I love the deep dive :) One thing that caught my attention was page 11 of the manual. It says that if you bin the wrong numbers, then the system rejects it. So if the system already knows the right and wrong number sets, then why the need for a human refiner? This now makes me think about those projects were researchers teach chimps how to count objects on a computer screen. When they get it right, they get a reward (hmmmm). I am starting to go back to thinking that the MDR data is for refining (or conditioning) the innies, rather than the other way around. Teaching and honing some innate skill (like numerical synesthesia or something).
Hey, raven lord! This is an interesting way to look at it and as usual you've got me thinking. I guess it depends on what a "wrong" answer really means, on Lumon's end. It could mean wrong, as in the answer is entirely incorrect versus somewhat close, but not quite right. Is it binary or by degrees? The fact that they call it "refinement" bugs me, because it makes me think that they (Lumon) are only able to detect the undesirable data loosely, but not with the level of accuracy that a human can achieve, so they need human help to finish the job. It makes me think of a robot doing a task that requires delicacy, something a human would probably be better at, like comforting a scared child or detecting emotions in people. Intuition and emotionality are involved. To me, this implies that Lumon can't automate the process because of that requirement of emotional intelligence to detect the numbers. That said, the possibility that they are refining themselves still seems completely plausible.
I still think the correlation that many are trying to make between outside events and the data refinement are actual and not just for training a rat in a maze. Is Lexington referring to Lexington Avenue in NYC where the explosion happened or a city? What do all the file folders or projects mean? Are they the names of cities, rivers, or street names even? It seems like an awful lot of focus on making them mindless trainees without making a point for a purpose if you asked me.
@@ravenlord4 In math and computer science there is the concept of zero-knowledge proofs. Basically a system can know what the correct answer to something is without knowing how to solve something. This is the basis for things like blockchain and cryptography. I'll give you an example: There's a pile of metal on the floor that can be assembled into a key. The machine does not know how to assemble the key but the key knows that if the human makes the key and gives it to the computer it can put it in the lock and see if it turns. The system may not be complex enough to solve the of assembling of the key but knows when the key is correctly assembled. There are many such problems in computers and especially if what the MDR people are doing involves emotional intelligence its very conceivable that the system would not be able to solve the problem, but will know when its solved because some other effect will occur.
I noticed on page 18 of the handbook it says “we do everything we can to insure the safety of our workers.” You would expect it to say “ensure” not “insure.” It could just be a spelling error, or maybe they are literally taking insurance out on their employees. I know some businesses do that for key employees, but I thought the wording was interesting in the context of whatever kind of experimental work is being done at Lumon.
@@nautilusfiles I know I'm super super late to this (season 2 hype got me going back and finding new severance material) but it's almost certainly intentional. The manual in the show has a number of spelling errors and grammar mistakes, and every single one is corrected in the manual in the lexington letter. Why would they correct all the others but miss this one?
I think it may have something to do with Sevy the mascot, his pose on all the pages is relatively similar, the same pose is used multiple times but only 1 pose stands out. On page 18 Sevy is holding up 6 fingers, all on one hand and 2 on the other. Page 18 talks about communication with your outie being prohibited. Idk what it means but it’s different than the rest of the drawings of Sevy
I have no idea if you'll even see this a year later, but: an inconsistency in this doc that was interesting to me is Peg stating she worked as a bus driver for 12 years, and the obit from the Lumon-controlled paper stating she was a bus driver for "several decades." Peg also has a very formal, almost militaristic way of documenting an incident, where she finds it important to adhere to "protocol," calls her bus a "rig," and refers to pants-pissing as "urination events." Given the context of this document, I'd be surprised if any of this is incidental. My initial thought was that Peg might have some military history that goes unmentioned to fill the gap in her work history. My second was that it might not have been her first time being severed or experimented on by Lumon, and that the ad she heard was triggered in her head and not actually playing on the radio. She was alone, so there wouldn't have been anyone around to confer with. The latter might also explain the formal writing, if Peg's Lumon training is more baked into her ideas about work and how to document incidents than she even realizes. Just some thoughts, I love your vids and am about to do my first rewatch of the show in years, so will probably have more.
Dang. Good catches. I'm torn on whether the explosion was connected, as it could be a red herring in which she was imagining causation, but I don't doubt it.
The chip blocking episodic memory but not effecting procedural memory is pretty much a sure bet. Besides Peggy's puglish, we have Innie Irv driving a car, something which his innie obviously has no experience with.
Hey, Charlie! Yeah, knowing this about memory helps make sense of a lot of how being severed actually works. I only scratched the surface, but it explains why they can remember certain things and not others.
Yes, that’s how the innies are functionally adult, but experientially babies. Everything from knowing how to use a toilet, to being able to speak a language, to knowing how to open doors and operate elevators, is stored in procedural memory. But they have no memories of how they acquired the skills and knowledge they have. I’m not sure that types of memory are that clearly delineated in the brain irl, but it’s fascinating idea.
@@sopyleecrypt6899 Yeah, based on the research I'd done, there is correspondence between types of memory. There is some overlap between the types, but there is enough difference that you can isolate them to some degree.
@@sopyleecrypt6899 Definitely it's interesting. Apparently from what I've read in the past, procedural memory is stored in so called "reptilian" brain rather than our neocortex. Presumably the chip has no effect on the reptilian brain. Interestingly enough, in real life, there have been rare cases where an adult has had an injury or serious illness, and lost all their procedural memory as well - they are literally like new borns, so not toilet trained, or with the ability to pick up food on a spoon and put in into their mouth easily, etc
Yay I’m so glad you’ve covered the Lexington Letter. The Manchurian Candidate implications, sleeper agents that can be switched on by Lumon whenever, wherever, is terrifying and fascinating. I also pored over the handbook and felt like there were answers there, but just out of reach, like something glimpsed from the corner of your eye that disappears as soon as you turn your head to look at it. Thank you for the best Severance analysis on TH-cam, keep deep-diving 🫧
I get the same exact feeling, like we need just a little more info to be able to put a bead on it. I'm still going over the handbook again to see if anything else stands out, but I doubt I'll find anything. My gut feeling is that it has something to do with it advising excessive handwashing lol
Yes! Yes! Yes! Irving said something about the soap in the bathroom not being labeled anymore. Maybe because it’s not actually soap? It could be some diluted medication and washing your hands frequently, keeps the medicine in their system? I love your theories
Because the reporter (Jim Milchick) is implied to be related to Mr Seth Milchick as they both have the same last name, It could be assumed that the reporter was told to drop it by Seth or maybe Seth convinced him that its a nothing burger.
In the manual that comes with the Lexington letter I noticed on page 21 (of the manual) at the very bottom it says “compensatory waffle party”. I thought this was a weird way to describe the waffle party since the definition of compensatory is “reducing or offsetting the unpleasant or unwelcome effects of something”. I think this hints that being refiner of the quarter means you did something unpleasant (ie. how when Peggy finished the Lexington file there was accident with the Dorner truck).
Lumon could definitely cause car accidents by rapidly switching the mind states of a severed employee, similar to the OTC. Just ensure the employee is traveling fast enough and you have an “accident”. Could possibly tie into Mark and Ms.Casey’s car accident. Though there is a repeated theme of vehicle collisions in the show/lexington letter, only Peg was known to be severed at the time of her bus crash.
Exactly what I was thinking. If they time a switch properly, they could cause serious accidents without the person having a clue as to what or why it happened.
The work being related to the chips makes a lot of sense. The ability to feel emotion from numbers in a computer leads me to believe that the computer is interacting with the chip to evoke emotion. Lumon's goal of world domination worn on its face pretty clearly, but I believe they are using MDR's data to develop a chip capable of evoking emotions in outties who have severed to keep them docile.
What jumped out at me was the compurer boot-up screen on page 8 of the handbook. Multiple references to loading video codecs, which is a really weird thing for simple raster graphics that look like they're from the 1980s. Lends support to the idea that MDR isnt looking at numbers but video or something else, and are just being made to see numbers via their chips.
I love the show, best one I've watched in years. What severed people don't get is that there are no advantages of being severed. You are literally shortening your life span by 8hrs/day or by 16hrs/day. Mark S. wanted to forget about his wife's death for 8 hours but he changed nothing. The outie Mark is still grieving 16/16 hrs a day, except when he's sleeping , but that still gives him the 8 hrs of wake time...
You not seeing the advantage doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. You can live a life with no work. No stress or anxiety. No deadlines. No effort. 100% of your time is leisure, besides commuting to work. I would consider it.
@@misterbxivonly works if you don't have options to change your job. work provides a whole place with challenges that keep your mind fit, a new social circle and many more. you'd still have to find all those in your 14 hours per day (minus commuting), otherwise you wouldn't feel fulfilled, and still you would feel tired after work and still worry about entry time deadlines
@@misterbxiv I feel like all leisure without any memory of work wouldn't really feel like leisure, though. there has to be some balance in order for you to really feel free at the end of the day.
They say in the show that Mark tried to return to work but “that was a disaster”. He’s emotionally fragile - for some work can be a welcome distraction but his original job as a professor being so closely linked to his wife’s may have caused some serious trigger responses that rendered him incapable. The American welfare system being what it is (and baring in mind we don’t have an actual clear idea of whether the world they’re in is ours or some kind of dystopian future, new ice age kind of situation), he couldn’t easily take a load of time off to try and adjust to this new grief to the point where it wasn’t interfering with his job, so for him Severance was a no-brainer. He wasn’t mentally capable of working, they gave him a totally fresh start with benefits and a subsidised home to live in, and a chance to switch his brain off (from his perspective) for 8 hours a day. He can work unimpeded, earn a wage, and spend the time he’s actually awake supposedly working on his mental state and learning to manage his grief (although all he seems to do is mope and self-medicate with alcohol, sadly). Petey’s map said “we’re in here because we’re not all there”, he’s assuming just about everyone has something in their lives they’re running from or some mental reason they chose a severed life over working a normal job - some guilt or grief or mental illness that impedes them. I think for the majority he’d be right.
Theory: Peg/Peggy's involvement in the bombing was a coincidence. The true purpose of MDR is to encrypt files and/or cover up Lumon's crimes in some way. The emotional nature of the numbers ensures that nobody other than the innie could ever decrypt those files and 'find' those numbers again. So, the connection between the numbers and the explosion were actually an example of the day-to-day workings of MDR. Peg/Peggy were simply one of the only people to realize it, as they had found a way to bypass the chip.
Super late to the conversation, and someone may have mentioned this already, but the handbook stares you can only wear the following colours: black, white, navy, grey and pastels. Although the handbook talks about clothes, it made me think about their hair. I’m pretty sure everyone on the severed floor has hair that complies with these rules about colour (hopefully I’m not forgetting anyone), except Helly whose hair is red. I think this reflects her natural defiance and the fact that the rules don’t really apply to her like everyone else because she’s an Egan.
she also wears dark green, brown, light blue, beige, she’s always breaking the color rules! which is something other people in mdr do too but in very specific moments… she’s doing it all the time
@ that’s such a good point! I didn’t even notice that but Helly stays swerving the rules. I wonder if the rules about colour became slightly less strict as the years went on because the handbook was written so long ago 🤔
@@flutterbeyes Well her outtie chooses her clothes and her outtie also happens to be an entitled person who l, as a socialite, probably has strong opinions on fashion and is also not likely to be called out on what she chooses to wear, especially considering her innie's bosses are probably her outtie's subordinates.
@ absolutely! My initial point was more that they chose to create a character with red hair while no one else does and that feels very intentional in a show as detailed as this. Funnily enough I am listening to the official Severance podcast and they mention they almost made Helly a brunette but went back on the decision. To me that reaffirms the red hair is very particular. Red/ dark orange often refers to danger in the office like when Dylan bit Milchick, when Helly tried to break out of the office and Ricken’s book which is also ‘dangerous’ outside material. Also red is the other side of the colour wheel to green and kind of blue which are integral Lumon colours. Anyway sorry for the essay 😅. I just like the way the show uses colour
Peg/Peggy died in a CAR ACCIDENT?! Sounds like a certain wife of a main character we’re familiar with! Here’s a CRAZY theory: season 2 has a character we learn is Peggy but is existing like Gemma’s trapped “innie”. Maybe because she already has been chipped she’ll be a useful tool to whatever Lumin is trying to accomplish.
@@DesireeStamat i'm pretty sure Peggy is coming back as a innie like Gemma. She's not dead. they won't lose a subject like that. She has been kidnapped and lost her freedom. But she's not dead. I'm pretty sure she's not dead. just permanently Innie now
What if they made Helly’s innie personality using Gemma’s data to fill that subconscious void inside of Mark? This would do a bit more to explain the subtle love interest; Mark taking the break room for her, Mark following her through the light (Hallway to the goats), yet his innie was never altered. Maybe he was just told she died so his outie conscious and innie subconscious believe that yet some parts of his humanness leak through the severance? Gemma seems very vacant and robotic almost like she is missing a personality or soul. Other wild theories on my constantly growing list of theories: Gemma is Peggy? I still think there has got to be some sort of innie reset button for when workers start to develop new memories and subconscious links. What will happen to them all at the start of season 2 after the override stunt with Dylan holding the switches down? I predict Helly’s speech will suddenly be turned into some sort of joke about people’s natural fears or that the “Friends of Lumen” are already severed people and that it is a private event that wasn’t live but will be edited later for public access. With the override we know that information stays with the person like how Dylan found out about his son. Maybe Helly will still remember what her innie wanted to say and continue on. What I’m getting at is that all the characters will need to have some sort of reset to silence and erase all the information they know to continue working. That or they will become permanent innies, or they will die in some bizarre “accidents” and a new 4 will appear. I sincerely hope they keep the same 4 actors and maybe bring a few new ones on the outside. I’ve grow too attached to the characters to let go already. All I know is that every part of this show keeps my imagination running wild with possibilities and I love the feeling. Sometimes the wonder of not knowing and thinking of all the outcomes can be even more fun than getting the answers. Sure some questions will be answered but these writers are smart and will keep everyone guessing about some aspect of the show. I doubt any of my guesses are right but it will be fun to see. Gah I can’t wait for Season 2.
Scariest thing about the letter file was Sevy’s commentary - surprised no one else was deeply disturbed but his messaging? “If our workflow suffers, then in the long run, so does the world” -and- “a sound mind and a calm spirit are key to a strong work ethic” - the stuff of absolute nightmares in the context of an ‘it only takes one drop!’ Lumon-cult (creepy logo much?). What tragedy exactly is intended to befall the whole world if everyone does not fall in line and Lum-ify their lives? Even in the most benevolent glass half-full scenario in which Lumon actually is trying to save the world from itself (cue global warming & claims that humanity is a scourge upon the earth) if everyone is Severed and 10x daily hand-washed in the kool-aid to the point of emotional ambivalence and complacency, what kind of world is that? Sound mind, calm spirit with especially strong work ethic? Only hippies & lemmings come to mind… and only one is known to have a death defying worth ethic. It was very interesting at least to see what MDR really does - take people that are unique only in their excessive emotional response and use them to systematically root out the driving emotions of others, presumably until all that’s left is a nice pliable Kier-shell (Mark is the embodiment of sadness - Woe, Helly is hell on wheels - Malice, Irving is forever fearful - Dread, and Dylan is mister frivolous - Frolic). A world full of dutiful lemmings awaits!
not trying to detract from an interesting comment, but fyi the idea that lemmings commit mass suicide is a myth--when Disney was making a film called White Wilderness in 1958, the photographers wanted a dramatic shot so they just threw a bunch of lemmings off a cliff 💀
Your description of the severance procedure and Chip around 7-minute mark is exactly how I have always believed it was and described it to people. A chip that will segregate your memories and memory storage ability into a work self and a home self.
Something I noticed in the Lexington Letter is a repeated acknowledgement of Lumon selling products that directly contact human skin: 1) "Lumon Industries. I knew who they were - I'd been using their deodorant since puberty..." 2) "From the humble beginnings of a small topical salve company..." 3) "Apply the Lumon branded soap."
Yup! I am of the mind that Lumon is putting something in their products to further their goals, on the low. I suspect the water in that town is laced with something too.
If, in fact, these products are doing something to them through skin application, perhaps that's why Milchik was so freaked out that Dylan broke the skin when he bit him. You could take it as simply shock that he was that angry that he broke skin, but it seemed like Milchik was panicked by that. He didn't even try to discipline them; he got out of there as fast as he could.
This also plays into Lumon's logo: the water droplet. I know it is going to come into play at some point, I just don't know when or how. But if you think about it, what always goes with soap? Water.
Thank you for another fantastic video! Your editing is always on point, your voice is captivating, and your sense of humor is never too heavy handed. Please keep up the good work, and I hope Stiller and Erickson know about your channel because it really does keep people like myself hyped for more.
Loved this - curious about something you said. You wondered how they got Gemma's body - but do you think there's a possibility that she survived the accident? Also, do you think that the accident itself was created by Lumon? I don't think we ever found out for sure that Mark was in the car when Gemma had the accident. He's aware of the tree, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was in the car. He and Gemma were professors and I suspect that has something to do with why Gemma was targeted and also why Mark was targeted. It does seem that they made a point of getting both of them into the company - that Mark was probably persuaded to join, something like the way Peg was persuaded to join when an ad came on the radio right when the bus accident happened (again - probably not really an "accident").
Hey, Janet! I think she was declared dead, but probably in critical condition and smuggled out to Lumon by people with the power to make the decisions and create the conditions needed. My best assumption is that Lumon has police or medical personnel that are there to make it look legit. I'm with you on the idea that both Mark and Gemma were targeted by them too. Lumon seems to somehow be able to cause "car accidents" that allow them to snatch people (or not, as in the case of Peg). Really, makes you wonder if they are choosing people and pulling the strings behind the events of their lives that ultimately find them on the severed floor.
@@nautilusfiles Aha! Yes because you usually can't just fake someone else's death. You would need the cooperation of police and medical personnel and I'm forgetting that Lumon is good at getting the cooperation of people you'd tend to trust. Now I'm even more curious to find out why they (more than likely) targeted Gemma and Mark and what Gemma's state actually is. Thanks for posting this! I'm usually a sitcom fan, but this show really grabbed me and I hope we don't have to wait too long for Season 2 - although if we do, it'll be worth the wait, I'm sure.
@@janetbeatrice9505 Yeah, I would think there must be something special about people who work in MDR, and Lumon has a way of finding that out? And you pointed out one of the biggest mysteries regarding Gemma. We still don't know if she's in that body. I'm dying to know!
Hello. I’m a new subscriber. I got recommended your feed through some weird algorithm magic. I started listening to one of your videos, and then I realized I hadn’t seen the series you were talking about. So I did what you told me: to stop and watch. I watch the whole series as fast as I could. Then rewatched. thought wow how did I missed thus!?! I am just coming here to let you know that I really appreciate you taking the time to make these videos. Thank you for everything. I really enjoyed the series and your videos are awesome and now I suggested I’m sitting here in my snuggly listening to your calm voice read the letters after I read it myself.
Appreciate it, Bridget! Thanks for the kind words. I'm just happy to know there are people out there who don't mind me yammering on about these shows I like lol
@@nautilusfiles Somewhat, distantly related, the choice of clothes is well-considered. Milchik wears short sleeves because he is most likely to have to get his hands dirty.
I think its possible that the macrodata refinement team is, through side effects of the chip, being used as a set of biological computers for Lumon, to perform complex calculations on an unconscious level. When they feel certain emotions it is merely a conscious trigger from their subconscious that those numbers solve a certain algorithm, which in reality is just a numerical representation of a real world problem that needs to be solved. Once hte MDR refiners think they have found a solution, they test it - i.e. the computer attempts to solve the algorithm with the proposed variables, and if it fails it returns the problem to the refiner. There must have been some mathematical aspect to the corporate bombing - figuring out timings, probabilities, this sort of thing - which were transformed into a mathematical puzzle that their subconscious brains could solve. Macrodata refiners are after all chosen for their intellectual abilities, according to Lumon. And I believe that somehow 4 workers is the ideal number for maintaining an effective worker environment. There may be other MDR teams elsewhere in the complex. I think that other departments perform similar "coded" work for the company. The optics and design group may be responsible for the manufacture of spy equipment. The goat herder may in fact be a breeding ground for a new type of virus, which requires a caretaker to carefully prepare the specimen in a live sample before it is ready for distribution. The one thing I am not sure about is the religious - 10 times a day - washing of the hands. I think Lumon must be particularly afraid of viruses leaking out or being deliberately spread in their complex. Or maybe the Lumon chip has a side effect of suppressing immune system function.
Maybe it’s nothing but I found it weird that they had to mention the colour scheme for clothes. Why give it a space if it’s outies’ responsibility to dress up for work?
Maybe the "code detectors" rely on some tracking agent in the water/soap at Lumen, so they can detect whenever an employee has contaminated a piece of paper. That might explain why they can always detect something in their pocket or inside their body? It's far fetched I know.
Hello from Kansas, I've been watching the Nautilus Files Severance videos since finishing a rewatch last night. Reading the Lexington Letter, I noticed a few little inconsistent phrases about Topeka, which are probably a product of Ben Stiller not being too familiar with Topeka. But one thing stood out. The phone number at the end of the letter is a 785 area code and could very well be a real number. How fun would it be if someone called that number and got another little crumb? I would do it, and I still might, but I don't want to be disappointed. Has anyone tried?
I’d like the make a note that when we first see marks desk and computer screen, he’s working on the “Dranesville” file, and when he talks to Dylan, Dylan is working on the “Tumwater” file. Dranesville is a city in VA less than 30 from DC. Tumwater is a city near Olympia Washington. I know Lexington is the name of several cities in the US, but in context of the letter we refer to NYC. It just makes me wonder what the files are used for in the other cities.
1. Short-Term Memory (STM) Purpose: Holds information briefly (seconds to minutes). Example: Remembering a phone number long enough to dial it. 2. Working Memory Purpose: Active processing and manipulation of information in the moment. Example: Doing mental math or following multi-step instructions. 3. Long-Term Memory (LTM) Purpose: Stores information for extended periods, potentially a lifetime. Types: Explicit (Declarative) Memory: Episodic: Personal experiences (e.g., your last birthday). Semantic: Facts and general knowledge (e.g., capital cities). Implicit (Non-Declarative) Memory: Procedural: Skills and habits (e.g., riding a bike). Priming: Subconscious influences on behavior or thought. Conditioned Responses: Learned automatic reactions. 4. Sensory Memory Purpose: Briefly stores sensory impressions (milliseconds). Types: Iconic: Visual memory. Echoic: Auditory memory. 5. Emotional Memory Purpose: Tied to emotions, often involving the amygdala. Example: Remembering how you felt during a significant event. 6. Autobiographical Memory Purpose: Combines episodic and semantic memory for personal history. Example: Recalling your childhood hometown. The memory thing is either a major plot hole or they'll have to explain it somehow. Otherwise it's going to be messy.
My question is why are there four “virtues” or data categories but 5 bins. Each bin has contributions from each of the categories. How do you determine what goes where? Because even determining the feeling of the data doesn’t even correspond with which bin it’s put in. Very vexing!
Sudden crackpot theory: Cobel's innie is on the outside, her outie is the one at the office. Which would possibly explain her childlike nature when she's at home.
I've seen a lot of theories talking about how a lot of the files loop back to themes of war, as well. "Cold Harbor" in S2e1 is a file that Mark is working on in that episode. That was a battle in the Civil War where the Confederacy handily beat the Union. Lexington is a famous battle from the Revolutionary War. It was a decisive American victory, and the start of the American Revolution. I feel like this could be a nod to how Peggy's communication with the outside was a real shock to the system for Lumon, who might be more like the British in this example--the all-powerful, well-connected empire. Idk if I'm just waffling or if there is some significance to the file names.
I think there is something hidden in the sudoku like patch of numbers (page 5) and that other page that lists all core principles 1 to 9 on page 22 (all digits covered 🤔) The issue I have is that all words (principles) start with a consonant :/
I don't think that the refiners caused the attack. My current theory is that the attack was already planned, and that the refiners had to try to predict it, like the precogs in Minority Report. Are they testing if the innies can have memories of things that haven't happened yet? Petey said to Mark that his innie and outie memories were out of sync ('the relativity is wrong'), and that his first day at the office felt as if it happened around his fifth birthday. Time is weird both on the inside and outside, mixing elements from different time periods (the office technology, Milchicks appearance, Mrs Selvigs car,...)
I think Petey is referring to his own perception of time because of how his innie has only lived a few years while his outtie is over 40. After integration, his brain is having difficulty reconciling the two lifespans that are vastly different in length. What happened last week, as an innie, feels like it was decades ago to his outtie. Events don't line up chronologically in his mind.
My guess is the reason it lines up with the explosion is because what they are doing on the computers is basically programming someone that was servered on the outside in real time and whenever they finished it was basically like them infecting that person with a virus that would make them perform a specific act in this case blowing up a truck. Either as a single directive or as making just the right tweaks the the tempers to make them a puppet
Wuuuut? Probably to ensure hands get washed thoroughly... which is really weird. I'm telling you, there is either something in the water or in Lumon products because they are far too concerned with handwashing at an office.
A year late, but that singing would explain Ms Cobell singing to the department after they disregarded her orders. A trigger to try to make them more compliant again maybe?
This is taught in high school cooking classes where I worked -- sing the HB song while you wash your hands to ensure you've fully washed them. So maybe it isn't any more than that.
What about Petey - they were looking for him. EMS picked him up, the police were called, he was taken to the hospital. Why did they have to drill into his head at his funeral to get the chip back? Seems like protocol would be to retrieve every chip and his was even more a priority.
Getting the chip back was Harmony's personal goal. She's running her own experiments, etc. That's why she had to do it herself, and not just have it arranged through the company. It probably does not have any value in the eyes of Lumon higher ups.
because they don't know that petey was reintegrated meaning that he was "let go" for reasons more serious than that. harmony personally retrieved the chip cause she was the only one that believed he was reintegrated.
There seems to be no surefire way of keeping tabs on all the chips knowing that people can quit the severed departments. It would quickly become untenable to "terminate" that many severed people in the outside world, given that it is known to quite wide circles of their families, friends and acquaintances that they had been severed. That would mean the chip itself is not that valuable, since what Harmony did could quite easily be done by just about any other party wanting to get in on the action. It seems like the chip is not that much of a trade secret, probably many have figured out how it is built and how it works by now.
So Jim is Seth’s brother? I’m thinking that Seth Milchick isn’t who he appears to be. I suspect Seth gave Petey the “Break Room” tape. They made it a point to show him sticking a tape in his pocket. Would the company record the “apology statement” readings on those little tapes. I’m thinking that the little tapes are Seth’s tapes and the company records on something more high tech. Seth is making his own recordings for………🤷🏼♂️
I definitely think there's some other "domino" between the data getting refined and the truck explosion... the delay being written was too intentional. But its been bugging me how small all of the departments are, like their goals would have to be pretty specific and high impact. I'm not smart enough for this show haha, great video!
I think Cobel has a line where she says they are in the process of expanding, so this skeleton crew might be temporary when the new people arrive. I guess we will see the new hires in Season 2. Either way, it's still weird how they only seem to have one MDR department per site.
In the handbook, I find it curious that there are five ‘bins’ into which data impurities that correspond to the four ‘tempers’ are sorted. It occurred to me, on the basis of the theory that MDR is refining chips in people, that each of these bins may represent one of the five senses: touch, taste, sight, sound and smell. It seems plausible that the macro data being refined is the chip’s encoding of its host’s responses to real-world stimuli transmitted through each sense; and that the MDR’s job is to identify, and inhibit, these specific emotional responses to stimuli perceived through the five senses, probably for making some external agent of Lumon’s more effective in obeying commands. This would be consistent with Keir Eagan’s core belief, which in the show his eerie voice claimed he wanted to pass on to his ‘children’: that if the four tempers are ‘tamed’ “the world will be but your appendage.” I think that Keir’s successors took this belief literally, and invented a chip with the chief purpose of controlling the four tempers in its hosts, so that through them Lumon could impose its will on the world.
this video is pretty old so someone might have said this before but in the manual the computer bios shows a microphone output stream, which makes me think lemon can hear anything they say when close to the computers.
"Lemon" is that a "freudian slip"? lol I'm very happy to see that someone else paused the show to try and see what the console looks like booted up! I tried to pause it several times to see what it says as back in the "old days" I programmed MS Dos and IBM Dos PC's as a hobby and then small business. This was well before Windows took over the O.S. which to this day I don't like! I kind of liked playing around with Dos and the boot sequence. Anyway, I noticed some things too as you did but it is SO hard to read it (perhaps they did this to us on purpose?). I am very sure you are correct on this as I noticed it as well. I was looking for ANY clue as to what these work stations were actually all about. I also think those "numbers" they are looking at are some kind of code that only their implant chips decode and they're actually some kind of God Awful pictures of something. Interesting thoughts anyway.
So an ad partway through was an Amazon one, in which a woman is moving into a concrete sterile apartment. The song being played is by Christine and the Queen called Full of Life, it features a lyric (in the ad) 'And they steal ideas from your daughters'. - Perhaps that idea went straight into the MA bin.
I think the chip creates a DID type situation within the brain. Dissociative Identity Disorder. Some people with this disorder can have personalities that are completely unaware of certain facts about their lives. For example, one personality may be totally unaware of any trauma or abuse that occurred in their life while a different personality may only remember a year of the life of the body. So memories are split up but it’s not about “types” of memories. I think that Lumen’s implant basically forces a DID personality split into the persons brain. And they have ability to control “switches”. And I think the chip makes integration of those personalities hard to impossible. It would also explain while their personalities aren’t as “split” as Lumen advertises. DID is proof that the brain is very complex and flexible. The brain can adapt to a lot of challenges and obstacles. That flexibility might be an issue for Lumen trying to control their brains. If their brains can internally adapt to the obstacle set by implant, they could basically integrate their personalities or it may be why they can remember things about their outies over time.
Basically Lumen wants compliant brains, but DID is proof that the human brain is naturally a defiant organ. It will find ways to overcome trauma and abuse. It will work to discover lost things it needs to remember. It will adapt to blockages by finding or building new pathways.
I agree that the explosion is not coincidental. In real life, that connection could be only a coincidence, but the context of the Lexington Letter makes it almost certainly real. Too weird for that to be a red herring.
I just finished severance and found your channel, I didn't know about the explosion related to Lexington, I wonder if it has anything to do with the battle of Lexington and Concord. The first battle in the revolutionary war
I'm torn on whether the explosion was connected, as it could be a red herring in which she was imagining causation, but it certainly seems plausible that refining activated someone. After all, my working theory is that MDR consists of people whose severance chips contain the weakened preserved consciousnesses of past CEOs, and the refining is a process that strengthens those consciousnesses, allowing them to more strongly influence their severed hosts.
I was thinking that infections might cause rejection of the implant - and Petey had found that out. Hence why they are so strict about hygiene - other than contact with to many people can cause them to connect with people whom they know from the outside. Perhaps the "uprising" would be caused by this. But I think that Lumon made that into propaganda just to keep them in check.
So a major thing I notice was in page 8. This shows the computer starting up. The computer talks about 3 outputs being connected but actually only covers 2. The third is seen at the very end of page 8, which says ActuatorDevicUserClient::start Entered. So they entered the chip of the user and So few things I noticed was the bins. The company knows what data to put into which bins but then why would they need refiners. Well, the refiners find the data but that data is applied to what the company considers to be the right bin. Obviously the innie mentioning MA (which desires to do harm) isnt a coincidence. So lets say that they have someone that they want to commit a crime then they know what data needs to be input but not what that data is. Which is why you get notified when the data is incorrectl when you put it into the wrong bin. Another thing is that the innies never leave work so why would they forget what file name is.
Watching this cause and rewatching the series cause of the hype for season 2 finally coming. Never realize all the details I missed the first time around. Like how if an innie can be awoken outside the workplace, they can train to do other things than just office work. Or just cause a simple car crash over hush money.
I do think the files are affecting something in the outie world, but I don't think it's triggering specific events such as the explosion. Like, she completed the file at 230 & boom at 232, so how did they know the proto truck would be where it was at that time. What if she completed the file sooner, or later? Doesn't quite add up to that solution exactly but those files are definitely doing something important. Way more important than everyone thinks (us as the viewers, the MDR crew themselves, and even Milchick & Cobel).
There might be something to the water theory, especially since... Season 2 spoilers During the break room video, the Lumon building also has the water tower talking at some point. I could be reaching but everything on this show is intentional.
Facts: Selvig and Peggy are great with kids, like gardening, are without a husband. Jim M is Jim Milchick. Could be the same guy or a relative. Gemma had an accident and then became full time severed. Whos saying peggy didnt have a similar situation..
I'm skeptical about Lumon being able to retrieve bodies. If it were that simple, they would have been able to get Petey's body and retrieved his chip more easily. I found that whole scene to be quite the gimmick. As if no one is going to notice the lady drilling into the coffin mid service? Either way, Harmony/Ms. Selvig wasn't able to rely on the police or the morgue to do her dirty work, she had to go in there personally and with great risk. I think it must be more complicated than simply retrieving bodies and bringing them back to life.
This may seem random, but regarding your editing style, I am so glad you don’t use a bunch of default stock videos. I find stock images unbearable because they all have the same color scheme (as you mention in this same video), they’re all soulless and to me they cheapen the videos similar to using Microsoft word art in a presentation. I know it’s becoming popular to use stock images, but I just can’t bring myself to watch videos with a bunch of stock images. I appreciate your editing style!
Im really curious how much the downfall/exposure of scientology as a scam has effected hollywood and whether that's been an influence of shows such as Severance.
Can't wait to see what the innie edition of the OST comes with. I also bought a copy of the outie edition but that one doesn't seem to be anything special as far as I know.
I kind of doubt it, but I wonder if Daria Thorne is a nod to David Thorne of 27B/6, who has generated some hilarious writings over the years in the form of email chains between himself and clients and co-workers.
so you're saying the outee is the agent under Lumon influence that the innee is working in Lumon has no influence from Lumon so they are kept under control.
I wonder how much the chip truly suppress they remember a lot of stuff you would learn at school but cannot remember personal relationship in the outside world or where they live
wait so is milchik a clone?? it would be an insane coincidence if his only brother happened to be the lumon agent assigned to this topeka newspaper. or it could be an alias lumon assigns but cobell seemed to be using her real name and she was higher up the food chain and and would presumably be more in need of an alias than milchik so…
In the booklet what stood out to me was that they must wash their hands 10 times a day, and specifically they need to wash their hands after interacting with coworkers. To me this means they want little traces of dna, which could be used by an outie to find out who their coworkers are.
It is very weird for an office to request medical grade cleanliness. The only reason I can think of is to prevent DNA to exit the severed floor. It’s too specific to not be meaningful imo.
The biggest part of the letter for me was the information about the feeding tube. Miss Cobel definitely has some more interesting story to explore in the future seasons. God I hate that the writers strike just stopped production
![Severance Theories #8 [Petey's Map + Theories]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fUglz4MjvFg/mqdefault.jpg)
I love the deep dive :)
One thing that caught my attention was page 11 of the manual. It says that if you bin the wrong numbers, then the system rejects it. So if the system already knows the right and wrong number sets, then why the need for a human refiner? This now makes me think about those projects were researchers teach chimps how to count objects on a computer screen. When they get it right, they get a reward (hmmmm). I am starting to go back to thinking that the MDR data is for refining (or conditioning) the innies, rather than the other way around. Teaching and honing some innate skill (like numerical synesthesia or something).
Hey, raven lord! This is an interesting way to look at it and as usual you've got me thinking. I guess it depends on what a "wrong" answer really means, on Lumon's end. It could mean wrong, as in the answer is entirely incorrect versus somewhat close, but not quite right. Is it binary or by degrees? The fact that they call it "refinement" bugs me, because it makes me think that they (Lumon) are only able to detect the undesirable data loosely, but not with the level of accuracy that a human can achieve, so they need human help to finish the job. It makes me think of a robot doing a task that requires delicacy, something a human would probably be better at, like comforting a scared child or detecting emotions in people. Intuition and emotionality are involved. To me, this implies that Lumon can't automate the process because of that requirement of emotional intelligence to detect the numbers. That said, the possibility that they are refining themselves still seems completely plausible.
I still think the correlation that many are trying to make between outside events and the data refinement are actual and not just for training a rat in a maze. Is Lexington referring to Lexington Avenue in NYC where the explosion happened or a city? What do all the file folders or projects mean? Are they the names of cities, rivers, or street names even? It seems like an awful lot of focus on making them mindless trainees without making a point for a purpose if you asked me.
@@tessthef1rst My main point was what is the purpose of using humans to sort data, rather than the machines.
@@ravenlord4 In math and computer science there is the concept of zero-knowledge proofs. Basically a system can know what the correct answer to something is without knowing how to solve something. This is the basis for things like blockchain and cryptography. I'll give you an example: There's a pile of metal on the floor that can be assembled into a key. The machine does not know how to assemble the key but the key knows that if the human makes the key and gives it to the computer it can put it in the lock and see if it turns. The system may not be complex enough to solve the of assembling of the key but knows when the key is correctly assembled. There are many such problems in computers and especially if what the MDR people are doing involves emotional intelligence its very conceivable that the system would not be able to solve the problem, but will know when its solved because some other effect will occur.
@@drakewinwest9888 Ew, a fellow technocrat.
I noticed on page 18 of the handbook it says “we do everything we can to insure the safety of our workers.” You would expect it to say “ensure” not “insure.” It could just be a spelling error, or maybe they are literally taking insurance out on their employees. I know some businesses do that for key employees, but I thought the wording was interesting in the context of whatever kind of experimental work is being done at Lumon.
Great catch and very interesting! If that was intentional it could be a piece of the puzzle.
@@nautilusfiles I know I'm super super late to this (season 2 hype got me going back and finding new severance material) but it's almost certainly intentional. The manual in the show has a number of spelling errors and grammar mistakes, and every single one is corrected in the manual in the lexington letter. Why would they correct all the others but miss this one?
I think it may have something to do with Sevy the mascot, his pose on all the pages is relatively similar, the same pose is used multiple times but only 1 pose stands out. On page 18 Sevy is holding up 6 fingers, all on one hand and 2 on the other. Page 18 talks about communication with your outie being prohibited. Idk what it means but it’s different than the rest of the drawings of Sevy
Babe, wake up, a new Nautilus Files video dropped. these keeping me sane until Season 2 drops
💙😂 It's a kind of therapy for me, too!
This comment gets 7 and a half Milchicks.
@@Radtrayson1084 The hardest thing I had to do was suffer through the Agent Doggett seasons of The X-Files.
@@Salsa_SharkI love finding an XFiles fan out in the wild.
We're almost there, duko!!!
I have no idea if you'll even see this a year later, but: an inconsistency in this doc that was interesting to me is Peg stating she worked as a bus driver for 12 years, and the obit from the Lumon-controlled paper stating she was a bus driver for "several decades." Peg also has a very formal, almost militaristic way of documenting an incident, where she finds it important to adhere to "protocol," calls her bus a "rig," and refers to pants-pissing as "urination events." Given the context of this document, I'd be surprised if any of this is incidental.
My initial thought was that Peg might have some military history that goes unmentioned to fill the gap in her work history. My second was that it might not have been her first time being severed or experimented on by Lumon, and that the ad she heard was triggered in her head and not actually playing on the radio. She was alone, so there wouldn't have been anyone around to confer with.
The latter might also explain the formal writing, if Peg's Lumon training is more baked into her ideas about work and how to document incidents than she even realizes.
Just some thoughts, I love your vids and am about to do my first rewatch of the show in years, so will probably have more.
Oooh interesting!!
Omg those are such interesting details, thank you for pointing them out
Dang. Good catches. I'm torn on whether the explosion was connected, as it could be a red herring in which she was imagining causation, but I don't doubt it.
With the new trailer featuring Helly's head being shoved underwater, Peg coming out of work one day with wet hair might have a whole new meaning.
Spoiler for E1S2:
Especially considering the whole pineapple bobbing thing, what a convenient way to cover that up.
@@BadgerBoober Yes so true!!
The chip blocking episodic memory but not effecting procedural memory is pretty much a sure bet. Besides Peggy's puglish, we have Innie Irv driving a car, something which his innie obviously has no experience with.
Hey, Charlie! Yeah, knowing this about memory helps make sense of a lot of how being severed actually works. I only scratched the surface, but it explains why they can remember certain things and not others.
Yes, that’s how the innies are functionally adult, but experientially babies. Everything from knowing how to use a toilet, to being able to speak a language, to knowing how to open doors and operate elevators, is stored in procedural memory. But they have no memories of how they acquired the skills and knowledge they have. I’m not sure that types of memory are that clearly delineated in the brain irl, but it’s fascinating idea.
@@sopyleecrypt6899 Yeah, based on the research I'd done, there is correspondence between types of memory. There is some overlap between the types, but there is enough difference that you can isolate them to some degree.
@@sopyleecrypt6899 Definitely it's interesting. Apparently from what I've read in the past, procedural memory is stored in so called "reptilian" brain rather than our neocortex. Presumably the chip has no effect on the reptilian brain. Interestingly enough, in real life, there have been rare cases where an adult has had an injury or serious illness, and lost all their procedural memory as well - they are literally like new borns, so not toilet trained, or with the ability to pick up food on a spoon and put in into their mouth easily, etc
That's why Irving figured out how to drive his car to Burt :o
Yay I’m so glad you’ve covered the Lexington Letter. The Manchurian Candidate implications, sleeper agents that can be switched on by Lumon whenever, wherever, is terrifying and fascinating. I also pored over the handbook and felt like there were answers there, but just out of reach, like something glimpsed from the corner of your eye that disappears as soon as you turn your head to look at it. Thank you for the best Severance analysis on TH-cam, keep deep-diving 🫧
I get the same exact feeling, like we need just a little more info to be able to put a bead on it. I'm still going over the handbook again to see if anything else stands out, but I doubt I'll find anything. My gut feeling is that it has something to do with it advising excessive handwashing lol
Yes! Yes! Yes! Irving said something about the soap in the bathroom not being labeled anymore. Maybe because it’s not actually soap? It could be some diluted medication and washing your hands frequently, keeps the medicine in their system?
I love your theories
Really just an evolution of what 'crazy' people were saying in the 60s tbh
I love how the reporter never questioned the “accident” that happened right after a huge story was being sent to the news.
Probably safer not to.
Because the reporter (Jim Milchick) is implied to be related to Mr Seth Milchick as they both have the same last name, It could be assumed that the reporter was told to drop it by Seth or maybe Seth convinced him that its a nothing burger.
In the manual that comes with the Lexington letter I noticed on page 21 (of the manual) at the very bottom it says “compensatory waffle party”. I thought this was a weird way to describe the waffle party since the definition of compensatory is “reducing or offsetting the unpleasant or unwelcome effects of something”. I think this hints that being refiner of the quarter means you did something unpleasant (ie. how when Peggy finished the Lexington file there was accident with the Dorner truck).
Lumon could definitely cause car accidents by rapidly switching the mind states of a severed employee, similar to the OTC. Just ensure the employee is traveling fast enough and you have an “accident”. Could possibly tie into Mark and Ms.Casey’s car accident. Though there is a repeated theme of vehicle collisions in the show/lexington letter, only Peg was known to be severed at the time of her bus crash.
Exactly what I was thinking. If they time a switch properly, they could cause serious accidents without the person having a clue as to what or why it happened.
The term Glasgow refers to Coma levels and was seen as one of the options like OT C
I think their work consists on managing each other’s chips and archive or compartmentalize thoughts not wanted by them and/or Lumen.
I like this theory. Like a self-auditing AI .
yes! @@HoundsBane
The work being related to the chips makes a lot of sense. The ability to feel emotion from numbers in a computer leads me to believe that the computer is interacting with the chip to evoke emotion. Lumon's goal of world domination worn on its face pretty clearly, but I believe they are using MDR's data to develop a chip capable of evoking emotions in outties who have severed to keep them docile.
What jumped out at me was the compurer boot-up screen on page 8 of the handbook. Multiple references to loading video codecs, which is a really weird thing for simple raster graphics that look like they're from the 1980s. Lends support to the idea that MDR isnt looking at numbers but video or something else, and are just being made to see numbers via their chips.
I was wondering if the entire place is virtual or a projection to some extent.
best severance analysis videos on yt hands down
💯
I love the show, best one I've watched in years. What severed people don't get is that there are no advantages of being severed. You are literally shortening your life span by 8hrs/day or by 16hrs/day. Mark S. wanted to forget about his wife's death for 8 hours but he changed nothing. The outie Mark is still grieving 16/16 hrs a day, except when he's sleeping , but that still gives him the 8 hrs of wake time...
You not seeing the advantage doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. You can live a life with no work. No stress or anxiety. No deadlines. No effort. 100% of your time is leisure, besides commuting to work. I would consider it.
@@misterbxivonly works if you don't have options to change your job. work provides a whole place with challenges that keep your mind fit, a new social circle and many more. you'd still have to find all those in your 14 hours per day (minus commuting), otherwise you wouldn't feel fulfilled, and still you would feel tired after work and still worry about entry time deadlines
@@misterbxiv I feel like all leisure without any memory of work wouldn't really feel like leisure, though. there has to be some balance in order for you to really feel free at the end of the day.
They say in the show that Mark tried to return to work but “that was a disaster”. He’s emotionally fragile - for some work can be a welcome distraction but his original job as a professor being so closely linked to his wife’s may have caused some serious trigger responses that rendered him incapable. The American welfare system being what it is (and baring in mind we don’t have an actual clear idea of whether the world they’re in is ours or some kind of dystopian future, new ice age kind of situation), he couldn’t easily take a load of time off to try and adjust to this new grief to the point where it wasn’t interfering with his job, so for him Severance was a no-brainer. He wasn’t mentally capable of working, they gave him a totally fresh start with benefits and a subsidised home to live in, and a chance to switch his brain off (from his perspective) for 8 hours a day. He can work unimpeded, earn a wage, and spend the time he’s actually awake supposedly working on his mental state and learning to manage his grief (although all he seems to do is mope and self-medicate with alcohol, sadly). Petey’s map said “we’re in here because we’re not all there”, he’s assuming just about everyone has something in their lives they’re running from or some mental reason they chose a severed life over working a normal job - some guilt or grief or mental illness that impedes them. I think for the majority he’d be right.
"for him Severance was a no-brainer" .. a truer statement was never uttered 😹 So looking forward to season 2!
Theory: Peg/Peggy's involvement in the bombing was a coincidence. The true purpose of MDR is to encrypt files and/or cover up Lumon's crimes in some way. The emotional nature of the numbers ensures that nobody other than the innie could ever decrypt those files and 'find' those numbers again. So, the connection between the numbers and the explosion were actually an example of the day-to-day workings of MDR. Peg/Peggy were simply one of the only people to realize it, as they had found a way to bypass the chip.
Super late to the conversation, and someone may have mentioned this already, but the handbook stares you can only wear the following colours: black, white, navy, grey and pastels. Although the handbook talks about clothes, it made me think about their hair. I’m pretty sure everyone on the severed floor has hair that complies with these rules about colour (hopefully I’m not forgetting anyone), except Helly whose hair is red. I think this reflects her natural defiance and the fact that the rules don’t really apply to her like everyone else because she’s an Egan.
she also wears dark green, brown, light blue, beige, she’s always breaking the color rules! which is something other people in mdr do too but in very specific moments… she’s doing it all the time
@ that’s such a good point! I didn’t even notice that but Helly stays swerving the rules.
I wonder if the rules about colour became slightly less strict as the years went on because the handbook was written so long ago 🤔
@@flutterbeyes Well her outtie chooses her clothes and her outtie also happens to be an entitled person who l, as a socialite, probably has strong opinions on fashion and is also not likely to be called out on what she chooses to wear, especially considering her innie's bosses are probably her outtie's subordinates.
I think they have to stick to natural hair colors. And red hair is a natural color
@ absolutely! My initial point was more that they chose to create a character with red hair while no one else does and that feels very intentional in a show as detailed as this. Funnily enough I am listening to the official Severance podcast and they mention they almost made Helly a brunette but went back on the decision. To me that reaffirms the red hair is very particular. Red/ dark orange often refers to danger in the office like when Dylan bit Milchick, when Helly tried to break out of the office and Ricken’s book which is also ‘dangerous’ outside material. Also red is the other side of the colour wheel to green and kind of blue which are integral Lumon colours. Anyway sorry for the essay 😅. I just like the way the show uses colour
The Lexington letters are so fascinating , gives little but crucial details and tidbits, I had no idea these existed till now
Peg/Peggy died in a CAR ACCIDENT?! Sounds like a certain wife of a main character we’re familiar with! Here’s a CRAZY theory: season 2 has a character we learn is Peggy but is existing like Gemma’s trapped “innie”. Maybe because she already has been chipped she’ll be a useful tool to whatever Lumin is trying to accomplish.
Ohhh
@@DesireeStamat i'm pretty sure Peggy is coming back as a innie like Gemma. She's not dead. they won't lose a subject like that. She has been kidnapped and lost her freedom. But she's not dead. I'm pretty sure she's not dead. just permanently Innie now
Might be the person who is replacing Gemma
What if they made Helly’s innie personality using Gemma’s data to fill that subconscious void inside of Mark? This would do a bit more to explain the subtle love interest; Mark taking the break room for her, Mark following her through the light (Hallway to the goats), yet his innie was never altered. Maybe he was just told she died so his outie conscious and innie subconscious believe that yet some parts of his humanness leak through the severance? Gemma seems very vacant and robotic almost like she is missing a personality or soul.
Other wild theories on my constantly growing list of theories: Gemma is Peggy? I still think there has got to be some sort of innie reset button for when workers start to develop new memories and subconscious links. What will happen to them all at the start of season 2 after the override stunt with Dylan holding the switches down? I predict Helly’s speech will suddenly be turned into some sort of joke about people’s natural fears or that the “Friends of Lumen” are already severed people and that it is a private event that wasn’t live but will be edited later for public access. With the override we know that information stays with the person like how Dylan found out about his son. Maybe Helly will still remember what her innie wanted to say and continue on. What I’m getting at is that all the characters will need to have some sort of reset to silence and erase all the information they know to continue working. That or they will become permanent innies, or they will die in some bizarre “accidents” and a new 4 will appear. I sincerely hope they keep the same 4 actors and maybe bring a few new ones on the outside. I’ve grow too attached to the characters to let go already. All I know is that every part of this show keeps my imagination running wild with possibilities and I love the feeling. Sometimes the wonder of not knowing and thinking of all the outcomes can be even more fun than getting the answers. Sure some questions will be answered but these writers are smart and will keep everyone guessing about some aspect of the show. I doubt any of my guesses are right but it will be fun to see.
Gah I can’t wait for Season 2.
@@exzisdbut Peggy is a 50 year old woman. how can she be Gemma?
Scariest thing about the letter file was Sevy’s commentary - surprised no one else was deeply disturbed but his messaging? “If our workflow suffers, then in the long run, so does the world” -and- “a sound mind and a calm spirit are key to a strong work ethic” - the stuff of absolute nightmares in the context of an ‘it only takes one drop!’ Lumon-cult (creepy logo much?).
What tragedy exactly is intended to befall the whole world if everyone does not fall in line and Lum-ify their lives? Even in the most benevolent glass half-full scenario in which Lumon actually is trying to save the world from itself (cue global warming & claims that humanity is a scourge upon the earth) if everyone is Severed and 10x daily hand-washed in the kool-aid to the point of emotional ambivalence and complacency, what kind of world is that?
Sound mind, calm spirit with especially strong work ethic? Only hippies & lemmings come to mind… and only one is known to have a death defying worth ethic.
It was very interesting at least to see what MDR really does - take people that are unique only in their excessive emotional response and use them to systematically root out the driving emotions of others, presumably until all that’s left is a nice pliable Kier-shell (Mark is the embodiment of sadness - Woe, Helly is hell on wheels - Malice, Irving is forever fearful - Dread, and Dylan is mister frivolous - Frolic). A world full of dutiful lemmings awaits!
Emotional ambivalence? I don't get how mixed or contradictory feelings would play into it.
not trying to detract from an interesting comment, but fyi the idea that lemmings commit mass suicide is a myth--when Disney was making a film called White Wilderness in 1958, the photographers wanted a dramatic shot so they just threw a bunch of lemmings off a cliff 💀
Your description of the severance procedure and Chip around 7-minute mark is exactly how I have always believed it was and described it to people. A chip that will segregate your memories and memory storage ability into a work self and a home self.
Something I noticed in the Lexington Letter is a repeated acknowledgement of Lumon selling products that directly contact human skin:
1) "Lumon Industries. I knew who they were - I'd been using their deodorant since puberty..."
2) "From the humble beginnings of a small topical salve company..."
3) "Apply the Lumon branded soap."
Yup! I am of the mind that Lumon is putting something in their products to further their goals, on the low. I suspect the water in that town is laced with something too.
If, in fact, these products are doing something to them through skin application, perhaps that's why Milchik was so freaked out that Dylan broke the skin when he bit him. You could take it as simply shock that he was that angry that he broke skin, but it seemed like Milchik was panicked by that. He didn't even try to discipline them; he got out of there as fast as he could.
Wow great point. Also consider that Mrs. Selvig gave Mark's sister a shea butter ointment to rub on herself after breast-feeding.
This also plays into Lumon's logo: the water droplet. I know it is going to come into play at some point, I just don't know when or how. But if you think about it, what always goes with soap? Water.
I wonder if that relates at all to Mark telling Helly “Do you want Graner to use the bad soap?” In episode 3
Thank you for another fantastic video! Your editing is always on point, your voice is captivating, and your sense of humor is never too heavy handed.
Please keep up the good work, and I hope Stiller and Erickson know about your channel because it really does keep people like myself hyped for more.
Thank you, Zachary. This comment made my day!
@@nautilusfiles it's proper payback then as your video made mine! I hope there is a finger trap and waffle party in your near future!
Loved this - curious about something you said. You wondered how they got Gemma's body - but do you think there's a possibility that she survived the accident? Also, do you think that the accident itself was created by Lumon? I don't think we ever found out for sure that Mark was in the car when Gemma had the accident. He's aware of the tree, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was in the car. He and Gemma were professors and I suspect that has something to do with why Gemma was targeted and also why Mark was targeted. It does seem that they made a point of getting both of them into the company - that Mark was probably persuaded to join, something like the way Peg was persuaded to join when an ad came on the radio right when the bus accident happened (again - probably not really an "accident").
Hey, Janet! I think she was declared dead, but probably in critical condition and smuggled out to Lumon by people with the power to make the decisions and create the conditions needed. My best assumption is that Lumon has police or medical personnel that are there to make it look legit. I'm with you on the idea that both Mark and Gemma were targeted by them too. Lumon seems to somehow be able to cause "car accidents" that allow them to snatch people (or not, as in the case of Peg). Really, makes you wonder if they are choosing people and pulling the strings behind the events of their lives that ultimately find them on the severed floor.
@@nautilusfiles Aha! Yes because you usually can't just fake someone else's death. You would need the cooperation of police and medical personnel and I'm forgetting that Lumon is good at getting the cooperation of people you'd tend to trust. Now I'm even more curious to find out why they (more than likely) targeted Gemma and Mark and what Gemma's state actually is. Thanks for posting this! I'm usually a sitcom fan, but this show really grabbed me and I hope we don't have to wait too long for Season 2 - although if we do, it'll be worth the wait, I'm sure.
@@janetbeatrice9505 Yeah, I would think there must be something special about people who work in MDR, and Lumon has a way of finding that out? And you pointed out one of the biggest mysteries regarding Gemma. We still don't know if she's in that body. I'm dying to know!
@@nautilusfiles I think she is because she told Mark she felt a familiarity and comfort with him. I hope she is!
Yes, yes, yes! Keep them going Nautilus! "Into the depths!!"
Dive, Dive, Dive! 🙌
Hello. I’m a new subscriber. I got recommended your feed through some weird algorithm magic. I started listening to one of your videos, and then I realized I hadn’t seen the series you were talking about. So I did what you told me: to stop and watch. I watch the whole series as fast as
I could. Then rewatched. thought wow how did I missed thus!?! I am just coming here to let you know that I really appreciate you taking the time to make these videos. Thank you for everything. I really enjoyed the series and your videos are awesome and now I suggested I’m sitting here in my snuggly listening to your calm voice read the letters after I read it myself.
Appreciate it, Bridget! Thanks for the kind words. I'm just happy to know there are people out there who don't mind me yammering on about these shows I like lol
Multi-function Milchik clones: Diplomat, assassin, middle manager, life of the party, you name it, he can do it.
I thought about that too. If only we could have seen Jim, and confirm that he looks exactly like Seth...
@@nautilusfiles Somewhat, distantly related, the choice of clothes is well-considered. Milchik wears short sleeves because he is most likely to have to get his hands dirty.
I think its possible that the macrodata refinement team is, through side effects of the chip, being used as a set of biological computers for Lumon, to perform complex calculations on an unconscious level. When they feel certain emotions it is merely a conscious trigger from their subconscious that those numbers solve a certain algorithm, which in reality is just a numerical representation of a real world problem that needs to be solved. Once hte MDR refiners think they have found a solution, they test it - i.e. the computer attempts to solve the algorithm with the proposed variables, and if it fails it returns the problem to the refiner.
There must have been some mathematical aspect to the corporate bombing - figuring out timings, probabilities, this sort of thing - which were transformed into a mathematical puzzle that their subconscious brains could solve. Macrodata refiners are after all chosen for their intellectual abilities, according to Lumon. And I believe that somehow 4 workers is the ideal number for maintaining an effective worker environment. There may be other MDR teams elsewhere in the complex.
I think that other departments perform similar "coded" work for the company. The optics and design group may be responsible for the manufacture of spy equipment. The goat herder may in fact be a breeding ground for a new type of virus, which requires a caretaker to carefully prepare the specimen in a live sample before it is ready for distribution.
The one thing I am not sure about is the religious - 10 times a day - washing of the hands. I think Lumon must be particularly afraid of viruses leaking out or being deliberately spread in their complex. Or maybe the Lumon chip has a side effect of suppressing immune system function.
That's a really great theory. More plausible than anything I've been able to come up with.
This was great work. Also, I too wondered about all of their products! They literally make everything!
I really think there might be something to it. If we only had a few more confirming clues. Guess we'll have to wait until season 2!
Love the sleeper agent idea. I bet you're right. You have a really lovely voice btw.
I keep returning to your Severance analyzes. Thank you.
Maybe it’s nothing but I found it weird that they had to mention the colour scheme for clothes. Why give it a space if it’s outies’ responsibility to dress up for work?
Maybe the "code detectors" rely on some tracking agent in the water/soap at Lumen, so they can detect whenever an employee has contaminated a piece of paper. That might explain why they can always detect something in their pocket or inside their body? It's far fetched I know.
Yeah but Mark gets in with a damp tissue paper episode 1 that he finds after crying in the parking lot
Traffic collision. Accident implies there's no one to blame.
10/10
Hello from Kansas, I've been watching the Nautilus Files Severance videos since finishing a rewatch last night. Reading the Lexington Letter, I noticed a few little inconsistent phrases about Topeka, which are probably a product of Ben Stiller not being too familiar with Topeka. But one thing stood out. The phone number at the end of the letter is a 785 area code and could very well be a real number. How fun would it be if someone called that number and got another little crumb? I would do it, and I still might, but I don't want to be disappointed. Has anyone tried?
I’d like the make a note that when we first see marks desk and computer screen, he’s working on the “Dranesville” file, and when he talks to Dylan, Dylan is working on the “Tumwater” file.
Dranesville is a city in VA less than 30 from DC. Tumwater is a city near Olympia Washington.
I know Lexington is the name of several cities in the US, but in context of the letter we refer to NYC. It just makes me wonder what the files are used for in the other cities.
Thank you for giving something to watch during the wait for season 2!
1. Short-Term Memory (STM)
Purpose: Holds information briefly (seconds to minutes).
Example: Remembering a phone number long enough to dial it.
2. Working Memory
Purpose: Active processing and manipulation of information in the moment.
Example: Doing mental math or following multi-step instructions.
3. Long-Term Memory (LTM)
Purpose: Stores information for extended periods, potentially a lifetime.
Types:
Explicit (Declarative) Memory:
Episodic: Personal experiences (e.g., your last birthday).
Semantic: Facts and general knowledge (e.g., capital cities).
Implicit (Non-Declarative) Memory:
Procedural: Skills and habits (e.g., riding a bike).
Priming: Subconscious influences on behavior or thought.
Conditioned Responses: Learned automatic reactions.
4. Sensory Memory
Purpose: Briefly stores sensory impressions (milliseconds).
Types:
Iconic: Visual memory.
Echoic: Auditory memory.
5. Emotional Memory
Purpose: Tied to emotions, often involving the amygdala.
Example: Remembering how you felt during a significant event.
6. Autobiographical Memory
Purpose: Combines episodic and semantic memory for personal history.
Example: Recalling your childhood hometown.
The memory thing is either a major plot hole or they'll have to explain it somehow. Otherwise it's going to be messy.
My question is why are there four “virtues” or data categories but 5 bins. Each bin has contributions from each of the categories. How do you determine what goes where? Because even determining the feeling of the data doesn’t even correspond with which bin it’s put in. Very vexing!
Another great video Nautilus, keep 'em coming! Awesome content! :) Glued to the monitor!
Thank you, Mareks! Always good to see you!
Sudden crackpot theory: Cobel's innie is on the outside, her outie is the one at the office. Which would possibly explain her childlike nature when she's at home.
Woahhhhhh
Except she remembers everything both inside and out, reacting accordingly
I've seen a lot of theories talking about how a lot of the files loop back to themes of war, as well. "Cold Harbor" in S2e1 is a file that Mark is working on in that episode. That was a battle in the Civil War where the Confederacy handily beat the Union. Lexington is a famous battle from the Revolutionary War. It was a decisive American victory, and the start of the American Revolution.
I feel like this could be a nod to how Peggy's communication with the outside was a real shock to the system for Lumon, who might be more like the British in this example--the all-powerful, well-connected empire. Idk if I'm just waffling or if there is some significance to the file names.
Never stop making these ❤️ Thank you so much
Thanks, Julia! More Severance vids on the way😃
I think there is something hidden in the sudoku like patch of numbers (page 5) and that other page that lists all core principles 1 to 9 on page 22 (all digits covered 🤔) The issue I have is that all words (principles) start with a consonant :/
I don't think that the refiners caused the attack. My current theory is that the attack was already planned, and that the refiners had to try to predict it, like the precogs in Minority Report. Are they testing if the innies can have memories of things that haven't happened yet? Petey said to Mark that his innie and outie memories were out of sync ('the relativity is wrong'), and that his first day at the office felt as if it happened around his fifth birthday. Time is weird both on the inside and outside, mixing elements from different time periods (the office technology, Milchicks appearance, Mrs Selvigs car,...)
I think Petey is referring to his own perception of time because of how his innie has only lived a few years while his outtie is over 40. After integration, his brain is having difficulty reconciling the two lifespans that are vastly different in length. What happened last week, as an innie, feels like it was decades ago to his outtie. Events don't line up chronologically in his mind.
My guess is the reason it lines up with the explosion is because what they are doing on the computers is basically programming someone that was servered on the outside in real time and whenever they finished it was basically like them infecting that person with a virus that would make them perform a specific act in this case blowing up a truck.
Either as a single directive or as making just the right tweaks the the tempers to make them a puppet
I enjoyed every part of this video equally. Off to watch the vid for S2e1! Can’t wait to see what they do in the show
man i really love your voice, so calming!
Glad to hear it :)
Bro I’m just now finding your TH-cam page! This is all fire
I found something in the manual: during the hand washing instructions, they recommend you sing "Happy Birthday to Kier".
Wuuuut? Probably to ensure hands get washed thoroughly... which is really weird. I'm telling you, there is either something in the water or in Lumon products because they are far too concerned with handwashing at an office.
A year late, but that singing would explain Ms Cobell singing to the department after they disregarded her orders. A trigger to try to make them more compliant again maybe?
This is taught in high school cooking classes where I worked -- sing the HB song while you wash your hands to ensure you've fully washed them. So maybe it isn't any more than that.
@@nautilusfiles Unless what they are actually doing does get their hands "dirty".
Back here, rewatching all the theories in preparation for season 2 coming January 17th
What about Petey - they were looking for him. EMS picked him up, the police were called, he was taken to the hospital. Why did they have to drill into his head at his funeral to get the chip back? Seems like protocol would be to retrieve every chip and his was even more a priority.
Getting the chip back was Harmony's personal goal. She's running her own experiments, etc. That's why she had to do it herself, and not just have it arranged through the company. It probably does not have any value in the eyes of Lumon higher ups.
because they don't know that petey was reintegrated meaning that he was "let go" for reasons more serious than that. harmony personally retrieved the chip cause she was the only one that believed he was reintegrated.
There seems to be no surefire way of keeping tabs on all the chips knowing that people can quit the severed departments. It would quickly become untenable to "terminate" that many severed people in the outside world, given that it is known to quite wide circles of their families, friends and acquaintances that they had been severed. That would mean the chip itself is not that valuable, since what Harmony did could quite easily be done by just about any other party wanting to get in on the action. It seems like the chip is not that much of a trade secret, probably many have figured out how it is built and how it works by now.
The idea that severance chips control and isolate a particular class of memories isn’t a theory, it’s the basic premise of the show.
True
So Jim is Seth’s brother? I’m thinking that Seth Milchick isn’t who he appears to be. I suspect Seth gave Petey the “Break Room” tape. They made it a point to show him sticking a tape in his pocket. Would the company record the “apology statement” readings on those little tapes. I’m thinking that the little tapes are Seth’s tapes and the company records on something more high tech. Seth is making his own recordings for………🤷🏼♂️
I definitely think there's some other "domino" between the data getting refined and the truck explosion... the delay being written was too intentional.
But its been bugging me how small all of the departments are, like their goals would have to be pretty specific and high impact. I'm not smart enough for this show haha, great video!
I think Cobel has a line where she says they are in the process of expanding, so this skeleton crew might be temporary when the new people arrive. I guess we will see the new hires in Season 2. Either way, it's still weird how they only seem to have one MDR department per site.
In the handbook, I find it curious that there are five ‘bins’ into which data impurities that correspond to the four ‘tempers’ are sorted. It occurred to me, on the basis of the theory that MDR is refining chips in people, that each of these bins may represent one of the five senses: touch, taste, sight, sound and smell. It seems plausible that the macro data being refined is the chip’s encoding of its host’s responses to real-world stimuli transmitted through each sense; and that the MDR’s job is to identify, and inhibit, these specific emotional responses to stimuli perceived through the five senses, probably for making some external agent of Lumon’s more effective in obeying commands.
This would be consistent with Keir Eagan’s core belief, which in the show his eerie voice claimed he wanted to pass on to his ‘children’: that if the four tempers are ‘tamed’ “the world will be but your appendage.” I think that Keir’s successors took this belief literally, and invented a chip with the chief purpose of controlling the four tempers in its hosts, so that through them Lumon could impose its will on the world.
I think you nailed it on the head right here
this video is pretty old so someone might have said this before but in the manual the computer bios shows a microphone output stream, which makes me think lemon can hear anything they say when close to the computers.
"Lemon" is that a "freudian slip"? lol I'm very happy to see that someone else paused the show to try and see what the console looks like booted up! I tried to pause it several times to see what it says as back in the "old days" I programmed MS Dos and IBM Dos PC's as a hobby and then small business. This was well before Windows took over the O.S. which to this day I don't like! I kind of liked playing around with Dos and the boot sequence. Anyway, I noticed some things too as you did but it is SO hard to read it (perhaps they did this to us on purpose?). I am very sure you are correct on this as I noticed it as well. I was looking for ANY clue as to what these work stations were actually all about. I also think those "numbers" they are looking at are some kind of code that only their implant chips decode and they're actually some kind of God Awful pictures of something. Interesting thoughts anyway.
@@crazyaces4042the computer screen is pictured in the Lexington Letter in the attached manual manual so you can clearly see the boot up sequence
Thanks for all the juicy vids! This show is fantastic so far.
Cool Vid! Much enjoyed and can't wait for season 2!
Thanks, Dan. Same here. I've got a feeling it will be worth the wait!
So an ad partway through was an Amazon one, in which a woman is moving into a concrete sterile apartment. The song being played is by Christine and the Queen called Full of Life, it features a lyric (in the ad) 'And they steal ideas from your daughters'. - Perhaps that idea went straight into the MA bin.
I think the chip creates a DID type situation within the brain. Dissociative Identity Disorder. Some people with this disorder can have personalities that are completely unaware of certain facts about their lives. For example, one personality may be totally unaware of any trauma or abuse that occurred in their life while a different personality may only remember a year of the life of the body. So memories are split up but it’s not about “types” of memories.
I think that Lumen’s implant basically forces a DID personality split into the persons brain. And they have ability to control “switches”.
And I think the chip makes integration of those personalities hard to impossible.
It would also explain while their personalities aren’t as “split” as Lumen advertises. DID is proof that the brain is very complex and flexible. The brain can adapt to a lot of challenges and obstacles. That flexibility might be an issue for Lumen trying to control their brains. If their brains can internally adapt to the obstacle set by implant, they could basically integrate their personalities or it may be why they can remember things about their outies over time.
Basically Lumen wants compliant brains, but DID is proof that the human brain is naturally a defiant organ. It will find ways to overcome trauma and abuse. It will work to discover lost things it needs to remember. It will adapt to blockages by finding or building new pathways.
I agree that the explosion is not coincidental. In real life, that connection could be only a coincidence, but the context of the Lexington Letter makes it almost certainly real. Too weird for that to be a red herring.
Perfectly put! Like you said, it's in there for a reason, but I question the direct correlation... for now.
Is there word on the street why there are five bins, but four emotions (WO, FC, DR, MA)? What is the "mystery" bin for?
The handbook states there can't be any logos or writing on your clothing to avoid setting off the code detectors ..
I just finished severance and found your channel, I didn't know about the explosion related to Lexington, I wonder if it has anything to do with the battle of Lexington and Concord. The first battle in the revolutionary war
Leaped out of bed when I saw this one was up.
Haha! Awesome! 🙌🙏
What if they are refining their own chips?
I'm torn on whether the explosion was connected, as it could be a red herring in which she was imagining causation, but it certainly seems plausible that refining activated someone. After all, my working theory is that MDR consists of people whose severance chips contain the weakened preserved consciousnesses of past CEOs, and the refining is a process that strengthens those consciousnesses, allowing them to more strongly influence their severed hosts.
I was thinking that infections might cause rejection of the implant - and Petey had found that out. Hence why they are so strict about hygiene - other than contact with to many people can cause them to connect with people whom they know from the outside. Perhaps the "uprising" would be caused by this. But I think that Lumon made that into propaganda just to keep them in check.
Love your editing
Thanks, Wh1! Good to see you :)
So a major thing I notice was in page 8. This shows the computer starting up. The computer talks about 3 outputs being connected but actually only covers 2. The third is seen at the very end of page 8, which says ActuatorDevicUserClient::start Entered. So they entered the chip of the user and
So few things I noticed was the bins.
The company knows what data to put into which bins but then why would they need refiners. Well, the refiners find the data but that data is applied to what the company considers to be the right bin. Obviously the innie mentioning MA (which desires to do harm) isnt a coincidence.
So lets say that they have someone that they want to commit a crime then they know what data needs to be input but not what that data is. Which is why you get notified when the data is incorrectl when you put it into the wrong bin.
Another thing is that the innies never leave work so why would they forget what file name is.
Love the analysis!
Watching this cause and rewatching the series cause of the hype for season 2 finally coming. Never realize all the details I missed the first time around. Like how if an innie can be awoken outside the workplace, they can train to do other things than just office work. Or just cause a simple car crash over hush money.
I do think the files are affecting something in the outie world, but I don't think it's triggering specific events such as the explosion. Like, she completed the file at 230 & boom at 232, so how did they know the proto truck would be where it was at that time. What if she completed the file sooner, or later? Doesn't quite add up to that solution exactly but those files are definitely doing something important. Way more important than everyone thinks (us as the viewers, the MDR crew themselves, and even Milchick & Cobel).
There might be something to the water theory, especially since...
Season 2 spoilers
During the break room video, the Lumon building also has the water tower talking at some point. I could be reaching but everything on this show is intentional.
Facts:
Selvig and Peggy are great with kids, like gardening, are without a husband.
Jim M is Jim Milchick. Could be the same guy or a relative.
Gemma had an accident and then became full time severed. Whos saying peggy didnt have a similar situation..
Cant wait for a video from you when they drop a season 2 trailer
Thanks, Dem0n! I'm waiting for more info/leaks to make an update. Ofc, that trailer drop will require a video too.
about the wet hair... in trailer season 2, min 2:10 appears helly under water... maybe we could find some answers there.
i wonder if macrodata is like lumen shifting public opinion like a mass mind control thing
I'm skeptical about Lumon being able to retrieve bodies. If it were that simple, they would have been able to get Petey's body and retrieved his chip more easily. I found that whole scene to be quite the gimmick. As if no one is going to notice the lady drilling into the coffin mid service? Either way, Harmony/Ms. Selvig wasn't able to rely on the police or the morgue to do her dirty work, she had to go in there personally and with great risk. I think it must be more complicated than simply retrieving bodies and bringing them back to life.
Great video as always.
Appreciated, NB!
This may seem random, but regarding your editing style, I am so glad you don’t use a bunch of default stock videos. I find stock images unbearable because they all have the same color scheme (as you mention in this same video), they’re all soulless and to me they cheapen the videos similar to using Microsoft word art in a presentation. I know it’s becoming popular to use stock images, but I just can’t bring myself to watch videos with a bunch of stock images. I appreciate your editing style!
'Sevie' is like a more creepy version of microsoft office's paperclip digital assistant!😏🤣😂🤣😂🤪
Im really curious how much the downfall/exposure of scientology as a scam has effected hollywood and whether that's been an influence of shows such as Severance.
Your video made me think that the numbers on the screen of the booklet were a cipher puzzle
A lot of the fans seem to think so too. I don't think anyone has come with anything yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if there is some clue in it.
Wonder if there’s a milchick at every facility and he’s a clone? Problem then is he’s not chipped. So hmmm.
Can't wait to see what the innie edition of the OST comes with. I also bought a copy of the outie edition but that one doesn't seem to be anything special as far as I know.
The imgur link to the MDR Orientation Handbook in the description doesn't appear to be working.
I kind of doubt it, but I wonder if Daria Thorne is a nod to David Thorne of 27B/6, who has generated some hilarious writings over the years in the form of email chains between himself and clients and co-workers.
Great Channel!
so you're saying the outee is the agent under Lumon influence that the innee is working in Lumon has no influence from Lumon so they are kept under control.
But in S1 Cobel says Milchick’s first name is Seth?
I wonder how much the chip truly suppress they remember a lot of stuff you would learn at school but cannot remember personal relationship in the outside world or where they live
Your voice is so mellifluous.
Didn't realise you had a Patreon, just signed up. 👍
OMG, I just made the connection! Thanks so much!
@@nautilusfiles You're very welcome.
Just curious if you saw the Steven Colbert skit with the Severence cast. It's available on TH-cam.
I did! I thought it was pretty funny.
wait so is milchik a clone?? it would be an insane coincidence if his only brother happened to be the lumon agent assigned to this topeka newspaper. or it could be an alias lumon assigns but cobell seemed to be using her real name and she was higher up the food chain and and would presumably be more in need of an alias than milchik so…
a lot of car accidents & general dangerous driving going on around Lumon locations
In the booklet what stood out to me was that they must wash their hands 10 times a day, and specifically they need to wash their hands after interacting with coworkers. To me this means they want little traces of dna, which could be used by an outie to find out who their coworkers are.
It is very weird for an office to request medical grade cleanliness. The only reason I can think of is to prevent DNA to exit the severed floor. It’s too specific to not be meaningful imo.
The extreme hand washing:
My first thought was uranium and power plants. But DNA control is more likely.
The biggest part of the letter for me was the information about the feeding tube. Miss Cobel definitely has some more interesting story to explore in the future seasons. God I hate that the writers strike just stopped production
a few minutes? how many pages is it? 5?