One of the greatest mysteries of Severance is why Ms. Casey is Gemma and how Mark Scout's supposedly dead wife is alive and well despite her car accident.
Adam Scott's Mark Scout worked for Lumon and became severed to deprive himself of the painful memories of his late wife, Gemma. However, in last season's finale, Scout's Innie, Mark S, discovered that Ms. Casey, his Wellness Director, was actually his Outie's not-so-dead wife.
Since then, in the last four episodes of Severance, Mark S has done everything within his minuscule power within Lumon to find Gemma and free her from the company's clutches, wherever they may be hiding her.
How and Why Gemma is Alive
Not Cloning
From the start of Severance, the idea of cloning was implanted in the minds of audiences when Britt Lower's Innie Helly asked if she was "livestock" and if Lumon grew her, only to be mocked by Mark S, "You think we grew a full human, gave you consciousness."
Some fans even believed the mysterious goats from last season had something to do with animal cloning.
The latest episode, "Woe's Hallow," even explored Lumon's founder, Kier Eagan, having a twin brother. On their surprise nature excursion, the group even saw doubles of themselves.
However, these are likely just meant to be taken as mere metaphors for the darker half of a person, like Egan's twin brother or Helena, finally revealed to be masquerading as Helly.
However, Adam Scott vehemently denied this cloning theory, telling EW that it would make for "a super boring version of Severance." So, it's unlikely that Gemma is a clone, but how else could she still be alive after a deadly car accident?
Was Gemma Ever Dead?
While the details of the car accident that "killed" Gemma were left vague in Season 1, the aftermath of the crash was made a bit more explicit by Mark Scout in this season. Describing Gemma's body as having been burned in the accident, "If Ricken died and his body burned, I'd be sad for you."
Mark also stated that he "identified" and "saw [Gemma's] body." Of course, Lumon could have easily swapped out Gemma in such a scenario with a burned corpse with no one the wiser.
It's possible that instead of dying, Gemma was left in a coma after the accident, maybe even brain-damaged. Lumon Industries is a biotechnology company with its revolutionary Severance program. Gemma could have made the perfect test subject, but was she the only one?
Who Exactly is Miss Huang?
When Sarah Bock was introduced as the abnormally young Miss Huang in the Season 2 premiere of Severance, fans immediately assumed she was the daughter of Mark and Gemma. But two facts put this into question.
Mark only began working for Lumon two years ago, shortly after his wife's death. While Bock is no doubt meant to be playing a character younger than herself, Huang is obviously older than two years old. Additionally, Mark mentioned that he and Gemma tried having children, but the pair could never conceive and gave up.
However, in the second episode of this season, "Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig," audiences learned an oddly specific fact about Miss Huang: she was once a crossing guard. If she was truthful, which is doubtful considering the company she works for, then she once had a life outside Lumon.
Also, being a crossing guard, especially for a child, can be dangerous. What if what happened to Gemma happened to Huang? She's struck and declared dead, but Lumon takes her away while a fake body is left behind.
Why is Lumon Obsessed with Mark?
Patricia Arquette's Cobel and Lumon are obsessed with keeping Mark S. on board at Lumon working on what the company has dubbed "Cold Harbor." Going out of their way to make this Innie happy, even to the point of hastily rehiring his insubordinate friends to keep him cooperative.
Considering all these facts so far, it's possible that what makes Cold Harbor so important for Lumon and Mark S so invaluable is his connection to Gemma, not only because she was Scout's wife but also Mark S's Wellness Director.
Lumon is Fixing Gemma Using Cold Harbor
The founder of Lumon, Kier Eagan, lived by the philosophy of the Four Tempers. He believed that all human souls are comprised of four "tempers:" Woe, Frolic, Dread, and Malice. But what if a human soul is broken? How does one fix it? By realigning their Tempers and making them whole again, of course.
These Tempers match the four categories of numbers in MDR files that the Innies work on: WO, DR, FC, and MA, as seen on the Cold Harbor monitor above. Five boxes also appear, possibly representing the five regions of the brain that process memories.
Additionally, a specific monitor for ETCO2 is shown, typically only used to track individuals on ventilators, such as coma patients. This supports the theory that Gemma has been in and out of comas during her time at Lumon, which could explain her infrequent time as the Wellness Director.
Severance described the MDR department's job at Lumon as recognizing the "scary" numbers and putting them into their corresponding boxes. So, what if Mark S is the only one capable of identifying any of Gemma's numbers?
But did Scout, in his desperation to find his wife, doom her to be lost forever by reintegrating? In the latest episode, it appeared that Mark S hadn't suffered any of the detrimental side effects that killed Petey, but will it affect how he works on Cold Harbor and sees the numbers?
Severance Season 2 continues on Apple TV+, with new episodes dropping every Friday.
