Spoilers for the Season 2 finale of Severance are forward! In case you aren’t able to go down this elevator but, you may stream the primary two seasons with an Apple TV+ subscription.
We lastly discovered what Lumon is doing with these numbers. We formally know the place Gemma was and how she was being handled. Nonetheless, we don’t actually know why Lumon was attempting to tamper together with her feelings. So, I made a decision to ask Gemma actress Dichen Lachman about it, and he or she shared an A+ concept.
As Severance’s second season got here to a detailed on the 2025 TV schedule, MDR’s work was lastly revealed, and we realized that Mark’s spouse’s feelings had been being tampered with to make it so she did not really feel them when confronted with a few of her largest fears and/or issues she loathes. Nonetheless, we don’t actually know why Lumon did this. So, after I requested Dichen Lachman why the corporate was doing this, she instructed us:
My concept is simply primarily based on, you realize, we’ve the birthing cabins in Season 1, and we’ve all these items that Gemma loathes doing, which she finally ends up doing in these rooms. I believe my concept is that they are attempting to create one thing so that individuals do not should expertise something disagreeable.
After studying that Mark’s recordsdata in MDR are linked to the rooms Gemma went in, he completed his remaining file, Chilly Harbor. That made it so his spouse had to enter this remaining room, which had a lone child crib in it.
That was arguably one of many worst issues she may face, contemplating her historical past with being pregnant. So, this being her remaining room appeared to suggest that it’s the duty that would be the hardest for her to finish as a result of her feelings may have taken over. Her with the ability to take the crib aside exhibits that Lumon’s efforts are working.
Dichen Lachman went on to attach her concept to a much bigger societal thought. She defined that it looks like many individuals wish to “numb” the unpleasantness of their lives. That bigger thought performed into her concept in regards to the severance know-how and these assessments Gemma went via, as she mentioned:
I believe in our society, we have a tendency to do this, you realize? Like if we are able to numb one thing that is disagreeable, we are going to. If we are able to take a capsule that may make us really feel nice, as a result of we do not wish to take care of one thing, we are going to. And so the severance know-how is simply that, you realize, at mild pace forward.
She then mentioned she wouldn’t do one thing like that personally, as a result of “you may’t actually get pleasure from moments for those who don’t have unhappy ones or painful ones.” And that’s an thought I’d prefer to see explored in Season 3.
Personally, I believe this can be a nice concept, and between Gemma’s remaining room and the birthing cabins, it tracks that Lumon is doing all this to remove ache or struggling. And clearly, since that is Severance, a purpose like that comes with pricey penalties.
Over on CinemaBlend’s Instagram, we posted this clip of the actress explaining her concept, and the followers had been in settlement. @alexemplify particularly wrote that each one of our experiences, “good and dangerous, our traumas and fears” form us. Their interpretation of this concept continued with:
…That is primarily what I believe Cobel meant when she mentioned Gemma was already ‘lifeless’ if Mark had accomplished Chilly Harbor. And to no shock, the Chilly Harbor room ended up representing the deepest, most painful expertise of Gemma, the one factor that most likely formed her character essentially the most. Sensible screenwriting. Sensible present!
Very similar to followers’ reactions to Severance’s Season 2 finale, they’ve deep ideas about this concept. Lachman does too, and so do I. Now that we all know Season 3 will occur, I’m considering even more durable about all this as a result of I’m positive we’ll be taught extra about it at any time when new episodes come out.
General, I believe the Gemma actress’s concept is unbelievable, and I hope we get to be taught extra about it in Season 3. Between that, Mark’s innie leaving Gemma to run with Helly, and the continuing battle between the innies and the outies, we’re arrange for a morally complicated installment that I can’t wait to observe, theorize and debate.