The Apple TV+ show Severance has turned the tables on conventional storytelling, weaving a narrative so intricate and mysterious that it's become a fertile ground for all sorts of theories and speculation.
At the heart of this tale is Mark Scout, an average man working at the mysterious Lumon Industries. The cliffhanger finale of the first season left us teetering on the edge of our seats, hungry for answers yet deliciously tormented by the unknown. It's this combination of curiosity and confusion that has us all crafting theories that range from the plausible to the wildly imaginative. Each one is an attempt to peel back the layers of Lumon's secrets.
What is going on at Lumon, a place where employees undergo the severance procedure before starting the job, meaning they have no memory of what they do outside the office when they're at work and vice versa? Whether it's a grand societal experiment, a simulated reality, or a looming insurrection, we need to know. As we patiently await the second season, let's take a look at five theories about what could be going on, and what they could mean for the upcoming second season.
1. The real purpose of the severance procedure
Initially sold to us as the ultimate solution to work-life balance, the surgical split between one's professional and personal consciousness might just be the tip of the iceberg of what's going on at Lumon.
Imagine, if you will, a world where your employer doesn't just own your time from 9 to 5 but possesses the ability to control and manipulate your very essence. Severance could be less about productivity and more about creating an unquestioning, perfectly obedient workforce. This chilling perspective suggests that Lumon could be engineering a society where free will is as obsolete as last year's smartphone model, turning employees into docile pawns in a much larger, shadowy game of corporate chess.
But why stop there? Could the act of severing one's consciousness be a trial run for a more widespread societal application? The idea that Lumon is experimenting with its employees to refine a technique that could be applied on a global scale is not just the stuff of science fiction nightmares but a plausible next step in their quest for dominance. This theory posits that Lumon's ambitions extend far beyond the confines of their eerily quiet office space and into the very fabric of society. In Lumon's world, the severance procedure emerges not just as a tool of control but a harbinger of a new era where the division between work and personal life is irrevocably blurred, redefining what it means to be human.
2. The outside world is not what it seems
This theory adds a deliciously complex layer to the show's narrative.
Imagine the shock and awe as our beloved characters, and by extension we viewers, come to realize that the world they return to after clocking out is just another form of containment, a more sophisticated pen designed to keep the sheep blissfully unaware that they're in a slaughterhouse. The so-called normalcy of their personal lives, with quaint dinners and seemingly mundane interactions, might just be another stage of Lumon's grand play. This theory is like suspecting that the sky is a dome and the stars are just tiny holes poked in it to let a fraction of the truth shine through: it's both terrifying and fascinating.
Now, let's sprinkle a little more intrigue onto this already spicy theory. What if the anomalies and glitches that some eagle-eyed fans noticed aren't mere production mistakes but intentional breadcrumbs left by the creators? Scenes where characters pause unnaturally, or where reflections don't quite match up, could be subtle nods suggesting that everything is a simulation, suggesting that even the characters' "free" selves are under constant surveillance and control.
The implications are mind-bending. Could it be that every aspect of both the severed and non-severed lives of Lumon's employees are meticulously conrolled to maintain a status quo, one that benefits a shadowy elite?