The way they shot the opening scene was outstanding. The camera work was phenomenal, the cuts were hidden incredibly well and the tension was through the roof without saying a word.
I think the painting at 5:45 illustrates how Lumon only shows you the tip of the iceberg, but below the water there is a lot more going on that is kept secret.
It’s so bone-chilling, the malice (or worse, complete lack of empathy) lurking juuuuust underneath the surface of Milchick at all times. Most of the time when an actor plays a character who’s also acting/lying, the character’s acting is always pretty transparent to us, even when it’s not to the other characters. If you think about TV fast-food like Law and Order, it’s always very clear whether someone’s lying or not, they can’t play what actually convincing dishonesty looks like because then it would seem *to us* that the character is truthful. So they play the character acting badly. But Milchick!!! What really sets Milchick apart is he’s EXACTLY as convincing to us as he is to the characters. Which is like, 99.99% convincing most of the time, but never quiiiite 100%. He so skillfully plays this subtle, nuanced thing: a character who’s all smiles and warmth and “kind eyes” who you slowly start to notice appears to be a total sociopath underneath. Absolutely masterful
The statue in Micheck's office looks like the 'duck or rabbit' illusion where one thing can be two at once. This would tie to the shows theme of the innie + the outie being two sides of a whole
I thought of that as well. Also, something i do not recall Hax (or anyone) noting is that in teason 1, on the same place on that console, when it was Cobel's office, she had a small figurine of a severed human head there. Sometimes it was sitting out by itself, and sometimes it was in a clear glass (or acrylic plastic) cylinder. This bunny/duck head is also partially encased in plastic, but not clear acrylic, just some sort of wrinkled wrapping.
The picture of an iceberg (more beneath the surface) + the bonsai tree (abundant patience) + the wrapped coat rack with what appears to be cameras (you are always being watched) is very intriguing to me. Can’t wait to see what happens!
I agree with you re the iceberg! But I believe the Bonsai Tree has a different meaning. Bonsais are about control. You control their very being. You water it , provide sunshine but You Control its very being. You nip any wayward growth- controlling it's form to your desire. Also... It's said noting is as it seems at Lumon. Take the newspaper "Innies blow the Whistle..." Look carefully. It looks like their group photo pasted on a car in a parade. Real...or psyop? Hmmmm.... ...What a great show!
He’s disoriented because he’s never had to go from the elevator straight to Wellness before. He speeds up and gains confidence when he passes a clear landmark- the purple office.
I'm not sure if this is related, or if Miss Huang is even severed or not, but I was rewatching season 1 recently and in episode 2 when Mark confronts the anti-severance group, they were talking about how Lumon had plans to sever children. Maybe they succeeded?
No we so it in first season first episode then mark was introducing the whole floor to Helly and mark said that there will be more people working but they still don’t that means that five month didn’t pass at all
LOVEEEEEEEE the idea that it points to reintegration from a storytelling standpoint. I think what we will see though is that this is simply a new department that we will meet this season. Although that new department could lead us to the path of reintegration!
@ Yes! I should have clarified I meant it symbolizes that, I’m sure it will also have a more straightforward purpose in the day-to-day on the show as well.
4:37 here, Milchick is not only taking on Cobel’s job, but one of her traits by quoting Kier. This same quote is hanging on the wall in needlepoint in Ms Selvig’s house. It’s clearly visible in the episode “In Perpetuity” at 5 minutes, 17 seconds.
I don’t think they moved buildings, it’s just that the severed floor is already a convoluted layout and Mark wasn’t running to MDR like we originally thought, he was running to Wellness. Gemma was on his mind and he prioritized her over MDR, trying to beeline it straight to her. But he only ever memorized the route from the elevator to his office and then to Wellness. I’m also inclined to believe the five month gap, despite the obvious incentives to lie (and that newspaper is 100% fake). It’s something he can extrapolate just by asking around, especially asking how long the new MDR has been working. They definitely hadn’t been working the full five months but nonetheless, it’d take a lot of time to get an almost full crew fully trained and situated. If anything, it could be longer than five months. Also highly doubt it was Graner in the hall. Reghabi smashed his head in and disposed his body. Don’t know how Lumon could’ve taken him back and revived him at that point.
@@BenjiNR If he didn't know where she is, the first place to start (in the absence of any other info) is where she 'normally' has been, which is Wellness. I think that's probably true for both an instinctual and a rational response. The way the enter / exit doors are completely covered over when he does find them is so eerie to me, like a nightmare.
@TessAvelland_1 i understand he wants to find her, even though meeting up with the others would make more sense. But she was fired and he knows it, he saw her cleaning up the office and she is only in there when there is a session. He also knows that. So running around looking for her doesn't make sense. But maybe he did want to meet up with the others, but because it's another floor he got lost and ended up at wellness
As an Italian I confirm the character says "Perché sta in piedi in modo strano?" in plain Italian with no trace of accent, the actor is clearly mother tongue. And I would translate the sentence as"Why is he standing in this weird way?". Fascinating
I think we're gonna get some non linear story telling this season. I immediately rewatched the trailers after watching the clip and I think this might really be five months post overtime contingency, but I'm worried that this is Lumon's second attempt at bringing our MDR team back. When Mark and the gang are all talking about being famous, the trailer originally led us to believe the conversation between Mark and Milchick that we just saw in the clip happened just before those moments, but Milchick just told Mark (and us) that no one else came back. But it looks like the MDR gang all go back to work as usual from the trailer immediately after being outside during overtime, and we get new scenes of them refining data while that one guy talks about their work being important. And we know we're gonna see some immediate post s1 stuff given Helena in her gala dress and Burt at his house. So my current theory is that the MDR gang we know and love kept rebelling and Lumon couldn't find a way to control them even with new perks like field trips and other stuff, with Mark looking for Ms. Casey and the gang trying to figure out what actually goes on at the company. So Lumon resorted to using one of the other severance procedures/modes we saw when they discovered the overtime contingency (the only one I can remember right now is goldfish) to erase some of their memories so that they could start again and try to control them differently. So Mark gets to stay in MDR with the new group, Dylan goes with that one guy we see him talking to in the trailer, and maybe Irving gets retired? No clue what could happen to Helly. So the clip we saw is chronologically one of the later things in the timeline and the rest of the season is what happens before the beginning clips of s2, so everything is out of order to keep some level of mystery and so we feel dread watching the season knowing tragedy is gonna strike. It's either this or it really did take months to convince Mark to come back to work and now he's somehow going to find a way to find everyone again.
Yeah, that's what I think too -- like, Episode 1 is genuinely five months later, but then we do the "flashback" thing and later episodes fill in the gap. I also believe that Mark getting reintegrated is going to play a pivotal part, because I SWEAR him coming out of that elevator looks like something extra weird is happening with his brain there...
I would say that ice burg is a way of saying there is so much more going on below the severance floor… this story is so much that what we are seeing this far
A little bit more information is provided about the head cube in season 1 when using subtitles. Dylan says something about Mark’s “freshman luck” when he first arrived and him being about to sort the numbers very quickly in one day.
I’d say the picture milichicks room is a iceberg not a glacier, perhaps hinting at the fact that there’s much more to be know about milichiks and the other unsevered workers. Or maybe a metaphor for Lumon in general. Perhaps this eludes that we will see the lower floors where ms. Casey is kept.
Sooooo happy this show is back. There is a lot of bad TV out there and we're living in the age of quantity over quality but there is always a few exceptions out there and this show is one of them
When Milchick says “We must be cut to heal” at 4:46, I noticed that Cobel has/had a banner which says that exact line in her house too. I believe Milchick may still be under the guidance/in contact with Cobel.
Buddy you have the best TV analysis on RUclips hands down. You need to watch Silo and provide your thoughts on it. You would love the show and I am sure fans would enjoy your feedback.
I always assumed the abbreviated last names were an extension of how Lumon infantalizes the severed workers because I grew up with a very popular birth name for my birth year and was definitely referred to as birth name R in public school to differentiate us all. I don't know if that was a particularity of my public school system, the American school system, or maybe my generation? But your broader theories are more fun!
Hi there. I might see the show, but I just finished the season this weekend. Are you familiar with EMDR? I wonder if there’s a connection between this and MDR. I’ve been through six sessions of EMDR and I can tell you I came out the other side a completely different person. Here is a description of what EMDR is: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy technique used to treat trauma and other distressing experiences. It involves focusing on a traumatic memory while simultaneously performing eye movements, tapping, or other bilateral stimulation. The goal of EMDR is to help individuals process and reintegrate the traumatic memory, reducing its negative impact on their lives.
Remember the beginning of season 1…They were deliberate in noting that Miss Cobel was in her New Office as she unpacked and Mark S. met with her. Now Milcheck is unpacking in his new office after Mark S. has just finished scrambling around the halls. Is this maybe a subtle allusion to the fact that something was moved around last time after the situation with Gemma? Was she there before in a different position? Had they first expected Petey’s situation to be handled and for him to return? Just speculation. I may be forgetting something key about season one that makes this all irrelevant. It’s been a while.
Was waiting for someone to breakdown this 8 minutes. So many questions: How come five months has passed? Did Mark return to find Gemma? What is the purple room? Why couldn’t mark find MDR? Why is Mark the only one to return?
They probably put Mark on leave while they 'implemented the improvements" I think that's why Mark returned, I'm expecting innie Mark will find a note in his pockets from outie Mark, leading to them communicating. idk I think he was looking for the reward room to find Gemma. I suppose hes only been there a couple times, and he would have never went there directly from the elevator before? i'm reaching there Dylan's outie would quit. He was already annoyed when the overtime protocol was used voluntarily, he would nope TF out after the incident. Helly was doing it for PR, no reason to continue. Irving is a wild card, his outie seemed to be investigating, he might come back in another department. He might not want too seem to eager and cast suspicion, unlike Mark who is all in to find his wife asap.
I know he's shown the capacity to be INSANELY manipulative, but part of me really feels like Milchik is being serious when he says he feels guilty about locking them in MDR. Almost as if his twisted mind can't comprehend that literally locking them in a room is no worse than what Lumen already does, but he feels like the formal restraint was too far
Great video! Why is Mark important? The reason has to be that the Severance chip is able to create more than one innie and Mark has another innie that's more valued than Mark S. Maybe the Mark that has bruises on his knuckles.
two things first - the statue behind Milchik's desk, on the left- what do we think it is? The one on the right is a rendition of keir's profile, but on the right it looks like an animal with a large beak. For some reason i immediately thought of a stork- like the one we say in fables brings babies. Knowing that milchek has said "I love seeing you all come in like this" is this an indication of his management style as truly infanatalizing of the innies? second- the painting! In an interview for season one (I will try to find the article, it's three years old) they talked about how a lot of set design was done in sets of three with two being normal and one being off. Like the lights in mark's townhouse, two working and one not. In Cobel's office there were three paintings, two calm, and one tumultous as you see an impending storm on coming on a sea. I think those three parts symbolized the full concept of severance, and Milchik's painting manages to give the same feeling in just one painting (reintigrated perhaps?) It shows a calm sea and rock, but it does look almost like a crushing battle is happening between the water and the rock as though the tumultous nature is still there, just locked
How hard was it not to share the news immediately with us when Ben texted you a personally that they were gonna drop the first 8 mins and wish you a merry Christmas
I think this series is about surpressing bad memories and feeling that are the cause of sadness, despair and depression. I think al severed people are tramutazied and went through something horrible. Lumon offers this possibilty so that people can work without having to deal with sadness or depression, which could impact their performance. The current severed people are a trial case. I think the numbers are serve to trigger certain emotions from people (kind of like a hypnosos), as well as the paintings and other objects. I think Lumon is working on triggering positive emotions on the severed people with numbers, paintings, objects and even keywords (Ms Cobel's monologues are very off sometimes). I think the severed people are being directly represented and faced with their trauma (Ms Casey, Burt etc) so they can check how well the surpression works. That is why Ms Casey is there, or Burt, or whoever..
The painting looks like an iceberg in water. That could imply a lot of things symbolically, but I would guess it's that there is so much more they are not seeing below the surface.
I wonder if the company has matching offices all over the world, and they can offer the outies a vacation in Italy in order to split up the original group.
love your videos. going to watch severance just so i can watch your videos after haha would you make any about arcane? haven't stopped thinking about it since the finale
I think that the image of Helly getting her head dunked underwater is some of the other team(s) personally I think it is Gwendolyn Christie finding out that she’s an Eagan. then rings the “dinner bell” per say
Great video analysis! Love Dario, I can confirm that the translation is accurate, and I'm very curious to see more of him and if they're going to keep him talking in a different language from everyone else.
Seems like Cobel was publicly scapegoated for any abuse of MDR that Helly might have been referring to during the “mutiny.” It’s an EXTREMELY lucky break for Lumon that not only was she MDR’s direct supervisor, but Lumon had already fired her before Helly’s revelation. Very easy to say “Yes, we discovered this and fired her, but Helly R. wasn’t aware of that yet since it happened after Helena Eagan left at 5pm”
Cobel has a picture up in her house that says you must be cut to heal also. I think the goats are really kids so wondering if they are raising children to go through the process
THEORY: Milchick is Dead Warning: spoilers Hi everyone! I thought it was time to share the theory I’ve been mulling over for a while now. In Season 1, we discovered that Ms. Casey is actually Gemma in the outie world. She’s still alive, yet somehow being held captive as an innie by Lumon Industries. Was she kidnapped, and was her death faked? Or did she truly die, only to be reanimated by Lumon, who now keeps her imprisoned as an innie? I believe Lumon Industries isn’t capable of bringing people back to life in the traditional sense, but they can reanimate bodies. My theory is that the tiny robot implanted in the brains of severed workers has the ability to take full control of the body when activated-like when workers enter the elevator to start their shift. This would mean that the real person (the outie) is effectively deactivated and, for all intents and purposes, dead during the workday. The robot, which assumes control of the body (the innie), operates with similar personality traits to the outie because they share the same brain. However, the robot starts with a blank slate, resetting the brain to Day 1 and forming its own memories from that point forward. I believe the robot doesn’t have access to the outie’s memories, as those belong to the outie’s consciousness, which is essentially dead when the robot is active. In other words, you are technically “dead” while working and come back to life when the workday is over. Your personality isn’t split in two; instead, there are two separate “hosts” sharing the same body. They take turns using the body and have their own individual profiles on the same “console,” similar to a gaming system. This brings me to Gemma. I believe she did die in a car accident, but Lumon Industries stole her body and reanimated it. Her consciousness (Gemma) is gone because she’s truly dead, leaving her reanimated body with only one host: her innie (the robot) that now inhabits her corpse. I think something similar happened with Milchick. My theory is that the original Milchick (if that’s even his real name) died years ago, and the innie Milchick is a parasitic robot reusing his corpse. This version of Milchick likely has a long history with Lumon Industries, earning their trust and becoming heavily indoctrinated. At some point, he likely accepted that he’s a “child of Lumon” (essentially a robot operating someone else’s brain). His loyalty to Lumon is unwavering because his survival depends on them. If Lumon were to collapse, the robot would likely be deactivated, effectively ending his existence. Lumon also holds immense control over him, as they can shut him down at any time. This theory ties everything together. It explains: • Why Milchick was promoted to lead the severed floor after Ms. Cobel was fired (he’s utterly loyal to Lumon Industries). • Why Ms. Cobel once placed Ms. Casey and innie Mark together with the candle that reminds outie Mark of Gemma (she’s conducting experiments to see if the real Mark and Gemma’s consciousnesses are still buried somewhere in their brains while the robots are active. She’s hoping to one day bring back her beloved family member Charlotte-not just her body, but her full self). • Why there’s a secret, ominous elevator that appears to lead somewhere sinister-and why Ms. Casey was sent there. I believe the elevator goes to an underground dumping ground for bodies that Lumon no longer needs. These bodies are decommissioned and stored there, never to be discovered. Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts! :)
"we must be cut to heal".. that isn't projection in my opinion.. That is one Kier's creeds or sayings.. I remember seeing it on the Kier shrine mrs kobel had in her house...
WE MUST BE CUT TO HEAL was shown in s1 as an embroidered 'sampler' framed and hung on the wall of Harmony's apartment, in the scene where she is eating burnt cookies.
The thought of that dude in the background being a undead Mr Grainer is creepy asf omg. I first glance I thought it was Milchick but the hands do seem to be a lighter skin color.
I thought the outie Mark was returning because he wanted to get to where his wife was. This was reinforced by his rushing to the Wellness Room. Help me out here.
Idk i think he's running to the wellness room because he remembers his dead wife because ricken showed him the pic at the party when he was still his innie.
Yes let’s judge the first 8 minutes just because it’s not exactly how we envisioned the beginning of season 2 to be! It’s the writers job to create something original not leave it up to fan theories
I don't think they're lying about the 5 months thing. There are a lot of things in season 1 that seemed like they were lies (Helly resignation denied, board on the call, etc.) that turned out to be true. The newspaper is obviously fake, because how would the newspaper know Dylan was involved at all? His outtie wouldn't even know that.
@@The_Rickest_Rick Natalie said 'Doug Graner is dead' but Harmony responded 'Whoever killed Mr Graner is probably the same person who reintegrated Peter Kilmer.' It was mid-morning (or so) of the next day, and I've always wanted to know who knew Graner was dead that quickly and how.
Idk where you are getting this "Enlightenment for the Innies" thing from (unless I misunderstood, you seem to be saying that the process of MDR might be good for them?). Lumen only sees the Innies as resources. They aren't even thought of as people. The naming is to further deny them their humanity and to infantilize them. Kier's words are, imho, best understood as a kind of pastiche of 19thC, old-fashioned Capitalist ideology, somewhat Old Testament Biblical in style and content but, ultimately empty and self-serving. Ricken's "New Testament" book ("The You You Are") is the counter to this, a "manifesto for the working class" (Dan Erickson's words, not mine) that inspires the Innies in their solidarity and rebellion against this cruelly exploitative system of control, domination, and extraction. Cobel is going to be so *pissed* , I get the feeling that anyone who crosses her lives to regret it - if they live that long. "We must be cut to heal" sounds like some of Kier Eagan's self-help pseudo-wisdom BS. It's the sort of thing Jordan Peterson would say.
Is anyone else very disappointed that it’s an all-new cast so far? I need to see the original team! What happened with Burt? What happened at the gala? WE’VE WAITED TWO YEARS, DON’T MAKE US WAIT ANY MORE!
it’s bad story telling if they jumped right to the case because they would’ve blown through their whole wad that makes this season intriguing. They’ll show the whole story but it’ll be backwards
Well, since the trailer clearly showed the entire original cast returning, no I'm not disappointed. Not being in the first eight minutes doesn't mean they won't be in the show. 🙄
Dawg the cast was literally in the trailer and on the show for season 2. A quick google search would show you. A quick use of your brain would also show you that this is just to throw you off.
@@Jason-eu5zxhey now, no need for the insults. Remember I’m human just like you. I am a diehard fan and I know they’ll be back. I’m just impatient to see what happened after the override! Especially with Irving.
![[[[Severance]]] Season 2 Official Trailer [[[Six Questions]]]](/img/1.gif)
The way they shot the opening scene was outstanding. The camera work was phenomenal, the cuts were hidden incredibly well and the tension was through the roof without saying a word.
Totally agree, masterful opening!
I think the painting at 5:45 illustrates how Lumon only shows you the tip of the iceberg, but below the water there is a lot more going on that is kept secret.
Exactly - it's the tip of the iceberg
My thought exactly.
Agreed.
I love this!
Nice one!!
Tramell Tillman is just so freaking great! He should be getting all the awards for his performance in Severance.
I hope he gets the recognition he deserves!
Both actors are great
“a punitive rendition of the Kier hymn by Ms. Cobel” 😂 it’s so funny to hear him refer so matter-of-factly to such a surreal moment
There’s also something funny about him acknowledging in words it was punitive. “First i locked you in, and then Ms Cobel angrily sang at you” 😂
Micheck’s actor is really doing a great job
It’s so bone-chilling, the malice (or worse, complete lack of empathy) lurking juuuuust underneath the surface of Milchick at all times.
Most of the time when an actor plays a character who’s also acting/lying, the character’s acting is always pretty transparent to us, even when it’s not to the other characters.
If you think about TV fast-food like Law and Order, it’s always very clear whether someone’s lying or not, they can’t play what actually convincing dishonesty looks like because then it would seem *to us* that the character is truthful. So they play the character acting badly.
But Milchick!!! What really sets Milchick apart is he’s EXACTLY as convincing to us as he is to the characters. Which is like, 99.99% convincing most of the time, but never quiiiite 100%.
He so skillfully plays this subtle, nuanced thing: a character who’s all smiles and warmth and “kind eyes” who you slowly start to notice appears to be a total sociopath underneath. Absolutely masterful
He's on par with no country for old men for best psychopath
The statue in Micheck's office looks like the 'duck or rabbit' illusion where one thing can be two at once. This would tie to the shows theme of the innie + the outie being two sides of a whole
I thought of that as well. Also, something i do not recall Hax (or anyone) noting is that in teason 1, on the same place on that console, when it was Cobel's office, she had a small figurine of a severed human head there. Sometimes it was sitting out by itself, and sometimes it was in a clear glass (or acrylic plastic) cylinder. This bunny/duck head is also partially encased in plastic, but not clear acrylic, just some sort of wrinkled wrapping.
The picture of an iceberg (more beneath the surface) + the bonsai tree (abundant patience) + the wrapped coat rack with what appears to be cameras (you are always being watched) is very intriguing to me. Can’t wait to see what happens!
I really thought they were lights, but I like that camera angle!
@ Lights! You’re probably right and I’m excited to find out. Thanks for all you do and happy holidays!
I agree with you re the iceberg!
But I believe the Bonsai Tree has a different meaning. Bonsais are about control.
You control their very being. You water it , provide sunshine but You Control its very being. You nip any wayward growth- controlling it's form to your desire.
Also...
It's said noting is as it seems at Lumon.
Take the newspaper "Innies blow the Whistle..." Look carefully. It looks like their group photo pasted on a car in a parade. Real...or psyop? Hmmmm....
...What a great show!
I believe the Bonsai tree represents Control.
Bonsai trees are meticulously snipped and formed to shape.
It’s been five days and HAX is the only channel with a breakdown of this sneak peak. You da man HAX!
He’s disoriented because he’s never had to go from the elevator straight to Wellness before. He speeds up and gains confidence when he passes a clear landmark- the purple office.
I'm not sure if this is related, or if Miss Huang is even severed or not, but I was rewatching season 1 recently and in episode 2 when Mark confronts the anti-severance group, they were talking about how Lumon had plans to sever children. Maybe they succeeded?
Great point!
Lies, deception! It's going to be very fun to peel away the layers this season. Thanks for covering these 8 minutes, can't wait for the full episode!
Soooooo many lies, I can not wait to argue about what is true or not 😅
@ TuomasLeone... Lol... I just watched Galaxy Quest!! "Lies...deception"!! Can't wait for more to come!
@@pattiejeandean6100 Ha! I was thinking of the Saw Guerra line in Rogue 1.
Great breakdown. Im so curious of the significance of the purple room. It’s the first time we are seeing that color
No we so it in first season first episode then mark was introducing the whole floor to Helly and mark said that there will be more people working but they still don’t that means that five month didn’t pass at all
And also miltchik said mark immediately agreed to come back to work and that’s why 5 month is wrong.
I think it’s meant to signify marks reintegration. blending of red and blue
LOVEEEEEEEE the idea that it points to reintegration from a storytelling standpoint. I think what we will see though is that this is simply a new department that we will meet this season. Although that new department could lead us to the path of reintegration!
@ Yes! I should have clarified I meant it symbolizes that, I’m sure it will also have a more straightforward purpose in the day-to-day on the show as well.
'We must be cut to heal' is a picture on the wall in Ms Selvigs house (episode 2 or 3) I believe its one of Egans Quotes.
That's what I thought. It sounds like some of Kier Eagan's self-help pseudo-wisdom.
4:37 here, Milchick is not only taking on Cobel’s job, but one of her traits by quoting Kier. This same quote is hanging on the wall in needlepoint in Ms Selvig’s house. It’s clearly visible in the episode “In Perpetuity” at 5 minutes, 17 seconds.
You missed the tree 🌳 in Mr Milcheck’s office. It was Ms Casey’s.
I don’t think they moved buildings, it’s just that the severed floor is already a convoluted layout and Mark wasn’t running to MDR like we originally thought, he was running to Wellness. Gemma was on his mind and he prioritized her over MDR, trying to beeline it straight to her. But he only ever memorized the route from the elevator to his office and then to Wellness. I’m also inclined to believe the five month gap, despite the obvious incentives to lie (and that newspaper is 100% fake). It’s something he can extrapolate just by asking around, especially asking how long the new MDR has been working. They definitely hadn’t been working the full five months but nonetheless, it’d take a lot of time to get an almost full crew fully trained and situated. If anything, it could be longer than five months. Also highly doubt it was Graner in the hall. Reghabi smashed his head in and disposed his body. Don’t know how Lumon could’ve taken him back and revived him at that point.
He knows Miss Casey was fired and only works when she is needed for a session. So running blind towards wellness makes no sense.
@@BenjiNR He doesn’t know anywhere else she could be.
@@sagaevan9641 MDR team
@@BenjiNR If he didn't know where she is, the first place to start (in the absence of any other info) is where she 'normally' has been, which is Wellness. I think that's probably true for both an instinctual and a rational response.
The way the enter / exit doors are completely covered over when he does find them is so eerie to me, like a nightmare.
@TessAvelland_1 i understand he wants to find her, even though meeting up with the others would make more sense. But she was fired and he knows it, he saw her cleaning up the office and she is only in there when there is a session. He also knows that. So running around looking for her doesn't make sense. But maybe he did want to meet up with the others, but because it's another floor he got lost and ended up at wellness
As an Italian I confirm the character says "Perché sta in piedi in modo strano?" in plain Italian with no trace of accent, the actor is clearly mother tongue. And I would translate the sentence as"Why is he standing in this weird way?". Fascinating
I think we're gonna get some non linear story telling this season. I immediately rewatched the trailers after watching the clip and I think this might really be five months post overtime contingency, but I'm worried that this is Lumon's second attempt at bringing our MDR team back. When Mark and the gang are all talking about being famous, the trailer originally led us to believe the conversation between Mark and Milchick that we just saw in the clip happened just before those moments, but Milchick just told Mark (and us) that no one else came back. But it looks like the MDR gang all go back to work as usual from the trailer immediately after being outside during overtime, and we get new scenes of them refining data while that one guy talks about their work being important. And we know we're gonna see some immediate post s1 stuff given Helena in her gala dress and Burt at his house. So my current theory is that the MDR gang we know and love kept rebelling and Lumon couldn't find a way to control them even with new perks like field trips and other stuff, with Mark looking for Ms. Casey and the gang trying to figure out what actually goes on at the company. So Lumon resorted to using one of the other severance procedures/modes we saw when they discovered the overtime contingency (the only one I can remember right now is goldfish) to erase some of their memories so that they could start again and try to control them differently. So Mark gets to stay in MDR with the new group, Dylan goes with that one guy we see him talking to in the trailer, and maybe Irving gets retired? No clue what could happen to Helly. So the clip we saw is chronologically one of the later things in the timeline and the rest of the season is what happens before the beginning clips of s2, so everything is out of order to keep some level of mystery and so we feel dread watching the season knowing tragedy is gonna strike. It's either this or it really did take months to convince Mark to come back to work and now he's somehow going to find a way to find everyone again.
This was my immediate thought. Non linear storyline.
Yeah, that's what I think too -- like, Episode 1 is genuinely five months later, but then we do the "flashback" thing and later episodes fill in the gap. I also believe that Mark getting reintegrated is going to play a pivotal part, because I SWEAR him coming out of that elevator looks like something extra weird is happening with his brain there...
These 8 mins were the Xmas miracle I didn’t expect 🎄 yet secretly yearned for 🎉🍾🎊👏
Merry Crimbus!!
Millcheck's painting is just the "tip of the iceberg"
This is the best Video ever I have gotten for Severance.
Instantly Subscribed, Looking forward for more during the Season 2
Thank you Muhammad!
I would say that ice burg is a way of saying there is so much more going on below the severance floor… this story is so much that what we are seeing this far
A little bit more information is provided about the head cube in season 1 when using subtitles. Dylan says something about Mark’s “freshman luck” when he first arrived and him being about to sort the numbers very quickly in one day.
"we must be cut to heal" Is a quote that Ms. Cobel had hanging in her house, if I remember correctly.
I’d say the picture milichicks room is a iceberg not a glacier, perhaps hinting at the fact that there’s much more to be know about milichiks and the other unsevered workers. Or maybe a metaphor for Lumon in general. Perhaps this eludes that we will see the lower floors where ms. Casey is kept.
The “I loked you in a room like an animal Mark” line has such a vibe of Johnson from Peep Show for the UK public is unbelievable
Sooooo happy this show is back. There is a lot of bad TV out there and we're living in the age of quantity over quality but there is always a few exceptions out there and this show is one of them
Agree, Severance is the best show on TV at this current moment.
The details you put in this video is fantastic. subbed immediately
6:00. Painting looks like an iceberg.
From sideways, it looks like a skull.
When Milchick says “We must be cut to heal” at 4:46, I noticed that Cobel has/had a banner which says that exact line in her house too. I believe Milchick may still be under the guidance/in contact with Cobel.
If the rebellion 5 months ago changed laws to ban severance, I think they are now in a new office in a new country where those bans dont exist yet
Buddy you have the best TV analysis on RUclips hands down. You need to watch Silo and provide your thoughts on it. You would love the show and I am sure fans would enjoy your feedback.
I always assumed the abbreviated last names were an extension of how Lumon infantalizes the severed workers because I grew up with a very popular birth name for my birth year and was definitely referred to as birth name R in public school to differentiate us all. I don't know if that was a particularity of my public school system, the American school system, or maybe my generation? But your broader theories are more fun!
Thank you and I think if there really isn’t nothing more behind the naming, it is absolutely meant to infantilize the worker!
So ironic watching this on LumonTV streaming service
Lmao love it
Hi there. I might see the show, but I just finished the season this weekend.
Are you familiar with EMDR?
I wonder if there’s a connection between this and MDR. I’ve been through six sessions of EMDR and I can tell you I came out the other side a completely different person.
Here is a description of what EMDR is:
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy technique used to treat trauma and other distressing experiences. It involves focusing on a traumatic memory while simultaneously performing eye movements, tapping, or other bilateral stimulation. The goal of EMDR is to help individuals process and reintegrate the traumatic memory, reducing its negative impact on their lives.
This is the first time I've ever heard of it. This is kind of wild tbh
Thank you for sharing, I'll keep this in mind.
Remember the beginning of season 1…They were deliberate in noting that Miss Cobel was in her New Office as she unpacked and Mark S. met with her.
Now Milcheck is unpacking in his new office after Mark S. has just finished scrambling around the halls. Is this maybe a subtle allusion to the fact that something was moved around last time after the situation with Gemma? Was she there before in a different position? Had they first expected Petey’s situation to be handled and for him to return?
Just speculation. I may be forgetting something key about season one that makes this all irrelevant. It’s been a while.
The statue to Milchik’s right (viewer’s left) is a duck/rabbit illusion
Quite possibly the best TV series ever??
Am I wrong?
Was waiting for someone to breakdown this 8 minutes. So many questions:
How come five months has passed?
Did Mark return to find Gemma?
What is the purple room?
Why couldn’t mark find MDR?
Why is Mark the only one to return?
They probably put Mark on leave while they 'implemented the improvements"
I think that's why Mark returned, I'm expecting innie Mark will find a note in his pockets from outie Mark, leading to them communicating.
idk
I think he was looking for the reward room to find Gemma. I suppose hes only been there a couple times, and he would have never went there directly from the elevator before? i'm reaching there
Dylan's outie would quit. He was already annoyed when the overtime protocol was used voluntarily, he would nope TF out after the incident. Helly was doing it for PR, no reason to continue. Irving is a wild card, his outie seemed to be investigating, he might come back in another department. He might not want too seem to eager and cast suspicion, unlike Mark who is all in to find his wife asap.
I’d wager almost every single think Milchick said is a lie
3:14 weird, the [Speaks Italian] didn’t appear for me
That painting is an iceberg demonstrating that most of what happens is ‘beneath the surface” like 3/4 of an iceberg.
That is all IMO.
Tom Cruise called and said he wanted his hair back. 😅
I know he's shown the capacity to be INSANELY manipulative, but part of me really feels like Milchik is being serious when he says he feels guilty about locking them in MDR. Almost as if his twisted mind can't comprehend that literally locking them in a room is no worse than what Lumen already does, but he feels like the formal restraint was too far
Great video! Why is Mark important? The reason has to be that the Severance chip is able to create more than one innie and Mark has another innie that's more valued than Mark S. Maybe the Mark that has bruises on his knuckles.
Great concept, totally agree this could be possible.
It's funny how the use of red, blue and green is so interwoven in the world as to seem like the only colors. The purple room hit me like a jump scare!
two things
first - the statue behind Milchik's desk, on the left- what do we think it is? The one on the right is a rendition of keir's profile, but on the right it looks like an animal with a large beak. For some reason i immediately thought of a stork- like the one we say in fables brings babies. Knowing that milchek has said "I love seeing you all come in like this" is this an indication of his management style as truly infanatalizing of the innies?
second- the painting! In an interview for season one (I will try to find the article, it's three years old) they talked about how a lot of set design was done in sets of three with two being normal and one being off. Like the lights in mark's townhouse, two working and one not. In Cobel's office there were three paintings, two calm, and one tumultous as you see an impending storm on coming on a sea. I think those three parts symbolized the full concept of severance, and Milchik's painting manages to give the same feeling in just one painting (reintigrated perhaps?) It shows a calm sea and rock, but it does look almost like a crushing battle is happening between the water and the rock as though the tumultous nature is still there, just locked
How hard was it not to share the news immediately with us when Ben texted you a personally that they were gonna drop the first 8 mins and wish you a merry Christmas
That’s on me man! I’ll be better 😭
@@haxDOGMA I didn't take the question as a criticism.
Haha thanks for the caring thought about me @Tao_Tology, I didn’t either. Was just adding to the joke 🥰
@@haxDOGMA
* gets notification *
What's my outie been doing now?
* checks comments *
@ haha! Love that
Maybe the “glacier” is an iceberg meant to signify more below the surface.
I think this series is about surpressing bad memories and feeling that are the cause of sadness, despair and depression. I think al severed people are tramutazied and went through something horrible. Lumon offers this possibilty so that people can work without having to deal with sadness or depression, which could impact their performance. The current severed people are a trial case. I think the numbers are serve to trigger certain emotions from people (kind of like a hypnosos), as well as the paintings and other objects. I think Lumon is working on triggering positive emotions on the severed people with numbers, paintings, objects and even keywords (Ms Cobel's monologues are very off sometimes). I think the severed people are being directly represented and faced with their trauma (Ms Casey, Burt etc) so they can check how well the surpression works. That is why Ms Casey is there, or Burt, or whoever..
The painting looks like an iceberg in water. That could imply a lot of things symbolically, but I would guess it's that there is so much more they are not seeing below the surface.
I wonder if the company has matching offices all over the world, and they can offer the outies a vacation in Italy in order to split up the original group.
like a time share! And that term works on so many levels! (no pun intended lol)
love your videos. going to watch severance just so i can watch your videos after haha
would you make any about arcane? haven't stopped thinking about it since the finale
I love Arcane so much. I'm still not over Isha...
I think that the image of Helly getting her head dunked underwater is some of the other team(s) personally I think it is Gwendolyn Christie finding out that she’s an Eagan. then rings the “dinner bell” per say
6:20 titanic hit an iceberg? idk
Iceberg can represent what is unseen under the surface
painting means this is just the tip of the iceberg
Great video analysis! Love Dario, I can confirm that the translation is accurate, and I'm very curious to see more of him and if they're going to keep him talking in a different language from everyone else.
Hey @HaxDogma, I'm sure you've heard it before, but you have a really pleasant voice! It makes your videos even more enjoyable.
Thank you so much Tess! ☺️
Looks like a 1959 Cadillac in the Newspaper Milchick shows Mark.
Mark’s first words are “who are you people,” reflecting the first lines of season one, “who are you”. Must be some significance
What an observation! Love this
Could the glacier be an iceberg meaning Milcheck has a bunch going on below the surface?
Seems like Cobel was publicly scapegoated for any abuse of MDR that Helly might have been referring to during the “mutiny.” It’s an EXTREMELY lucky break for Lumon that not only was she MDR’s direct supervisor, but Lumon had already fired her before Helly’s revelation. Very easy to say “Yes, we discovered this and fired her, but Helly R. wasn’t aware of that yet since it happened after Helena Eagan left at 5pm”
Cobel has a picture up in her house that says you must be cut to heal also. I think the goats are really kids so wondering if they are raising children to go through the process
Does she? That’s a good catch!
It's a framed embroidered sample on her wall in or near the kitchen
THEORY: Milchick is Dead
Warning: spoilers
Hi everyone! I thought it was time to share the theory I’ve been mulling over for a while now.
In Season 1, we discovered that Ms. Casey is actually Gemma in the outie world. She’s still alive, yet somehow being held captive as an innie by Lumon Industries. Was she kidnapped, and was her death faked? Or did she truly die, only to be reanimated by Lumon, who now keeps her imprisoned as an innie?
I believe Lumon Industries isn’t capable of bringing people back to life in the traditional sense, but they can reanimate bodies. My theory is that the tiny robot implanted in the brains of severed workers has the ability to take full control of the body when activated-like when workers enter the elevator to start their shift. This would mean that the real person (the outie) is effectively deactivated and, for all intents and purposes, dead during the workday. The robot, which assumes control of the body (the innie), operates with similar personality traits to the outie because they share the same brain. However, the robot starts with a blank slate, resetting the brain to Day 1 and forming its own memories from that point forward. I believe the robot doesn’t have access to the outie’s memories, as those belong to the outie’s consciousness, which is essentially dead when the robot is active.
In other words, you are technically “dead” while working and come back to life when the workday is over. Your personality isn’t split in two; instead, there are two separate “hosts” sharing the same body. They take turns using the body and have their own individual profiles on the same “console,” similar to a gaming system.
This brings me to Gemma. I believe she did die in a car accident, but Lumon Industries stole her body and reanimated it. Her consciousness (Gemma) is gone because she’s truly dead, leaving her reanimated body with only one host: her innie (the robot) that now inhabits her corpse.
I think something similar happened with Milchick. My theory is that the original Milchick (if that’s even his real name) died years ago, and the innie Milchick is a parasitic robot reusing his corpse. This version of Milchick likely has a long history with Lumon Industries, earning their trust and becoming heavily indoctrinated. At some point, he likely accepted that he’s a “child of Lumon” (essentially a robot operating someone else’s brain). His loyalty to Lumon is unwavering because his survival depends on them. If Lumon were to collapse, the robot would likely be deactivated, effectively ending his existence. Lumon also holds immense control over him, as they can shut him down at any time.
This theory ties everything together. It explains:
• Why Milchick was promoted to lead the severed floor after Ms. Cobel was fired (he’s utterly loyal to Lumon Industries).
• Why Ms. Cobel once placed Ms. Casey and innie Mark together with the candle that reminds outie Mark of Gemma (she’s conducting experiments to see if the real Mark and Gemma’s consciousnesses are still buried somewhere in their brains while the robots are active. She’s hoping to one day bring back her beloved family member Charlotte-not just her body, but her full self).
• Why there’s a secret, ominous elevator that appears to lead somewhere sinister-and why Ms. Casey was sent there. I believe the elevator goes to an underground dumping ground for bodies that Lumon no longer needs. These bodies are decommissioned and stored there, never to be discovered.
Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts! :)
Look into Frued's "Iceberg" theory. I believe its in reference to that.
"we must be cut to heal".. that isn't projection in my opinion.. That is one Kier's creeds or sayings.. I remember seeing it on the Kier shrine mrs kobel had in her house...
WE MUST BE CUT TO HEAL was shown in s1 as an embroidered 'sampler' framed and hung on the wall of Harmony's apartment, in the scene where she is eating burnt cookies.
Thank you that’s a great catch 👏
Good catch you’re so right!!
Outie Mark wanted to return in order to see his wife again and save her, more than anything else
5:31
That's not 'Mr Drummond'.
That's Iceland.
IYKYK 😏
Great Brewkdown
We Out Here🤘
Ayeelord!!
@ yups… dats ME!
The thought of that dude in the background being a undead Mr Grainer is creepy asf omg. I first glance I thought it was Milchick but the hands do seem to be a lighter skin color.
Iceberg theories... were just on the surface level is what it probably implies
Not a dolphin. The sculpture looks like a duck-rabbit. Gavagai!
I thought Mark got that crystal head statue because he refined the numbers in a day which is usually done in a week?
Don't forget the Lexington Letters when it comes to the clearly fake newspaper. Milcheck has deep connections at the newspaper.
Poster is a tip of an iceberg.
FYI: that was the “Wellness” lobby, not “room”.
That purple conference room is the same one in season 1.
I thought the outie Mark was returning because he wanted to get to where his wife was. This was reinforced by his rushing to the Wellness Room. Help me out here.
There’s so many great things about this show, but damn Tramell Tillman is a standout. I’m upset I haven’t seen him in other stuff
Idk i think he's running to the wellness room because he remembers his dead wife because ricken showed him the pic at the party when he was still his innie.
What if outie mark is being held captive this season?
Oh snap, that would be wild.
Immediately thought that would be the smart, diabolical thing for Lumen to do. But he’s outside in the season trailers.
6:05 this one got me
I believe
What I am
is Who I am
Oh goodie, it's Ira Stone!
What does milcheck mean he had mark locked in a room ? Lol
Season 2 is standing weird.
Yes let’s judge the first 8 minutes just because it’s not exactly how we envisioned the beginning of season 2 to be! It’s the writers job to create something original not leave it up to fan theories
@ calm down
@@mdr6775calm down, no need to get mad at the show.
'We could all look away...' (Helly)
Jkjk, we can't look away. The new season can't start soon enough!
Show sucks and explained nothing for a second time and y'all waited years for nothing to happen and a whole new plot
Good stuff :D
I don't think they're lying about the 5 months thing. There are a lot of things in season 1 that seemed like they were lies (Helly resignation denied, board on the call, etc.) that turned out to be true.
The newspaper is obviously fake, because how would the newspaper know Dylan was involved at all? His outtie wouldn't even know that.
wdym nobody knows grainer is dead ?
I also thought it was, wait for it, a no-brainer 🥴
He said, "murdered". Of course everyone knows he is dead, as Natalie told Cobel and asked her if she had yet spoken to the police.
@@The_Rickest_Rick well his head was smashed in, did they not find his body ? then he’s just be missing.
he’d
@@The_Rickest_Rick Natalie said 'Doug Graner is dead' but Harmony responded 'Whoever killed Mr Graner is probably the same person who reintegrated Peter Kilmer.' It was mid-morning (or so) of the next day, and I've always wanted to know who knew Graner was dead that quickly and how.
Mark came back for his wife. Simple.
Idk where you are getting this "Enlightenment for the Innies" thing from (unless I misunderstood, you seem to be saying that the process of MDR might be good for them?). Lumen only sees the Innies as resources. They aren't even thought of as people. The naming is to further deny them their humanity and to infantilize them. Kier's words are, imho, best understood as a kind of pastiche of 19thC, old-fashioned Capitalist ideology, somewhat Old Testament Biblical in style and content but, ultimately empty and self-serving.
Ricken's "New Testament" book ("The You You Are") is the counter to this, a "manifesto for the working class" (Dan Erickson's words, not mine) that inspires the Innies in their solidarity and rebellion against this cruelly exploitative system of control, domination, and extraction.
Cobel is going to be so *pissed* , I get the feeling that anyone who crosses her lives to regret it - if they live that long.
"We must be cut to heal" sounds like some of Kier Eagan's self-help pseudo-wisdom BS. It's the sort of thing Jordan Peterson would say.
Mark S. and Mark W. Mark(er) South and Mark(er) West?
Mark is Keirs reincarnation innit, maybe the others are Egan’s 🤔
Any other way I can watch this without apple tv??
Sorry friend. Support the network making this art available to us ❤️🔥
You can buy streaming Season 1 episodes on Amazon. Also S1 is available on Blu-ray and DVD.
Luv ya, H.
The girl could be Mark's daughter
Well, I need more Mark x Helly XD
What do you mean it's Granger? He's dead.
Oh. I get it. You just have lots of uninformed batshit theories.
So is Gemma/Ms.Casey :3
Is anyone else very disappointed that it’s an all-new cast so far? I need to see the original team! What happened with Burt? What happened at the gala? WE’VE WAITED TWO YEARS, DON’T MAKE US WAIT ANY MORE!
it’s bad story telling if they jumped right to the case because they would’ve blown through their whole wad that makes this season intriguing. They’ll show the whole story but it’ll be backwards
Relax, watch the trailer. The normal cast will be back
Well, since the trailer clearly showed the entire original cast returning, no I'm not disappointed. Not being in the first eight minutes doesn't mean they won't be in the show. 🙄
Dawg the cast was literally in the trailer and on the show for season 2. A quick google search would show you. A quick use of your brain would also show you that this is just to throw you off.
@@Jason-eu5zxhey now, no need for the insults. Remember I’m human just like you. I am a diehard fan and I know they’ll be back. I’m just impatient to see what happened after the override! Especially with Irving.
Mark wants to return to find his wife! Obvious - you are so wrong.