How Severance Works (& Why It’s Terrifying)

Warning: This article contains major SPOILERS for Severance season 1.

Summary

• The Severance process includes brain surgery and a chip, creating “innies” and “outies.”
• Innies at Lumon have limited freedom and aren’t treated as real people.
• Lumon’s sinister nature is revealed throughout the show.

This article contains mentions of self-harm and suicide.

Severance introduces the idea of “severance,” a sinister, dystopian procedure that sets the narrative for Apple TV+’s critically acclaimed sci-fi show. The series combines elements of science fiction, horror, and comedy into a story that urges viewers to look for clues in every episode. Led by Adam Scott, some of the cast of Severance gets to play two different characters – their innies and their outies. Although a lot of mysteries were left to be solved in Severance season 2, the severance process itself was addressed in detail in season 1.

The minimalist, late 90s aesthetic of the office buildings depicted in Severance hides a futuristic technology. While the show doesn’t make it clear what Lumon Industries truly does, its entire business model is based on the memory-splitting process known as “severance.” The company was created by Kier Eagan, the mythical figure those at Lumon must worship. As a new employee joins the Microdata Refinement department, the show slowly reveals what the severance process is, and why it’s so sinister. Severance season 1’s ending brought a few answers and made Lumon even scarier in hindsight.

How The Lumon Employees’ Memories Are Split In Severance

The severance process includes brain surgery and a chip

The daunting process of severance that Mark and his colleagues were subjected to has more than just one step. Initially, the employees who decide to take the job must undergo a surgical procedure in which a chip is introduced inside their brains. The science behind the small device is not exactly explained, but it is possible to infer that it somehow forks neural receptions into two paths: one for everything related to the personal life and another for everything related to the work life. In other words, an “innie” and an “outie” are created.

The employees can choose whether or not to join the company, but getting out of there is a lot more complicated.

Given the seriousness of the process, Lumon Industries employees must record a video before undergoing the surgery. They confirm they are in agreement with the terms and assure their innies that they have agreed to join the company. The process of severance, however, does not end on the operating table. It is when Lumon Industries’ employees take the elevator down into the office building that Severance‘s memory switch happens.

As a result, the entrance and exit of Lumon Industries employees can only happen in a staggered way. Additionally, as revealed later on the Apple TV+ sci-fi show, those at Lumon can remotely activate the chip even when the workers are not in the Lumon building. This is called “overtime contingency” and is unknown to most people. It is thanks to the overtime contingency protocol that Dylan is able to “wake up” the other characters at the end.

How Much Freedom Severance’s Employees Really Have

The innies aren’t treated as real people

The fact that the severance process is voluntary and that employees wishing to work at Lumon Industries must state on video that they are authorizing the procedure gives a false impression of freedom. The employees can choose whether or not to join the company, but getting out of there is a lot more complicated. Although the employees can hand in resignation letters, they are never accepted. Also, the work self cannot send any kind of message to their outside self. When Helly tried to write a note to herself, the mysterious elevator quickly detected it and called security.

Self-harm and suicide are also things Lumon is used to dealing with. Helly threatened to cut off her fingers if her outie did not resign, only to receive a video in which her outie said she was not going to. Helly then tried to kill herself but was saved by her co-workers. For Lumon, and even for some of the outies, the innies are essentially not real people and do not have any rights. It is also frightening to think that, for the innies, leaving the company would essentially mean death.

The only known case of a person whose memories were reintegrated is that of Petey, who died shortly after reaching out to Mark.

Discussions about whether the two separate consciousnesses make for two different people are complex. Either way, the possibility of ceasing to exist causes the employees to be trapped inside Lumon Industries’ small departments. When someone retires or is fired by Lumon, their innie essentially dies. The only known case of a person whose memories were reintegrated is that of Petey, who died shortly after reaching out to Mark.

Why People Choose To Undergo The Severance Process

Each character had their reason to work at Lumon

Although it seems strange that someone would agree to participate in a process as frightening as that of Severance, some characters believed they had good enough reason. Mark Scout, whose life outside of Lumon Industries is the only one the show extensively followed, had recently lost his wife and was suffering from depression. Mark believed that disconnecting from the “real world” for eight hours a day would help him deal with his grief, thus explaining why he joined Lumon Industries.

Hellen Rigs, also known as Helena Eagan, had a more special reason to undergo the severance process. As the daughter of CEO Jame Eagan, the creator of the severance chip, Hellen became the perfect marketing asset for Lumon. Having an Eagan undergo the severance process was particularly important for Lumon in terms of politics, as the country was discussing whether or not it should continue ahead of the election. There is a powerful lobby for and against severance, which is why Helena Eagan had a big role to play in the mission of promoting it.

Kier Egan founded Lumon in 1865.

As for the other characters, it is still unclear why they decided to work at Lumon. Dylan, for example, has at least one son based on what the show has revealed about him. Irving, on the other hand, leaves alone. It is plausible that, like Mark, they are also going through difficult times in their personal lives and have sought some way to alleviate their struggles. Another possibility still is that Lumon Industries pays a much higher salary than any other company from the same area, prompting people to take the job despite the severance process.

Why Severance Is Terrifying

Lumon is even more sinister than it seems

The above-mentioned points show just how frightening the truth behind Lumon Industries is. Although the entire premise of the series is based on futuristic technology, the discussions that Severance proposes tie into real issues of the contemporary world. How truly free a person is in the face of an oppressive work system, the loss of individuality in exchange for production, and how personal information is being handled by companies are some of the elements common to both Severance and the real world. As with the best sci-fi shows and movies, Severance is about the present, not the future.

What Real Experts Have Said About Severance’s Neurological Procedure

Severance had a real-life neurosurgeon as a consultant

Per Variety, Severance’s creators brought in a real neurosurgeon to serve as a consultant on the show in an attempt to make it as realistic as possible. Dr. Vijay Agarwal explained that his job was to balance what neuroscience currently knows about the human brain and things it expects to find out in the future. Agarwal noted that, while technology is still not at the stage depicted in Severance, it is not “far off” from it either. The M.D. discussed how neurosurgeons have managed to add microcatheters into the brain and use them to adjust things like movement and tremors.

What the public may not be aware of is that we are much closer to this type of technology and this ability than we have ever been before.”

Agarwal explained that they do that by specifically targeting certain areas of the brain with electric pulses, which is not that different from Severance’s premise. The Montefiore Medical’s Division of Skull Base and Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery chief cited the example of Juliano Pinto, a paraplegic patient who did the 2014 World Cup’s ceremonial first kickoff using a robotic suit that was controlled by his brain. The case illustrated that, right now, neuroscience research is focused on, for example, helping people who have trouble with movements. Still, according to Agarwal, society is now “much closer” to the technology shown in Severance than ever.

Every Severed Character In Severance & Who Their Outies Are

The show focuses on the Microdata Refinement division

Although Lumon has a couple of departments, Severance focuses primarily on the Microdata Refinement team, which is led by Mark S. At the beginning of the show, the department was down one member following Petey’s “exit.” To replace him, Lumon brought in Helly R., who serves as the show’s point of view character as audiences learn what severance is. The Microdata Refinement department also includes Dylan and Irving, both of whom are initially role-model employees who rarely question anything. Cobel, Milchick, Doug, and other managing figures were not severed.

Sources: Variety