Severance - Season 1

[juno]

I just had one weird question. How did Cobel get back in the building after having her card and clearance revoked. Otherwise great season.

My guess is that they all get wiped next season and start to have massive flashbacks from both their innies and outies.

[rlc]

While I loved everything and everyone in this series, the acting that John Turturro did in the last episode was next level. The difference between the physicality and bearing between his innie and outie was amazing. I googled his age while watching it because he seemed so much younger, looser, and full of life while painting in his apartment.  

[arc]

Polygon: Dan Erickson interview

Quote

How did you start conceiving of a larger cult mentality behind all this, and how it goes beyond just devotion to a job? 

We read up a lot on NXIVM. We read up a lot on all these different sort of cults. And then, further back on the spectrum, religious groups and other organizations that are maybe at times a little bit oppressive. 

But it’s a spectrum! Because on the other end of that spectrum is Starbucks; the Starbucks employees are sort of taught the philosophy of Howard Schultz and all this stuff, and they’re sort of partners in Howard’s vision. It’s really interesting to me the messy line between those two things. On one end is NXIVM and the other end of Starbucks, where it’s like, you’re sort of buying into a cult of personality [...] and to a culture, and this idea of a family. When obviously, you’re not going to be treated with that kind of love and respect. It’s not going to be returned to you, necessarily.

Quote

So then tell me about the goats, then. How do the goats play into this?

Ah, the goats. Honestly, when I first wrote the goats, I did not have anything in mind at all. Like, it really was just like, what would be a weird, disturbing, but kind of funny thing to see? I think it was like a placeholder, for a while. I thought, Well, we’ll figure out what that’s going to be. We’ve solidified since then a lot of what’s going on, and a lot of what the next few reveals are going to be, assuming that we can get another season. And the goats ended up actually working pretty well. I don’t think we have seen our last goat on the show.

Inverse: cast and Stiller and Erickson discuss the show (written when the show premiered, not for the season finale)

In the context of the show accidentally being in sync with the world’s changing attitude towards work (such as the Great Resignation), Ben Stiller talks about the crew’s changing attitude towards work, which is a hilariously understated way of alluding to (1) the then-threatened IATSE strike mostly over working conditions and (2) the problems on Severance specifically:

 

(“Fraturday” is a Hollywood term for a shooting Friday so long it extended well into Saturday morning.)

Edited April 10, 2022 by arc

[Accidental Martyr]

I find it hard to believe that Lumon would be able to convince that many people to become severed. Look at how many people are afraid of vaccines, much less having an electronic chip jammed into your brain.

[TV Diva Queen]

Reading these comments tells me that I don’t have a clue what’s happening. I’m going to have to do a rewatch. 

[questionfear]

20 hours ago, juno said:

I just had one weird question. How did Cobel get back in the building after having her card and clearance revoked. Otherwise great season.

My guess is that they all get wiped next season and start to have massive flashbacks from both their innies and outies.

I'm guessing the doors were open due to the gala? Also, Lumen appears to have the world's worst security force. 

[Kirbyrun]

21 hours ago, juno said:

I just had one weird question. How did Cobel get back in the building after having her card and clearance revoked. Otherwise great season.

My guess is that they all get wiped next season and start to have massive flashbacks from both their innies and outies.

I'm imagining Milchick gave Security a head's-up.

[grawlix]

23 hours ago, juno said:

I just had one weird question. How did Cobel get back in the building after having her card and clearance revoked. Otherwise great season.

I'm going to chalk it up to timing.  We know that she was invited to the gala to speak with the board previously.   The Gala was for "friends" of the company and most likely held a less restrictive area.   Security for the Gala may have been separate from the usual company security.  I am assuming Cobel's termination occurred late in the day and if Milchick had started the termination notice, the notification had not reached Gala security.

[WearyTraveler]

They didn't deactivate the card of the deceased employee that the innies used to get into the room that would allow them to be awakened outside Lumon, and they were aware of that before Cobel was fired. So, while they are sloppy with security, they are at least consistent in their sloppiness 😆

[WearyTraveler]

23 hours ago, Accidental Martyr said:

I find it hard to believe that Lumon would be able to convince that many people to become severed. Look at how many people are afraid of vaccines, much less having an electronic chip jammed into your brain.

I can't remember if the show has said how many severed people there are. But, from what we have seen on the show, it looks like less than 100 people. That's not a big stretch for the US which has a population of 300+ million.

Also, it's billed as a sci-fi show, so they can play fast and loose with some things. Their universe is similar to our reality, but it's not exactly the same. We don't have the technology to sever people, for example, while the world they created does. Likewise, people in the Severance universe might be more willing to undergo the procedure.

[arc]

50 minutes ago, WearyTraveler said:

They didn't deactivate the card of the deceased employee that the innies used

This is so dumb that the show had to lampshade it when Reghabi told (outie) Mark that Graner’s keycard was “untraceable”. That makes no sense. Every key card is traceable. That’s the other main benefit of a keycard system, besides being able to deactivate them at will rather than having to manually swap out locks as with physical keys. (One disadvantage of a keycard system is that sometimes keycards can be cloned, so unauthorized access appears to be done by someone who didn’t do it. But cloning Graner’s keycard wouldn’t have helped in a well-run system since it should have been deactivated as soon as he was known to be MIA.)

[AheadofStraight]

Some interesting speculation here and in the comments too.  What Is Lumon Industries Up To?

[arc]

This is almost definitely unofficial, but it’s kinda fun. A little web browser game to refine some macrodata: https://lumon-industries.com

Edited April 13, 2022 by arc

[xaxat]

On 4/12/2022 at 12:36 PM, AheadofStraight said:

Some interesting speculation here and in the comments too.  What Is Lumon Industries Up To?

I'm okay with Lumon being an unexplained McGuffin. I actually hope that is the case. Because they have created a world where the "truth" will be disappointing. 

Although I do like the theory that Lumon is

Spoiler

the headquarters portrayed in the movie Cabin in the Woods.

 

[Roxie]

I was just thinking about the finale and have a question:  who held the "overtime procedure" levers when Milchik went to Dylan's outie's house?

Also, has anyone read a good analysis of the use of color throughout the season?

[Affogato]

On 4/11/2022 at 6:17 PM, arc said:

This is so dumb that the show had to lampshade it when Reghabi told (outie) Mark that Graner’s keycard was “untraceable”. That makes no sense. Every key card is traceable. That’s the other main benefit of a keycard system, besides being able to deactivate them at will rather than having to manually swap out locks as with physical keys. (One disadvantage of a keycard system is that sometimes keycards can be cloned, so unauthorized access appears to be done by someone who didn’t do it. But cloning Graner’s keycard wouldn’t have helped in a well-run system since it should have been deactivated as soon as he was known to be MIA.)

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/researchers-find-a-way-to-create-a-master-key-to-hotel-rooms-042518.html

I'm not an expert, but if this can happen it is (at least on a story level) possible to have an untraceable master key, as head of security, anyway. It might not be deactivated if it was the keycard of 'master user' instead of 'Granger'. Just brainstorming, but as I said, far from an expert.

[Affogato]

There is something in the show indicating their may be more than one company working on this technology? 'One of the leaders in Severance technology?" Or am I misremembering?

It seems pretty obvious what Lumon is up to on the surface. Severance for all military personnel (won't remember being asked to do horrible things or experience ptsd when discharged), Severance for criminals to work usefully during their 'incarceration' or lifelong, depending on crime. Severance to avoid pain. Pay off debt. Indentured Servitude without the memory of indentured servitude. The applications in the sex trade, you could even sever children and raise them in your own world.

Inside they are creating a cult, because that is a good way to control the innies. Refining their cult with experimentation. Maybe the 'scary numbers' can be used to control the Severed, going forward.

Now the question is, are our innies doing anything else for Lumon?

Also pretty sure immortality plays a part in this, but we don't know how, yet.

What is 'my revolving?'

 

[Affogato]

On 4/10/2022 at 5:31 PM, Accidental Martyr said:

I find it hard to believe that Lumon would be able to convince that many people to become severed. Look at how many people are afraid of vaccines, much less having an electronic chip jammed into your brain.

Your odds would improve if you could set them up in middle class housing and offer them good paychecks. Maybe there are a lot of desperate people without jobs? But it is hard to believe you would get the people who think chips are being injected with vaccinations.

[Affogato]

On 4/2/2022 at 8:14 AM, Kirbyrun said:

I was prepared for his prize to be something that would help him execute the Overtime Contingency — like, I dunno, a backscratcher? But this was super sweet. 

It was, ;and we are finding out what is important to the innies. Family is important to Dylan, Gemma is important to Mark, Burt is important to Irving (that and the hallway of doom) and responsibility is important to Helly, both to her innie and her outie.

[desertflower]

Just finished the series. Wow! One thing I found interesting is when Cobell was watching Miss Casey and Mark during their final wellness session, she seemed disappointed that they stopped talking and went back to business. Like she wanted them to forge a relationship or remember each other somehow. It made me wonder if they are cloning people who have died and Miss Casey is just a clone of Gemma that isn’t fully developed yet. So many questions!

And did anyone notice the breathing tube thing that was in Cobell’s shrine that she was tearing down? Maybe it belonged to her mother or a child or something? 

All the work parties cracked me up, especially the Music and Dance Experience. Could’ve done without the bizarre waffle party. I’m glad that scene didn’t go any further! 
 

[dwmarch]

On 4/18/2022 at 8:49 AM, Affogato said:

I'm not an expert, but if this can happen it is (at least on a story level) possible to have an untraceable master key, as head of security, anyway. It might not be deactivated if it was the keycard of 'master user' instead of 'Granger'. Just brainstorming, but as I said, far from an expert.

It's also possible that Granger wasn't supposed to have that keycard. As we saw several times, contraband is very popular at Lumon. Although that still leaves the question of how the scientist on the run knew about his card in the first place.

I loved this show and binged the whole thing in a day. Lots of Cabin in the Woods, Dollhouse and Angel's Wolfram & Hart influences with a dash of the Time Variance Authority thrown in. Horror that didn't rely on gore (or even that many deaths for that matter). Good characters. A twist at the beginning (Helly's "don't you dare fuck with me" speech to her Innie) that actually paid off at the end. It was a fantastic show and I am looking forward to what they do next.

[lids]

I just binged the whole season. My thoughts: I don’t believe they are practicing safe sex at the waffle/sex parties. I believe that’s how the Lumon employee who was mysteriously pregnant ended up in the news. Her outie probably had no idea she went to a waffle party. Also, if Lumon is cloning people, I wonder if they take the babies of some of the permanent innie pregnant women and raise them in the testing room. So evil.

There’s no way any of Mark’s team can be brought back into the office. At this point, the innies know more than the outies, so it makes sense for Lumon to leave them as outies on their own. As Mark’s crew tries to make sense of what happened, I think Helly is the lynchpin that will bring them together. Helena will see Mark’s picture at the gala in that photo exhibit they did of her innie and remember that Mark is the one who almost hit her with his car. I wonder if she will try to find him. The other innies have no recollection of each other, so they won’t have any starting point to try to find each other.

Cobell did say that Helena wouldn’t be punished for the unsevering. I assumed Cobell  was saying that Helena is protected from discipline as an Egan, but that the rest of them would be tortured. I am very worried about how that will turn out.

[Milburn Stone]

On 4/20/2022 at 12:31 PM, desertflower said:

One thing I found interesting is when Cobell was watching Miss Casey and Mark during their final wellness session, she seemed disappointed that they stopped talking and went back to business. Like she wanted them to forge a relationship or remember each other somehow.

I think the point was to test the robustness of the severance procedure with the most demanding test possible. If you could put two folks who were married and in love in the same room--one of whom grieved so much for the other that he chose severance over grief--and even have objects in the room specifically designed to make them remember--and they still don't remember--then the experiment is a success.

Edited May 2, 2022 by Milburn Stone

[Dminches]

To me, the most intriguing part of the finale is the Gemma storyline.  If "she" is still alive does that mean she doesn't have an outie? I assumed that after the car accident there was a body which Mark saw. Did Lumon resurrect her and make her just an innie?

 

[Catfi9ht]

I hadn't heard about this show until a couple of weeks ago, and I binged the entire season today.

Woah. I can't believe there isn't more chatter about this show.

I really enjoyed it. All the performances were amazing. The sets and color palettes in the severance floor were mesmerizing. It seemed to live in a similar universe as Legion. While Legion had the 70s oranges and browns, Severance had the 60s blues and greens.

The well-sustained tense undercurrent was probably the best of any show I've watched, and dystopian scifi is my favorite genre. For a show that is very reserved on the surface, the lurking menace of Lumon is always present.

I'm so glad they renewed it. The last episode would have been disappointing as a series finale, but it was surprisingly satisfying for a season finale. Helly got to start to tell her story, and Mark told Devon Gemma was alive. That was enough for me to feel like there was some movement while still leaving alot of mystery and tension.

Christopher Walken and John Turturro in the same scenes together? This feels like such a treat to watch. Adam Scott continues to be an amazing actor with crazy range. His crying scene at the beginning of episode 2 just wrecked me. Patricia Arquette started out as a terrible actress in the 90s but boy has she grown. She was super great in this. I've always had a fondness for the Arquette family; they always seemed really unique, fun, and not typical Hollywood types. The standout actor for me was Tramell Tillman. His ability to play cheerful one second then authoritarian the next really help make Lumon super menacing for me. The way the hallway scenes felt claustrophobic and confusing without seeming like they kept repeating the same shots and style was really great.

I'm definitely interested in learning more about how the cult aspect of Kier Eagan plays into all of this. How do people outside of working for Lumon get super into those beliefs? Are there churches that exist separate from the company?

Also, I remembered during the tour they said the company was founded in 1866 which isn't menacing at all. I wonder what else the company does and or manufactured prior to the severance experiment?

It seems that this is set in a company town and most people accept it except for the couple of protesters we saw handing out flyers. Or do followers of Kier move to the town?

Anyway, really glad I watched it. I'll probably rewatch it to see if there are tidbits I can pick up I didn't notice the first time through.

[Milburn Stone]

1 hour ago, Catfi9ht said:

The standout actor for me was Tramell Tillman. His ability to play cheerful one second then authoritarian the next really help make Lumon super menacing for me.

I loved how he could go from one to the other without seeming to change anything in his expression. Face: still cheerful. Voice: same. But something so infinitesimal I can't even identify it has changed and now I'm terrified.

[legaleagle53]

So I finally broke down and subscribed to Apple TV so I could watch this, and boy, was it worth that $4.99 a month!

There's not a lot that I can add to everyone's comments about how great this show is. The trailers really didn't do it justice, but I was intrigued by the premise. I can't imagine what it would be like to have my work self as a completely separate entity from my "home" self, with no knowledge or memory of my original "home" existence. But it does raise some interesting legal, ethical, and moral  questions. For example, if, as Helena said, the "outie" is the REAL person, with the "innie" being basically an artificial construct that only exists as long as the workday/working life of the "innie" exists, can the "outie" be held legally responsible for something that the "innie" does while at work, and vice versa? And I assume that if something like COVID were a thing in the Severance universe, working from home would never be an option for the "innies," although they would be just as vulnerable to the spread of the pandemic as the "outies" would.

So as we await Season 2, I'm sure everyone has a favorite scene from Season 1. One of mine is the scene in the garden between Irv B. and Burt G. I can understand why "fraternizing" would definitely be forbidden to the "innies" (since, the normal HR implications aside, their sole purpose is to do their jobs at Lumon, so there'd be no point to having any romantic liaisons at work because they'd never lead to anything outside of work because the would-be lovers would not even know that anyone else at work even existed "out there.") But it really was heartbreaking to see them come so close but in the end be shut down completely. I do hope there's more of a focus on that in Season 2.

So, what's everyone else's favorite scene/character?

 

Edited May 17, 2022 by legaleagle53

[AuntieMame]

On 2/22/2022 at 2:29 PM, Avabelle said:

Some would say kooky, I’d say cheap.

I’d say puritanical, pleasure hating, self righteous and just down right creepy. That scene was great but it cemented the idea of food as social bonding and alcohol as a social lubricant. If I was forced to sit through that nonsense I would definitely need a drink and I don’t even drink. 
I’m two episodes in and I’m definitely intrigued. The show is very creepy. I’m convinced that they aren’t actually working at all but part of an experiment. 
I can understand Mark’s desire to erase crippling grief for even part of the day. 

[rlc]

On 5/13/2022 at 7:28 AM, Dminches said:

To me, the most intriguing part of the finale is the Gemma storyline.  If "she" is still alive does that mean she doesn't have an outie? I assumed that after the car accident there was a body which Mark saw. Did Lumon resurrect her and make her just an innie?

My guess is that they weren't quite as happy as Mark thought they were, and Gemma made a decision to become a fulltime innie. Lumon is powerful enough to present a substitute badly damaged body. Cannot wait for season 2!

[KarenX]

On 4/17/2022 at 4:05 PM, Roxie said:

Also, has anyone read a good analysis of the use of color throughout the season?

I wouldn’t dare presume to call this a good analysis but:

Everything Lumon is blue or green. However…

Helly’s hair, Gemma’s last dress, the fire extinguisher, the book cover, and half of The Wellness Candle are red. Mark’s pajamas in the opening credits are red. Petey’S robe is red/blue stripes. Dylan used a red strap to tie the door shut. These are all symbols of “outside.” Outside the box thinking, life outside, breaking out.

The candle is red and green. Poor Gemma is only half something outside. It is an interesting theory above that she might not have an Outie. Petey never really broke away from Lumon either.

Edited June 30, 2022 by KarenX
Petey’s robe

[KarenX]

The fact that Lumon was founded in 1866 and the smile wall pictures in the Perpetuity Gallery seemed to be all(?)mostly(?) African-American faces gave me some real Get Out vibes.

Do we think Mr. Milchik’s smile is in that gallery?

Edited June 30, 2022 by KarenX

[dwmarch]

13 hours ago, KarenX said:

Do we think Mr. Milchik’s smile is in that gallery?

Speaking of Mr. Milchik, I get a real OJ Simpson vibe from him. It reminds me of the story of how OJ was originally considered for the role of the Terminator but the producers thought he was too nice.

[Roxie]

I'm rewatching and just noticed something in Episode 3.  When Cobel is snooping in Mark's basement, and she picks up the Christmas candle and smells it, she says, "No."  Why?

[Roxie]

On 4/20/2022 at 1:31 PM, desertflower said:

And did anyone notice the breathing tube thing that was in Cobell’s shrine that she was tearing down? Maybe it belonged to her mother or a child or something?

I noticed it in the scene where she appeared to be worshipping at the shrine.  I couldn't make out a name, but there appeared to be a hospital-type bracelet with a 1944 birthdate.  So maybe her mother?

[aghst]

Just finished it.  You knew the switch was going to get flipped before they reveal enough, otherwise this is a 1-season show.

I'm not sure what the finale surprise is?  Well Mark discovers his family and also that Gemma is alive.

Helly R finds out she's the daughter of Keir.

Irv finds that his outtie is like 180 degrees from his innie personality.

This show feels more allegorical or at least alternative history.  Lumon is an opaque institution like something out of Kafka.  They don't reveal what business they're in or maybe in this world, nobody knows what Lumon does.

There are some surreal scenes like them driving into Helly's skull and implanting the chip while she's conscious.

I'm guessing that the glorified sudoku games they play on those retro monitors are meaningless, just a way for them to monitor conformity.

Here's the odd thing, the show is on Apple TV +, a company accused of having a cult-like following of its founder/leader.  

Steve Jobs is associated with slogans or aphorisms like the founder of Lumon is.

The basic geometry of the Lumon headquarters is not unlike the Norman Foster "spaceship."

Maybe the show runners are having a little poke at their business partners who gave them a lot of money.

But Apple has a huge external following, it's not limited to people like Harmony, who's still diehard loyalist to Lumon even after she's fired.  She had a fucking shrine! 

They didn't dare show iPhones or other Apple products on this show.

[Affogato]

9 hours ago, aghst said:

They didn't dare show iPhones or other Apple products on this show.

That is a good point. I was talking to someone the other day about the technology. You know, if you are doing an experiment you don't need to upgrade the technology, so maybe old computers and printers because they have been around for a while; but then the severance technology is fairly advanced, so maybe there are people with cruder implants? And so on. But, yes, the set design with the old workstations does mean they don't have to product placement anyone.

On 7/12/2022 at 8:41 PM, Roxie said:

I'm rewatching and just noticed something in Episode 3.  When Cobel is snooping in Mark's basement, and she picks up the Christmas candle and smells it, she says, "No."  Why?

All I can think is that scent is evocative of memory.

[Welshman in Ca]

Struggling to get into this one.

[Catfi9ht]

11 hours ago, aghst said:

They didn't dare show iPhones or other Apple products on this show.

Apple prohibits "villains" from having or using their technology. If you're watching a whodunnit and a suspect has an apple product, they're not it.

Although based on the production style, I suspect the use of unbranded technology was purposeful in order for the time and place to seem ambiguous and so they have the flexibility to make it a Lumon product if they need it to fit the narrative.

[Kirbyrun]

2 hours ago, Catfi9ht said:

Apple prohibits "villains" from having or using their technology. If you're watching a whodunnit and a suspect has an apple product, they're not it.

This is only the case when Apple provides the products in question (as I assume it would be for an AppleTV+ show). If a production acquires its own Apple gear, it can do whatever it chooses with it, as long as it's not defamatory.

[AngieBee1]

7 hours ago, Affogato said:

All I can think is that scent is evocative of memory.

Yeah. It's  the exact candle Dr. Casey has her in office and Cobel didn't want to risk Mark getting sentimental and pulling it out of storage, lighting it and accessing memories of his outie's life and putting two and two together.

[arc]

10 minutes ago, AngieBee1 said:

It's  the exact candle Dr. Casey has her in office and Cobel didn't want to risk Mark getting sentimental and pulling it out of storage, lighting it and accessing memories of his outie's life and putting two and two together.

That's already outie Mark who had it in his storage. Dr Casey only had it in her office because Cobel stole it and planted it there in the severed floor. I think she was trying to jump-start reintegration, not forestall it. (I went back and checked -- in the first appearance of the wellness room, ep 2, there's no candle.)

I have no theory for why Cobel said "no" when smelling and stealing the candle.

[Cthulhudrew]

The "Innie Mark is surprised to discover his mentor Ricken" reveal would have been more believable if there hadn't been several large photos of Ricken's face plastered all over the walls (and bathroom) that Innie Mark somehow failed to notice.

Did anyone else find it disturbing that the one guy was shouting "I found her! I'm the one that found your baby!" when Mark S. discovered baby Eleanor? He was so obsessed that he get the credit for it. I think that Ricken's cult is just as dangerous as Kier's. 

[pasdetrois]

Random thoughts after binging this series this past week:

Forced to do so by COVID, I just spent a lot of time working with a huge research corporation (albeit virtually), and over the years I have been inside many large corporations. The show absolutely nailed the vibe. The stupid "rewards" (fancy nameplates, bagels, atta-boy plaques) as if employees are dogs. The robotic managers. The soulless work spaces. The repression of personality and original thoughts and ideas.

So, going back to the first scene, with Helly laying on a conference room table: was outtie Helen forced into being severed, and that's why she tried so hard to escape?

Lumon makes me think of LuluLemon, whose customers can be fanatics.

Adam Scott's innie makeiup was really heavy - was that by design, or unintended? Sharpie eyebrows and packed-on foundation. His makeup suffers from atrocious florescent lighting, just like the rest of us.

Helly wore her version of a corporate uniform, presumably purchased from one designer. She wore the nude heels for much of the series, then switched to black toward the end!

Burt and Irving broke my heart. Masterful acting by these two talents.

I understand the Emmy nominations now.

Edited August 25, 2022 by pasdetrois

[arc]

On 8/25/2022 at 8:16 AM, pasdetrois said:

So, going back to the first scene, with Helly laying on a conference room table: was outtie Helen forced into being severed, and that's why she tried so hard to escape?

No. She's an Eagan heir who voluntarily got severed as a PR move for the sake of the company and the procedure. (I personally feel this is an ass-pull they made midway through and didn't fully correct episode 2 to fit; see my earlier comments about both that and why it was ludicrous to do this when outie Helena could've just straight up lied and said she was severed, etc etc.)

But in any case, Helly really was severed and thus would have no conscious knowledge of her outie self. As it was, her outie was seen from ep 1 to be very much in favor of being severed. Helly just wanted to escape because (1) it is a drag for the innie to essentially feel like they're at work 24/7 (2) Lumon is particularly disquieting because of the cult vibes, vibes outie Helena would be totally in favor of, having been brought up in it. But every time Helly R walked out the door, Helena walked her body right back in. And when given a innie-to-outie resignation request, she turned it down.

[Cinnabon]

On 8/27/2022 at 8:22 PM, arc said:

Helly just wanted to escape because (1) it is a drag torturous and dehumanizing  for the innie to essentially feel like they're at work 24/7

FYFY

Edited August 30, 2022 by Cinnabon

[Chaos Theory]

Was looking for something to watch and then remembered I had free access to Apple Plus so decided to give this a shot. It was unexpectedly good.   I mean really good.   The kind of good that if it was on Netflix or one of the big channels it would be getting a lot more chatter.   I really enjoyed the concept of “innies” and “outies” and how little control the “innies”  actually had and how if they stepped out of line even a little how quickly the hammer came down.     
 

I started to suspect Helly wasn’t who she appeared to be early on and was either working for Lumen or for a group trying to take them down.  Either would have worked for me.    Helly wanting to escape makes sense because she sounds like an adventurous type who even on the outside might think severing was some great experience not having any idea what her innie would actually experience.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Chaos Theory

[xaxat]

Obviously the show left the audience with a lot of unanswered questions. But the one that really bugs me is, what does Devon see in Ricken?

She seems self aware, has a sense of humor and seems to be empathetic. Ricken is none of those things. (And his "friends" are really weird.}

[Roxie]

On 8/30/2022 at 8:10 PM, xaxat said:

Obviously the show left the audience with a lot of unanswered questions. But the one that really bugs me is, what does Devon see in Ricken?

She seems self aware, has a sense of humor and seems to be empathetic. Ricken is none of those things. (And his "friends" are really weird.}

I would also love to know the answer to this.

[meep.meep]

Very late to the party.  I agree with the speculation about Devon.  Is she a Lumon spy as well as Cobell?

How did Irv get all the intel that he dragged out of the case?  There were names of many severed people as well as the map with their homes.

Irv painting over and over the view in the elevator when they turned between Innie and Outie, was heartbreaking.

Dylan clearly had the shortest arms of anyone in the group.  Why did he insist on being in the control room?

[dwmarch]

1 hour ago, meep.meep said:

Dylan clearly had the shortest arms of anyone in the group.  Why did he insist on being in the control room?

It's possible he realized that if his innie met his outtie family he'd be no good on any kind of mission.