Re: Irv - it's not that there's something wrong with his severance chip. It's that he's dreaming. Dreams exist in a different plane of consciousness and this causes some bleed over. Irv realises this is a way of communicating with his innie and forces himself to stay awake as an outie, drinking coffee and playing loud music. This is why Irv falls asleep in work (because he is exhausted), and why he dreams of the black paint. Lumon are probably aware that dreams can have this effect and that explains why Irv gets his pay docked for falling asleep and sent for a wellness check - they don't want their employees falling asleep in work and dreaming as they can't control what they might dream about
honestly i think irv got his memory wiped in the testing room which explains why he knows what that is, and that caused all sorts of psychological damage to him which explains the black paint hallucinations
@@hernandez4856 They actually don't "wipe" -they separate things hence the word, "severance" - you see the procedure done: they place the chip and it seems to be where the hippocampus is (midbrain, involved in episodic memory). But you might mean he's had PART of his memory wiped, which we never seen (I would love to know why HIM then)?. In any case the black paint is definitely his outie bleeding over when he sleep, which as @Cae;anDafydd says, sleep is punishable at Lumon (why else but fear of that "bleeding over"? They had to show us one example of something that even with all their checks in place can;t be controlled.
The main theory about Ms. Casey is that part of her brain was injured in the car crash and the only way she could be saved is to make her a permanent innie. She's basically an experiment and that's why she and Mark are being closely watched by Ms. Cobel/Selvig and the reason for that probably has to do with her mother, Charlotte.
Who's to even say that she was ever actually in an accident? That coulda been cover for abduction by Lumon. When she is sent to the testing floor, that could mean she is one that never leaves Lumon, meaning her Gemma identity may never be activated. Or, as they activate the innie on the elevator or in the stairwell doorway, they might deactivate anywhere as well, and the testing floor handles the people in their outie version.
That’s a good theory. I kept having a thought about Gemma deciding on her own like the others. But that she didn’t want an outtie to remember Mark at all. Almost like Eternal Sunshine. So, because the request was odd, they decided to have the dept for people that will never leave. So, with Lumon’s help, there’s an accident that is staged.
When Mark was on the date, he mentioned that Gemma, “Always had a plan B.” 👀 Also, Devon mentions she knows Gemma would’ve been proud of him for taking the Sev’rd job.
I think irv's memories are leaking between innie and outie modes because he's sleep deprived. Outside he chugs coffee and obsessively paints the same thing, so that he could affect his innie. And the innie keeps falling asleep at work and gets punished for it. The outie is causing all of it on purpose, he's on a mission to out lumin's secrets and motives
Irving’s outie is made aware that his sleep deprivation technique is working because his paycheque was deducted for the time his innie was sleeping on the job. His outie is also using the repetition of the song Ace of Spades while he’s painting the same thing over and over. These are psychological brainwashing techniques. It’s possible when Mark’s sister asked him if he was still seeing the counselor with the funny little moustache, she was describing Irving. Maybe he was a psychologist when he was in the military and that’s why he’s aware of these techniques.
@@janesfilms I heard elsewhere that is military job might have had to do with navigation (the concellor tells his he loves the sound of radar, he called his dog Radar, he's quick finding number on the screen/map) -and these techniques are known outside the military -you knew, right? both options are plausible
@@benreid4901I've had a lot of people recommending that show to me because I love fallout and they compared it in a way to the vaults. I'll definitely check it out!
My theory is that Lumon is behind the ‘accidental’ death of Gemma, and her body was donated or stolen by Lumon and Ms Casey is either a clone or brain dead and artificially kept alive on the testing floor.
I think you're misunderstanding Irving. Irving's outie's caffeine consumption and listening to loud music is key. He's intentionally keeping himself awake. Why? Well, let's presume that to the outies, the innies' experiences are mysterious in the exact same way as the reverse. This would mean the black goo that innie irving sees when he nods off is coming from the memories of outie Irving... and the dark hallway that outtie irving keeps painting was similarly received across severance partitioning. Outie Irving is most likely receiving such experiences when he tires out the conscious partition of his brain... probably about as often as we see Innie Irving experience them (if not more). Perhaps it's a case of a partition momentarily recruiting resources from the other partition due to synaptic misfiring, and tiredness allows this to happen. Outie Irving is clearly investigating Lumon, as is evident from the lists of employees he has handy. his entire life seems to be single-mindedly (excuse the pun) dedicated to this in fact. His life is nothing but staying awake and collecting and interpreting these bleed-through moments to put together what is going on inside Lumon. He's constantly putting his ear up to the wall and getting the most muffled of messages, but he's starting to piece together at least a scene. Also keep in mind, Irving has been doing this longer than the other 3... and the elevator pretty well establishes that he's been downstairs. This would imply that outtie Irving might have done "hard time"... the time in which severed persons are rumored to be held in captivity 24-7. This would mean the lonely appearance of Irving is likely legitimate. He doesn't really have a life or friends as he has nobody he can trust. It might even be that Irving is thought to be dead, much like Jemma. This would also imply that he went from full-time innie to part-time innie. Not surprising considering how devout he is. But somehow, he doesn't know about his past in other floors... suggesting either a repartitioning or a full erase of his severed mind. This too would make much sense of jemma.
Mrs. Cobell is severed. Her name is on the list of severed employees, although, she might be severed in a different way that we don’t fully know yet. It ties into a different theory about the “revolving” where Lumon’s real goals have to do with immortality. Mrs. Cobell might spend half the time as her mother due to all this.
Nice video, thank you. My 3 pence: 1. I don't think Peggy completing the Lexington file led directly to the bombing - more that her completing the file led to some information being revealed, that then led to the bombing. 2. If the work the severed employees are doing is pointless, then why does it look so weird? It'd be easy to fake something way more plausible. 3. Maybe, just maybe, although to MDR it looks like they're sorting numbers into buckets, to a non-severed person it doesn't look like that at all. Perhaps their severance procedure involves some sort of custom filter?
Regarding Irving, I read it as: his Outie is researching Lumon, and is deliberately sleep depriving his innie (drinking pots of coffee after dark, blasting loud music) so that the severance will malfunction and his consciousness will leak through.
Right before the goat's appear, Helly tells Mark she wants to see the "blood drained out" of her outy. Then the next sound is a baby goat. Baby Goat's are traditionally sacrificed for ancient religions. More dark rituals will probably be revealed in season 2 to fit in with the kier family cult.
14:44 I don’t think something is wrong with Irv’s severance, I think falling asleep bypasses the implant and allows the innie access to the outies memories subconsciously. Irv’s outie is purposely staying up painting in order to be tired at work and get innie Irv to fall asleep. I bet we see more of this explored next season.
I think that the work they do is something because of how important it seems to the bosses that they meet their deadline they talk about how it is very important to meet the deadline with each other and not in front of the employees, which seems to me that the work they’re doing is Something important and it’s time sensitive
i believe irving's outtie is purposely not sleeping so he can dream when he's his innie. Dylan poked fun at irv for dozing off in the past, which im pretty sure the next scene or so is where he dozes off and sees the black goo for the first time. The second time he sees it, his vision blurs, almost as if hes crazy tired. Theres also a bunch of mentions from cobel, mark, etc that getting the right amount of sleep is key. Hes just dreaming about all the black paint. idk tho!! thats just my own little theory
Great video! I absolutely love this show and the intriguing mystery it has created. I feel that the creators have absolutely planned out the story, and know _exactly_ where they plan to take the show. If the first season is any indication of the level of care given to progressing the plot, while slowly unveiling the mystery- yet maintaining a great degree of intrigue- then I feel we’re in good, capable hands. I really enjoy the fact that (unlike other current series that I’ve watched, such as _From_ ) it doesn’t feel like they are making it up as they go along. So excited for season 2!
I think Gemma knew something about Lumon, so they made the accident happen. And to control her and not spill information to the outside they keep her in Lumon
I think that marks wife ms casey/gemma got braindead from the accident. So technally she is alive but braindead or partly braindead. So the company got her and put a chip in her and thats why she goes down and only wakes whenever they need her. She dosnt go outside because there is no Gemma/outie part of her to go outside for and also she is officially dead.
The one thing I’ve been thinking about is when they did that OT to Dylan when he was his outtie, that means 2 other people were doing it for Milchick. So, I feel like it’s an attempt at a coup to get Cobel out was happening..so, who was helping Milchick at that time. Because they tell us Cobel didn’t know Milchick did that.
I think I'd be satisfied if your prediction turns out to be true, but the only thing I'm missing is the 4 tempers. They would also be meaningless, but the show focuses too much on them for that in my opinion. Taming the 4 tempers implies something with mind control/cloning/bringing back the dead, something like that. Lumon trying to commercialize Severance is definitely a thing, but their motives are more than just "it would be a profitable thing to sell".
There's one floor I find in this whole series. If outie Mark can slip in a security card : Why couldn't he slip in a note to his innie self ? And why can't the innies write down or even make a video for their outies when they are using the contingency thing rather than cause a massive Ruckus
The only problem with Apple TV is it makes some brilliant original shows. Severance, Silo, Dark Matter. See is great...but not brilliant. I know I'm forgetting one. I only watched Dark Matter because the trailer had Apple TV otherwise I probably would've skipped it. Hard to sell in a trailer I think. I wonder how you even watch it in Australia. I'm guessing via a main streaming that has a bag of dicks for other the majority of content.
Why shouldn't a "what does MDR do" theory be an obvious one? I consider it to be one of the smaller or less significant mysteries of the show, though, so I don't really care all that much about what the answer to that question is if they choose to provide one. Well, actually I guess my preference would be that it remains ambiguous/obfuscated and left up to individual viewer interpretation, as I find direct answers for things like this in mystery shows to be incredibly lazy storytelling and insulting for the audience. For the show to be worth it's weight for me I'd say a solid 50% of the mysteries should remain ambiguous, with multiple plausible answers being possible for them.
Can you make a video on how to pace your reveals for mystery box shows? A common complaint/criticism from audiences is that the show is getting boring, nothing is happening, it’s becoming filler etc
what is this? you are just playing the entirely of mark doing the interview, talking about him being the protagonist... in a section about cobel... isn't this supposed to be where you make predictions? you already had a recap. man this is all over the place. make one video, with one idea, one topic, and stick to it. wth man. do better.
![Severance Theories #9 [What's Up With The Food?]](/img/1.gif)
Re: Irv - it's not that there's something wrong with his severance chip. It's that he's dreaming. Dreams exist in a different plane of consciousness and this causes some bleed over. Irv realises this is a way of communicating with his innie and forces himself to stay awake as an outie, drinking coffee and playing loud music. This is why Irv falls asleep in work (because he is exhausted), and why he dreams of the black paint. Lumon are probably aware that dreams can have this effect and that explains why Irv gets his pay docked for falling asleep and sent for a wellness check - they don't want their employees falling asleep in work and dreaming as they can't control what they might dream about
That’s excellent ❤
honestly i think irv got his memory wiped in the testing room which explains why he knows what that is, and that caused all sorts of psychological damage to him which explains the black paint hallucinations
@@hernandez4856 They actually don't "wipe" -they separate things hence the word, "severance" - you see the procedure done: they place the chip and it seems to be where the hippocampus is (midbrain, involved in episodic memory). But you might mean he's had PART of his memory wiped, which we never seen (I would love to know why HIM then)?. In any case the black paint is definitely his outie bleeding over when he sleep, which as @Cae;anDafydd says, sleep is punishable at Lumon (why else but fear of that "bleeding over"? They had to show us one example of something that even with all their checks in place can;t be controlled.
@@waanaabe-4795 you know what i mean smart ass
@@hernandez4856 Do I?
The main theory about Ms. Casey is that part of her brain was injured in the car crash and the only way she could be saved is to make her a permanent innie. She's basically an experiment and that's why she and Mark are being closely watched by Ms. Cobel/Selvig and the reason for that probably has to do with her mother, Charlotte.
How do you know this thou
@@SerPapus It's a theory.
Who's to even say that she was ever actually in an accident? That coulda been cover for abduction by Lumon. When she is sent to the testing floor, that could mean she is one that never leaves Lumon, meaning her Gemma identity may never be activated. Or, as they activate the innie on the elevator or in the stairwell doorway, they might deactivate anywhere as well, and the testing floor handles the people in their outie version.
That’s a good theory. I kept having a thought about Gemma deciding on her own like the others. But that she didn’t want an outtie to remember Mark at all. Almost like Eternal Sunshine. So, because the request was odd, they decided to have the dept for people that will never leave. So, with Lumon’s help, there’s an accident that is staged.
When Mark was on the date, he mentioned that Gemma, “Always had a plan B.” 👀 Also, Devon mentions she knows Gemma would’ve been proud of him for taking the Sev’rd job.
I think irv's memories are leaking between innie and outie modes because he's sleep deprived. Outside he chugs coffee and obsessively paints the same thing, so that he could affect his innie. And the innie keeps falling asleep at work and gets punished for it. The outie is causing all of it on purpose, he's on a mission to out lumin's secrets and motives
Irving’s outie is made aware that his sleep deprivation technique is working because his paycheque was deducted for the time his innie was sleeping on the job. His outie is also using the repetition of the song Ace of Spades while he’s painting the same thing over and over. These are psychological brainwashing techniques. It’s possible when Mark’s sister asked him if he was still seeing the counselor with the funny little moustache, she was describing Irving. Maybe he was a psychologist when he was in the military and that’s why he’s aware of these techniques.
@@janesfilms ooh that's interesting
These are lucid dreaming techniques. He's tryring to lucid dream his way into the severed body.
that's how I read it, as well.
@@janesfilms I heard elsewhere that is military job might have had to do with navigation (the concellor tells his he loves the sound of radar, he called his dog Radar, he's quick finding number on the screen/map) -and these techniques are known outside the military -you knew, right? both options are plausible
The Season 2 release date was just announced! It comes out on January 17th, 2025.
I can’t believe I hadn’t see this video until now. Your summary is great. I’m trying hard to appreciate each theory equally.
In a show with Christopher Walken, I could have used a little more Cobel.
I’ve got a fever…and the only prescription is More Cobel!
Underrated comment! and i'm upset that I didn't think of this first! LMAO !!!!!
A man of culture
Right why is she so hot! I would give her the best 8 seconds of her life
This is still the only apple tv content I've ever watched. It was a really good show and I was surprised how much I liked it
Give Silo a try - really amazing Mystery Box show, second season coming in November
Silo is amazing check it out
@@benreid4901I've had a lot of people recommending that show to me because I love fallout and they compared it in a way to the vaults. I'll definitely check it out!
My theory is that Lumon is behind the ‘accidental’ death of Gemma, and her body was donated or stolen by Lumon and Ms Casey is either a clone or brain dead and artificially kept alive on the testing floor.
I think you're misunderstanding Irving.
Irving's outie's caffeine consumption and listening to loud music is key. He's intentionally keeping himself awake. Why?
Well, let's presume that to the outies, the innies' experiences are mysterious in the exact same way as the reverse.
This would mean the black goo that innie irving sees when he nods off is coming from the memories of outie Irving... and the dark hallway that outtie irving keeps painting was similarly received across severance partitioning. Outie Irving is most likely receiving such experiences when he tires out the conscious partition of his brain... probably about as often as we see Innie Irving experience them (if not more).
Perhaps it's a case of a partition momentarily recruiting resources from the other partition due to synaptic misfiring, and tiredness allows this to happen.
Outie Irving is clearly investigating Lumon, as is evident from the lists of employees he has handy. his entire life seems to be single-mindedly (excuse the pun) dedicated to this in fact. His life is nothing but staying awake and collecting and interpreting these bleed-through moments to put together what is going on inside Lumon. He's constantly putting his ear up to the wall and getting the most muffled of messages, but he's starting to piece together at least a scene.
Also keep in mind, Irving has been doing this longer than the other 3... and the elevator pretty well establishes that he's been downstairs. This would imply that outtie Irving might have done "hard time"... the time in which severed persons are rumored to be held in captivity 24-7. This would mean the lonely appearance of Irving is likely legitimate. He doesn't really have a life or friends as he has nobody he can trust. It might even be that Irving is thought to be dead, much like Jemma.
This would also imply that he went from full-time innie to part-time innie. Not surprising considering how devout he is. But somehow, he doesn't know about his past in other floors... suggesting either a repartitioning or a full erase of his severed mind. This too would make much sense of jemma.
Both Peg and Gemma died in car accidents. Hmmm
Mrs. Cobell is severed. Her name is on the list of severed employees, although, she might be severed in a different way that we don’t fully know yet. It ties into a different theory about the “revolving” where Lumon’s real goals have to do with immortality. Mrs. Cobell might spend half the time as her mother due to all this.
wow that sounds wild - where did you find the theory about 'the revolving'?
@ I can’t recall who but it was a different youruber’s video. Maybe Think Story or Geekademy. Really interesting theory though.
Their work is mysterious and important.
Nice video, thank you. My 3 pence:
1. I don't think Peggy completing the Lexington file led directly to the bombing - more that her completing the file led to some information being revealed, that then led to the bombing.
2. If the work the severed employees are doing is pointless, then why does it look so weird? It'd be easy to fake something way more plausible.
3. Maybe, just maybe, although to MDR it looks like they're sorting numbers into buckets, to a non-severed person it doesn't look like that at all. Perhaps their severance procedure involves some sort of custom filter?
Regarding Irving, I read it as: his Outie is researching Lumon, and is deliberately sleep depriving his innie (drinking pots of coffee after dark, blasting loud music) so that the severance will malfunction and his consciousness will leak through.
"outie". sleep depriving the "outie" but yes
@@waanaabe-4795 well, I suppose the outie is sleep depriving both the outie and innie.
Right before the goat's appear, Helly tells Mark she wants to see the "blood drained out" of her outy. Then the next sound is a baby goat. Baby Goat's are traditionally sacrificed for ancient religions. More dark rituals will probably be revealed in season 2 to fit in with the kier family cult.
14:44 I don’t think something is wrong with Irv’s severance, I think falling asleep bypasses the implant and allows the innie access to the outies memories subconsciously. Irv’s outie is purposely staying up painting in order to be tired at work and get innie Irv to fall asleep. I bet we see more of this explored next season.
19:58 this is what i believed from watching the series myself but no other youtuber is saying they doing so much brainstorming.
I think that the work they do is something because of how important it seems to the bosses that they meet their deadline they talk about how it is very important to meet the deadline with each other and not in front of the employees, which seems to me that the work they’re doing is Something important and it’s time sensitive
i believe irving's outtie is purposely not sleeping so he can dream when he's his innie. Dylan poked fun at irv for dozing off in the past, which im pretty sure the next scene or so is where he dozes off and sees the black goo for the first time. The second time he sees it, his vision blurs, almost as if hes crazy tired. Theres also a bunch of mentions from cobel, mark, etc that getting the right amount of sleep is key. Hes just dreaming about all the black paint. idk tho!! thats just my own little theory
The work they do is mysterious and important lol
Great video! I absolutely love this show and the intriguing mystery it has created.
I feel that the creators have absolutely planned out the story, and know _exactly_ where they plan to take the show. If the first season is any indication of the level of care given to progressing the plot, while slowly unveiling the mystery- yet maintaining a great degree of intrigue- then I feel we’re in good, capable hands. I really enjoy the fact that (unlike other current series that I’ve watched, such as _From_ ) it doesn’t feel like they are making it up as they go along. So excited for season 2!
Very smart observation...i love this show!
I think Gemma knew something about Lumon, so they made the accident happen. And to control her and not spill information to the outside they keep her in Lumon
Can't wait! Can't wait!
I think that marks wife ms casey/gemma got braindead from the accident. So technally she is alive but braindead or partly braindead. So the company got her and put a chip in her and thats why she goes down and only wakes whenever they need her. She dosnt go outside because there is no Gemma/outie part of her to go outside for and also she is officially dead.
Thanks! It was useful to remember and interesting.
Here’s something no breakdown artist has asked yet: What’s with the bizarro sorta-mid-Atlantic accents of Cobel and Irving?
The one thing I’ve been thinking about is when they did that OT to Dylan when he was his outtie, that means 2 other people were doing it for Milchick. So, I feel like it’s an attempt at a coup to get Cobel out was happening..so, who was helping Milchick at that time. Because they tell us Cobel didn’t know Milchick did that.
"Law of Story Physics #33"
Wait till I tell you about Glass 😂😂
I think I'd be satisfied if your prediction turns out to be true, but the only thing I'm missing is the 4 tempers. They would also be meaningless, but the show focuses too much on them for that in my opinion. Taming the 4 tempers implies something with mind control/cloning/bringing back the dead, something like that. Lumon trying to commercialize Severance is definitely a thing, but their motives are more than just "it would be a profitable thing to sell".
Absolutely. The focus on the 4 tempers is mysterious and important
Exactly. More important to Lumen is the spread and control of their cult. The chip makes creating cult members easier.
Gemma could be a clone which is why they were experimenting on goats
There won't be enough theory videos to get me to January....pls help lol
There's one floor I find in this whole series. If outie Mark can slip in a security card : Why couldn't he slip in a note to his innie self ? And why can't the innies write down or even make a video for their outies when they are using the contingency thing rather than cause a massive Ruckus
Comment for the algorithm
Same
Release date mid January 2025 for the next episode
Is Irving in Season 2? I don't see him in any of the trailers for season 2
Hit-monkey, Lockwood and Co could be considered as mystery box stories
All ones at book meeting acted weird because they are severed
The only problem with Apple TV is it makes some brilliant original shows. Severance, Silo, Dark Matter. See is great...but not brilliant. I know I'm forgetting one. I only watched Dark Matter because the trailer had Apple TV otherwise I probably would've skipped it. Hard to sell in a trailer I think. I wonder how you even watch it in Australia. I'm guessing via a main streaming that has a bag of dicks for other the majority of content.
Try "From"
Will match your style, Its got 2 seasons
Don't ask don't tell. And then:
Seems like ms cobel is marks mom
My prediction is that the writers have absolutely no idea the awnsers to any of the mysteries they set up
yep and that could be a very bad thing lol. especially with the hype around it. I really hope they figure something cool and clever put
I gent those feeling too, we will get some minore reveals few even bigger misteries to keep the money flowing until it blows it their face
You’re all probably right. When I make these videos, I try to politely pretend that it’s not the case.
Yeap, that's Hollywood baby.
i dont think thats the case here the show is written in a very clever way to just be like that but you may be right idk
Why shouldn't a "what does MDR do" theory be an obvious one? I consider it to be one of the smaller or less significant mysteries of the show, though, so I don't really care all that much about what the answer to that question is if they choose to provide one.
Well, actually I guess my preference would be that it remains ambiguous/obfuscated and left up to individual viewer interpretation, as I find direct answers for things like this in mystery shows to be incredibly lazy storytelling and insulting for the audience.
For the show to be worth it's weight for me I'd say a solid 50% of the mysteries should remain ambiguous, with multiple plausible answers being possible for them.
Just cleaning the oceans. Nothing to see here.
Yeah, Apple TV has some of the best TV series out there
Can you make a video on how to pace your reveals for mystery box shows? A common complaint/criticism from audiences is that the show is getting boring, nothing is happening, it’s becoming filler etc
What is a Mystery Box Story?
ruclips.net/video/ZXCb68LGk7M/видео.html
what is this? you are just playing the entirely of mark doing the interview, talking about him being the protagonist... in a section about cobel... isn't this supposed to be where you make predictions? you already had a recap. man this is all over the place. make one video, with one idea, one topic, and stick to it. wth man. do better.
Why make a video when you have nothing to say or know anything?
Ur so negative with the theories