Lumon’s lies on ‘Severance’ hide a sinister plot. What’s the truth?

Severance season 2 is really setting us up for more answers (and lies) from Lumon. In “Chikhai Bardo,” we get to see first land how Lumon is willing to lie to get what they want.

Season 2 of the series is really giving us a deeper look into what Lumon wants from its severed employees. We’ve seen the lengths they’ll go to get Mark S. (Adam Scott) to finish his projects and we’ve seen how dedicated the board is to making Lumon succeed. Even if that means continually sacrificing Helena Eagan’s (Britt Lower) safety by throwing Helly R. back on the severed floor.

In episode 7 of this season though, we were given a unique look at Mark Scout’s relationship with his wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman) and were shown a bit more of the inner workings of Lumon. It did however then bring up a lot of “ideas” about the company and what these severed employees are doing and the lies that Lumon tells its employees.

We sort of know how Mark and Gemma’s lives as professors became tied to Lumon and we know that Gemma is still alive. But the episode left us with a more devastating look at what Lumon is doing to its employees. And many of us have some theories as to what it all means.

Unpacking “Chikhai Bardo” is going to take an entire MDR team but let’s talk about the lies we saw laid out for Gemma and Mark in this episode.

What exactly is Macrodata Refinement doing?!

As is always the case with Severance, the biggest question we all have is what exactly does Lumon as a company do. There are many theories as to what the Macrodata Refinement department does. MDR has been linked to explosions in reading material for the show (but the connection there isn’t clear) and we’ve seen Helly R. succeed in feeling out the numbers.

What all that means, we don’t know. But a new theory has been introduced post “Chikhai Bardo” that makes for a really interesting look into what Lumon is actually doing. Gemma’s severed selves all seem to be different from one another, each heading into a room that holds a “fear” of Gemma’s. Or just something she doesn’t want to do.

We hear her and Mark talking about how she hates thank you cards and one of the versions of Gemma is just always at the dentist. Another is flying. So the theory is that the employees of Lumon are working on perfecting the severed program for mass release, which would tie in with the severed woman that Devon (Jen Tullock) saw at the birthing center.

So is Gemma going through these day after day to see if these versions of herself can remain calm in the face of what is essentially torture for that version of herself? Or are they keeping her there for some more sinister reason and keeping her away from Mark?

The most devastating of lies

“Chikhai Bardo” was split between Mark’s memories of his life with Gemma prior to his severance procedure as well as Gemma’s life at Lumon. She deals with a series of men (all played by Robby Benson) in different rooms, all named for projects that the MDR team has reportedly worked on in the past. It showed us that Gemma has multiple severed personalities or, at least, that’s what it seems like.

But at the end of each room, she comes out to debrief and asks about Mark. Towards the end of the episode, Gemma is clearly tired of the work she’s been doing. She’s listening to “I’ll Be Seeing You” by Billie Holliday when she gets a vistor. Dr. Mauer, the version of Benson’s character that Gemma meets with, comes to visit her in her Lumon apartment. They talk about which room made her hand hurt and Gemma says that she wants to go home.

Shutting off the music, Dr. Mauer does not miss a beat when he lies to Gemma. “Your husband remarried last year and he has a daughter now.” We as the audience know that Mark did not move on but the episode also shows us that Gemma doesn’t seem to know that Mark is working for Lumon now. Mauer’s lie is then two fold, showing Lumon’s dedication to keeping Mark around and the need to keep Gemma in the dark.

She doesn’t believe Mauer though and runs to escape, landing on the severed floor and bringing out the “Ms. Casey” personality, leaving her stuck in Lumon.

The biggest villain of them all?

Just when you think you can feel “bad” for Mr. Milchick… Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman) was forced into a leadership position and is struggling with it. The board isn’t kind to him and he’s left managing a severed floor with a bunch of MDR employees who are a bit too nosy. It led to many (myself included) feeling badly for him. I saw him working to fix those paperclips.

But then came episode 7. After Dr. Mauer’s lies to Gemma, she runs, hoping to find a way out of Lumon so she can find Mark and see for herself whether or not he moved on without her. She ends up on the severed floor though in the same dark hallway that Irving (John Turturro) was painting as his outie. As she is running towards the floor, she suddenly becomes Ms. Casey and is greeted by Mr. Milchick.

In that moment, he could have turned against the company who is trying to control his every move but he showed that he is loyal to Lumon no mater what. He stops her and tells her to turn around and go back. The way Milchick explains it to Ms. Casey is that her “outie” came to visit Lumon for an art exhibit and got lost. Ms. Casey, not knowing any better, believes him and does so but not before pausing.

It is not Ms. Casey’s fault, she is an innie. But it does confirm that Mr. Milchick will keep up Lumon’s lies and it showed just how deep his belief in the company goes. Even if that means becoming a villain in the process.

Why is Mark this important?

All of this goes back to my question about Severance: Is Mark who was important or is it Gemma? Through the episode, we see Dr. Mauer in the background of the fertility specialist that Gemma and Mark go to. We don’t know if that is her doctor or if he is just at the company but he’s there, making it seem like all of this is tied to Gemma and Mark’s struggle to have kids.

So did Gemma join the severed program to try and have a kid as her innie to not go through the pain of losing a child if she had a miscarriage? Or was Lumon’s plan all along to trick Gemma into joining them, knowing that Mark would follow? It is a real chicken or the egg question for me because I think both can happen and it just results in my theories going in a circle.

“Chikhai Bardo” didn’t help that because it really does seem like either option is possible. But the lies that Lumon shared with Gemma while she trusted them and how they continue to lie to Mark and his family are terrifying. This episode made it clear that Lumon will do whatever it takes for the company to succeed. They’re just maybe not ready for how willing Gemma and Mark are to fight for one another.