (01:14:57):
Do you feel.

Speaker 4 (01:14:58):
Yourself gravitating towards one room or another?

Speaker 2 (01:15:01):
The more he talks, the creepier he gets.

Speaker 4 (01:15:04):
Maybe you felt things behind those doors you never felt with.

Speaker 2 (01:15:07):
Mark, like intense mouth pain. That's a new feeling. Mark
never once probed Jemma's jaw with dental instruments. Mauer is
trying hard to make himself a part of Jemma's life.

Speaker 4 (01:15:18):
Maybe I've seen it?

Speaker 2 (01:15:20):
Is he wanting her to ask about what he might
have seen. She's very silent. Maur wanders over to the
full bookshelf. He randomly pulls a volume from the shelf,
The Death of Ivan Idiots. Hey, so maybe the book
we saw Jemma reading earlier today was Tolstoy. This volume
also has a lumin logo on the cover. Luman seems
to have reprinted these Russian works in their own custom

(01:15:42):
bindings after the revisions they requested for the U you are.
I'm curious how much of this text is really Tolstoy
and how much has been rewritten by Luman. Since Jemma
would have intimate knowledge of the original, I'm guessing they
probably couldn't change much. Is absent mindedly flipping through the
pages of Ivan Ilyitch when Jemma comes up behind him.

Speaker 9 (01:16:05):
Let me guess he does.

Speaker 2 (01:16:07):
At the end, Jemma has the Columbo designed universal chair
over her head. She brings it down hard on maur
He crumples to the floor, unconscious. Another use for the
functional chair not listed in their ad. Oops, looks like
the Good Doctor went too far with that story about
Mark's new daughter. Jemma fond of him. I don't think so.

(01:16:31):
Jemma goes through Mauer's lab coat pocket. She knows what
she's looking for. Luman's security didn't learn a thing after
the OTC incident on the severed floor. They are still
issuing these all access black key cards, no verification or
identification required, and they work everywhere. Jemma quietly exits her apartment.
She closes the door gently. Out in the darkened hallway,

(01:16:53):
Jemma silently pauses to make sure the coast is clear.
We get a steady cam move that goes all the
way around her darkened hallway intersection. She then heads towards
the testing floor elevator. She can see it at the
end of the hall. Before we get too far down
the hall with Gemma, we need to talk about this attack.
In a Variety interview, Deechan Lockman said she doesn't think

(01:17:14):
this is the first time Jemma's attempted in escape. There
was the comment about Maher's almost broken fingers. Deechin thinks
Gemma's frustration builds up to a point where she can't
stand it anymore. One day she thinks, screw it, I'm
going for it. There are days where she thinks any
escaped attempt is pointless, other days where she thinks she
might have a chance at getting out. After one of

(01:17:35):
these outbursts, her tolerance level goes back to baseline, and
she's able to put up with the indignities of the
testing floor a little while longer. Variety also wanted to
know how many times she got to hit old Maur
with that chair. Was it satisfying she didn't actually hit
him over the head. She said it didn't even take
as many swings as she thought it would. They got

(01:17:57):
the angle right so they could sell it as she's
in order to get the post attack shots. Diechen said
Robbie was forced to lay on the floor for hours
at a time. Professional that he is, mister Benson did
what was necessary for the part. Diechen said she felt
bad about it and was constantly apologizing to Robbie while
shooting these scenes. Gemma slowly starts down the hall in

(01:18:19):
the most direct route to the testing floor elevator. When
she does, she can see lights coming on at the
other end of the hall. Someone is coming. Jessically Ganie
said this Gemma escaping scene was one of the most
rewarding for her to shoot in the entire episode. Jemma's
escape was always in the script, but the specifics evolved
as they worked through the scene. JLG said initially she

(01:18:40):
wanted to do this entire run as one continuous shot.
She said once they got into it, the laws of
physics got in the way. She quickly abandoned the woner idea.
Jemma backs up and selects the hall ninety degrees to
her left. She runs, but then holds up at the
next intersection. She's now one row over the other end
of the hall. Here is dark. Jemma takes off at

(01:19:02):
a full run past several rooms. She ducks to the
right and the hall goes dark. After a couple of beats,
we can hear footfalls. It's the nurse. Sandra Bernhard's nurse
character is out patrolling the halls. I don't know that
she's looking for Jemma specifically just yet, but she seems
to think something is wrong. Casting director Catherine Tenner said

(01:19:23):
getting the character of the nurse right tonally a huge challenge.
They didn't want a frightening nurse ratchet type, but they
also didn't see these two painting toenails together. Sandra provided
just the right balance of caring with threatening. Catherine says,
Sandra adapted to the role the way a lot of
people do in this cast. They come from comedy or
understand comedy well, so they know how to make this

(01:19:45):
tone work. The camera slowly tracks through the hallway. The
nurse stops, turns on her heel, and heads the other
way down the hall. The camera continues to follow along,
heading in the direction of the nurse. What happened to Jemma?
The camera turns a corner and shows a her hiding place.
She is pressed up against one of the angled walls
that leads to a room door. The angle is just

(01:20:06):
enough to get her out of sight from the main hallway.
Jemma is terrified. She takes a deep breath, gathers her
wits about her, and launches herself back into the hallway.
The floor lights are tracking her progress as she makes
her final run for the testing floor elevator. Gemma dang.
The nurse looped back around. Jemma kicks it in hard.
The older and less fit nurse can't keep up. Jemma

(01:20:28):
gets to the elevator and inserts Mauer's key card. Jemma
is just able to get the door is closed before
the nurse arrives. She closes her eyes and takes a
deep breath. This, you remember, is a severed elevator. It
transitions out east to Any's and back again. We've seen
Mauer ride it a couple of times, but I don't

(01:20:49):
believe he is severed. The fact he does ride it
leads me to believe this might be the only elevator
with service down to the testing floor. Gemma transitions, where
does the testing floor elevator go? Well, the only other
place we've ever seen at service is the severed floor,

(01:21:11):
and who is Gemma when she's on the severed floor?
Hold that thought. You've probably already guessed, but they aren't
going to tell us just yet. We get a transition
to a flashback. Most of our flashbacks have been from
Mark's subconscious. This time, I think we're looking at a
Gemma flashback, since we were just with her on the elevator.
We cut to a close up of Mark's hands at

(01:21:33):
a typewriter. So I guess here and Pe just missed
word processors. Microsoft has no hold on these people. We
are at the Scouts House in Mark's office. Gemma comes
through the door with a coat over her arm.

Speaker 4 (01:21:46):
Hey sure don't want to come.

Speaker 2 (01:21:49):
He seems to have already made up his mind just
in case he missed something. He clarifies, Uh, shreds.

Speaker 4 (01:21:55):
That's going to be like twenty minutes of it.

Speaker 2 (01:21:57):
Sounds like it's twenty minutes too much. Yeah, but you know, uh,
the ever fluent and persuasive doctor Scout. Oh and as
I mentioned Doctor Scout, I wanted to throw in a
little aside here after I posted part two of this
episode for proofing. Patron refiner Kinsey b asked how we
know Mark has a PhD. I had to say, well,

(01:22:20):
we don't. I committed a significant faux pas. In the
world of academia. I called Mark doctor, which indicates a
certain level of completed study. Mark works at a community college.
There are a lot of folks who teach at the
community college level who aren't doctors. Many teach very effectively
with a master's degree or even a bachelor's plus work experience.

(01:22:40):
They are referred to as something other than doctor. You'll
see titles like associate professor or instructor. Calling someone with
a master's degree a doctor would be kind of like
calling a colonel in the military general. Both are high ranks,
but there is a definite difference between the two. One
has also worked a lot harder to get where they are.

(01:23:01):
It is okay to call Mark a professor. The term
professor can be applied to any instructor, regardless of their
academic qualifications. If you should hear me call Mark a doctor,
do understand that I don't know if he has actually
completed his PhD work. Jemma doesn't seem too excited about
going to whatever it is she's going to.

Speaker 6 (01:23:22):
Or I could stay.

Speaker 2 (01:23:24):
Yeah, Mark seems pretty busy.

Speaker 6 (01:23:26):
You should probably go, I mean, this thing's gotta be
in tonight.

Speaker 2 (01:23:29):
Anyway, So no idea what this thing is, but it
does have to be in tonight. You know, this wouldn't
have anything to do with Mark hating charades and needing
an excuse to duck out of whatever social engagement this is,
would it. Jemma doesn't push it. She can tell he's
not interested in wherever she's going.

Speaker 8 (01:23:50):
Okay, you get the Denali thing.

Speaker 2 (01:23:53):
I said, the Donali thing.

Speaker 4 (01:23:56):
The uh No, I'll look at.

Speaker 2 (01:23:59):
It, jem with more references to big mountains. Dnali, like Chumalangma,
is one of the traditional names of a mountain. Dnali
is the highest peak in North America, located in Alaska.
You may have heard it by the name Mount McKinley.
Danali stands three and twenty feet above sea level, so
it does not have a death zone, but most climbers

(01:24:22):
on Denali do use bottled oxygen. Denali is called one
of the Seven Sisters. These are the highest peaks on
each of the seven continents. No clue as to what
Gemma is referencing when she says Denali. The couple might
also be considering a new vehicle from the popular Yukon
Donali SUV line made by General Motors. They do make

(01:24:42):
great family cars. Gemma puts on her scarf and says
she'll be back about ten. She turns to leave.

Speaker 8 (01:24:49):
I love you.

Speaker 2 (01:24:50):
There is a pause. Jemma takes a couple of steps,
but then turns back.

Speaker 4 (01:24:55):
Said, oh no, I love you too.

Speaker 9 (01:24:56):
I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 (01:24:57):
This is the vignette Mauer was trying to vote. Look
at the end of the Allentown session. Gemma's Allentown Innie
didn't seem to have any recognition when it came to
these words. She did react to Maur being a slimy
little creep. Jemma leaves and Mark continues his work. We
cut back to a POV shot from inside the testing
floor elevator. The doors open on a hallway that looks familiar.

(01:25:20):
Gemma has arrived on the severed floor. We are at
the other end of irv's nightmare. When we reverse cut
to look back inside the elevator. Guess what Miss Casey
is now standing there wearing Gemma's mint green lounge suit.
How do I know it's miss Casey? Look at her?
That is obviously miss Casey. Going back to my bluetooth
with multiple frequencies theory. I think Gemma's primary INNI is

(01:25:43):
miss Casey. The INNY that all the existing severed barriers
will switch to is the mis Casey any. We never
see miss Casey in any of the rooms down on
the severed floor. Those are all other innis accessed by
other chip frequencies. This inny, the miss Casey persona, is
the one that comes to the surface when Gemma rides
the testing floor elevator. Foreshadowing note, this is also the

(01:26:06):
Oudy switch that will be thrown if miss Casey goes
through another severed barrier. Based on what we know about
severanch chip behavior, another severed barrier should switch miss Casey
back to outy Gemma, as we'll see in episode ten.
That's exactly what happens. More on that in a couple
of episodes. The elevator door closes behind her as ms

(01:26:26):
Casey starts the long walk through the darkened elevator hallway.
As she's about to make her way to the hallway door,
it opens. A somewhat out of breath Seth Miltchik appears
at the door. Miss Casey ses in his writing leathers. Remember,
according to the entry screen on the testing floor. It
was seven thirty in the evening when doctor Mauer arrived.
This has to be seven forty or seven forty five

(01:26:49):
by now. Seth Miltchik, the hardest working man at Lumen,
must have been preparing to head home for the day
when he got a frantic call from the testing floor.
I'm betting Sandra Bernhard was the one to reach out
with the heads up about stopping Ms Casey at the
testing floor elevator on the severed floor level. Seth put
his going home prep on hold and ran to the

(01:27:10):
testing floor hallway. Mister Milchak, there is recognition in her eyes.
She's seeing a familiar face at the end of the
scary hallway. Before Miss Casey can even ask a question,
Seth is into apology mode.

Speaker 9 (01:27:24):
I'm so sorry.

Speaker 2 (01:27:25):
Miss Casey wants to know what's happening. This isn't her
normal severed floor outfit. She doesn't have a notepad or
files with her. What is she doing here? Seth is
smooth as usual, He says it was nothing, a tiny mistake.

Speaker 10 (01:27:40):
Your outie came in for a public art exhibition and
found herself in the wrong elevator.

Speaker 2 (01:27:46):
This story comes to him so easily. It must have
been when they had ready just in case, Seth's nervous
giggle is giving away the lie. Miss Casey is not
sophisticated enough to recognize his deception. Miss Casey does not
question the existence of her audie and the fictitious art exhibit.
She does look very disappointed. She starts to ask how

(01:28:08):
long she's been, but Seth cuts her off. His voice
becomes stern.

Speaker 10 (01:28:13):
If you wouldn't mind turning around and heading back in,
it would be greatly appreciated.

Speaker 2 (01:28:17):
This tone is saying you're close to being in big trouble.
Don't push it. Miss Casey offers the slightest bit of pushback.
Seth steamrolls her when you go, oh, the hurt in
Miss Casey's expression is devastating. It's like watching someone kick
a puppy. She realizes this is an unwinnable battle and turns.
Seth remains in the doorway as she slowly retraces her

(01:28:38):
steps to the testing floor elevator. She so does not
want to leave this place. This floor is where her
happiest lifetime memories have happened. She turns, Oh, thank you,
Miss Casey. Seth's tone is loaded with finality. As Jemma turns,
I find myself thinking how glad I am Alice B
and her team took the extra time to get the

(01:29:00):
green outfit looking so good. We see that thing a
lot and from all sides, So what's up with this
creepy Testing floor elevator. As Jemma approaches the door, it opens.
She doesn't need to push a button or insert a
key card, It just opens. There must be some infrared
beam that signals when someone is approaching the down Only

(01:29:21):
red arrow lights up as the door is open. Miss
Casey takes one final look over her shoulder before she
gets on the elevator, doors close or relieved, looking seth.
Miltchik pulls the hallway door closed behind him and the
incident is over. This is the failsafe. This is how
they keep Testing Floor Gemma from escaping. It's kind of
hard to escape when leaving the floor causes you to

(01:29:43):
cease being you. Did it feel weird seeing mister Miltchik.
That's because it's the only time we see him this
entire episode. Aside from the tiny flashback of Miss Casey's
visit to Mdr. We are never on the severed floor
this entire episode. No Dylan Helly either. This is a
Gemma centric episode, so it's all happening down on the

(01:30:05):
testing floor or in the Mark and Gemma flashbacks. A
big pan moved to the right with a dissolve transitions
us back to the Scouts house. It's a continuation of
the night we saw earlier. Jemma is out somewhere playing charades.
Mark is working at his desk on something he claims
still has to be in tonight. Mark is certainly working,

(01:30:26):
but this claim of still turning whatever this is in
tonight kind of bothered me. In the digital Internet age,
sure turning something in after regular office hours is common.
Make sure the email is timestamped before midnight, and whatever
it is will be accepted. Since Mark doesn't have a
computer anywhere on his desk and whatever he's working on
is on the typewriter, I don't think he has this

(01:30:47):
digital turn in option. Does that mean he has to
take whatever this is somewhere still tonight. Turning something in
electronically allows for weird after hours deadlines. For something physical
like what Mark to be working on, you'd think he
needed to get it to somebody's office by five pm.
I'm wondering if Mark's need to get it in tonight

(01:31:07):
excuse it was just a way to get out of charades.
Mark turns as he sees cars approach headlights sweep through
the office windows. There's a great production story here. Mark
was originally supposed to be asleep in his bedroom for
this scene. In an early draft of the script. He
would be awakened by knocking. It seemed like the most
disruptive and alarming way to deliver such bad news. Then

(01:31:31):
jlg ordered food delivery to her home. When she saw
the car with her food approaching the house, the headlights
made this cool sweep through the room. Jessica immediately made
a mental note Mark should be out here when the
cops arrived. Seeing those headlights sweep through the room is
far too cool and foreboding, a natural effect to pass up.

(01:31:52):
Mark's expression is one of concern. Before he's even opened
the door, you can tell he knows something is terribly wrong.
Mark is looking viciously at the approaching headlights. A number
of car doors can be heard slamming out in the yard.
We cut to Jemma once again on the testing floor elevator.
She transitions and realizes she's right back where she started.

(01:32:22):
Gemma looks around in a panic. She's crushed, realizing the
elevator is about to open back on the testing floor.
When it does, the passive face of Nurse Bernard is
waiting for her. The camera moves off right and we
transition back to Mark. He's making the long walk to
the front door. The shot changes to behind Mark's head.
We can just glimpse the nervous cops on the other

(01:32:44):
side of the door. They'd rather not be here delivering
this awful news to this new widower, but it's part
of the job. We get a cut to Mark's face
as he tries to decipher what he's seeing outside his
front door. There are cuts back and forth between Mark
and Jemma. Mark is realizing Jemma is dead. Jemma is
realizing she may never get out of here to see Mark.

(01:33:07):
There's a slow dissolve which places Mark to far frame
left and an overlay of Gemma far frame right. They
are facing each other. This is the same couple positioning
we've seen with Mark and Helly and Seth and Natalie
through space and time. Mark and Jemma are being linked
as a couple in this transition. The dissolve ends back

(01:33:29):
in the testing floor elevator. Jemma's lip is quivering. This
is maybe one too many crushing disappointments. She slides down
the back wall of the elevator. Tears are running down
her cheeks. Her breathing is ragged. Under her breath, we
can hear the chance to see him again is the
only thing keeping her going. Hearing he's moved on was

(01:33:51):
enough to send her into a rage. Maur had better
learn to be careful. Backing Gemma up against the wall
with nothing to lose is dangerous. We hold on Gemma
sitting on the floor of the elevator in tears. The
nurse's hand enters frame. There's a cut to a shot
looking way down the hall. The testing elevator and some

(01:34:12):
of the hallway around it is lit in the center
of the screen. The rest of the frame is in darkness.
We get a gorgeous dissolve happening here. Do not miss this.
Gemma and the nurse are making their way toward the camera.
The transition slowly dissolves to the silhouette of Mark's head
from behind. The lighted areas of the testing floor hallway
are still visible within the darkened outline of Mark's head.

(01:34:35):
This is a great image for a couple of seconds.
I was reminded of the faceless Cobel image with the
open front of her head from the extra eg Season
two animation. Cut to Mark from the front. He's frozen.
He knows whatever is happening on his front porch. It's bad.
He can't bring himself to open the door. The dissolve
fades to black, then there's a cut to current day

(01:34:57):
Mark's closed eye before we get too far away from
Jema's breakdown on the testing floor elevator. I had another
quick Dachin story, she told Vulture. They shot the sequence
in the elevator four times. She had to make her
transition from Miss Casey to Gemma, realize where she was,
have the door open to reveal the nurse, slide down
the back wall in tears, then be helped up by

(01:35:17):
the nurse who offers a hand into the shot. It's
both very technical and emotional, and they did it all
in one take. Dietchen said it was one of the
most challenging things she's ever had to do as an actress.
Let's get back to unconscious Mark's eye it's opening. The
cut reverses to show us what this newly opened eye
is seeing. It's blurry, but we can tell it's sister

(01:35:40):
Devin and Mark's sundrenched living room, or at least as
sun drenched as this dreary place of his. Ever gets
another shot of Mark's eye, Then we cut back to
Devin look like testing lenses at the eye. Doctor Devin
comes into view. She's smiling down at him, but you
can see the concern on her face. Hey, Mark is

(01:36:01):
moving slowly. We cut to a Dan angle view as
he assesses his situation. He's coming to terms with where
he is and what's happening. He's recovering from this very
vivid Gemma experience. He pulls himself up on one elbow careful.
Mark looks around the room without a word. We see
him realize his situation.

Speaker 8 (01:36:21):
Mark.

Speaker 2 (01:36:21):
She then asked the same question our nurse asked Jemma
at the open of the episode. The Severn's creative team
does love to bookend episodes. Mark turns to Devin. His
eyes are haunted. He doesn't say a word. You can
see he's dealing with a lot of thoughts and emotions
that are confusing Mark flashes on a memory. It's young

(01:36:42):
and carefree looking Gemma coming through the library. No sound,
just some slight rushing wind in the background. I want
you to check out an incredible detail here as Jemma
passes the shelf in the foreground of this shot frame right,
look at the numbers on the end of the shelf.
There's a very large ninety seven into the far side
of the shelf, a large one hundred on the nearer side.

(01:37:05):
These numbers have meaning to our story. Oh they certainly.
Do you remember Drummond said Mark was stuck at ninety
six percent on Cold Harbor. All he has left to
do is ninety seven through one hundred. His subconscious mind
may be showing him some barely remembered details to tie
his visions all back together. Jemma slows in an effect

(01:37:27):
as she turns the corner and exits the frame to
the left. There's a cut back to Mark's face. He
still hasn't said a word. I was starting to worry
whatever Regabi did while mucking around in his brain had
somehow damaged his speech. He puts his hand to his mouth.
His expression is one of profound sadness. We are given
a final look at Mark's mind's eye, he's seeing an

(01:37:48):
extreme closeup of Jemma's eyes. The brightness intensifies and we
cut to black q the closing credits. Jessica talked at
length about this scene where Mark wakes up. She shot
this on this second day of shooting on this episode.
This means it was jlg's second day of being a director.
She'd talked it through with Adam Scott. Mark has experienced

(01:38:10):
all of these moments with Jemma in his mind's eye,
then he has to wake up and realize none of
it is real and Jemma is not there. Jessica said
she could see Adam getting really focused before they started shooting.
She said she had the feelings something great was going
to happen. He went in the zone. When they did
that take, it's the one we just saw. He crushed it.

(01:38:33):
JLG said it was obvious they had it on the
first take. All she had to do as a director
was called got it moving on. But this was only
her second day as a director. Could she possibly have
the directorial balls to rely on a single take of
this very important shot. Nope, they shot a safety. We'll
never see the safety because they already had the shot.

(01:38:56):
The music over the closing credits is from the Cold
by John Winterstein. He describes it as an ambient neo
classical piano song. The music continues, and that's it for
the episode called Chicai Bardo. So how did Jessica Lygania
enjoy her first foray into directing. She claims she's found
her any. She said, her audi has always been this

(01:39:16):
cinematographer person. Cinematography just was not doing it for her creatively.
Suddenly this any director has emerged. JLG says she has
found her any and she is kicking and screaming to
get out. This Innie may also be winning an Emmy
in the fall. Unfortunately, this means we are going to
lose Jessica from the Severance crew for good. She can't

(01:39:38):
be cinematographer anymore because she's headed off to a movie
where she is directing. Oh my, Refiner, that was a
lot great job on the file. Cheeki Bardo, volunteer producer
of VINNP had an observation I wanted to share here.
It says a lot about the caliber of storytelling happening
on Severance in this entire episod. So we never hear

(01:40:01):
the words pregnancy, fertility, miscarriage, or fertility clinic. There was
no need. Thanks to the outstanding work of our writers, director,
and cinematographer. We got it all through context. It's not
necessary to explicitly say those things out loud when you've
got such excellent storytelling. Now it's time to shut down
your workstation and make your way to the Severed elevator.

(01:40:22):
As always, a big thanks to volunteer researchers slash producer
Vinyp for his contributions to this week's podcast. Also a
big thanks to those of you who are leaving comments
on the Facebook page, Reddit or as an Apple podcast reviewer.
Do read them all and your kind words and encouragement
are greatly appreciated. Quick reminder before you leave, get to

(01:40:44):
the Severed Patreon page. Support this Severed podcast by pledging
five dollars a month on Patreon. Signing up is easy.
Go to patreon dot com slash severed pod. That's patreon
dot com slash severed pod. You'll be supporting the podcast
and implementing my retirement income. Now it's time to shut
down your workstationing get to the elevator. Refiner, Thanks for

(01:41:06):
returning to the Severed floor. I'll see you next time.
Now get out of here. As always, please stagger your exits.

Speaker 7 (01:41:13):
You've been listening to Severed, the Ultimate Severance podcast. Severed
is written, produced, and hosted by Alan Stair.

Speaker 1 (01:41:20):
Severed is not endorsed by Red Hour Productions, in Never Content,
or Apple tv Plus. This podcast is intended for entertainment
and informational purposes only.

Speaker 7 (01:41:31):
Severance, the Severance logo, and all video and audio of
Severance and Severance Characters are registered trademarks of Red Hour,
Endeavor Content, Apple TV Plus, or their respective copyright holders.

Speaker 1 (01:41:42):
Please make sure to leave a five star rating and
review for Severed at Apple Podcasts

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S2E27 - REWATCH07-PT03 - Chikhai Bardo

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