The Reel Rejects - SEVERANCE SEASON 2 Episode 7, 8, 9, & 10 REVIEW!!!

Episode Date: September 15, 2025

With The Emmys 2025 taking place it's time for CHIKHAI BARDO & THE HARROWING TESTING FLOOR ESCAPE!! Severance Full Episode Reaction Watch Along:   / thereelrejects   LIQUID IV: Visit http://www.liquidiv.com & use Promo Code: REJECTS SEVERANCE Season 2, Episodes 4, 5, & 6 REACTION:    • SEVERANCE SEASON 2 Episode 4, 5, & 6 REACT...   SEVERANCE Season 2, Episodes 1, 2, & 3 REACTION:    • SEVERANCE SEASON 2 Episode 1, 2, & 3 REACT...   Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ With the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards TONIGHT, Greg 'n John RETURN to give their Severance Reaction, Recap, Commentary, Analysis, & Spoiler Review! Greg Alba & John Humphrey dive into Severance Season 2, Episodes 7–10, the gripping Apple TV+ psychological thriller created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller (Escape at Dannemora, Tropic Thunder). Continuing the mind-bending story of Lumon Industries, these episodes push the “innie” and “outie” lives of the severed employees to their breaking points, blurring the lines between loyalty, rebellion, and self-discovery. Adam Scott (Parks and Recreation, Step Brothers) stars as Mark Scout, who faces deeper revelations about his late wife and the true nature of Lumon’s sinister experiments. Britt Lower (Man Seeking Woman, Casual) delivers a standout performance as Helly R., whose rebellion against her family’s legacy comes to a head. John Turturro (The Batman, O Brother, Where Art Thou?) as Irving and Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter, Catch Me If You Can) as Burt bring tenderness and heartbreak as their relationship collides with the reality of Lumon’s control. Zach Cherry (Crashing, You) adds both humor and pathos as Dylan, whose sacrifices prove critical to the unfolding conspiracy. Patricia Clarkson (Sharp Objects, The Green Mile) leads the sinister side of Lumon’s upper echelon, intensifying the battle between the corporation and its employees. Across Episodes 7–10, audiences witness some of the series’ most shocking and iconic moments: the escalating rebellion against Lumon, Helly’s dangerous public confrontation, Mark’s devastating family revelations, Irving’s search for answers outside Lumon, and Dylan’s tense standoff in the control room. These episodes cement Severance as one of Apple TV+’s most daring and conversation-driving shows, exploring themes of identity, free will, and the cost of corporate obedience. Intense Suspense by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/reelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Music Used In Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Happy Alley by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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all right john ready for this uh epic journey to commence it's like a snider cut i know give me all the hours let's go what are they gonna do uh they like they there's barely anything they can do there i don't i i do not know but i think it's a very compelling dramatic conundrum they have no reason to keep Mark alive yeah I know it's set up that Helena is like conflicted but I don't know

I just there's a value I just finds it kind of selfish honestly it just happened I mean I don't know what the hope is to try to keep the inies alive yeah of course I mean that's

that's the thing is I mean it's weird But I feel for both marks, because, you know, Mark S is a life and is being subject to all the things that come with a life. And if Mark goes outside, I do believe he just would never bring any Mark back, you know. And any Mark wants to live. But how would, I just don't understand, like, they made it abundantly clear they have no use for any Mark anymore. Well, it's not logical, obviously, because like, yeah. Yeah, what are they going to do?

But I think that's the interesting part is like, what are they going to do? You know, and the only way they know they can continue being alive is by being in the one place they know activates this frame of their mind. Because if they go outside, hey, Mark come back to Lumen and if he, I don't know if he's going to go find that birthing cabin again. I felt like they accepted their fate. yes but when you're faced with the moment of truth you know I suppose

you can resolve a lot of things until the moment actually comes it's not logical but I think it makes it to me it makes sense but it is not like a yeah like the logic is absolutely a thousand percent stacked against them but from an emotional standpoint

I get I get it they're just going to have to live there then on the severed floor it's one floor they're confined to maybe i mean yes for for right now i i you know and and any possible idea you come up with is bargaining at best but like i i think the idea is like we stick to the only place we know we can stay alive and then we'll figure it out from there you know and i don't know how they go figure it out from there because obviously the red lights are on milchick is out here you know minus whatever overpowering happens with the marching band but i do think it's compelled like it's one of those conclusions

where i'm like i don't know what you're going to do and this seems like a hopeless scenario but that excites me dramatically because i'm like well i'm going to have to get real creative next season that's true I wonder how other people feel. I'm very curious. I am very curious. No, like I can, I can absolutely see this being a divisive set of circumstances. Well.

But if the show's not going to be over, I get it. All right, guys. Well, we got some questions from our Royal Rejects, but before we do any of that, got a thing prepper. This is a big video to edit, and I'll imagine not easy. So thank you guys for everything you've been providing with us this entire time. please leave a like on this video subscribe click that bell I think there's other things I'm supposed to mention

I can't think of any of it if you're listening in podcast form leave a rating if you can that is true prepper all right all right look before we go to all our questions I got quite a few that are going to open up some doors I will say When I take a breath Of course I understand Why any market did it And I'm not just saying that

I think there's like there can be three Elements to it You know There's obviously the audience response Of understanding something Of like the frustration And the heartbreak two Of Gemma finally getting out

And then she's seeing her fucking husband running off with some other woman you know like that's that's so sad and uh in the debate you know I think that's kind of the point though is it I think they want you to have that debate I think they want you as an audience member to be here um kind of contemplating it and also testing your empathy experience at the same time because of like if I'm here not understanding why they did what they did they why mark any mark did what he did then i'm contributing to that part of the conversation of the world of of when helena's like they're not people you know so i totally understand all right but the whole point is this is a raw emotional reaction and i'm so used to

dealing with negative comments that a part of it popped off in my brain which kind of helps because it causes me to step back and go, whoa, well, let me take a little breather here. I could totally see multiple perspectives on the matter. I'm not here to try to win some argument here or debate with John about anything. I get it. I get it. I'm personally just like, oh, that really is annoying. And yes, if there's no any, there's also no season three.

You know, they need a season three. And it's a justified season three. maybe it'll be some Squid game season three where they're all just fighting the inside you know all out brawl

totally anarchy I'm not sure I'd be excited I'd be very surprised if there aren't people who felt the way I did and I'm sure there would be very surprised

that there aren't people who be frustrated with people like me who felt the way I did and this is a feeling I'll get over in like a couple hours I think it's supposed to be

all the things that's what I was just saying yes yeah thank you I appreciate the validation you too many big words simplify it well it's open up the conversation right like you even see that milchick is

someone who's constantly trying to prove himself to to Lumen and get the approval as well but then he finds himself being undercut at every turn so you never really know which side he's going to go down and the inies have evolved into full blown lives

and personalities and they are disregarded and even their outies are starting to view their inies as people you know and they do in the world of severance they do they're starting to understand the complexity and the depth with which the ines

can exist now yeah like they I think that's one thing they've really made crystal clear especially in these last four episodes You know, Dylan sees as any as another person and as a reflection of himself. Mark sees him as a completely separate person. I think Helena sees an alternate life of the kind of person she could be. And, you know, with the Christopher Walking, Kimbert character, they established and in the religious world, they still view them as separate souls.

But they're souls indeed. you know so to uh they wouldn't just eliminate them right like it does complicate um it complicates a lot of stuff and it and it also does you know yeah i think so let's see if you're an outy and you spend so many years there it just kind of feels like years of your life are gone like for not you know they were just like what the fuck was i doing there this whole time just years in there and then at least if there's an any around there's an experience you know. Golly.

Sorry. I am pausing to let you. No, no, I know you are. I know you are. It's all washing over and I don't know quite where to begin. My head is so full of these four episodes. Yeah. I mean, like, it's, it's been a fascinating blossoming to watch.

And it's very, you know, dramatically thrilling to have a conclusion that leaves you in a place where you're like, yeah, I don't know what the path forward would be. And it seems like it's only going to spell more chaos, really, in every capacity outside, inside, all that stuff. But yeah, the argument over, I think the whole show has done a really nice job of opening up this debate that is based on like a familiar sci-fi concept. Like, yeah, what if I could create another version of me to do all my work? but I think they take it to just such interesting lengths here

and I really like the case that they've made for the fact that like you know each one of these people is a multitude and it makes me wonder what Gemma's what the whole array of her brain is now that she's lived like 25 odd lives and you know

I have so many questions but yeah just mostly I'm left with just the, you know, inspiration of watching so much good work from every apartment consistently across the show up till this point. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, my favorite scenes, one of my favorite scenes

is definitely the finale with the Mark versus Mark. Mm. Yeah, it was great back and forth. The way that started off is like, oh, my God, inspirational. They're finally going to work together to, oh, shit, no, this is escalating. And I even like the way how, Audi Mark is responding to it of like, wait, what's happening right now? Like, why are we fighting? Why are we fighting?

Yeah. We're on the same page here, or we should be. I thought we were. And if anyone should understand, it should be you who understands me. And it's both a question of understanding. And there's so much distrust that's been built over the course of this time. The horrifying, like out of four episodes, it's really easy to just only reflect on the final episode. When really there's so much things that they've addressed.

right like you had i mean we had the whole cobell episode yeah we had uh fuck my mind's a a mishmash now i can't even remember where we started where we started i don't even remember where we began uh what the hell uh what the hell was chica oh the romance story of them of how they came to of how jemma and them and what was going on with them yeah yeah yeah golly and then the penultimate god yeah god yeah It's like the crazy montage episode and then, yeah, the Cobell episode and then, golly, what did we have? The hell was the second last episode? That's like a part.

Why is it the hardest one to remember right now? It's the meeting up with Cobell and. Yeah, me of a Cobell. And then, yeah, that was the, yeah, that's the weird. It's the one of them and the hardest I'm recalling what happened. And like, I remember like plot points. But I guess that's the thing is like the first, the first two we. experience that is four-episode chunk were like clear episodes of of a story they told

whereas like niche focus yeah this but the the after-hours episode was kind of a prelude for what will become the final episode yeah it's like the setting of the the chess board for the final yeah but it still leaves so many and i didn't expect to have most of our questions answered i was honestly surprised they gave us as much about cold harbors they did yeah i thought this would be one of those shows that like until they were like oh we're going to end soon we got a And that will suddenly spout all the information, you know. And then I thought, because so much of the game of this show is figuring it out as it goes along. And it's fun how like the first season ended with the inies on the outside, you know.

And now this is like outsides working on the innings in their terrain. You know, there's a lot of cool things that go from Gemma's alive to Gemma then getting out. But now Mark's in there. There's a lot of really surprising choices and develop. that the show does go down of Audi versus any so yeah I mean the debate has been some of the coolest writing I've ever seen on television I think this is I get why this show so beloved yeah like it is a really great show and and the more the deeper it goes I love like the character study reflections you know even write down to Dylan uh seeing that that person that you are at work that's that's a version I wish I could be but I'm not And I'm happy you exist. And it would be nice if you did. But the way any Dylan continues to rebel is a showcase of he's still a prisoner here and he feels it.

Yeah. You know. Yeah. And it's like you have these like fascinating moments. Like, you know, that whole thing where he's reading the letter from himself. And at first you're like, oh, God, this isn't going to go well. And then you watch it kind of, again, as the show tends to do, blossom into something. that's like kind of touching kind of strange kind of fascinating obviously and yeah to have him

both like you know obviously chide him for what's been going on with Gretchen but also to kind of empower him or at least to embrace the sort of like you're the guy I wish I could be and I think you like you can leave if you want but I hope you stay I think you should stay you know like it seems like somewhere deep down he realizes that you know he's keeping any dylan must be stoking the fire of these qualities in his brain somewhere and i like how they keep driving home that the innies are who the outies are probably are without all the uh nurturing that's happened to them over the years you know like this is who they are without traumatic experiences that often make people withdraw or feel like if you look at helena

she's someone who has grown up in this world so she's her Audi's just as much of a prisoner as or any is, you know, despite the, you know, the veneer that she is free. And that side of Dylan, of course, has been beaten down in life. And it's like, actually, it's really Irving, the one who are so much we don't know about still. You know, he just went on a train. But it's like there's a military background. He was working on some operation with someone to try to expose this.

They have that thread. Right down to Mark, you know, like, he's. him growing that backbone, but they're both, the mirroring of how they're both motivated by love, you know, it's pretty cool stuff. Even fucking surgeon lady, it's like she just pops in for like, she's in one episode last season. She's in like three episodes of the season. It's just like, fucks off again.

Mm-hmm. It's just like wild stuff that they do. And with Harmony, you know, you get why she, she is so much about the ideology and, like, Lumen is all about. ideology, but the front has now become corporation. And it seems like they want the world to be severed, because if the world is severed,

then they have full control over everyone. Yeah. And if the world, so it opens up a weird question. If the world is severed, the inis can forever exist, but they're under control at the end of the day. Because they're living in a world where Lumen

rules. Yeah. It dictates so much of their existence. Yeah. So if any gets to live beyond severed floors or severed cabins and shit like that. Because they said they're like in a bunch of countries. At the end of the day, it's like, well, but the devil's winning in order for them to live. Does that really matter? That's like our real life world.

At the end of the day, us as outies, John and Greg and everyone else that watches this standard of the whole world, we are ruled by the evils of capitalism. There are powers that be. no matter where you are. And oftentimes those powers are operating in ways that are innocuous, but also in many ways that are shadowy and perhaps malevolent as well. And then, you know, Dylan and the marching band standing up to Milchick, it's like, it doesn't really, when you think about it,

it doesn't really matter if you stand up to Milchick. Milchick is replaceable. Yeah. You know, Milchick is just a position they filled. Well, he's fascinating to watch too because there's so much happening under the surface and so much of that is so contained by and within him. It makes it like I'm so fascinated to know what this guy actually thinks and you can feel the pain and you can feel the sort of sense within him

somewhere deep down that things about this, even if not the whole thing, but things about this are wrong. And I wonder if ever and perhaps when he will, I don't know, pivot in any direction. It seems to me that the more involved he is, the more he realizes he's like the severed. Yeah. That he, at the end of the day, is a man they wish to control. That's what they keep trying to do.

They're really, they're trying to control the way he speaks. That's right. And so the more. Oh, that whole threat is wild. And even the animatronic giving it back to him, quipping at him being like, you, all these big words, man. you know was that drummond who was voicing him i am not sure i i didn't think it was but uh yeah it seemed like certainly somebody either programmed it to say that and and and they had enough of a script or somebody was just you know you know talking on the mic through the animatronic or

whatever but yeah you know and despite uh what is certainly perhaps a device of ending maybe it's more positive i imagine it's more positively than um dividend but but I do consider this season overall stronger than the first. I thought the first was great, but I think this is like, I think this was a stronger season. Yeah. And more compelling.

And the way they leaned into its conversations was so well orchestrated and beautifully directed. And I like their, I like how they had a couple of episodes to lean into the cold and the dread, the deliberation, the deliberate pacing of it to reward you with like weird ass reveals. at the end, you know, I thought that was really fucking cool. They did a lot of awesome stuff and we still don't know what

the goats are. We still don't know, I mean, they're breeded for a first sacrifice, but why is the whole department have to be run with such a like old time, you know, fucking, um, what's the word you usually use for, to describe that environment that Gwendolyn Chrissy is a part of?

You have a good word. Oh. Words, I suppose. Uh, well, I mean, they're the, what, the a malian department or whatever. I mean, it's very, I don't know. I'm trying to think back back.

It's very like bucolic and very like, yeah, rustic farm. Very traditional. It feels like something that's older. Like it should be some kind of Quaker thing, except it's inside of this, yeah, you know, sterile white cube, essentially.

But it feels, oh, it feels, yeah, like something out of, folk horror that's what you were saying yeah that was the word yeah yeah still a lot of questions um left tangling

what's becoming with devon's husband what's becoming a rickin if you're working for them god rickin that's right has his adaptation coming along he has the board does bullshit all right let's answer some questions

Mike Joyce in the house for me severance is consistently good but the cliffhangers are what elevate it. I don't feel like the show relies on that as much as people might be misled.

I think the finale's really rely on it. They're damn good finale. Do you find that the cliffhangers leave a stronger impression than the episode itself? That is part of the problem, I think, with a finale episode because they need to.

They need to have a bangor of a cliffhanger because you're theorizing throughout the whole show, right? And then you have to get to a point with the finale with the final moments it keeps the audience theater rising and guessing that makes them

you don't want to turn in three years later because of that level of like what the fuck why and and arguing over honestly having people argue over the choices

of any mark brilliant decision you know brilliant choice picking that apart for years to go from she's alive

to I'm not even going to leave with her brilliant choice yeah and and yeah so I think it's like does over i think it can overpower the conversation of great fucking storytelling in this like the the mike the mark arguments with himself is such a great scene that people probably

don't talk enough about because they're talking about the ending mark killing drummond in the elevator was such a good like that was a great ass what to me man even milchick like rising up in the bathroom and then and and and knowing this world so well the knowing that knowing that the severed marching band deals with the same bullshit that their department deals with. There's so many great scenes in the final episode

that perhaps do not get talked about enough. That's just my presumption knowing how a television world works, all because of an impactful cliffhanger, you know? Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't say that the, for this show,

there are a lot of shows for which the cliffhanger does a lot of heavy lifting on any old episode or the finale's. um but i think the show is consistently good and i think the cliffhangers never feel like they have just been inserted here to get you to watch the next episode and even yeah even in the finale you know like yeah the ending moments are momentous and and huge and and definitely you know put the hooks in you to come back and to see what happens next but there's so much in the final episode alone that is

memorable and notable and engrossing and strange and all the other things that yeah i i wouldn't say that the cliffhangers leave a stronger impression but you know any place you end an episode is going to be one of the freshest things that lingers in your mind so yeah it's a fair question though totally especially in the streaming era and a world driven by cliffhangers mm-hmm you need cliffhangers though you're like that's it's it's kind of crazy like you do i mean television is always needed it but now more than ever you need there's just so much to compete with you need a good cliffhanger to keep people

curious what happens next yeah or you just do it the Netflix method and don't really end the episode just feel like oh just when it was getting good end the episode that's kind of the difference with this is like I still feel like I got a complete episode

and I just want to see the rest unfold it doesn't feel like it was all done to get to a cliffhanger that's not to describe enough Netflix has some amazing television. John read the long one. Daniel Herrera. What are your thoughts on Gemma's involvement in all this?

They say she was kidnapped in the show, but is that true? Some theorized she went voluntarily, but didn't know she'd be imprisoned. That was my theory. Some say she did die, but the severance procedure saved her somehow. Curious about that. Others have thought maybe she's a clone, which would be crazy. A.F. I agree. That would be crazy. A.F. I've considered it, but I've not committed really at all to that theory. My crazy theory,

says Daniel, is that she had the severance procedure done to her without her knowledge well before her accident, and that is how they were able to fake it. She was probably told some bullshit about being in an accident, and the only way to save her was to do the procedure, but in reality, they used it to kidnap her. I think it's, uh, sorry, I think this is, I think this is, I, I think this because you can see the creepy doctor walk past Mark and Gemma while at their appointment during the flashback so it seems like they scout

their targets well beforehand. I just wanted to know what y'all think with much love and respect. Thank you for everything y'all do. Thank you, Daniel. That's a lot of observation. Very astute. Most of our Royal Rejects ask questions so they can get their theory. They're all

coy. They're only asking. I don't really care about the answer here. They just want to talk about their vision. Sure, sure, sure. I mean, I think it is of note that that we did spy that doctor and I think that cannot be insignificant. You know, it's crazy. That doctor, whose look I made fun of, I did not recognize, was my basketball coach when I was in junior high. What? Robbie Benson. Wow. He used to be, uh, he was like rising star in like the 80s. Okay. He's directed a lot of episodes of friends. hell yeah totally forgot probably doesn't remember me go rami you should track him down

i played at uh in north hollywood that what the hell was that walter reed like that school park area where we used to do flag football training where you power on flag football team i don't remember um really um i didn't like it uh yeah uh my theory i thought she voluntarily went um i don't i i would believe more the prospect that they did drive her a car off. I think they were working on her teeth because I think they did do the whole dead body thing with the teeth and swap the teeth out

and that's why they did the dentist work on her. That's what I think. So icky. I feel like that's one theory that would really line up. Yeah. And they probably did say, I would believe something more akin because there's a fascinating question

to how powerful the brain is. know, because as everything comes back to the brain most of the time, the nerves and stuff. And, you know, there's a lot of conversations about the strength of the brain. Like, some believe, like, I guess a really interesting question would be like, you know, what if she was, maybe what if she really was injured in the accident and the way to have saved her was she would have to be severed so that way her brain and body could. would heal and get motor functionings going and shit like that. Physiology, I think that's like the body horror part of it. And, but also, again, making an argument for how this could be a procedure that actually helps.

I mean, that's a theory I've considered a number of times was like, was this somehow a way of saving her and then you have to wonder beyond that okay so what at what point did they decide she is important and why enough to you know pull somebody out of a car wreck and you know yeah save their life or whatever um but i think they intentionally i did they did a kidnap her uh feels that way they want to put the dentist there if they or the doctor there if that that weren't trying to leave a clue that she was actually kidnapped yeah or that they had been plotting this for a minute. Because part of me had wondered if maybe this was in some way a response to everything with them trying to conceive and the miscarriage isn't like, you know, okay, maybe she's doing

what a lot of the people do, which is like somehow she signed up for this because she couldn't cope anymore. Well, if she's seeing an OBGYN or some doctor for her, for her pregnancy and stuff, my theory is that they were giving her pills or some shit to make sure the babies weren't being produced. That could also, yeah, definitely be. Because it seems like for their ultimate Cold Harbor experience that they would need a husband and wife. They would need this couple.

So that way he could really test the efficacy of the procedure. Yeah. Because then that efficacy of the procedure that makes you fucking wonder about like other shit. Well, while we're wondering about other shit. Mill, what do you believe Cold Harbor's intended goal was? In second, do you think we'll get a more

action-packed fast-pasted possibly violent season at the Indians have taken over the sever floor or them will clean it up somehow. If there's anything we learn from going from season one to season two is that they will not go into direction you expect at all. New Keanu Reeves video.

Yeah. We're overhauling all the severed floor now. You guys get even more and even less freedom. You can chain to your desk. When you think it's going to be like ultra rebellion, I imagine they're going to do some other shit. I wouldn't be surprised

that they did some like weird time. jump again or some weird we're restarting and the fucking severed people are showing up to work right now you know I'm like I don't think it's going to be that uh I think they anticipate what will people think yeah it'll be something disconcerting and unexpected I have to imagine yeah and something with a lot of really crazy ass camera angles to start us off but for the cold harbor intended goal it is confusing because like I thought that when uh Gemma was maybe the the cold harbor goal had to be twofold what it would be the um she would have to have completed whatever they were doing with the crib and then maybe her brain would have ultimately

morphed because i thought that when she would leave that room her she wouldn't be jemma anymore um i'm not sure what do you think golly you know i it certainly seems like the sort of last piece in a puzzle and it felt to me like there's still a lot of mystery but it felt kind of like this culminative act of I mean it's personified through this most you know vivid trauma that she's endured but it's also like the dismantling of both that and also because of the way they've been presenting this as like you know if you complete cold harbor jem is going to die like you know it's all going to be over you're going to be gone she's going to be gone so like the the fact that they had her in their dismantling handling the crib makes me wonder if this is like part of if part of the purpose of all of this is to a test the boundaries and limits and maximal you know potential of the severance but also like the ability to kind of like clean slate wipe somebody's mind or something like that it's like she's in there she's in this blank room all the other rooms at least have accoutrements and and feel like they're someplace real anyway and the final cold harbor room is just Just, yeah, is full-on artifice, just the crib and the stark white. And yeah, she's, again, unknowingly dismantling this thing that was so significant and they're playing.

They're constantly bringing sensory details for them, which often feels like a kind of means of, again, testing to see how strong the effect is. Will you recognize the song, the sense memory of music or the smell of a candle? But, yeah, I can't really say any, I don't really have an idea. I'm like, I bet it's 100% this, but I, yeah, I can see it being either something to do with creating a clean slate within the mind or as just some kind of final symbolic act before, yeah, tossing on the pile or whatever. Well, we see that it's not perfected. Irving being that example. Irving had the painting bleed over and his Audi kept painting.

at the inside so it's so it seems like they keep bringing people in because they keep trying and perfect this in some weird way yeah and it's like are we trying to yeah like really yeah like patch any possible crack and or whole that a mind could have to yeah undo or carry over some undo the effects of this evidence and carry over some of the other rest of the brains memories ideas, et cetera. Because, like, I don't know, it seems like he is, it's a very conscientious

and very natural feeling pitfall for the moment of this, obviously. Because, yeah, it's making me wonder, but then it makes me wonder what the others were doing? Mm-hmm.

You know, like, was Heli doing that to herself because clearly Daddy Egan didn't give a shit about her, like it was obvious. And, like, was Dylan doing that too. Who was Irving doing that too?

You know? Yeah. it was like if every if mark is working on the bleeding was happening when irving was the the painting fucking weird black sludge flow was happening when he was working on the numbers so was this like a thing to try to erase himself could be yeah and i'm fascinated because yeah it's like there's so many different offices and people watching each other do stuff and every job has a different team of people in a different room watching that job and doing their own job related to the like there's so much labyrinthine kind of of crossover that it does I don't know it just makes you wonder because yeah like it feels like the numbers are connected to whatever is going on on the research

floor but then again if you can somehow correspond to the computers to that I have to imagine you would be able to kind of do that to anything in the office so I guess yeah you could be erasing yourself or somebody else and that whole thing about the tempers being the different like

files there packing everything away and was a pretty clever just uh you know detail reveal yeah that was really cool the four parts of what makes up the human personality and brain uh it was i was smart to identify but it seems like the idea would be to have ultimate control that like can you convert someone to just be their severed self because if you can then you can control them yeah and can you access and kind of wall off and curate how you pull information from people's minds and how you cure you pull their personality yeah all that stuff take it away john all righty andrew nickerson i am excited that you both are now caught up with the rest of us and get to theorize what the heck is happening what do you want to explore in season three that you feel was

missing in these first two seasons milchick and his love That's mainly what I like give a shit about. I know because we explored so much in season two and, and first of all I would like to clarify. I don't feel like personally, I don't feel like anything was missing. I just feel like we just haven't gone in there yet. Yeah, exactly. I'm like we got so much. Season two to me has felt very much natural and like a natural progression out of season one,

but also like any follow up to a first installment, it feels more broad. it feels deeper and wider and all that stuff. It feels, you know, like they really expounded and answered a fair amount of mysteries. So I'm right there with you. I'm like, got a lot of questions about Milchick and there's so much just in the performance that draws you in that makes you want to know stuff. That would be the one thing, though, that I feel like they could really milk for a long time of not telling us.

Milk chick. I feel like, yeah, I'd be more down and be like, okay, what happened with Gemma in between the cacidin? stuff like how did she get here what exactly is cold harbor uh wong uh you know going to fucking lumen bus like what is the um school like and like that shit like i'm like yeah let's go there and the thing i would love for them to that that thread of what they're doing with milchick the mystery of him it would have to be an incredible payoff uh but he's this rare case where i'm not like frustrated at the show for not telling me like i'll give you an example of something that would

probably frustrate me of not learning Irving what he's really who's the investigating with who he's working with what that mission is because Irving you know when he got taken out he was like not really a presence for a lot of the last half yeah he was there but he wasn't really there you know yeah yeah it became more about like who's burnt and stuff so like all stuff I enjoyed when he was there but more of those questions of that side I'd be more curious and it's like you imagine season 3 is going to open up more departments and more floors and more whatever rooms

of experimentation and stuff like build out this world but yeah I think with Milchick I'm kind of I like just learning about him through the way he is evolving as manager and how he's

rebelling against his higher ups because this to be at Lumen it requires pure obedience and he is rebelling and so that's what I mean by he does like the people are failing to recognize that he's actually more like him than he's more like them than he probably wants to let on the severed yeah the severed's are not realizing that he's more like them than you know it's so i love what they're doing with him i i don't know if it's going to lead to allegiances or whatever the hell or or him taking over in some way of how it should be run because it seems like he he was trying to implement more new age ideas for these severed people that feel like entertainment based yeah you know right down to the freaking the the way that

It felt like we were at some weird basketball announcement. Like a pep rally. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so I love what they're doing. He's easily just so goddamn compelling. Well, I love the yo-yo with him because there are those brief glimpses of the humanity inside of him that you're always rooting to be further extracted. But then whenever he's got to like handle some shit or, you know, the right alignment of his motivations with. lumen then you feel like the ferocity of his towing of the company line like you know he is

beating down that friggin vending machine yeah you know going full on terminator and that is a moment in which it seems like he is fiercely fighting the you know cause for lumen i think he deserves an emmy i think him and uh adam scott for sure deserve amies yeah uh because i mean adam scott for like the way obvious reasons and him because he weirdly has a character that you can understand

and relate to even though you don't even know much about him. He's not respected by his higher ups. They keep trying to control him. I think we all know what it's like to have a higher up

and you feel like you don't get the appreciation and they're trying to morphine to something you're not. And then the people who are under him fucking keep repelling against him you know?

It's like shit. through and through for him. No matter how much he's trying to like empower in his own weird way. He's one of the most isolated characters on the show and it does, you know, make me sad when the shit

he tries to do for them doesn't pan out. Yeah, because it seems like it is coming from a strangely sincere place. Like when he's dancing and stuff like, yeah. He wants to be fun. All right, rejugation. We'll be coming off summer. I'm still going to be working out

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Ditch to glitch, tear, poor, live more. Go to Liquidiv.com and get 20% off your first order with code rejects at checkout. That's 20% off at Liquidiv.com with code rejects. Thanks for sponsoring this video. Landon Miller. So I looked up the And Lana Miller's been a patron for a long time. I looked up the title for episode

7, Chikai Bardo. And it refers to the Tibetan Bhuta's stage of dying. In the end, how do you think that frames Gemma's experiences on the testing floor and her relationship

with Mark? Whoa. That is a thinker where we have to come across deep and smart. the pressure to sound super intelligent. I'm just going to seek a bit of clarification. Has two meanings.

The transitional state of the moment of death characterized by the dissolution of the physical body and the potential encounter with the quote, clear light of reality. Oh, that does lend more credence to them. Maybe they did kill her and then they brought her back. Could be. That lends a lot more to that theory.

And it felt like, yeah, like the, the, even though it's not in that episode, like the, the idea that she would wind up in this very bright, light, white room and, you know, is literally dissolving the crib and is certainly suggested to be on the way to dissolving herself. Yeah. Yeah. I believe they would be able to bring back a person because, again, it's all in the brain. they have this capacity to like a lot of people look to the heart but the brain is the thing that can bring you back to life if we don't can't just like resurrect a brain but then if they would have the I there's anyone I believe would have the ability to do that to people who have mastered control of the brain so yeah I think it would be possible or it could just be about you know how it went from the the actual idea that everyone thought she did guide and then to the transitional stage in her life where she became the ultimate experiment. Yeah.

Could just be that. It's definitely a phrase that seems to compliment, yeah, the overall themes of... Because that episode's about when she... How it led to her death. Yeah, yeah. Like the lead up to her death. And then you see where she's at now.

You're also like cutting back and forth to where she's at now. Yeah. So yeah, there's a... That's a cool question, though. Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't even bother to... I didn't even ponder with that, man. Johnny?

Nope. All right, Jay rushed in. Here we go. Like, my theory. Like, Scoob. Like, Scoop. My theory is we're in an alternate time. Where the Civil War may be drawn there.

The law. A lot of people notice the P.N. I'm not going to process any of this way. All right. Like, my theory is we are in an alternate time. line where the civil war may be may have been drawn there a lot of people notice uh and state that p n may stand for property of nations the comment of 209 countries is another sign the fight and the accident killing was nuts yes twas yes mark running away very end really confused me

if you get online there's some really deep theories i believe that for the reddit threads on this show must be intense any theories or comments on the show. You guys deserve long sleep after this. Hold on. How many countries are there? Type that in. I was going to say.

I didn't even like put any thought into it. I'm like, there must be 209 countries. How many countries? No, no, no. How many countries are there in the world? Like our world. All right. 195.

Which includes, 193 member states of the United Nations and two non-member observations Oh shit Oh Interesting Oh damn I Wow I didn't

This is a rare case where like the questions are making us learn a lot Yeah I legit did not question that I just rolled with there must be 209 countries in the world Yeah Yeah That's a figure I feel like You know

I'm sure some people are walking around with that one in their back pockets but uh yeah that's one where you would easily just be like yeah sure yeah sounds plausible enough and it's and it's at least according to google if that figure is to be believed it's not that much higher so it's not like completely ridiculous or implausible i think it uh i think the clarity it gives is that we're in the future but more perhaps you know the state wherever I don't even know what we're at, but wherever we're staying in this state is, um, feels like small town and isolated and then they only go to other parts of the world that kind

of evoke that same vibe. They don't go to like a metropolis area. The most like populated event thing they did was the final episode of season one with hellie. So we don't really know where we're at in the in time. I would highly doubt we'd be in an alternate timeline. Um, if any, anything I feel like this show is a commentary on I'm going to go for it.

What if the alt-right side of the authoritarianism side of what we are always hearing about took over and what we might evolve into with this type of corporate where corporations take control of politics and then what would America then become in the way how we are. you know, I think y'all know where I'm fucking going. That's right. So I think they're like, that's what we're dealing. And it's constantly about make America great again, and go back to the old ways. You know, go back to what it was like before. So I can understand why many might theorize that it's an alt-civil war time. But I think that perhaps this is about another side. And I'm not saying it is.

I do believe it or not, I actually have some very close friends who are Republican. and that so I think it could be and like we share that same thought that's like yeah I know there's some there's some crazy liberals out there for sure that I don't fucking subscribe to the way they operate and think at all and likewise

it could be that way for the other side not everyone who's a Republican is like some crazy guy you know so yeah the so I think that's more of what they're doing here so but I got to imagine we're further into the future than we're led to believe it's more grounded yeah it's not flying sauce

a lot of saucers flying cars and shit it's that not too distant future vibe I'm trying to remember a lot more countries though I mean like like do 12 more countries 14 more countries is a lot more countries but civil wars could have taken place like have they talk about Texas wanting to like you know get away from um fucking yeah you know the United States of America then it becomes its own country so like it doesn't have to be like a big country it could be like just one state becomes country or some shit I was gonna say yeah or you know you could have all of America in a big old fragment or something like that I was just trying to I was trying to place where the the PN state signifier would have shown up and what the significance of your property of nations would like there's so much I want to go in and deep dive on but but yeah uh all right well shit there we go there we go Quinn Blackhurst now that we know about Kier's eternal war against pain knowing how the goal is to have the whole world severed so that is

the goal. I thought that I was just coming up with the theory. Is it made explicitly clear and I miss it? It seemed like the big picture goal is to mass market the chips publicly as a solution for discomfort and Lumen could activate, think permanent overtime contingency, the NEs that are completely subservient and obedient to cure Lumen. What do you think about the theory and do you have your own regarding the goals of Lumen? I mean, I shared almost these exact same goals with you. I mean, theories, perhaps I should have reserved that and then I would have contributed and did my elaboration more to that question you pose

and I feel like we've gone back and forth but fortunately you have another question here ah perfect severance another thing I wanted to mention is how in episode nine jame egan looks to have so much going on behind his eyes even moaning at times when hellie eats her egg there's a very common theory that jame is severed and actually has the consciousness of all the past

Egan's CEOs and that they are quote the board the one time is all for one yeah a little bit a little bit uh the one time as one in in season one that the board speaks this is him saying yes do you think this is what jame is alluding to when telling hellie in season one episode nine she'll join him at his revolving who's james james is jame egan is her dad oh yeah the I was fucking white hair right there The white hair guy. The white hair guy. Wow.

Holy shit. That's wild. If you can take a consciousness and transfer it. And that goes back to the question mark of like, well, what if Gemma did die and they put her consciousness into a very similar looking body?

Yeah. yeah yeah so like there are there elements of that that aren't a perfect uh theory but like the i like if egan has all the previous kear CEO guys within him you gotta be doing some transplanting right or some intense memory like i mean that seems to be an aspect of what they're doing with jemma because they're at least severing her into a bunch of different people and different, you know, places, but each of those things is based on nurture rather than them being implanted directly. So I don't know. I can see it, but I don't exactly know how it would work right now. I thought like Helly eating eggs with some weird commentary on control of birth and shit.

Like, that's what I thought. Also, well, in that scene, he tells her, like, I wish you'd eat them raw and like that whole thing. I was like, there's a whole lot to unpack here. is like super strange and like she cuts it into 60 like it's it's a really um it's another show I'm very excited to go back and look at because there's so many like it could be the I mean they're cutting it in though could be a division in the brain like you know there you go it's like I don't think about it so someone poses a question like that or like maybe you just that yeah yeah yeah all you need somebody is to trip the light in another angle and new theories abound damn that would be mind blowing I've like undoubt

When season three is around the corner Are gonna have to rewatch this show. It's not gonna fuck a recap. I'm gonna cut it like you got to like rewatch this this is one thing you got to like rewatch beforehand and and now with some of these theories in my brain I'm gonna be like do like maybe You watch it with fresh eyes and looking for different things like yeah yeah yeah seems like it would be very rewarding in a second viewing I haven't even put much thought and I just thought he was some like a weird guy or god complex Yeah yeah yeah weirdo who's just never been properly socialized to other humans and is just insulated in this vast ideology

I mean I mean that's feeling like you don't see the cure in you it's like yeah I mean the lineage everyone just seems like they all come out with like him and then the daughter who who's like modern personality weird K-sweet series cinematographer Jessica Lee Gain made her directorial debut this episode that's which one it definitely wasn't the which one did she direct

to be clear on that I know we put out a lot of questions so perhaps there was a confusion Jessica Lee got me okay

cinematographer for severance let's cool they let her direct an episode it was right there the director one just canceling the others and one episode

and it was oh sure and that's a very cinematography centric episode it's all different film the chikai the love story yeah this part may be just my opinion but this is one of the best

directed episodes in the whole show here here i agree um we could that was the one of the few like this show is so renowned for its direction and that was when we just kept talking about the way it was shot that's like a film students dream that episode is just yeah just let's get artsy with it how do you guys feel that cinematographer background lends to the creative direction we were able to take this episode and if there was a famous movie crew member from Hollywood that you guys would love to see direct something. My personal answer is Daniel

Pemberton from Spiderverse Score fame. I think his auditory language is so unique and fresh. I'd love to see him in charge of something fully. Ooh. Ooh. Cool. Yeah, we're seeing that more often. I feel like A, cinematographers are getting so much more respect.

I'm noticing, like, in podcasts and stuff, like Josh Brolin just did an interview where he was on his phone he wrote down every cinematographer he's ever worked with multiple times he's like shouting them out in detail and apparently like in this the new movie The Running Man

Edgar writes the that cinematographer is the one who did the original old boy film and Josh Berlin started the remake of the old book so there's like this whole conversation about it and they really broke down how the original old boy hallway five or so anyway my point is it like even got people

really speaking to this so I would like to see more cinematographers is actually direct. Like, I don't know if Roger Deacons has ever directed a movie or Greg Frazier, Bill Pope. A lot more names are becoming known. So I'd like to see them take on more.

But then you get a surprise, like a Michael Giacchino who has to vibe with the thing and that fucking does Werewolf by Night and kills it. You know, I think makeup effects artists too would be really cool to see do more stuff because makeup effects artists often have battles with the cinema. photographers and the journey to be shot to be captured so it looks better so I would love to see

more of that brought to life I don't have like someone super specific I think I had to opt for one I would just kind of go for the obvious one Roger Deacons but I'd be curious I genuinely don't know if he's actually directed anything well and it's tricky be like it it's trickier than it would seem because like you know Wally Fister director of photography cinematographer for a bunch of Nolan Flick and a bunch of other stuff when directed transcendence and now we don't really hear from Wally Fister anymore

which you never know sometimes it can be a studio problem sure that happens a lot sure 100% and I mean this is a I feel like a TV show A is a more amenable pipeline to stuff like that because of your show

granted it's a little different when you're contained like this is but in especially like a network scenario that is a place where you can cut your teeth as a director if you have been on a production for long enough you can float it out there like hey i'm interested in directing and they might find you an episode and slip you in there among their stable of directors or whatever

but they don't really let you the thing is yeah direct like yeah that scenario this here this show lets you fucking feel like yeah you got to really put your stamp on that and it also serves the general it's not it seemed like a very simpatico arrangement whereas yeah a lot of the time if you're you know on a network show and they let you direct chances are they always say the writers are more the director in that medium so you're not actually things got to turn around in a week and then I'm going to change everything for you um golly though sometimes a director like you know we you know Kevin Tancheroen and and Kevin saying on agents of shield one of the things he was surprised they let him do was a oneer sure

on that and that was like his idea and they let him get do it you know and it took a long time yeah so sometimes they let you get away with shit Most of the time, no, you got to, like, look like all the other episodes. You got to just kind of follow suit, you know. I wish I knew the names of more prolific editors, but I feel like that would be a pool. Because I feel like nowadays, there's a certain pipeline of like, okay, stunt guys and second unit guys jumping over to directing. That's a thing that's well worn. Effects artists jumping over to directing is the thing that at least happens periodically in, like, indie horror.

I would love to see some like, you know, really top-notch editor jump into the director's chair because, you know, that's a facet of direction already. It's weird. It's like I feel like being an editor would really lend itself to directing in a way that even being the cinematographer might not. Because cinematography is certainly one of the many aspects of how the mood and the piece is directed. obviously director of photography is in the title but like I feel like it's way easier in that case for the indulgence to happen

and again if you want to look at like a transcendence I'm like that could be a studio thing or that could be a case of just like you're more visually inclined than you are like a storyteller of dialogue and character or whatever I think one of the worst saw movies is directed by one of the editors directed by the production designer yeah david hackle designer i thought was the editor the editor the editor the long time series editor did saw six oh he did the good one oh yeah my bad all these years i mean oh man he directed the worst one yeah no date i mean poor okay that's a

great okay then that's actually uh more of a testimony he's one of the most I said, well, you should. Yeah, reliable. Oh, shit, man. Directors of Saw movies, yeah. I thought it was the editor who made the bad one. Oh, my God. I don't know.

Yeah, he made some of all the late sequels, the better ones. He made like the best ones. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I feel like there are a lot of editors. Like, you know, give, where's Thelma Schoonmaker? Is she still alive? Let her direct a movie. Well, yeah, I think those, I mean, even from our limited experience,

because I had to learn how to edit for this channel. when we were doing more sketches and shit I think the team got to actually see it when we did the group one for Gemma and like Roxie was there the whole time I was like no I see the edit in my head and we got to shoot for that you know I know what I'm gonna use

yeah yeah and how to use it I mean it always lends itself to like there was a moment here oh I like to wear that term we can use that and said but my point with that is like on a very small scale and every sketch we've done is generally we haven't done a sketch that was like you know negatively received that process is generally done with the edit in mind as we're doing it yeah and uh and and like the studio uh the editor was very involved during it you know they would sometimes be like no you have to get this shot because of the edit yeah and this

stuff like they give them the heads up so editors are more involved directors are often saying like the film really comes to life and it's the second part of the writing and the directing like they either called like the second part of the storytelling or the second part of the directing comes comes alive in the edit so i agree with you um that editors should do more because you know like cinematography like this this worked out really well because that episode i mean props to jessica le ganier like that episode is very sensory and visual and that's a place where i think as a director a cinematographer would thrive and it had to convey the fact that they did the romance stuff with the film grain and then to drive them the final image with the film grain to adopt the

love story. Like when we're in there, we're in love story for it. Yeah. It's a good visual thing that the average audience member would pick up on without being like, oh, thematic stuff, you know, like you can actually I think the average person would look out for that shit. Yeah. All right guys. Well, we talked for about

55 minutes, which is well deserved for four episodes of a very thought provoking, mind stimulating, heavily theorizing series. Leave down your craziest theories down below. And, And leave down what you thought about Mark's choice, any Mark's choice at the end.

We'd love to hear it. What are your theories for season three? All right, John. I will see you on the severed floor. I'll see you on the severed floor. Thanks, guys. Peace.