Apple TV+: What Is Severance Really About?

By: Rick O’Donnell

There’s no doubt that Severance is one of Apple TV+’s most successful shows. After taking a 3-year break due to production and the writer’s strike, the show wrapped up its season 2 finale last night and knocked it out of the park. Despite it being a huge risk as one of the most unique shows you’ll ever watch, it has resonated with fans who have come up with the craziest theories on what is going on with Lumon, but what is the show really about?

Right now, everyone has a theory about why Lumon is doing all they are, what the Eagan family is trying to accomplish, and the purpose of the Severance floor. However, are we ignoring the whole point of the show?

The show might be designed that way to distract from its true focus, mental health.

Yes, that might sound as strange as a waffle party or a marching band playing in an office setting but is it that far-fetched?

There’s a duality to the show that plays out between each character leading two separate lives noted by the terms “innie” and “outie”. Is it too far off to think that it is just the personification of conscious and subconscious thoughts?

Think about Gemma/Miss Casey. Now that we have her backstory with her struggles to conceive a child with Mark. She goes through all these rooms on the testing floor with the Cold Harbor being related to her biggest struggle. We see Dr. Mauer monitoring the situation and says the block is working. She’s able to take apart the crib with no emotional response whatsoever.

Now take a look at Dylan. His outtie is struggling in his marriage, but when his wife visits him at Lumon, she’s falling in love with the man his innie is becoming. This is a perfect reflection of two people falling in love and growing apart over time. In these types of troubled relationships, one person often sticks around when they believe the person they love is still “in there somewhere.” Does Dylan represent the struggles of marriage and two children before you’re ready for them?

Helly Eagan/Helly R. have a similar divide. Her outtie is struggling with the pressure of being an Eagan and fitting into the family, while her innie just wants to live a normal life.

Jump to the season finale with Mark/Mark S. and their dialogue at the cabin. Outtie Mark just wants to get his old life back and his wife back. Innie Mark S. doesn’t want to lose the life he’s built on the Severance floor. However, if you break it down more, it’s a reflection of grief and moving on after the death of a loved one.

Mark S. argues that if they reintegrate his outtie will be in control. He goes on to explain that while they’d share the memories, they’d primarily be outtie Mark’s as Mark S. has only been around a few short years. If you put that into perspective, it shows the deep connection two people in love often share not knowing how they lived before they met the love of their life.

Mark Scout not wanting to move on shows the struggles of people dealing with grief and how they hold onto it. Mark S. represents the pain of losing the life that he and his wife built before her “death”.

Even each of the four tempers of grief, malice, woe, and frolic represent struggles of the subconscious. Each of those tempers is a feeling that people bury as they try to deal with their day-to-day struggles. Now apply that to the term “temper tantrum” which is a a physical or emotional outburst often associated with emotional distress.

Each of Severance’s innie/outtie pairs is going through a series of emotional distress. Is Lumon and the Severance floor trying to scientifically engineer ways of isolating and resolving issues with mental health? Possibly, but let’s not make Lumon out to be the hero just yet. That still would mean if they succeed, they’re still killing off the innies and wiping memories.

There are plenty of moments in Severance to keep you focused on the characters and the lives they chose. Yet, at the end of the day, the whole premise of the show is separating two sets of memories to try and achieve a more fulfilling life. It’s awfully close to dealing with the challenges of mental health and dealing with the trauma life throws at us. So, is Severance this big mystery to unsolve, or is it as simple as controlling our subconscious mind?