The latest episode of Severance finally revealed Lumon's plans to expand its existential and borderline evil procedure.
In Severance, Lumon deeply influences the world, their employees, and the town of their founder's namesake. Audiences witnessed the horror that comes with the severance procedure and how Innies are treated not as people but as the holder of burdens and trauma.
The audience finally had the first look at Dichen Lachman's Gemma beyond the stories and words from Adam Scott's Mark Scout or her role as Ms. Casey at Lumon in the newest episode. But Lumon is putting her through a series of elaborate tests leading to Cold Harbor.
What Does Lumon Do in Severance?
Severance Season 2, Episode 7, "Chikhai Bardo," revealed to audiences that the original Gemma was still alive and Lumon's greater intentions with its severance procedure and Cold Harbor. Severance isn't just about cutting out the tedium of work or trauma but the ability to sever any feelings or experiences.
In "Chikhai Bardo," Gemma is alive, kept prisoner by Lumno as a guinea pig to test "severance barriers," relating to the contents of each room and Innie, and whether feelings from these rooms bleed into the Outie, Gemma. One Innie could suffer through a grueling dentist visit or another survive a turbulent plane ride.
One would think these rooms only relate to traumatic experiences or phobias, hence the personal questions the doctors ask Gemma throughout the episode, such as whether her greater fear is "suffocating or drowning" in a mudslide. But one room is also dedicated to something as inane as writing Christmas cards.
One doctor then questions Gemma about her reaction upon exiting rooms and whether she ever felt any sense of "despair," "fervor," or "gaiety." They also ask whether she remembers a feeling of "despair," including any passionate or joyful feelings.
Perhaps more rooms are dedicated to happier experiences, not only ones amounting to hours-long torture. It would make sense if positive experiences or activities were included to help stress test these severance barriers for the whole spectrum of emotions, including "fervor" and "gaiety," alongside "despair."
But where is it all leading? Why is Cold Harbor seemingly the final step in Lumon's experiments, and why is Gemma's pain finally relieved?
Mark, Gemma, Grief, & Cold Harbor
The biggest mystery in Severance has been Lumon's ominous Cold Harbor project, which Mark S. has been unknowingly working on. Unfortunately for the century-old company, Mark's absence has stalled the experiment at 96% completion.
Being so close to completion seems to correspond to its room being prepared. Gemma noted that there was "only one room I haven't been to yet," which finally had a name: Cold Harbor. This suggests that whenever the MDR department completes a file, it corresponds to a room for severance barrier testing.
When pressed on what will happen once Gemma has been in all the rooms, the doctor responds that Gemma "will see the world again, and the world will see you." The doctor also says that "Mark will benefit from the world [Gemma's] siring," and "Kier will take away all his pain, just as Kier has taken away [Gemma's]."
Throughout the episode, Gemma's greatest pain is made no more apparent than her miscarriage and inability to have a child with Mark. This also affected Mark, as shown by his destroying the baby's crib.
That might be why Mark S. is the key to completing Cold Harbor and why Lumon did everything they could to keep him employed. It's the shared grief and experience from his Outie—not just witnessing Gemma's pain but grieving for her perceived death.
The grief for her death has even bled into Mark's Innie, as shown by his tree sculpture in Season 1, Episode 4, "The You You Are." This is the same tree that supposedly killed Gemma in a car crash. It could signify the severance barrier not holding for Mark, which Lumon may seek to improve through Gemma.
As for the contents of the Cold Harbor room, once Mark S. completes the file, he will no doubt be involved as part of some final test of the severance barrier limits and Gemma's retention of feelings and memories from her many Innies. Through physical pain, minor phobias, and mundane tasks, the barriers haven't faltered.
Grief and how people confront it is a significant part of Severance and its themes, with this final room, Cold Habor, exemplifying it. The doctor already claimed that Kier has taken away Gemma's pain, meaning this room has to be something even more traumatizing than her miscarriage.
With Gemma still yearning to reunite with Mark, could her witnessing his death be the ultimate test of the barriers between innies and outies? While Mark also severed to avoid the grief of Gemma's death, he never actually witnessed it.
Whatever the Cold Harbor room holds, it can't be anything good for Gemma or Mark in the final episodes of this season of Severance.
Severance Season 2, Episode 8 premieres on Friday, March 7 on Apple TV+.
