There goes the mystery!

We know what happens on the testing floor now. They’ve been using Gemma to test partial severance which they can then roll-out worldwide for people to avoid scary/unpleasant situations like dentists/flights as well as unenjoyable tasks such as writing hundreds of Christmas cards. This was already hinted at in Season 1 at the birthing retreat with the severed pregnant woman. Because of this reveal, we now know that the work is important but no longer mysterious, the MDR room basically just sort emotions into boxes so the partial severance which Gemma undergoes can work properly and keep her from remembering or feeling any of those emotions that they’re ‘refining’.

Now we know what Lumon’s doing…I don’t think there’s much mystery left for the show to explore. Sure, there are a few things left which are still to be explained but I don’t think they would matter as much as what they just revealed, for example:

  • What is Cold Harbour? - The room they’ve left until last because Mark HAS TO work on refining it. I assume it’s 99% based on partial severance to remove the memory of losing a loved one, either a partner or a baby, which is why Mark was specifically chosen for it because he knows those emotions and how to refine them.

  • What does O&D do? - This has been answered. They make tools and props for each of the rooms on the testing floor.

  • What happened to Ms Cobel and the mask she was holding? - It belonged to her mother and I assume the reason she wanted Mark to finish Cold Harbor and why she was so interested in his meetings with Ms Casey is because she wants Cold Harbor to work. She wants to forget her mother’s death and move on.

  • Who is Ms Huang? - I know some people theorised that she would be Gemma’s child, but I definitely doubt this. No one who is currently in MDR has experienced pregnancy (because Helly doesn’t have kids) so none of them would be able to refine those emotions to create a room where she could be partially severed for that experience). We know that there are other Lumon offices around the world so I’m assuming if the partial severance for pregnancy was tested, it would have happened in one of those other branches. I also really doubt that they would introduce a severed rape scene into this show just to get Gemma pregnant. I’m assuming Ms Huang is just a child from that Eagan school as mentioned by Milchik.

So I guess now the only mysteries left are:

  • What are the goats for?
  • Who is on the board?
  • What else does Reghabi know? (At this point, I couldn’t care less. She’s the worst written character in the show and answers all questions posed to her by storming off or being sassy. Feel like the writer’s are really struggling to keep her mysterious without it feeling forced.)
  • When did Severance actually start? (the confusion with Burt in the previous episode - I feel like this is the mystery that would probably lead to the biggest revelation. I’m hoping it doesn’t evolve into a Black Mirror type “you’ve all always been severed” twist)

In comparison to this episode’s major reveal, I don’t think the remaining mysteries mean as much. I assume the show will now turn into a sort of Goonies type search and rescue mission where the 3 remaining MDR team work together to get Gemma out. After that, I’m not too sure where the show will go but I’m interested to find out.

(Although I am hoping that once they get her out there isn’t a cliffhanger where because they still have their chips in, Lumon just severs them remotely with a switch and they forget everything again and go back to square 1 - Also given that the show mostly revolves around them being in the office, I’m not sure what the show would be in the next season if they let them break out and never return to the office again).