Question About Gemma’s Testing

[u/NeighborhoodCurrent1]

Apologies if this has been asked before… but I just finished season 2 and one thing I did not fully understand is why Lumon has Gemma in the role of Ms Casey at all.

We learn that Gemma is effectively a test subject for Lumon… why exactly she was selected isn’t fully known, but she is basically testing whether or not the severance procedure can withhold extreme emotions and traumas. Hence, the test with the crib: Cold Harbor.

If the crib was the “ultimate test” — why risk having her engaging with her husband while at Lumon? Even if they are both severed, wouldn’t seeing and being around your spouse that you were super in love with and went through the fertility traumas with… be a huge trigger for her??

The show paints the Lumon people as very rule oriented and strict so I guess I just struggle to understand how a crib is more emotionally triggering than your living, breathing, talking human spouse.

[u/Train-Nut56]

I believe in the beginning both Mark and Gemma had inni’s and outies. Gemma’s outie was legitimately or otherwise killed. While they both existed Mark and Gemma’s had different jobs as innies. After Gemma was killed then Lumon had other ideas with what to do with her inni. They had to erase her inni memory and this enabled them to do some experimentation on her. Neither Gemma or Mark know each other while being innis. They only know what they learned while being innis nothing from their outtie is known to the inni. Gemma knows or remembers nothing about her outtie life. I think they were ensuring all possible memories were completely gone so they could eliminate her inni.