I don’t personally buy the clone theory for Milchik for multiple reasons: - When Dylan attacks Milchik during the dancing scene, you later see Milchik with a bandage on his arm during Burt’s going away party. - When Cobel is fired, Milchik quickly leaves the MDR wing during the egg party and seems to be in distress to escort Cobel out of the building. - When it is discovered that Dylan is triggering the overtime sequence in the last episode and Milchik is made aware, he frantically has to get to the security room since he is in another part of the building. All of these points seem to indicate that Milchik is the same person throughout and isn’t some omnipresent clone. Just my two cents, great vid!
One thing I can't understand from Ms. Cobel is why she was so happy when outie Mark told her he was thinking about quitting Lumon. This may indicate that she is working against Lumon (but why go after Helly at the party?) or that Mark is special (at least from her perspective). Also, she doesn't seem to be nearly as obsessed with any other MDR employee.
I suspect that she's not a Lumon fan, but a dyed-in-wool Kier fan all the way. I think she disapproves of what Lumon is doing and believes the board has strayed from his original vision. I don't think she wants to see Lumon destroyed, but she does think she can correct its course from within, which is why she will protect the company despite her misgivings. I talk about this a bit in a video about Cobel. As for her and Mark, it could be that Mark's situation with Gemma mirrors her own with Charlotte, or there is more to Mark's identity than we know as of yet. I think she was happy to see him quit because she low-key hates severance or severed identities. It's hard to say for sure. It should be interesting to find out what her obsession with him is really about.
Lumon had just fired her... she was ready to take the ship down, either out of spite, or so she could create an issue and be the one to save the day and get her job back. When she realized that Innie Mark was out, she quickly switched into crisis mode, and thus her opportunity to get back into Lumon's good graces.
She is trying to figure out how to unsever herself which is why she was so interested in Petey. She tried to stop Helly from exposing Lumon because if they are shit down then Cobel will no longer be able to achieve reintegration
@@lialia2268 I think this is a good theory, however, it would make more sense for her to not tell the Board about reintegration at all if she was trying to figure out how to do it for herself.
I think a major key with Petey is illustrating how difficult reintegration is. Not only does the innie and outie have to remember each other's memories, but they then have to try to splice them together into the proper temporal sequence. It's not like recovering X years of lost memories -- it is recovering 8 hour and 16 hour chunks of memory and getting them in the correct order with themselves AND each other -- kind of like taking two sides of a zipper and closing them together. Outie Petey's "flashbacks" (involuntary recurrent memories) add a new layer of horror to the show, and IIRC this was because he was rushing the reintegration process. As you mentioned, Petey's whole timeline is a bit iffy, and we may never know exactly what happened without a secondary source, as Petey is unfortunately somewhat of an unreliable narrator. And as always, loving your videos!
Hey, raven lorde! you make good points here. I think Petey ultimately died because he felt it urgent enough to forego a proper recovery because he wanted to be sure he had the chance to let Mark know Lumon was up to no good and try to do something about it. I imagine he would be experiencing a fair bit of paranoia about what Lumon would do once they found him, so it may be what drove him to attend to the issue right away instead of just hiding. Reghabi said he would have been fine had he gotten sufficient rest and kept a low profile. I guess we have to assume she knows what she's talking about. Reintegration sounds like a nightmare. Your uneven zipper analogy is great, because it truly is like stitching two vastly uneven experiences together in a way that the brain and memory can reconcile. Good insights, as usual.
Milchick's work day looks very much like that of an elementary school secretary I once knew, doing a little bit of everything, seeming to be everywhere at once. I'm not kidding!
He’s a pretty typical middle manager - never doing any real work outside of logistical and housekeeping stuff, delegating tasks to his staff & lower managers, and always keeping an eye on what’s going on so he can step in when need be
I think Devon seems too genuine in her interest in what’s going on with severance to be “in on” anything major. The most suspicious thing she does is quickly shut her laptop when Ricken comes in the room while she’s researching. Which makes me more suspicious of Ricken than of her.
Milchick is so well casted and acted. He’s such a believable and scary character. All his jobs are pretty easy. They just take basic common sense and decent intelligence.
yeah i agree. while he has a lot of tasks that require him to be busy, they aren’t overly complicated at all. and you see him fumbling around at times. like when Ms Cobel was fired and he had to run from the MDR party. if he had a clone i don’t feel he would need to do that.
I was listening to the radio the other day and they mentioned Apple TV+ who produce the show. They made an excellent point that they tend not to produce as many shows as some of their streaming competitors - but the few they do produce are of a much higher production value. Quality and not quantity. This is most evident in the cinematography, script and cast of Severance imo. The fact Lumon has a skeleton crew sharing most - if not all - the duties we see on screen is therefore due to a focus on character development. It's easier to do this when you keep the numbers down. The executives at Apple were also waiting on the critical reception before deciding if they were going to renew for another season. So it's not as much of a gamble for them if the show isn't well received and more likely to succeed for the reasons above. The scatter gun approach most of the streaming giants go for means a lot of well cast, well thought out shows get cancelled. This 'fling enough spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks' philosophy does produce some popular shows. But the success rate is so low it makes you wonder what the point is - especially if your focus is on the viewer, as it should be. Anyway, this might explain why Milchick (besides the security guard and Cobel) represent all things Lumon in the show. It's not as fun as your theories (especially the Beehive theory) i'm just thinking of what constraints they had when making the show. There's only one of each character in this show imo, although the fact they're so strict on different departments having communication does make me wonder... I have a feeling some of the bit part characters will be developed and will become centre stage next season, which is no surprise, however I feel the Artetas (The senator and his wife) and Reghabi might have been overlooked. I don't think they'll bring back Petey, his character is deceased, although I imagine we will get flashbacks of him before he died with the office crew and Reghabi. Cobel might also be taking a back seat as the board seek to replace her, so my money is on a brand new character taking her position. The board might also blame/ reprimand her for the Innies becoming unsevered in the outside world the timing of it might make them think she was pulling a stunt to get reinstated. So those are my latest theories I enjoyed the video as always can't wait for the next one!
Hey, Ricken! Apple TV's approach is the opposite of Netflix in every way. I can't say I've ever watched anything on Apple's platform that wasn't, at least, well developed. Servant, a show that has an even smaller cast than Severance, was the show that got me to sign up, and it was pretty much a domino effect from there. My biggest gripe with Netflix is how frequently they drop good shows, because their model demands they do if the show isn't increasing subscriptions. It's so anti-consumer. I hope we do see some flashbacks related to Petey, especially anything concerning his friendship with Mark and whatever it is that caused him to defect. I agree, Cobel is probably done as the dept head, but I think she's still going to play a big role in the story going forward. We know we're getting a ton of new characters next season, so I'm curious to see whether the writers shift our attention to the new people to tell the story from a different perspective, or if these newbies will be integrated into the existing arcs. I'm honestly OK with either.
@@nautilusfiles i didn't know about the new cast members until i read another comment. I suspect they will be an expansion of the current set-up at Lumon, other departments and/ or locations maybe. There might even be some new refiners, they've got plenty of floor space and it's not like the town is overpopulated. Hopefully we find out more about what Lumon is actually involved in besides the severance chips. I hope they don't drag it out too long but at the same time I want more seasons. I'm looking for something new to watch in the mean time I will give Servant a try.
This is an excellent series. My theory is that the code detectors' capabilities are exaggerated but they can't be complete bs because they probably would detect someone accidentally bringing in a watch with numbers or the "outie" badge. One detail of the set design which I love is the badge readers on the severed floor are of the old-fashioned Wiegand effect type where you have to physically insert and remove them to read a 22-bit code encoded with literal iron wires. Everyone outside of the severed floors, including the severed employees before they switch badges in the locker room, uses the modern ordinary proximity badges which you press against the badge reader. It would stand to reason that the "code detectors" would need to recognize the badges and so they would have to be the simplest possible, like the watches.
(Spoilers included in this comment) Not feeling the clone theory. If Milchick was a clone, the security would be much tighter than it already appears... no sneaking out of the MDR office, and no Innies getting into the control room. He (or multiple he's) would have the bandwidth to lockdown pretty much everything, which would make this story not very interesting. Since Innies are like children, Milchick is more like a teacher in a public school, which, contrary to popular belief, is a job that has a ton of roles... all of which are done in the same day. Milchick reading the book in the conference room is just like a teacher on a break... when a teacher goes on break that is most likely the time when shit goes down with the kids. Not to mention, in the last episode, when Cobel calls to tell Milchick to go to the control room to shut down the overtime function, she'd likely need to make several phone calls until she got the Milchick she was looking for. IF there is a clone (or multiples) they are not in the same location. Great videos.
It's a tougher sell for me for a variety of reasons, chief among them being that cloning humans conflicts with the need for severance as a tool. Why bother going through the trouble of cloning when you can create a worker out just about anyone already living (e.g., Gemma)? I find it intriguing but in grand scheme, not practical enough to make it worthwhile. That said, the purpose of the beehive protocol is interesting. It probably does exactly what it sounds like.
Since we never see Milchick going up or down in any elevator or stairwell, it would almost seem there's possibly an outie-living and an innie-living Milchick, but both have the knowledge of all the inner workings. I don't think it's until Dylan is woken up in his closet we see Milchick outside the Lumon building in any capacity?
@@Wells306 put simply… I hope clones aren’t really behind everything in this story. Ben Stiller has done a great job ant making us wonder about the fringes while leaving us breadcrumbs. If everything leads to clones, I’d be disappointed… it would be the lazy way out of all of the developments. Similar to how the show Lost sucked everyone in, then they got too deep without knowing what to do, and then took the it-was-all-a-dream approach to wrapping up the story. They’ve laid out the notion that many characters are likely severed beyond who has already been pointed out, and I’m fine with that if that is the case… but the ability to sever and make multiple, fully grown clones? I’d have to suspend my beliefs too much to enjoy it.
@@allaninla all I can see now, as a worst case scenario, everyone is trapped inside a tiny model, and Derek Zoolander shows up to inspect it and proclaims “What is this?!” I’m sure it won’t be…..or I sincerely hope not. 😆
I don't think there is anything nefarious about Devin. Remember, she was caught off guard when she met that one woman again (or I could say for the first time, lol), after they had given birth.
That don’t mean she ain’t in. She just thought that lady was one of the serious ones. Seems she’s her husbands pet. Her husband may be her pet after all
The idea of not knowing if you're being watched or not goes back to the Panopticon. The original was a prison concept where multiple prisoners could be watched by a single guard without knowing if they were actually being surveilled at any particular time. And I think you're right about Lumon doing the same thing.
Yes! Keep the video coming bro! Best analysis channel for Severance on YT by far. Nice voice too! INTO THE DEPTHS! (in case you play Nautilus in LoL hehe)
Another excellent video, love the milchick clone theory would make sense because he always seems to be working on the severed flood even at night we saw him still grafting. Would also help explain the goats. Kobel is definitely not against lumin but Ervin was definitely a great shout and maybe he is aided by his secret lover Burt G
The code detectors in the elevator and exit detects written messages, in known languages, not digital formats. That's how Helly took a recording to her outie and how her outie sent one back in via disc to her innie. That sequence where Helly goes in and out of the exit door is good, but when ep2 shows the other point of view where Milchick is talking to Helena, we would have seen Milchick through the glass of Helly's POV and she CERTAINLY would have seen Milchick through the glass.
Considering I'm watching Severance for 4th time. I can't imagine what lost would become today. There was 24 episodes per season ? I don't know what happens after watching 24 episodes of severance 😆 Great work thank you for giving us a dive.
I could see the show leaning more towards a theory of the Milchicks being a family that intertwined themselves into the Eagan family fortune way back in history, and in the present day they assist and serve the Lumon company in a variety of middle-man roles across the country. Maybe part of Milchick's antagonism towards Cobell represents a greater struggle in Lumon where multiple trusted families in the inner circle of the corporate structure are all developing their own bids for power. It would also explain some of Cobell's cult-like obsession with the Eagans- the Cobells may have been another family that were taken under the wing of the Eagans, and in that time passed down their culty reverence of Eagan's principles to the Cobells. So she wouldn't be a random employee obsessed with the principles; she would've grown up under them, indoctrinated (heavily) into them. Makes a little more sense that way imo
@@nautilusfiles you too brother love your work, your voice your riding a sense of humor all worked in a logical theories how could you not love a man I'm trying to get you as many subscribers is a fucking can man you're doing great work more need to know about you
@@nautilusfiles I would like to see you do the new series soon as soon as one comes around that is original and unique and mysterious as severance. Any ideas what next series maybe on the horizon?
I think there's definitely something to the Multiple Milchick theory. In episode 7, Dylan bites Milchick. Milchick distinctly screams, "He's biting me!" not once, but twice. Milchick is wearing a white shirt so that the blood will be very visible. Milchick stands up and states, "He broke the skin!". The bite is precisely where Milchick's signature short sleeves end. I assume that there's a reason why he wears short sleeves, and I predict we will see a scene where "a" Milchick has his shirt removed in some manner with no visible scarring and reveal that there is possibly more than one of him. Shortly after the biting scene, Dylan and Helly are discussing the lack of security, roughly 29 minutes into the episode. Helly states that they've never seen any other security guards except Graner. Dylan asks, "What about Milchick?" and Helly responds, "He can't be everywhere at once." I think these events and dialogue were included to set the stage for Milchick clones. I also think when Milchick used the overtime contingency, he had the help of a clone. When Dylan's kid runs into the closet, Milchick radios "End it," and you briefly see a hand releasing the switch, which could be another Milchick. The goats, the 3D printers in O&D, and the scene where Milchick looks into Burt's microscope perhaps hint at cloning playing a role in this story. Lastly, around the 11-minute mark of the 7th episode, Milchick is testing the new door they've installed in MDR. He continually opens and closes it, and they show this multiple times from different angles. It's almost like they're showing us that he's multiplying. He then goes into the bathroom, and the camera pans from the mirror to him walking to the stall, and there are briefly two Milchicks in the same shot. Everything in this show is intentionally done so. I think this scene was definitely shot this way to provide some foreshadowing.
To deal with the "hive mind" problem using similar tec to severing you could have them just communicate with each other what are important details, and whoever has the most important "experiences" after learning what they need becomes the new "template" they are refreshed as for the next day. That way they never are more then a day out of sync, and with how mundane things are for the most part it's really only the main one directly working with them that has more intricate details to preserve.
Yay! More Severance videos! Ok after hearing you explain this, I am kinda here for multiple milchicks… but they would have to know each other. Also can’t wait for the Lexington Letter vid!! Been waiting on your take on it. And omg Larry David is my favorite comedian ever ❤ how did you know lol I still think the doctor Regavi (sp?) is somehow related to or was with Milchick or maybe even oDylan like what if she’s milchicks sister and Dylan’s ex wife 😮 I really want to see more of her and for her to be related to someone on the severed floor
Heather! I'm just going to go ahead and say it, Seinfeld is the sitcom GOAT and Curb is in my top 5, so Larry was going to find his way into my videos eventually 😂 I've seen theories about Reghabi being Dylan's wife, but I haven't really thought it through yet. That could explain why Dylan had to leave his kid in front of the TV during the OTC w/Milchick. I thnk she's going to be an important character in the future. I'm dying to know who these Lumon rebels are and what they are actually up to!
@@nautilusfiles it’s a thread I love they left dangling, bc that lady seems like a badass who obviously isn’t unwilling to crack a skull to get her way! Also love the idea that she didn’t kill him, since we never see his body or hear about it being found as far as I remember. Maybe she resuscitated him and is using him somehow. That’s what’s so great about this show. Anything’s possible but not to the point of absurdity. Even with the goats being almost absurd, it still seems like it could be rooted in reality (things like animal testing 😒 or cloning or as severance chip holders/purgatory goats)… and now I’m wondering what would happen if you took peteys chip and put it into a goat… would petey be a man in a goats body? Gah I love this show. Speaking of GOATs, Curb to me is like R rated Seinfeld. I grew up on Seinfeld, I can recite lines from prob every episode. Even the terrible pilot that almost killed the show. And Larry showing up on Seinfeld as mr costanzas caped lawyer 😂 but after I saw the first episode of curb, I was hooked. I bet Larry David IRL is a super nice welcoming guy but I bet he’s also honest to a fault like in the show. And the dynamic with him and Richard, Ted Danson, and Funkhouser (rip) but most of all… the back and forth with Susie Jeff’s wife!! When she calls him a “four eyed fuck” I lose it every time. Esp when he has that fantasy of her in her Halloween costume the black leather getup and she creeps into his “alone time” fantasy in the bathroom 😂🤣 their chemistry is irreplaceable. Would love some crazy Seinfeld theory videos, that would be funny. I’m sure someone out there has some outlandish Seinfeld conspiracy theory on Reddit.
@@HeatherHolt Susie Greene is the best sitcom character ever! Larry has said in interviews that he is like most normal people, but "TV Larry" has been bleeding into his real life more and more, and he finds himself becoming more confrontational and prone to calling people out on perceived bullshit.
This is exactly why I want to make a Discord. YT makes it hard to find responses without combing through every video's comment section😐 But, to your post. I wanted to do something on Seinfeld anyway, so I should add that to the "big list". It would be a big project, with all the seasons I'd need to rewatch for clips, but I think it'd be worth it!
@@touroleite9920 really? I just can’t see her as the type to have this big secret. She doesn’t seem super one way or the other in the final episode about iMark being on the outside. She just doesn’t seem like she’s being built up at all to be some quasi antagonist BUT there’s no telling what tricks they’ll pull! :)
I think. Petey is an Eagan, that’s why his name has the same structure as Helly. May be her older brother, and when it was apparent he wasn’t working out petey was disowned and Helly replaced him, in the hopes that she’d work better.
That would make June an Eagan then. And I believe June will be an important character in the future, as she leaves more questions than certainties now.
While Petey had a procedure to be fully reintegrated, I had thought based upon Cobell's comments that what she had been seeing in Petey was some level of spontaneous re-integration. If Petey had some level of spontaneous re-integration that would give him a motivation to seek out the procedure. Additionally, it appears that Cobell is experimenting with Mark and Gemma/Casey to see if spontaneous re-integration would happen and we see signs that it does for Mark. In the scene where Mark is describing his late wife to his failed date, his narrative structure and cadence follow his wellness sessions with Ms. Casey to a T, as if he remembers these sessions and has mentally linked them to his late wife. One other point, I doubt that Lumon has a fire alarm in the basement. Given that they stagger the severed 's entrances and exits, in a case of emergency they'd probably let them all die with the exception of Helly who would be discreetly whisked away.
Okay so how was today's years old? When I found out about your channel. It was one of your From videos that floored me in. Then I seen that you do all the other shows I like to watch so I'm locked in now. But on another note, I'm going to get that book you keep talking about so I can do further research. Thanks
**Major Theory!** The Code Detectors do not work by reading the text! They work via the chip in the head, because they can read the intention of the severed person. That is the reason for Makro Data Refinmend, because the numbers are memory areas in the brain of the severed person. In the end they want to introduce new memories to a person, so they can read and write memories. Then they can copy the mind of an egan as life extension of sort.
But during one episode we come to know that Colmen is bit concerned when Mark has a session with Mrs. Cassey. I think she didn't die. There is something more to it.
Devin being a secret Lumon agent is so compelling! It would be so dreadful if all that work Mark did in the finale turned out to be for nothing! Could that be what the goat motif in their house is about? I suppose counterevidence would be those scenes between Devin and Cobel, it seems like Devin is not in the know at all, but it's possible that, like you believe, Cobel is actually working against Lumon and wouldn't want to show her hand yet. Definitely one of the darker and more interesting Severance theories! Also, Mr. Nautilius, I was curious if you enjoy theorizing about other media besides televison. Are there any movies/video games/books/music that you've delved into the theory communities for? P.S. I think a discord would be great!
Hey, Charlie! I didn't want to consider her, initially. I saw her as the ideal "big sister", and she comes across as a well-intentioned person in Mark's life. And this is what makes her perfectly suited to be a foil lol! The connection to Ricken alone, should have been enough for her to be a potential suspect. There is still the possibility that even if she is not who she appears to be, she might still be on Mark's side. At least, I hope that is the case. The idea that she could be a spy gives me the creeps, but it would be a great twist, nonetheless. I'm so torn lol. In regard to your question, I have spent time looking up more on films that confuse me or that seem very complex and layered. Not too long ago I was researching two pysch-horror films called "Men" and "Hereditary" and that insane Jordan Peele sci-fi "Nope". Also, games like "Disco Elysium" and "Kentucky Route Zero" required a deeper look, IMO..
@@nautilusfiles I enjoyed "Nope" quite a bit, and I hear great things about "Disco Elysium." Haven't heard of Kentucky Route Zero, but I will check it out! Looking forward to the next vid, good job with this one!
@@nautilusfiles Oh, yes! Disco Elysium and Kentucky Zero are 2 of my favorite games! And! If you like those, I recommend the movie "The American Astronaut". Similarly zany, fun, artistic, weird and spooky. The less you know going in, the better. Hard to find, but sometimes the most valuable things are.
@@RendallRen Sorry for the late reply (I don't always seem to get notifications on responses). I just watched the trailer, and it looks promising. I'm surprised that I have never heard of this. Thanks!
It might be possible that the detectors apply on the mind, and the answer to get something out might be just as simple as not thinking about it. Maybe the anticipation of giving away a message has been trained on by the detectors very well, since that is their one and only purpose.
An anagram for Seth Milchick is "Checklist Him". Maybe that means something? A definition for checklist is "a list of items, facts, names, etc, to be checked or referred to for comparison, identification, or verification". Could be that Milchick is a group of clones that are cheked regularly to ensure that a Milchick doesn't break protocol by, say, giving a tape from the break room to someone?
One interesting note I saw on reddit is that maybe “going back to work” after being reintegrated MIGHT be apart of the process, so when Petey stops, he ended up dying. Maybe something with the chip still needing to be triggered?
Irving used to have Milchecks job We know this because he paints the down elevator over and over. He lost his job when he let Pety walk out the door and gave him recordings of the Breakroom
5:18 not sure what “Mr. Reynolds” refers to, but there is a fire extinguisher (flame retardant) next to the stairwell (go home the long way, stairs, as opposed to the short way, elevator)
Huh.... I never considered Helly going in/out of the exit was actually her competing with her outie and we were seeing her outie for the first time here. Jaw dropped.
I don’t have anyone to discuss this amazing TV series. I think you’re right about Seth Milchick being multiple people. He’s cloned and he’s got his hands on everything.
The very very possible explanation for how Helena is now masquerading as her innie and how the Mark S. breakroom tape got smuggled out and even possibly how Petey was able to get back to the severance floor after reintegration is the use of the Lockout Mode that was listed along with the Overtime Contingency in the Security room. If there is someone in cahoots on the inside of Lumon with those who are in opposition to Lumon, they could be utilizing that Mode on behalf of others. Also, if the Lumon folks had the capability to overhear all the conversations that were on the new “ employee orientation “ tape, why didn’t they act on them before the innies successfully used the OTC? Could it be that Granger was the only Security staff member for the Severance floor and he was now dead ? If that isn’t the explanation, then that is a HUGE plot hole that needs to be addressed !
This is super random, but I just binged this entire show up until the newest episode in the second season, over the last week… If you are not there yet, I’m extremely jealous because I wish I could just watch this again for the first time 😅 I’ll be 45 next month, and I can confidently say this is top three shows of all time
We never see Milchek outside of Lumen. We know he's probably unsevered, but that doesn't mean he ever leaves the Severed floor. Petey even said, "there are people who aren't allowed to leave. They're down there right now."
@@nautilusfiles you're right, as soon as I watched your Dylan recap video I realised I'd forgotten that! I'm excited to find out more about Micheck's life in season 2
If they have the tech to turn it on/off remotely, Milchek could also be unknowingly severed. Also it’s so scary to think, but what if people like Gemma are spliced into several persons, doing all kinds of horrific jobs underground. I feel like we’re only getting the tip of the iceberg, atleast I hope so because there are endless ways to take this plot.
I love this! At first, I thought Mark and Petey were the same person, and this was a movie about DID(dissociative Identity Disorder), but now I’m like wow. The goats and cloning theory makes sense, but so much doesn’t! 😂 This is great, man! Thank you! ❤
Yeah, the theories are all over the place because the writers are so intentionally secretive. I can't lie, it makes me crazy, but it's also fun thinking of all the possibilities. Hopefully we get some answers in season 2!
Hello sir, I'm back. I don't think time works the same inside as it does outside. There can only be one! And he is him! 😂😂😂 You can tell I adore this character 😂
I think something is up with Devon... Even when we see her alone with Ricken, or at the park with the senator's wife, she doesn't seem to have any personality changes, but I don't see why such a down to earth woman's whole social circle seems to be intellectual toddlers.
The last part of what you said really made me think. Attraction is a strange thing, but Devon and Ricken as a couple seems so weird. Sometimes it feels like she is more like his handler than anything else.
Makes you wonder if Devon actually encouraged or even forced Mark to be severed with her knowledge of Lumon and her eccentric acting social circle and husstband. "Intellectual toddlers" is a good description, especially when Eleanor was found with the other guy gloating his own discovery over Mark.
"Multiple Milchick": The theory's premise is that Milchick is doing too much for one person. Other than maybe the Break Room, all of his duties are each pretty low maintenance. AV, nurse, security, orientation, party, team building aren't really full time, especially with his apparent years of experience. Personally, for me to accept that theory , Milchick would have to be doing so much work it would be impossible for even an experienced, productive jack-of-all-trades to do. Within the universe of Severance, there aren't even hints of cloning actually existing. Yay to Lexington Letter deep dive! 👍 Petey smuggling the tape out by the stairs makes the most sense to me. The way the code detector is talked about and presented by the writers makes me think the technology's existence is meant to just be something accepted in-universe as true, even though it wouldn't work in real life. Thanks for another awesome video!
Hey, Rendall! Yeah, I wouldn't bet on multiple Milchick being a thing. It's fairly popular as theories go, but I think it lacks imagination from a writer's perspective, and I think these writers would think it too cliche. They seem intent on subverting expectations. I think the code detectors are a made-up story to deter innies from trying to smuggle things out. With innies being somewhat llike babies, it would be easy to convince them of just about anything. The only wrinkle with my theory is that a very stubborn innie might figure that out if they were persistent enough, and Lumon would not want that info to get out. Lumon probably thinks every severed employee is going to try at some point though, so perhaps there is something in those elevators? OK, I'm arguing with myself here... I'm currently working on another Black Mirror right now, but Severance is back after that!
If the code detectors are placebos of some sort, how do they catch the codes so accurately? Helly tried arguably everything. They caught her before entering the elevator that first time. Did they know only because they were watching her on security cameras? The fact that they are literally splitting the mind in 2 and experimenting with consciousness in their universe doesn’t really give the impression that those detectors would be hard to create or afford
Yeah, we need to know who actually helped him out that night. We know it wasn't Cobel, because she wasn't even aware that it happened. If the clone thing is legit, it could be the explanation. Season two is introducing a whole mess of new characters, so it might turn out Milchick has buddies we don't know about yet.
@@nautilusfiles idk if will ever see who helped but probably the new characters their adding will see one of them probably having a relation to him cant wait for s2 hopefully they can get it out fast
Something that's been bugging me from the beginning is why Petey's reaction to reintegration was physical as well as psychological. I imagine the physical side effects were added for dramatic effect, but why would a single change in the brain effect him so irreperably and dramatically?
Regarding the code detectors, I think they're kinda bs bc of the scene where Lumon / Milchick have to wake up innie Dylan at home to ask if he had smuggled the card out of the severed floor
@@nautilusfiles where ya from anyway? I'm from California and apparently there is a noticeable "California accent" slightly different to American Standard.
I didn't know what this was until I just looked it up a few minutes ago. It looks like something I could get into. I'll give it a shot and see. I'm always looking for new stuff, so thanks for the heads up.
I believe that just how they changed the doors after they were wondering in the halls. They probably didn't have a check if you could sneak something out. I think that is how petey got the tape
I guess I misunderstood what was going on with Petey because I thought the company was using him like a guinea pig to see what happens when they turn the chip off. And that's why Cobel was so interested in getting Petey's chip back. I caught onto the hints that Cobel has her own agenda. So I figured her interest in Petey's chip was her having convinced him beforehand to get reintegrated specifically so she could see how that would play out in real time 😅
Regarding the tape, I figured there are other people at Lumon who are involved in the resistance and slipped Petey the tape, either a character we already know or one who will be introduced in season 2 in the classic is this person trustworthy or not style plot, only answering the question in the season finale.
The Petey spying theory doesn’t fit with the doctor blaming his death on him not following her directions, unless reintegration requires going to work to more gently merge the two realities, which would make sense.
The tape wouldn't trip the code detector. It's not written language; it's a magnetic tape. We haven't ever seen Mark get wanded or searched when he goes *up* the elevator to the unsevered floor. The trick is getting your hands on the tape. Then you just put it in your pocket and leave the building like usual. I've believed that Milchick is a *role* not a *name* since reading the Lexington Letter. I believe the code detectors are real for the same reason. The LL gives the reason why they were invented and it's necessary for the overall premise that the writers make it hard/impossible for the innies and outies to communicate.
Here’s a question. How did Milchick wake up the Innie while he was with the outtie at home when it’s a two person job at the office. This would require three people. Who are those three considering he was keeping it a secret from Cobel?
So with the milchick clone theory, assuming it is possible that there are multiple hive mind milchicks could work IF they had the technology to clone the severance chips to give that person the same personality in all bodies and work as a hivemind. There could be one original severed milchick who then got cloned, both chip and body
Yeah, if beehive or some other tech can link them together, it could work. It's a crazy theory, but who knows with this show. I hope we get more info on how severance really works next season. That would shed some light on what the full extent of what is possible.
What if it's Pete E and Helen wasn't the first Eagan to attempt this. Might explain why he was able to have the connections to reintegration and how to get the tape out. Also why Cobel was merely monitoring him through. It doesn't align with the postmortem newspaper article, but it makes as much since that he could be Ambrose's offspring as Ricken which is a theory
I feel like Milchick is more.... the Helly guy. Whatever needs doing that involves Helly, he does it, though all of these jobs would normally be below his pay grade. I think he's probably a high level guy in the company and either that newspaper editor Milchick is a relative or Luman has a way of catching and re-routing things that are sent to media.
Obviously the million-dollar soap-opera plotline version of events is that Petey isactually the father of Devon's baby /j Loved the video, going to check out the rest right now!
with the code detector. I tend to agree that it is just a little too magical and not as grounded as the other sci fi type stuff we see. The code detector is actually the result of constant surveillance from the security team watching the innies every move. The constant rhetoric of the code detectors existence and the occasional catching of a note or device is just competent surveillance work. At some point the innies themselves are the ones who pass along the warning about the code detector. The innies themselves are spouting the propaganda Lumon is trying to push. This might be how Petey is able to smuggle out the tape, he called Lumons bluff about the code detector and did it while there was some major distraction.
![Severance Theories #8 [Petey's Map + Theories]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fUglz4MjvFg/mqdefault.jpg)
![Severance Theories #8 [Petey's Map + Theories]](/img/tr.png)
I don’t personally buy the clone theory for Milchik for multiple reasons:
- When Dylan attacks Milchik during the dancing scene, you later see Milchik with a bandage on his arm during Burt’s going away party.
- When Cobel is fired, Milchik quickly leaves the MDR wing during the egg party and seems to be in distress to escort Cobel out of the building.
- When it is discovered that Dylan is triggering the overtime sequence in the last episode and Milchik is made aware, he frantically has to get to the security room since he is in another part of the building.
All of these points seem to indicate that Milchik is the same person throughout and isn’t some omnipresent clone. Just my two cents, great vid!
One thing I can't understand from Ms. Cobel is why she was so happy when outie Mark told her he was thinking about quitting Lumon. This may indicate that she is working against Lumon (but why go after Helly at the party?) or that Mark is special (at least from her perspective). Also, she doesn't seem to be nearly as obsessed with any other MDR employee.
I suspect that she's not a Lumon fan, but a dyed-in-wool Kier fan all the way. I think she disapproves of what Lumon is doing and believes the board has strayed from his original vision. I don't think she wants to see Lumon destroyed, but she does think she can correct its course from within, which is why she will protect the company despite her misgivings. I talk about this a bit in a video about Cobel.
As for her and Mark, it could be that Mark's situation with Gemma mirrors her own with Charlotte, or there is more to Mark's identity than we know as of yet. I think she was happy to see him quit because she low-key hates severance or severed identities. It's hard to say for sure. It should be interesting to find out what her obsession with him is really about.
Lumon had just fired her... she was ready to take the ship down, either out of spite, or so she could create an issue and be the one to save the day and get her job back. When she realized that Innie Mark was out, she quickly switched into crisis mode, and thus her opportunity to get back into Lumon's good graces.
She is trying to figure out how to unsever herself which is why she was so interested in Petey. She tried to stop Helly from exposing Lumon because if they are shit down then Cobel will no longer be able to achieve reintegration
@@lialia2268 I think this is a good theory, however, it would make more sense for her to not tell the Board about reintegration at all if she was trying to figure out how to do it for herself.
She cares for Mark. Wanted her to k own they will suffer
I think a major key with Petey is illustrating how difficult reintegration is. Not only does the innie and outie have to remember each other's memories, but they then have to try to splice them together into the proper temporal sequence. It's not like recovering X years of lost memories -- it is recovering 8 hour and 16 hour chunks of memory and getting them in the correct order with themselves AND each other -- kind of like taking two sides of a zipper and closing them together. Outie Petey's "flashbacks" (involuntary recurrent memories) add a new layer of horror to the show, and IIRC this was because he was rushing the reintegration process. As you mentioned, Petey's whole timeline is a bit iffy, and we may never know exactly what happened without a secondary source, as Petey is unfortunately somewhat of an unreliable narrator. And as always, loving your videos!
Hey, raven lorde! you make good points here. I think Petey ultimately died because he felt it urgent enough to forego a proper recovery because he wanted to be sure he had the chance to let Mark know Lumon was up to no good and try to do something about it. I imagine he would be experiencing a fair bit of paranoia about what Lumon would do once they found him, so it may be what drove him to attend to the issue right away instead of just hiding. Reghabi said he would have been fine had he gotten sufficient rest and kept a low profile. I guess we have to assume she knows what she's talking about. Reintegration sounds like a nightmare. Your uneven zipper analogy is great, because it truly is like stitching two vastly uneven experiences together in a way that the brain and memory can reconcile. Good insights, as usual.
Petey even says his memories are mixed up, referencing memories of his fifth birthday mixed in with something recent.
Milchick's work day looks very much like that of an elementary school secretary I once knew, doing a little bit of everything, seeming to be everywhere at once. I'm not kidding!
He’s a pretty typical middle manager - never doing any real work outside of logistical and housekeeping stuff, delegating tasks to his staff & lower managers, and always keeping an eye on what’s going on so he can step in when need be
@@sharibyaku Ah, then, that's the opposite of a school secretary.
@sharibyaku as a middle manager myself you gave an incredibly accurate job description
The VIP area at Pip's always gets me laughing
I think Devon seems too genuine in her interest in what’s going on with severance to be “in on” anything major. The most suspicious thing she does is quickly shut her laptop when Ricken comes in the room while she’s researching. Which makes me more suspicious of Ricken than of her.
A discord would be great! I’m so obsessed with this show.
Milchick is so well casted and acted. He’s such a believable and scary character. All his jobs are pretty easy. They just take basic common sense and decent intelligence.
yeah i agree. while he has a lot of tasks that require him to be busy, they aren’t overly complicated at all. and you see him fumbling around at times. like when Ms Cobel was fired and he had to run from the MDR party. if he had a clone i don’t feel he would need to do that.
Never saw him in anything before but I'm obsessed now
I was listening to the radio the other day and they mentioned Apple TV+ who produce the show. They made an excellent point that they tend not to produce as many shows as some of their streaming competitors - but the few they do produce are of a much higher production value. Quality and not quantity. This is most evident in the cinematography, script and cast of Severance imo. The fact Lumon has a skeleton crew sharing most - if not all - the duties we see on screen is therefore due to a focus on character development. It's easier to do this when you keep the numbers down.
The executives at Apple were also waiting on the critical reception before deciding if they were going to renew for another season. So it's not as much of a gamble for them if the show isn't well received and more likely to succeed for the reasons above. The scatter gun approach most of the streaming giants go for means a lot of well cast, well thought out shows get cancelled. This 'fling enough spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks' philosophy does produce some popular shows. But the success rate is so low it makes you wonder what the point is - especially if your focus is on the viewer, as it should be.
Anyway, this might explain why Milchick (besides the security guard and Cobel) represent all things Lumon in the show. It's not as fun as your theories (especially the Beehive theory) i'm just thinking of what constraints they had when making the show. There's only one of each character in this show imo, although the fact they're so strict on different departments having communication does make me wonder... I have a feeling some of the bit part characters will be developed and will become centre stage next season, which is no surprise, however I feel the Artetas (The senator and his wife) and Reghabi might have been overlooked. I don't think they'll bring back Petey, his character is deceased, although I imagine we will get flashbacks of him before he died with the office crew and Reghabi. Cobel might also be taking a back seat as the board seek to replace her, so my money is on a brand new character taking her position. The board might also blame/ reprimand her for the Innies becoming unsevered in the outside world the timing of it might make them think she was pulling a stunt to get reinstated.
So those are my latest theories I enjoyed the video as always can't wait for the next one!
Hey, Ricken! Apple TV's approach is the opposite of Netflix in every way. I can't say I've ever watched anything on Apple's platform that wasn't, at least, well developed. Servant, a show that has an even smaller cast than Severance, was the show that got me to sign up, and it was pretty much a domino effect from there. My biggest gripe with Netflix is how frequently they drop good shows, because their model demands they do if the show isn't increasing subscriptions. It's so anti-consumer.
I hope we do see some flashbacks related to Petey, especially anything concerning his friendship with Mark and whatever it is that caused him to defect. I agree, Cobel is probably done as the dept head, but I think she's still going to play a big role in the story going forward. We know we're getting a ton of new characters next season, so I'm curious to see whether the writers shift our attention to the new people to tell the story from a different perspective, or if these newbies will be integrated into the existing arcs. I'm honestly OK with either.
@@nautilusfiles i didn't know about the new cast members until i read another comment. I suspect they will be an expansion of the current set-up at Lumon, other departments and/ or locations maybe. There might even be some new refiners, they've got plenty of floor space and it's not like the town is overpopulated.
Hopefully we find out more about what Lumon is actually involved in besides the severance chips. I hope they don't drag it out too long but at the same time I want more seasons. I'm looking for something new to watch in the mean time I will give Servant a try.
Your voice is amazing
Hey, thanks!
I agree, so calming to hear. Love it.
I have a theory that he is milchicks outtie
@@viewtifulviewer7282hahahahaha
I wish I could drink it
This is an excellent series. My theory is that the code detectors' capabilities are exaggerated but they can't be complete bs because they probably would detect someone accidentally bringing in a watch with numbers or the "outie" badge. One detail of the set design which I love is the badge readers on the severed floor are of the old-fashioned Wiegand effect type where you have to physically insert and remove them to read a 22-bit code encoded with literal iron wires.
Everyone outside of the severed floors, including the severed employees before they switch badges in the locker room, uses the modern ordinary proximity badges which you press against the badge reader. It would stand to reason that the "code detectors" would need to recognize the badges and so they would have to be the simplest possible, like the watches.
I've already seen severance 5 times so far but I love your suggestion of calling off work to watch it and will probably do that next week.
I'm low key jealous of you right now 😂
I haven't heard the Milchick clone theory. Interesting.
(Spoilers included in this comment)
Not feeling the clone theory. If Milchick was a clone, the security would be much tighter than it already appears... no sneaking out of the MDR office, and no Innies getting into the control room. He (or multiple he's) would have the bandwidth to lockdown pretty much everything, which would make this story not very interesting. Since Innies are like children, Milchick is more like a teacher in a public school, which, contrary to popular belief, is a job that has a ton of roles... all of which are done in the same day. Milchick reading the book in the conference room is just like a teacher on a break... when a teacher goes on break that is most likely the time when shit goes down with the kids. Not to mention, in the last episode, when Cobel calls to tell Milchick to go to the control room to shut down the overtime function, she'd likely need to make several phone calls until she got the Milchick she was looking for. IF there is a clone (or multiples) they are not in the same location.
Great videos.
It's a tougher sell for me for a variety of reasons, chief among them being that cloning humans conflicts with the need for severance as a tool. Why bother going through the trouble of cloning when you can create a worker out just about anyone already living (e.g., Gemma)? I find it intriguing but in grand scheme, not practical enough to make it worthwhile.
That said, the purpose of the beehive protocol is interesting. It probably does exactly what it sounds like.
It is funny that he's reading the book, "The you you are" especially if he is a clone
Since we never see Milchick going up or down in any elevator or stairwell, it would almost seem there's possibly an outie-living and an innie-living Milchick, but both have the knowledge of all the inner workings. I don't think it's until Dylan is woken up in his closet we see Milchick outside the Lumon building in any capacity?
@@Wells306 put simply… I hope clones aren’t really behind everything in this story. Ben Stiller has done a great job ant making us wonder about the fringes while leaving us breadcrumbs. If everything leads to clones, I’d be disappointed… it would be the lazy way out of all of the developments. Similar to how the show Lost sucked everyone in, then they got too deep without knowing what to do, and then took the it-was-all-a-dream approach to wrapping up the story. They’ve laid out the notion that many characters are likely severed beyond who has already been pointed out, and I’m fine with that if that is the case… but the ability to sever and make multiple, fully grown clones? I’d have to suspend my beliefs too much to enjoy it.
@@allaninla all I can see now, as a worst case scenario, everyone is trapped inside a tiny model, and Derek Zoolander shows up to inspect it and proclaims “What is this?!”
I’m sure it won’t be…..or I sincerely hope not. 😆
I don't think there is anything nefarious about Devin. Remember, she was caught off guard when she met that one woman again (or I could say for the first time, lol), after they had given birth.
I really want to trust her
I hope not! but...maybe...
She also wasn't aware of Cobal being Lumon's employee. Or, act like that.
That don’t mean she ain’t in. She just thought that lady was one of the serious ones. Seems she’s her husbands pet. Her husband may be her pet after all
@@twilightgardenspresentatio6384 If that's true. Then all of the stuff she did while she was alone make zero sense.
The idea of not knowing if you're being watched or not goes back to the Panopticon. The original was a prison concept where multiple prisoners could be watched by a single guard without knowing if they were actually being surveilled at any particular time. And I think you're right about Lumon doing the same thing.
The code detector went off when Helly went into the elevator with something and Mark took the blame and went to the break room instead.
Yes! Keep the video coming bro! Best analysis channel for Severance on YT by far. Nice voice too!
INTO THE DEPTHS! (in case you play Nautilus in LoL hehe)
Thanks so much! I don't know the reference, but now I'm curious lol.
Another excellent video, love the milchick clone theory would make sense because he always seems to be working on the severed flood even at night we saw him still grafting. Would also help explain the goats.
Kobel is definitely not against lumin but Ervin was definitely a great shout and maybe he is aided by his secret lover Burt G
Definitely spending my day going through your videos in the background
i think the code detectors might not work with cds or casset tapes since those encode data differently than written language
The code detectors in the elevator and exit detects written messages, in known languages, not digital formats. That's how Helly took a recording to her outie and how her outie sent one back in via disc to her innie.
That sequence where Helly goes in and out of the exit door is good, but when ep2 shows the other point of view where Milchick is talking to Helena, we would have seen Milchick through the glass of Helly's POV and she CERTAINLY would have seen Milchick through the glass.
Considering I'm watching Severance for 4th time. I can't imagine what lost would become today. There was 24 episodes per season ? I don't know what happens after watching 24 episodes of severance 😆 Great work thank you for giving us a dive.
I could see the show leaning more towards a theory of the Milchicks being a family that intertwined themselves into the Eagan family fortune way back in history, and in the present day they assist and serve the Lumon company in a variety of middle-man roles across the country. Maybe part of Milchick's antagonism towards Cobell represents a greater struggle in Lumon where multiple trusted families in the inner circle of the corporate structure are all developing their own bids for power. It would also explain some of Cobell's cult-like obsession with the Eagans- the Cobells may have been another family that were taken under the wing of the Eagans, and in that time passed down their culty reverence of Eagan's principles to the Cobells. So she wouldn't be a random employee obsessed with the principles; she would've grown up under them, indoctrinated (heavily) into them. Makes a little more sense that way imo
Good to see you back! Killer as always
Thanks for stopping by, Alan. Always good to hear from you!
@@nautilusfiles you too brother love your work, your voice your riding a sense of humor all worked in a logical theories how could you not love a man I'm trying to get you as many subscribers is a fucking can man you're doing great work more need to know about you
@@nautilusfiles I would like to see you do the new series soon as soon as one comes around that is original and unique and mysterious as severance. Any ideas what next series maybe on the horizon?
@@Alan...WithanA Much appreciated! The whole experience has been awesome, and I truly am grateful for all the support!
I think there's definitely something to the Multiple Milchick theory.
In episode 7, Dylan bites Milchick. Milchick distinctly screams, "He's biting me!" not once, but twice. Milchick is wearing a white shirt so that the blood will be very visible. Milchick stands up and states, "He broke the skin!".
The bite is precisely where Milchick's signature short sleeves end. I assume that there's a reason why he wears short sleeves, and I predict we will see a scene where "a" Milchick has his shirt removed in some manner with no visible scarring and reveal that there is possibly more than one of him.
Shortly after the biting scene, Dylan and Helly are discussing the lack of security, roughly 29 minutes into the episode.
Helly states that they've never seen any other security guards except Graner. Dylan asks, "What about Milchick?" and Helly responds, "He can't be everywhere at once."
I think these events and dialogue were included to set the stage for Milchick clones.
I also think when Milchick used the overtime contingency, he had the help of a clone. When Dylan's kid runs into the closet, Milchick radios "End it," and you briefly see a hand releasing the switch, which could be another Milchick.
The goats, the 3D printers in O&D, and the scene where Milchick looks into Burt's microscope perhaps hint at cloning playing a role in this story.
Lastly, around the 11-minute mark of the 7th episode, Milchick is testing the new door they've installed in MDR. He continually opens and closes it, and they show this multiple times from different angles. It's almost like they're showing us that he's multiplying. He then goes into the bathroom, and the camera pans from the mirror to him walking to the stall, and there are briefly two Milchicks in the same shot.
Everything in this show is intentionally done so. I think this scene was definitely shot this way to provide some foreshadowing.
Later on when they’re discussing the waffle party, Milchick does have a short sleeve on and you can see the bandage right by the sleeve.
To deal with the "hive mind" problem using similar tec to severing you could have them just communicate with each other what are important details, and whoever has the most important "experiences" after learning what they need becomes the new "template" they are refreshed as for the next day. That way they never are more then a day out of sync, and with how mundane things are for the most part it's really only the main one directly working with them that has more intricate details to preserve.
The hand that ends the OTC in Dylan’s closet is a white hand.
Yay! More Severance videos!
Ok after hearing you explain this, I am kinda here for multiple milchicks… but they would have to know each other.
Also can’t wait for the Lexington Letter vid!!
Been waiting on your take on it.
And omg Larry David is my favorite comedian ever ❤ how did you know lol
I still think the doctor Regavi (sp?) is somehow related to or was with Milchick or maybe even oDylan like what if she’s milchicks sister and Dylan’s ex wife 😮 I really want to see more of her and for her to be related to someone on the severed floor
Heather! I'm just going to go ahead and say it, Seinfeld is the sitcom GOAT and Curb is in my top 5, so Larry was going to find his way into my videos eventually 😂
I've seen theories about Reghabi being Dylan's wife, but I haven't really thought it through yet. That could explain why Dylan had to leave his kid in front of the TV during the OTC w/Milchick. I thnk she's going to be an important character in the future. I'm dying to know who these Lumon rebels are and what they are actually up to!
@@nautilusfiles it’s a thread I love they left dangling, bc that lady seems like a badass who obviously isn’t unwilling to crack a skull to get her way! Also love the idea that she didn’t kill him, since we never see his body or hear about it being found as far as I remember. Maybe she resuscitated him and is using him somehow.
That’s what’s so great about this show. Anything’s possible but not to the point of absurdity. Even with the goats being almost absurd, it still seems like it could be rooted in reality (things like animal testing 😒 or cloning or as severance chip holders/purgatory goats)… and now I’m wondering what would happen if you took peteys chip and put it into a goat… would petey be a man in a goats body? Gah I love this show.
Speaking of GOATs, Curb to me is like R rated Seinfeld. I grew up on Seinfeld, I can recite lines from prob every episode. Even the terrible pilot that almost killed the show. And Larry showing up on Seinfeld as mr costanzas caped lawyer 😂 but after I saw the first episode of curb, I was hooked. I bet Larry David IRL is a super nice welcoming guy but I bet he’s also honest to a fault like in the show. And the dynamic with him and Richard, Ted Danson, and Funkhouser (rip) but most of all… the back and forth with Susie Jeff’s wife!! When she calls him a “four eyed fuck” I lose it every time. Esp when he has that fantasy of her in her Halloween costume the black leather getup and she creeps into his “alone time” fantasy in the bathroom 😂🤣 their chemistry is irreplaceable.
Would love some crazy Seinfeld theory videos, that would be funny. I’m sure someone out there has some outlandish Seinfeld conspiracy theory on Reddit.
@@HeatherHolt Susie Greene is the best sitcom character ever! Larry has said in interviews that he is like most normal people, but "TV Larry" has been bleeding into his real life more and more, and he finds himself becoming more confrontational and prone to calling people out on perceived bullshit.
This is exactly why I want to make a Discord. YT makes it hard to find responses without combing through every video's comment section😐
But, to your post. I wanted to do something on Seinfeld anyway, so I should add that to the "big list". It would be a big project, with all the seasons I'd need to rewatch for clips, but I think it'd be worth it!
Honestly I could definitely see something being up with Devin, especially cause now she’s the only one innie Mark was able to talk to in the finale
And she could be connected to the reason Marks wife is at Lumin now
Yeah, I never considered her the first time I watched, but the more I think about it, the more suspect she becomes.
But it doesn't look like she is much pro-severance, considering how she acted about the severed mother.
@@touroleite9920 really? I just can’t see her as the type to have this big secret. She doesn’t seem super one way or the other in the final episode about iMark being on the outside. She just doesn’t seem like she’s being built up at all to be some quasi antagonist BUT there’s no telling what tricks they’ll pull! :)
I think. Petey is an Eagan, that’s why his name has the same structure as Helly. May be her older brother, and when it was apparent he wasn’t working out petey was disowned and Helly replaced him, in the hopes that she’d work better.
Sounds like a good theory
Petey… or Pete E?
That would make June an Eagan then. And I believe June will be an important character in the future, as she leaves more questions than certainties now.
I don’t think so, he would have mentioned it, and all the extra knowledge that comes with
@@MrBrnowhos june
So hype to watch this I gotta save it for the right moment 😂
While Petey had a procedure to be fully reintegrated, I had thought based upon Cobell's comments that what she had been seeing in Petey was some level of spontaneous re-integration. If Petey had some level of spontaneous re-integration that would give him a motivation to seek out the procedure. Additionally, it appears that Cobell is experimenting with Mark and Gemma/Casey to see if spontaneous re-integration would happen and we see signs that it does for Mark. In the scene where Mark is describing his late wife to his failed date, his narrative structure and cadence follow his wellness sessions with Ms. Casey to a T, as if he remembers these sessions and has mentally linked them to his late wife.
One other point, I doubt that Lumon has a fire alarm in the basement. Given that they stagger the severed 's entrances and exits, in a case of emergency they'd probably let them all die with the exception of Helly who would be discreetly whisked away.
Okay so how was today's years old? When I found out about your channel. It was one of your From videos that floored me in. Then I seen that you do all the other shows I like to watch so I'm locked in now. But on another note, I'm going to get that book you keep talking about so I can do further research. Thanks
**Major Theory!**
The Code Detectors do not work by reading the text!
They work via the chip in the head, because they can read the intention of the severed person.
That is the reason for Makro Data Refinmend, because the numbers are memory areas in the brain of the severed person.
In the end they want to introduce new memories to a person, so they can read and write memories.
Then they can copy the mind of an egan as life extension of sort.
"revolving" .. I think that's what that means. Jame Eagan (Kier?) moving to a new body via a severance chip.
If Lumen has the power to make clones then maybe Mark’s wife is a clone and she actually died .
But during one episode we come to know that Colmen is bit concerned when Mark has a session with Mrs. Cassey.
I think she didn't die. There is something more to it.
Devin being a secret Lumon agent is so compelling! It would be so dreadful if all that work Mark did in the finale turned out to be for nothing! Could that be what the goat motif in their house is about? I suppose counterevidence would be those scenes between Devin and Cobel, it seems like Devin is not in the know at all, but it's possible that, like you believe, Cobel is actually working against Lumon and wouldn't want to show her hand yet. Definitely one of the darker and more interesting Severance theories!
Also, Mr. Nautilius, I was curious if you enjoy theorizing about other media besides televison. Are there any movies/video games/books/music that you've delved into the theory communities for?
P.S. I think a discord would be great!
Hey, Charlie! I didn't want to consider her, initially. I saw her as the ideal "big sister", and she comes across as a well-intentioned person in Mark's life. And this is what makes her perfectly suited to be a foil lol! The connection to Ricken alone, should have been enough for her to be a potential suspect. There is still the possibility that even if she is not who she appears to be, she might still be on Mark's side. At least, I hope that is the case. The idea that she could be a spy gives me the creeps, but it would be a great twist, nonetheless. I'm so torn lol.
In regard to your question, I have spent time looking up more on films that confuse me or that seem very complex and layered. Not too long ago I was researching two pysch-horror films called "Men" and "Hereditary" and that insane Jordan Peele sci-fi "Nope". Also, games like "Disco Elysium" and "Kentucky Route Zero" required a deeper look, IMO..
@@nautilusfiles I enjoyed "Nope" quite a bit, and I hear great things about "Disco Elysium." Haven't heard of Kentucky Route Zero, but I will check it out! Looking forward to the next vid, good job with this one!
@@nautilusfiles Oh, yes! Disco Elysium and Kentucky Zero are 2 of my favorite games! And! If you like those, I recommend the movie "The American Astronaut". Similarly zany, fun, artistic, weird and spooky. The less you know going in, the better. Hard to find, but sometimes the most valuable things are.
@@nautilusfiles Check out Primer and Upstream Color if you're looking for more challenging, puzzle like films
@@RendallRen Sorry for the late reply (I don't always seem to get notifications on responses). I just watched the trailer, and it looks promising. I'm surprised that I have never heard of this. Thanks!
It might be possible that the detectors apply on the mind, and the answer to get something out might be just as simple as not thinking about it. Maybe the anticipation of giving away a message has been trained on by the detectors very well, since that is their one and only purpose.
oh how lucky I feel! :) This innie is super-DUPER thankful!
The feeling s mutual! I'm lucky that people actually like what I do here 😃
i was waiting for this one!!!!!!!
An anagram for Seth Milchick is "Checklist Him". Maybe that means something?
A definition for checklist is "a list of items, facts, names, etc, to be checked or referred to for comparison, identification, or verification".
Could be that Milchick is a group of clones that are cheked regularly to ensure that a Milchick doesn't break protocol by, say, giving a tape from the break room to someone?
One interesting note I saw on reddit is that maybe “going back to work” after being reintegrated MIGHT be apart of the process, so when Petey stops, he ended up dying. Maybe something with the chip still needing to be triggered?
Irving is the one giving the tape as he once had milick Job. He got resetted as a refiner. That's why his outie has information in that box .
Irving used to have Milchecks job
We know this because he paints the down elevator over and over.
He lost his job when he let Pety walk out the door and gave him recordings of the Breakroom
5:18 not sure what “Mr. Reynolds” refers to, but there is a fire extinguisher (flame retardant) next to the stairwell (go home the long way, stairs, as opposed to the short way, elevator)
All right well they dropped off the new cast for season two and it seems like a lot can’t wait to hear your thoughts
Hey, Dean! Yeah, I read an article about the new additions to the cast. I will probably make a short video on it soon.
The rabbit holes!!! Love these videos...thanks so much for encouraging my obsession!!
He walked out the side-door to avoid the detectors on his final day.
I would love to see you do theories, breakdown, thoughts on "1866" when it airs in November!
I've been told about this show by a few people. It looks promising, so I'm certainly planning to check it out!
Discord sounds dope!
Damn i'm watching this as season 2 just came out.. The cloning thing could be real with Ms. Huang
Huh.... I never considered Helly going in/out of the exit was actually her competing with her outie and we were seeing her outie for the first time here. Jaw dropped.
this is so spicy
Oh yes! 🌶 😂
I notice bee’s get brought up. BIL even says to mark “remember the story about the happy bees?” And there’s bee posters, bee hive? Like huh??
More Severance theories 😍!
I don’t have anyone to discuss this amazing TV series. I think you’re right about Seth Milchick being multiple people. He’s cloned and he’s got his hands on everything.
The very very possible explanation for how Helena is now masquerading as her innie and how the Mark S. breakroom tape got smuggled out and even possibly how Petey was able to get back to the severance floor after reintegration is the use of the Lockout Mode that was listed along with the Overtime Contingency in the Security room. If there is someone in cahoots on the inside of Lumon with those who are in opposition to Lumon, they could be utilizing that Mode on behalf of others.
Also, if the Lumon folks had the capability to overhear all the conversations that were on the new “ employee orientation “ tape, why didn’t they act on them before the innies successfully used the OTC? Could it be that Granger was the only Security staff member for the Severance floor and he was now dead ? If that isn’t the explanation, then that is a HUGE plot hole that needs to be addressed !
This is super random, but I just binged this entire show up until the newest episode in the second season, over the last week… If you are not there yet, I’m extremely jealous because I wish I could just watch this again for the first time 😅
I’ll be 45 next month, and I can confidently say this is top three shows of all time
Oh this is getting me antsy about the next season again. I need it now!!! 😫
They have so many questions to answer. I bet they answer some while creating new ones to drive us mad lol
Milchick actor is the best actor.
Oh man!! CO-bel.. TaCO Bell confirmed 🤯
We never see Milchek outside of Lumen. We know he's probably unsevered, but that doesn't mean he ever leaves the Severed floor. Petey even said, "there are people who aren't allowed to leave. They're down there right now."
He did leave for Dylan's OTC though. I think the people who never leave are like Gemma; they only have one personality, the severed side.
@@nautilusfiles you're right, as soon as I watched your Dylan recap video I realised I'd forgotten that! I'm excited to find out more about Micheck's life in season 2
If they have the tech to turn it on/off remotely, Milchek could also be unknowingly severed. Also it’s so scary to think, but what if people like Gemma are spliced into several persons, doing all kinds of horrific jobs underground. I feel like we’re only getting the tip of the iceberg, atleast I hope so because there are endless ways to take this plot.
I loved this, it’s ok to call out and make a day of it
I love this! At first, I thought Mark and Petey were the same person, and this was a movie about DID(dissociative Identity Disorder), but now I’m like wow. The goats and cloning theory makes sense, but so much doesn’t! 😂
This is great, man! Thank you! ❤
Yeah, the theories are all over the place because the writers are so intentionally secretive. I can't lie, it makes me crazy, but it's also fun thinking of all the possibilities. Hopefully we get some answers in season 2!
Hello sir, I'm back. I don't think time works the same inside as it does outside. There can only be one! And he is him! 😂😂😂 You can tell I adore this character 😂
I think something is up with Devon... Even when we see her alone with Ricken, or at the park with the senator's wife, she doesn't seem to have any personality changes, but I don't see why such a down to earth woman's whole social circle seems to be intellectual toddlers.
The last part of what you said really made me think. Attraction is a strange thing, but Devon and Ricken as a couple seems so weird. Sometimes it feels like she is more like his handler than anything else.
Makes you wonder if Devon actually encouraged or even forced Mark to be severed with her knowledge of Lumon and her eccentric acting social circle and husstband. "Intellectual toddlers" is a good description, especially when Eleanor was found with the other guy gloating his own discovery over Mark.
I was like- why a clip of Ricky Ricardo? Just to immediately hear “some ‘splaining” . Genius.
I get into my own head too much, at times, so I'm glad some people caught that 😂
"...a bunch of Milchick bambinos..." 😂😂😂😂
I laughed at this too lol
@AC-hj9tv love these videos!!
YES TO THE DISCORD
"Multiple Milchick": The theory's premise is that Milchick is doing too much for one person. Other than maybe the Break Room, all of his duties are each pretty low maintenance. AV, nurse, security, orientation, party, team building aren't really full time, especially with his apparent years of experience. Personally, for me to accept that theory , Milchick would have to be doing so much work it would be impossible for even an experienced, productive jack-of-all-trades to do. Within the universe of Severance, there aren't even hints of cloning actually existing.
Yay to Lexington Letter deep dive! 👍
Petey smuggling the tape out by the stairs makes the most sense to me. The way the code detector is talked about and presented by the writers makes me think the technology's existence is meant to just be something accepted in-universe as true, even though it wouldn't work in real life.
Thanks for another awesome video!
Hey, Rendall! Yeah, I wouldn't bet on multiple Milchick being a thing. It's fairly popular as theories go, but I think it lacks imagination from a writer's perspective, and I think these writers would think it too cliche. They seem intent on subverting expectations.
I think the code detectors are a made-up story to deter innies from trying to smuggle things out. With innies being somewhat llike babies, it would be easy to convince them of just about anything. The only wrinkle with my theory is that a very stubborn innie might figure that out if they were persistent enough, and Lumon would not want that info to get out. Lumon probably thinks every severed employee is going to try at some point though, so perhaps there is something in those elevators? OK, I'm arguing with myself here...
I'm currently working on another Black Mirror right now, but Severance is back after that!
If the code detectors are placebos of some sort, how do they catch the codes so accurately? Helly tried arguably everything. They caught her before entering the elevator that first time. Did they know only because they were watching her on security cameras? The fact that they are literally splitting the mind in 2 and experimenting with consciousness in their universe doesn’t really give the impression that those detectors would be hard to create or afford
It is true that the innies are easily fooled.
Wow I need to rewatch the series. I didn’t even catch the “Outie” Helle part.
It makes sense cause remember when he turned off the overtime thing he didn’t tell nobody he coukda had his clones turn it on while he was with dylan
Yeah, we need to know who actually helped him out that night. We know it wasn't Cobel, because she wasn't even aware that it happened. If the clone thing is legit, it could be the explanation. Season two is introducing a whole mess of new characters, so it might turn out Milchick has buddies we don't know about yet.
@@nautilusfiles idk if will ever see who helped but probably the new characters their adding will see one of them probably having a relation to him cant wait for s2 hopefully they can get it out fast
7:12 this watch replacing is pretty interesting detail
Something that's been bugging me from the beginning is why Petey's reaction to reintegration was physical as well as psychological. I imagine the physical side effects were added for dramatic effect, but why would a single change in the brain effect him so irreperably and dramatically?
He gave me big Lalo Salamanca vibes from Better Call Saul. He is always so cheerful as he does awful things.
Regarding the code detectors, I think they're kinda bs bc of the scene where Lumon / Milchick have to wake up innie Dylan at home to ask if he had smuggled the card out of the severed floor
Your voice is really cool, btw. I appreciate that its not AI!!!
Installing false memories can let you cut and paste all memories between them regularly
"Co🔔" 😂 Live más. 🌮
I can't help my accent sometimes lol. I did that especially for the people that get mad because of the way I say her name 😂
@@nautilusfiles i never really noticed because I think it sounds okay either way. Usually I'm annoyed by different pronunciations of things 😂.
@@nautilusfiles where ya from anyway? I'm from California and apparently there is a noticeable "California accent" slightly different to American Standard.
If Milchick is indeed a clone, then I propose a spin-off where he stars alongside Janet from the Good Place. :)
Who did Milchik tell to cut off the OTC mode, when he used it on Dylan? Could that have been one of his clones??
4:02 😄 what’s better then 1 Milchick?
4 Milchicks of course!
😂😂
I refuse to believe anything about Devin hiding anything.
She's important as Mark's tether to normal life, and she's lovely and genuine.
I thought that the code detectors were pretty confirmed when Helly tried several times to leave with notes and they got set off 🤔
Any chance that you can cover The White Lotus? Season 2 just started and the first season was great!
I didn't know what this was until I just looked it up a few minutes ago. It looks like something I could get into. I'll give it a shot and see. I'm always looking for new stuff, so thanks for the heads up.
Awesome! If you choose to do so, I'll be looking forward to it!
I believe that just how they changed the doors after they were wondering in the halls. They probably didn't have a check if you could sneak something out. I think that is how petey got the tape
I pre-like my videos here. I know they'll be excellent quality, it saves time.
Thanks, Capn! Appreciate it!
I guess I misunderstood what was going on with Petey because I thought the company was using him like a guinea pig to see what happens when they turn the chip off. And that's why Cobel was so interested in getting Petey's chip back. I caught onto the hints that Cobel has her own agenda. So I figured her interest in Petey's chip was her having convinced him beforehand to get reintegrated specifically so she could see how that would play out in real time 😅
Regarding the tape, I figured there are other people at Lumon who are involved in the resistance and slipped Petey the tape, either a character we already know or one who will be introduced in season 2 in the classic is this person trustworthy or not style plot, only answering the question in the season finale.
The Petey spying theory doesn’t fit with the doctor blaming his death on him not following her directions, unless reintegration requires going to work to more gently merge the two realities, which would make sense.
The tape wouldn't trip the code detector. It's not written language; it's a magnetic tape. We haven't ever seen Mark get wanded or searched when he goes *up* the elevator to the unsevered floor. The trick is getting your hands on the tape. Then you just put it in your pocket and leave the building like usual.
I've believed that Milchick is a *role* not a *name* since reading the Lexington Letter. I believe the code detectors are real for the same reason. The LL gives the reason why they were invented and it's necessary for the overall premise that the writers make it hard/impossible for the innies and outies to communicate.
Here’s a question. How did Milchick wake up the Innie while he was with the outtie at home when it’s a two person job at the office. This would require three people. Who are those three considering he was keeping it a secret from Cobel?
Did you use to make Walking Dead videos? Your voice sounds so familiar!
No, I've never done any kind of acting, but I appreciate the compliment!
So with the milchick clone theory, assuming it is possible that there are multiple hive mind milchicks could work IF they had the technology to clone the severance chips to give that person the same personality in all bodies and work as a hivemind. There could be one original severed milchick who then got cloned, both chip and body
Yeah, if beehive or some other tech can link them together, it could work. It's a crazy theory, but who knows with this show. I hope we get more info on how severance really works next season. That would shed some light on what the full extent of what is possible.
@@nautilusfiles Can’t wait to find out more and for some more awesome theories and analysis
Shots fired! Shots fired!
Excellent.
What if it's Pete E and Helen wasn't the first Eagan to attempt this. Might explain why he was able to have the connections to reintegration and how to get the tape out. Also why Cobel was merely monitoring him through. It doesn't align with the postmortem newspaper article, but it makes as much since that he could be Ambrose's offspring as Ricken which is a theory
I feel like Milchick is more.... the Helly guy. Whatever needs doing that involves Helly, he does it, though all of these jobs would normally be below his pay grade. I think he's probably a high level guy in the company and either that newspaper editor Milchick is a relative or Luman has a way of catching and re-routing things that are sent to media.
But there is security outside the elevator for when they leave the severed elevator.
Obviously the million-dollar soap-opera plotline version of events is that Petey isactually the father of Devon's baby /j
Loved the video, going to check out the rest right now!
Would make sense since the dude doesnt seem to hold grudges
Watch this. Petey is pulling a Shutter Island.
Milchek - Were not in Kansas anymore… and if I can help it never again
with the code detector. I tend to agree that it is just a little too magical and not as grounded as the other sci fi type stuff we see. The code detector is actually the result of constant surveillance from the security team watching the innies every move. The constant rhetoric of the code detectors existence and the occasional catching of a note or device is just competent surveillance work. At some point the innies themselves are the ones who pass along the warning about the code detector. The innies themselves are spouting the propaganda Lumon is trying to push.
This might be how Petey is able to smuggle out the tape, he called Lumons bluff about the code detector and did it while there was some major distraction.