This article contains spoilers forSeveranceseason 2, episode 7, “Chikai Bardo.“Severancestar Dichen Lachman confirms one key detail from the Gemma-focused episode 7, mentioning another moment that you might not have caught. After showing up only for brief flashes throughout season 2, Lachman finally gets her time in the spotlight during season 2, episode 7,“Chikai Bardo”, which reveals how Gemma and Mark (Adam Scott) met. It also reveals that Gemma is very much alive, although in fairly dire conditions because of Lumon’s diabolical actions.
In a post-episode interview withVariety, Lachman shared some of her theories andconfirmed that the villainous Dr. Mauer (played by Robby Benson) is present in the fertility clinic with Gemma and Mark. But she alsopoints out another detail about a Christmas tree tinsel, which matches the one on Lumon’s testing floor, which is something that viewers might have missed. Still, theDollhousealum admits that theSeverancewriters haven’t confirmed her theory. Read the quote below:
They’ve definitely been watching them for a long time. My theory is that it has something to do with Lumon deciding to pick this couple and monitor them. You also see Dr. Mauer [Robby Benson] at the fertility clinic — he just walks by. The whole world is Lumon. Even [the restaurant] Pip’s is owned by Lumon.
My theory is that they picked something up with Gemma’s blood work when she went to the fertility clinic, and that’s got something to do with why they picked Mark and Gemma. I noticed that the Christmas tree tinsel in the Christmas room [on Lumon’s Testing Floor] is the same as Mark and Gemma’s Christmas tree in their living room. I mentioned that to the writers, and they didn’t confirm or deny anything.
What Severance Episode 7 Means For Gemma
Things Are Not What They Seem
“Chikai Bardo” is beautifully directed by cinematographer Jessica Lee Gagné, and partially serves as the exploration of the relationship between Mark and Gemma. It demonstrates that what began with a meet-cute, befitting a rom-com, gradually devolved into distance and separation whenGemma and Mark struggle to conceive. They go to a fertility clinic, run by Lumon, though that doesn’t seem to improve the situation.
Severanceseason 2, episode 7is written by Dan Erickson & Mark Friedman.
The episode also zeroes in on Gemma’s current situation. “Chikai Bardo” confirms that Gemma has been stuck on the testing floor, with Lumon essentially subjecting her to varying levels of unpleasant experiences over and over again.Gemma is severed again and again, more or less. A version of her goes into a room for repeated dental appointments, while another version experiences an exceptionally turbulent flight, and yet another version writes meaningless thank you notes.
What Lumon Has Really Been Doing To Gemma/Ms. Casey In Severance
Severance season 2, episode 7 revealed vital elements of Gemma/Ms. Casey’s backstory, including what Lumon has been doing to her the entire time.
The point of this could be that Lumon is attempting to rid people of any sort of unpleasant experience by severing them on demand. There’s also a room called Cold Harbor, harkening back to the season 2 premiere, with some speculating that the room might simulate the death of an innie. In any case, with Gemma’s escape foiled thanks to the fact that she turns into Ms. Casey after stepping into the elevator, there is still more to be revealed about the character.
The revelations in “Chikai Bardo” are onlythe beginning of unveiling what Gemma has gone through. The fact that Lumon has been keeping an eye on the couple for this long could also mean that the hit drama is only at the start of this particular story. It may mean that there is another layer of reality that the audience isn’t privy to or, at the very least, it suggests that the biggest reveals are still being held back.
Every Room That Gemma Visits In Severance Season 2, Episode 7
Christmas. Dentists. Flights.
Over the course of “Chikai Bardo”, cut together with scenes of Gemma and Mark, we see Gemma on the testing room floor. Nurse Cecily (Sandra Bernhard) directs her from room to room, with the nurse seeming at least somewhat sympathetic to Gemma’s plight.Gemma dresses differently, albeit ostentatiously, for each room. This is most notable during the turbulent flight simulation, with Gemma dressed as a rich traveller from a bygone era when airplane travel was pitched exclusively as a luxury.
Innie Mark could choose his severed life, and his happy relationship with Helly R. (Britt Lower) over any obligation to his outside self.
In a tense conversation with Dr. Mauer, Gemma mentions the names of several rooms: Allentown, Dranesville, Siena, Lucknow, Loveland, Wellington, St. Pierre, Zurich, and Cold Harbor. Gemma notes that she hasn’t been to that last room. But in an earlier scene from the same episode, Gemma is seemingly asked how she would most fear dying. This could be because Lumon is prepared to simulate that experience through another innie, even if it means killing off Gemma for good.
Cold Harbor is, of course, the project that innie Mark is working on. If the Apple TV+ thriller continues down its current path, itcould be the case that Mark’s innie will come to the realization that he is killing his outie’s wife. The tension of that reality increases with the possibility that innie Mark could choose his severed life, and his relationship with Helly R. (Britt Lower), over any obligation to his outside self.
Our Take On The Gemma Reveals
The Finale Can Only Go Bigger
For the Apple TV+ thriller to drop an episode that’s sneakily packed with revelations, while there are still three episodes left in the season, it has to mean that Erickson, Friedman, director Ben Stiller and the rest of the team have only begun to pull back the curtain on what’s happening withtheSeverancecharacters. Whatever assumptions are being made now may not hold.
Cast
Severance is a psychological thriller series featuring Adam Scott as Mark Scout, an employee at Lumon Industries who undergoes a “severance” procedure to separate his work and personal memories. However, as work and life personas mysteriously begin to collide, it quickly becomes clear that not all is as it seems. Created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle.
