There are a few overarching mysteries in the mind-bending sci-fi psychological thriller series Severance. The biggest one, of course, is what Lumon Industries’ ultimate goal is with the severance program and employees like Mark (Adam Scott). The second is what happened to Mark’s wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman) who, it was confirmed at the end of Season 1 when a picture of her was revealed, is actually alive. Mark’s innie knew her as Ms. Casey, the wellness counselor for the severed floor.
Since Season 2 has resumed, the mystery has deepened as Mark’s innie now knows who Ms. Casey really is in relation to his outie and eventually, Mark’s outie learns that she is still alive, too. Not surprisingly, he will stop at nothing to reunite with his wife. But where is she and what happened? Episode 7, one of the most visually stunning and beautifully presented of the series, finally reveals her story.
A Traumatic Experience May Have Driven Her To Sever, or Made Her Attractive To Capture
Through a series of flashbacks, likely both from Mark as he is unconscious while suffering the effects of the reintegration program, as well as Gemma in various states, viewers finally get to see sweet moments of the couple together. They meet in a library where he is donating blood while going through school papers: his previous job was a history professor while she taught Russian literature.
It was clear there was immediate chemistry, and the two began dating, eventually leading to marriage. As anyone who is desperate to have children knows, this journey is not always simple. There are scenes of a boxed bassinet in the corner that Mark bought because it was on sale, suggesting the couple are hopeful of getting pregnant. Later, in a scene where they are enjoying dinner with Devon (Jen Tullock) and Ricken (Michael Chernus), Devon gives Gemma “the look” when she refuses wine. She knows what this means, and the pair share a quiet look of mutual joy at the silent news.
However, this is short-lived. Later, Gemma is seen in the bathroom, blood running down her legs following an obvious miscarriage. She hops into the bathtub with her nightgown still on as Mark walks in, discovers her curled up and sobbing. Later, the pair are seen filling out forms at a fertility clinic. It appears they try at least three times to no avail. Another scene shows the cracks in their marriage starting to form as they deal with so much heartache and disappointment. The pair seem to be quieter than usual, Mark in one scene angrily trying to put together the bassinet that they may never actually need.
It’s possible that the pain from losing a child and not being able to conceive leads Gemma to decide to fake her own death and join the severance program. Did Lumon present an offer she couldn’t refuse, promising the opportunity to have a child if she joined their research? Or did she simply think this was the best option because she was never going to get the life she wanted? It’s also entirely possible that Gemma was taken against her will.
The last time Mark sees her is while he is working away in his office. She mentions the “Denali thing” she sent him and asks if he read it. As she heads out, she says “I love you” but he’s caught up in his work. She prods and he apologizes and says, “I love you, too.” Later that evening, police officers arrive at Mark’s door, removing their hats as he looks through the window and knows what they are about to say.
Where Has Gemma Been All This Time?
The episode flips back and forth between the past and recent times. At the Lumon offices, Gemma is Gemma when she is in a room with a doctor/scientist, played by Sandra Bernhard in a surprise cameo. But each time she leaves after undergoing several tests and answering various questions, she is in a different outfit and enters a different room. The doors to each room have names like Loveland, Siena, Wellington, Cairns, Zurich, and Allentown. One in particular will pique viewers’ interests, called Cold Harbor
In each room is a different scenario, usually involving some type of pain and/or suffering. In one, she visits the dentist with a schoolgirl-like outfit and a sense of innocence that makes her appear almost child-like. In another, she’s in a plane that is plummeting to the ground as she screams in fear. In the third, she’s with the same man, who it turns out is the creepy Dr. Maur, in a ’50s-style home at Christmas. She’s a bored housewife writing dozens of thank you cards, begging to get a break as her writing has, at this point, become completely illegible. “It’s always Christmas,” she declares to the man who she clearly despises, but also suggests that this innie has become somewhat self-aware.
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This Westworld-like existence has been going on seemingly the entire time Gemma has been presumed dead. Up until now, viewers had only ever seen her enter one area: the severed floor where she took on the persona of Ms. Casey. But one room she hasn’t yet been to is Cold Harbor. When she asks Dr. Maur why and what happens when she does, he declares that she will see the world and “the world will see you.” She asks if this means she will also see Mark. “Mark will benefit from the world you’re siring,” he says. “Kier will take away all his pain just as Kier has taken away yours.”
Each time Gemma returns from various rooms, she is asked a series of questions, like how she feels. “My hand hurts,” she says, for example, after spending time in the Christmas-themed room writing endless thank you cards. “Which room made you feel that way?” Dr. Maur asks. She answers correctly. He asks the same after the dentist visit, to which she replies that her teeth hurt after going into that room. Gemma may not remember what happens in each room, but she remembers how she feels after leaving it. This all begs the question: why is she still there?
Gemma Has Tried to Escape
While fans initially viewed Gemma as someone who abandoned Mark, faked her death, and went deep into an experiment with Lumon, suggesting she might be part of its “cult” mentality, that might not entirely be the case. Or if it was, she certainly has regrets.
In one scene, a clearly troubled Gemma tells Dr. Maur that she wants to go home. He refuses her with a smile, and lies to her, telling her that Mark has remarried. He twists the knife further saying that he and his new wife also have a daughter. Gemma clearly isn’t buying it and viewers get a weird sense that Dr. Maur is grooming her to be his own partner.
As soon as she has the chance, however, Gemma hits Dr. Maur over the head with a chair, grabs his key card, and runs. But with the complicated, winding hallways that all look the same, she has a tough time getting out. Eventually, she gets to that long hallway that leads to an elevator. It’s going up. She gets on and quickly pushes the button before she is caught.
However, she transitions in the elevator to an innie form and when she emerges, she’s at the severed floor. A frantic Milchick (Tramell Tillman) greets her as Ms. Casey and lies to her to get her to go back down. “Where’s…” she starts to ask, but Milchick interrupts her before she can finish. She heads back into the elevator, the same one that now has a red down arrow (and that fans recall John Turturro’s Irving having painted dozens of times) and returns to her floor where Bernhard’s character is there to angrily greet her. Now back as Gemma, she is defeated, realizing that there’s no escape.
What’s Truly Going On, and How Does Gemma Fit Into the Plan?
Based on the work Gemma is being forced to do, she plays a pivotal role in what’s going on at Lumon, and their ultimate plan. But what is it? In another scene, workers from Lumon are examining computer screens, angered that Mark is still at 96% for Cold Harbor. When he is done, they declare that they need to “get rid of Gemma.” This adds to the mystery of Cold Harbor and what this project is all about. It’s certainly an end goal.
Another scene may shed some light, showing Mark and his co-workers plugging away at their computers as four individuals who resemble them are mirroring them in another room, watching them on their monitors. “Are the Severance barriers holding?” one asks, to which the other replies that the “technology is working.”
Mark is integral to their plan, too, likely tied to Gemma’s role. There may be a clue in the name of this episode, “Chikhai Bardo,” which are also the first words Mark utters when he starts to regain consciousness in present day. It’s a memory from when Gemma was sitting at the kitchen table looking at a series of cards from the clinic. Mark picks one up and looks at it, declaring that it looks like two guys fighting. But Gemma corrects him, saying it’s the same guy fighting himself, defeating his own psyche. “Ego death,” she claims.
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Chikhai bardo, part of Tibetan Buddhism beliefs, pertains to a transitional state between life, death, after-death, and rebirth. “Bardo” is the moment when your consciousness is completely open, supposedly leading to the potential for liberation. It’s a large part of the act of meditation and seems to be a driving force for Lumon’s activities, albeit on a much more drastic and ethically questionable scale.
By the end of the episode, fans still wonder if Gemma went willingly in the beginning, believing she was going to be part of an experiment that might, in some way, help her get a child, or if she was taken. It’s difficult to believe that even with all her sadness from not being able to conceive, that she would leave Mark so abruptly, and make him believe she was dead. Such a cruel act is unlikely, based on what viewers saw of their relationship in this episode.
If anything, this episode paints Gemma in a much more positive light. Even if she did fake her death, believing it was for a greater purpose and that she would one day make her way back to Mark again to explain everything, it’s evident that she desperately wants to go back now. The Gemma-centric episode of Severance raises a lot of questions, introduces some menacing new characters, and has fans at the edges of their seats waiting to learn what happens next, not only for Mark, but for Gemma, too.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
