‘I’ll see you in another life, brother’: ‘Severance’ referenced an iconic sci-fi series
4 8 15 16 23 42
It’s been almost 15 years since the Lost series finale, and fans still find a way to bond over Easter eggs and mysteries. Recently, to the delight of Dharma Initiative acolytes everywhere, the Lost numbers were spotted on Severance.
What does a show about characters trapped in an office building have to do with a show about characters stranded on a tropical island, besides the unsettling (albeit incorrect) feeling that the characters on both shows were secretly in purgatory? A few Severance fans on social media, chief among them an X user called sitcommusings, pointed out that Dylan, Irving, and Helena’s locker numbers at Lumon Industries are all numbers that occurred in a sequence made famous by Lost: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. This detail was revealed in season 2, episode 2 of the Apple TV+ series.
It’s not the first time the Lost numbers have shown up on a non-Lost show. Shows like Veronica Mars, Fringe, and Superstore referenced them too. But there’s something very Lost-y about Severance, right?
So, what is Mark’s locker number on Severance?
Irving’s locker number is “4,” Helena’s is “15,” and Dylan’s is “23.” Mark’s is illegible, but he’s right in the middle of a row. Each row has nine lockers, so their numbers would line up like this:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Irving) | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 (?) | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 (?) | 16 (Helena) | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 (Dylan) | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
| 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 (?) | 43 | 44 | 45 |
You can see in episode 2 that Irving’s locker is four from the left, Helena’s is three from the right, and Dylan’s is also in the middle. Mark’s most likely options are “5,” “14,” “32,” and “41”–not Lost numbers. There could be one row of ten lockers we haven’t seen, making Mark’s “42,” but I wouldn’t bet on it. Based on the proximity of their lockers to Judd’s security desk, I think Mark and Helly are on the same row, thus placing him at “14.” Bummer!
Do the Lost numbers have a deeper meaning on Severance?
Spoilers for Lost Season 6! Towards the end of the series, our survivors learn that an enigmatic character named Jacob has a numbered list of potential guardians for the island, a.k.a. “candidates.” Wouldn’t you know it, candidate “4” is Locke, “8” is Hurley, “15” is Sawyer, “16” is Sayid, “23” is Jack, and “42” is either Sun or Jin–all main characters on Lost.
Some comments online suggest that this means that the list connects the corresponding Lost character to the Severance character via locker number. Personally, I don’t think that theory holds water. Sure, Helena probably would be a good torturer like Sayid, and Irving is a man of faith like Locke. But Dylan does not have main character energy or a savior complex like Jack, and the candidates that could correspond to the numbers that could hypothetically be Mark’s locker number—”5,” “14,” “32” and “41” are Barnes, Pryce, Rutherford, and Turner respectively—are inconsequential, except for Shannon Rutherford. Please don’t make me argue that Mark is the Shannon of Severance.
I think this Easter egg is a reward for fans who get the same vibes from Severance that they did from Lost. We’re supposed to be theorizing and squinting at numbers. It’s a wink at the camera. It’s also a useful reminder that not every detail has to have a secret meaning for a show to be valuable. As fans of Lost show-runner Damon Lindelof’s show The Leftovers know … sometimes it’s best to let the mystery be.
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