Warning: This post contains spoilers for the .
The nature of the work is shrouded in mystery, yet undeniably significant. It seemingly involves a process where one’s long-lost spouse is divided into entirely new identities—or multiple personalities—stripped of all memories of their former self and shared life.
After a considerable wait, particularly for those who followed Season 1 from its inception, the Severance Season 2 finale offered glimpses into the truth surrounding Cold Harbor and Gemma (Dichen Lachman), though many questions remain unanswered.
Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette) explained to innie Mark (Adam Scott) that the data he meticulously refined over two years served as a “doorway” to Gemma’s mind. This explanation came after Mark’s frustration with his outie’s demands to terminate his innie existence and love story. Cobel asked Mark what he perceived and felt when observing the numbers, listing emotions like woe, frolic, malice, and dread. She clarified that these clusters represented Gemma’s “tempers” and the fundamental elements of her mind. Each completed file birthed a new consciousness, a new innie, with Cold Harbor being the final step.
Subsequently, after innie Mark reluctantly finalized the file under Helly’s (Britt Lower) watchful gaze, Dr. Mauer (Robby Benson) and Mr. Drummond (Olafur Darri Ólafsson) initiated Gemma’s entry into the Cold Harbor room, located on the testing floor. She was dressed in the same clothes she wore the night of her presumed death. Once inside, her 25th and ultimate innie was tasked with disassembling the crib she and Mark had intended for their future child. This task appeared designed to delve into the deepest recesses of her past memories and traumas, ensuring that her severed innies retained no emotional residue from her outie self.
However, before Gemma could dismantle the last piece of the crib, innie and outie Mark, having navigated numerous threats, intervened in the Cold Harbor room. Despite Mark being covered in Mr. Drummond’s blood and holding the gun he unknowingly used to kill the Lumon security chief, a remnant of the original Gemma instinctively trusted Mark and chose to accompany him.
Based on Mr. Drummond’s earlier conversation with Lorne (Gwendoline Christie), head of the Mammalians Nurturable department, Lumon intended to “entomb” Gemma with a sacrificial goat after the completion of Cold Harbor. This ritual was supposedly meant to guide her spirit “to Kier’s door,” the significance of which remains unclear.
If Lumon’s ultimate goal was to eliminate Gemma after this elaborate process, the purpose behind it becomes questionable. What is the ultimate objective of creating these completely detached innies? And how does it all tie back to Kier and the Eagans? Theories abound, ranging from the creation of a highly efficient workforce to a manufactured paradise allowing Lumon’s clients to sever themselves from all negative experiences. However, definitive answers remain elusive.
In Episode 7, Mr. Drummond declared that the completion of Cold Harbor would mark “one of the greatest moments in the history of this planet.” The nature of this moment remains a mystery, and further insight is unlikely until Season 3. Hopefully, the wait for the next season will be shorter than the previous one.
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