The severed people in Lumon or “innies” are slowly evolving, and Ms. Cobel can’t seem to control it even with Milchick’s help. While Helly has been breaking the rules, Mark has been reading a book in hiding, and Irving has been fraternizing with Burt.
In Episode 6, everyone crossed a line, all thanks to Mark. Mark decided to take the MDR (Macro Data Refinement) to the O&D (Optic & Design) department to introduce both teams. This was highly unusual for the severed employees of Lumon.
Mark also went a step ahead and asked everyone if they knew what they were doing and urged them to work together and find the answer.
So, will the MDR and the O&D department work together to discover the true nature of their jobs? Is that Lumon’s secret, or is there something else hiding beneath the surface?
MDR and O&D might try to work together to find out the true nature of their jobs. This might not be Lumon’s biggest secret but might lead to it.
However, with Ms. Cobel in charge, this would be difficult, and so, everyone would divide into groups and work.
Mark nudged everyone to question exactly what was the nature of their jobs. For obvious reasons, nobody knew the answer.
He then went on to say that considering Kier Eagan propagates illumination above all, the company shouldn’t have a problem if they did find the answer.
Before things escalate further, Milchick interrupts their union and takes Mark to the break room. We don’t know what happens next because Mark seems to have left Lumon for the day.
After Mark was taken to the break room, we don’t see what happens next. We only see him out with Alexa, and his knuckles seem to have a red mark.
Although the company told him that he got it stuck while trying to move something heavy, we all know that it is because of what he did.
Milchick or Ms. Cobel probably tortured him as a punishment for going against Cobel’s orders of not going to the other department.
While this might change things, I don’t think the severed employees will be able to stop themselves from trying to know the answer. If we look at all characters, here’s what we see.
Mark is being influenced by Ricken’s book and trying to compare Lumon’s principles with their actions. Helly never felt she belonged here and would do anything to get out.
Irving being the senior-most official, showed restraint, but even he couldn’t help but fraternize with Burt. Dylan seems to be reacting to everything happening before him and is going with the flow.
So, if you think about it, all these characters can be seen as AI developing a higher sense of intelligence and achieving a more heightened sense of consciousness.
Stopping them now would be too difficult for Cobel, Milchick, or anyone in Lumon. They’d have to either let them all go or kill them all because curiosity always trumps fear.
Once Mark comes back to Lumon, there’s a chance he’d still want to work with Helly, the rest of the team, and even O&D to find the answers. However, Ms. Cobel can be pretty ruthless, so she might put restrictions that no one can cross.
But, all this hasn’t stopped Helly, whose only focus is to leave this place as soon as possible. So, in the upcoming episode, we might see the characters trying to work together more than anything else. As a result, they would be functioning in scattered groups.
For instance, Helly and Mark could work together to try and finish their maps, while Mark could go back to reading the book and using it as a guide for what his next steps should be. Dylan might try something once he gets back.
Dylan might want some answers after his encounter with Milchick at his home if he remembers the incident. Irving usually tries to play by the rules, but there’s a chance that his longing to visit Burt might make him do something sneaky.
Whatever happens, I think since Season 1 is coming to an end, the chaos is bound to increase, and one way or another, we will get some answers. We just have to wait and see how.
About Severance
Severance is an American science fiction psychological thriller streaming television series created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle. The plot follows Mark (Scott), an employee of Lumon Industries who agrees to a “severance” program in which his non-work memories are separated from his work memories.
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