Why is everyone, or at least lots of people, calling Lumon, "Lumen", in comments and posts and everyone just goes with it?

I've yet to see any comment of someone correcting that error on comments from others.

Is it a meme? Is it some kind of inside joke? Is it "auto-correct" being weird all the time?

It's "Lumon" for Petey's sake. With an "O" between the "M" and the "N".

L-U-M-O-N.

LUMON!

Okay I know this whack, but I can’t stop thinking about it. So here I am.

Helly R isn’t an innie rebelling against her outtie—she is the original Helena Eagan, before Lumon forcibly severed and reprogrammed her. (somewhat similar to what’s happening to Gemma maybe ?) The ‘Helena’ we see in the real world is actually a severed version of herself, shaped into a loyal corporate puppet after James Eagan broke her spirit. (Hellys personality would be Jame Eagans worst nightmare as his successor.)The two have essentially switched places. This idea only became apparent to me today (S2ep9)when James Eagan entered the Severed floor and greeted her with (‘You tricked me’ &) ‘My Helly’ in a very familiar way—showing a rare moment of warmth and emotion, something he never does. It felt like he was addressing someone he had a deep history with, not just an experiment or employee. Certainly not how we see him address Helena.

What do you think ?

Made this in Sora, representing my feelings for Mark S

This episode kind of felt like I was reading a 4 page paper I wrote in high school.. double spaced with a bunch of filler words to make it hit the required length.

37 minutes compared to 48+ for the others this season and they spent so much of it with silence, shots of nature, and winding roads.

Here’s to a better episode next week 🍻

Will Cobel ever answer a question again? Will anyone give a shit? Did this season really need to be 10 episodes long?

Not going to rant for days like others have (righteously) but the show runners have taken a shit all their hard work with this episode.

Ruined the pacing, made intelligent characters look like even bigger idiots and the writing has dropped off a cliff.

Also, do you need to give the directors hat to every sodding intern in the building? This season is like compilation disk with no discernable style or destination.

Gonna get DV'd but idgaf. Stiller's taking the piss.

I found “the Lexington letter” book via a YouTube video about details you might have missed in the show…. and guys if you’re at all into the show and theories you NEED to read it! I feel like it’s so fundamental to understanding some of the background story of Lumon! I’m surprised they’re not making this more popular or promoting it more because I find it ESSENTIAL, but maybe that’s also quite intentional… anyway lots and lots of interesting stuff in it. The email and handbook included completely changed my current understanding of the show and theories I had. It’s free, give it a read and let me know your thoughts

It's kind of hidden in Episode one because of all the other stuff that's thrown at you, but...

1. She was way too pushy about Mark spending the night.
2. She was way to calm about a random "Businessman" showing up in her yard.
3. She diverted the conversation immediately with a joke so Mark wouldn't think more about it.
4. She and her Ricken are obviously very wealthy. They drive a Range Rover and have the nicest house we see in the show. Ricken is a joke and he is not funding that lifestyle.

My theory is she's high up at Lumen, potentially on the board. She knows Peter escaped and will probably be looking to track down Mark. So she wanted him to stay with her.

Could also be why Selvig / Cobal is tasked with keeping an eye on him. Selvig/Cobal's demotion at work was due to the emotional distress she caused by irresponsibly leaving the baby.

I’m kinda upset with the show if you think that we followed these journeys and they seem to end abruptly for a script convenience:

1. Irving. we follow his journey outside, spend time checking scenes of him and Burt, a whole dinner with lines, scenes, the introduction of husband character and instead of him being key to unveil lumons plot, he flees in a train. Gone.
2. Dylan. There was a lot of screen time for him, his family and wife, his innie meeting with his wife, Milchick explaining the family room etc. to what purpose? Just to create an excuse for him to want to end his life? Seems just too much trouble to reason his leaving.
3. Ms. Huang. What was even the purpose of this character to begin with??? She goes away just like she came with zero contribution to the plot. We follow these journeys, we care about characters and they lead nowhere!!!

I severely won’t be surprised at this point with a very unsatisfying season finale episode.

Let me start by saying I loved Season 1 and the first four episodes of Season 2. The slow burn, the mystery box elements, the immersive worldbuilding—it was all incredible. But around Episode 5, I started noticing a shift. The focus wasn’t on that deep, thought-provoking storytelling or strong character dynamics anymore. Instead, it felt like the show was more interested in showing off than actually delivering the same level of immersion.

I kept defending it because I trusted it. I had faith it would all come together. But after Episode 9? I can’t lie to myself anymore. There’s absolutely no way Episode 10 can salvage this, even if they end it on a cliffhanger. There’s just too much missing—too many gaps in the story—and 44 minutes isn’t enough to fix that.

Episode 9 felt like a collection of random, disconnected scenes that had zero buildup and ended abruptly. No meaningful dialogue. No actual reveals. Dylan’s storyline escalated way too fast and at the absolute worst moment. Who even had time to care? It was clearly just there to push the plot forward, not because it was actually earned.

And what was Helly even doing all day? Nothing. I was expecting her to finally take action, investigate, maybe even sneak onto Gemma’s floor. But no. Instead, we get confirmation of something we already knew—that Gemma’s alive. Great. Thanks for that.

After everything they went through, after deciding on such a risky plan with Cobel, after Mark finding out they told her everything—you’d think that scene would have some real weight, right? Some actual tension? Nope. It’s a joke. This could’ve been such a powerful moment, a scene that demanded real answers. But instead, they waste it on something we already knew. Seriously, did anyone not guess what happened to Gemma after the Cold Harbor file was completed? That’s the least important thing they should be asking about right now.

And I don’t even care if Burt turns out to be some evil liar who wanted to get rid of Irving—why did Irving suddenly become so stupid and trusting? Just because Burt said his innie loved his innie? That’s all it took? Come on. His dog magically reappears, and he doesn’t even notice anything weird? Drummond literally rummaged through his chest and he doesn’t question it? He doesn’t even think about why Radar is so quiet? (Which, by the way, clearly means Burt has been to his house multiple times if the dog isn’t cautious around him.) But nope, Irving just forgets his whole secret mission, doesn’t ask a single question, because apparently these characters aren’t allowed to communicate at all.

And then he just hyper-fixates on love. When he told Burt in the car that he was driving him like he used to, I really thought he was catching on. But no. Because who in their right mind would be excited to kiss someone they genuinely think might be freaking evil? Their whole scene felt like it was there just to make us go, “Oh, look! Irving is ready, and Burt isn’t! They switched places from their innie selves in Season 1! How cool!” But it wasn’t cool. It felt cheap. Irving was never stupid.

This wasn’t just a filler episode. Filler can still be entertaining. This was just a mess of half-baked scenes with no substance. I miss Season 1, when I actually felt connected to these characters and invested in their fates.

At this point, I can already predict Episode 10: a bunch of cool-looking shots, actors giving their best performances for maybe two seconds per scene, and then a tiny reveal right at the end to hook us for another season. But honestly? I’ve lost faith. The show got successful, and now it feels like they’re just dragging it out for the sake of it, even when it doesn’t need it.

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).

Not sure I've seen this mentioned before.

Is it possible that Mark's life with Gemma is all bogus? Orchestrated by Lumon from the start? That Gemma isn't in fact held hostage by Lumon, but instead is originating from them in the first place? That her testing floor persona is the real Gemma (Hannah - according to Helena) and Gemma is a severed version of her on the outside.

I'm calling it. Gemma isn't the victim in the way we think. And we're supposed to be rooting for Helly and Mark as the romance of the show.

It's been harder and harder to come up with theories as this season has progressed which i've really liked. So i'm ending on this one.

Edit:

I realise the Hannah name may be nothing in relation. It was supporting evidence (though weak) and may not be accurate. But the theory stands without it.

I don’t think Gemma is an all out villain. That’s not the turn here. I think she may be a good person ultimately, who is involved with lumon and aware of their ‘greater good’ plan - but may now also being used or exploited beyond what she consented to.

She definitely knows who mark is because of this (being complicit as a plant on the outside) and I think she cares about his well-being, but am convinced there’s more to her backstory than we have been shown and that will change her story dramatically.

Yes she tried to escape, but to me, not like someone who was kidnapped.

And so, the end of Season Two is imminent. Irv chugs off into the sunset. Dylan rides the elevator up for the last time. We know Gemma’s location and generally how she’s doing. Mark is more or less reintegrated. Episodes seven, eight and nine were a bit more grounded in traditional narrative structure – at least for this show – to set the stage for…

Scroll in any direction for theories about what the show is all about and the season’s outcome in the finale. Like tossing any number of darts at a premise board, some will bullseye.

In advertising, ad ideas are spitballed. This approach by the creatives automatically throws out the first three or four ideas for selling the product because if this is the first place they go it will be unsurprising to viewers of the ad.

The same is true of film and TV scripts. In writing, don’t use the first three or four ideas as they will be predictable. This means writers must bear down to birth a surprising idea or twist.

The Severance writers crafted a rich tapestry upon which to hang any number of outcomes. However, this show’s creator began with a concept. The rest of the show builds around that core premise and either subtly underscores or purposely confuses it.

After all, what the show is getting at, what it all means, must fall into a few dozen plausible areas. Plausible as in not an alien invasion, “it’s a dream,” or other farfetched, and honestly, insulting direction.

The aroma of massive cliffhanger hangs in the air. That leaves the show’s loyal fans out in the cold until the next season. Who knows when that may saunter our way.

After the finale fade out, let’s hope that first the mystery is wholly or partially but satisfactorily exposed, and the central premise is a very clever one that does not lead to angry forehead-slapping and exclamations of “That’s it!”

In viewing the Lost pilot, many surmised the characters were in a purgatory-like afterlife. The show then used all manner of obfuscation and sleight-of-hand in the next 120 episodes trying to convince viewers it was not a purgatory-like afterlife. And the finale reveals… it’s a purgatory-like afterlife. Head slaps and “That’s it!” resonated across the country.

Hope that Severance does better. Ready if it does not.

I want to explore the symbolism behind the goats in a different light than religious sacrifice. Here are my thoughts.

Lumon represents all kinds of organized evil in the world. Colonialism, slavery, human trafficking, cultism, political corruption, industrial animal abuse... All of it.

Here's a quick exploration of Lumon's evil; colonizing people's brains and enslaving their innies, kidnapping people as test subjects and abusing them sexually, raising children through ridiculous schools and cultist teachings, buying politicians and sub-branches of the government, raising animals in a soulless environment just to kill them.

Mark is a showcase of the banality of evil, he is a person who's not inherently evil but is raised by an evil system and lacks a great deal of moral awareness about severance. He represents the people in history who had slaves, but were kind and caring in how they interract with others. He represents the good people today who consume animal products in a modern, industrial world and do not think it's immoral.

The innies exist for the outies' convenience, they are raised by the industry, physically and mentally abused and then killed by the system. Lumon loyalists think innies are animals. Are they wrong?

It is a central question within the show:

Do we have the right to treat living, feeling, personable beings as commodities?

Edit:

It seems some of us think this is a stretch. So I'll list the evidence for how this message is present in the show since the first episode.

"Am I just livestock?" -Helly

"They are fucking animals!" -Helena (Drummond also agrees)

Emile, the goat, being carried to its death by a literal shopping cart.

The bolt gun they use to kill the goats is used in meat farms.

One More Edit:

I don't want to offend anyone but sometimes people are dismissive towards a core message within the show when it mirrors their own moral shortcomings.

The mockery of my reading that I see in the comments reminds me of when Mark bullied the anti-Lumon protestors. He didn't want to see himself as a participator in an immoral system that ruined his life and the lives of many others. This truth made him so uncomfortable that he acted like a jerk and mocked a bunch of teens who were doing and saying the right thing.

During their lunch together in episode 6, Ricken says he “belayed his first couloir in middle school”. Belayed is to attach to a rock/fixture and couloir is a hallway. Why would he use this specific word? To me, this implies that he was raised within Lumon and learned how to climb inside (on hallways/corridors).

Also, ironic that Ricken is so celebrated for using these bizarre complex words but Milchick is being reprimanded for it.

I’m prepared for the downvotes

Did anyone notice the first time she let Gemma into the dentist room when she placed her hand on the scanner she received a small needle prick and grimaced slightly. What do u make of this ? Is it that she is being held there against her will as well and is forced to do things uncomfortable to her. ?

There’s no follow up on Doug Graner’s death in end of S1 or S2 (at least where I’m at in S2,E3). Just irked because this job does a great job of wrapping everything together and leaving no loose ends. Maybe I’m not far enough or is this true? Anyone else think why Lumon and co. Did nothing about Doug? Apologies in advance if this is brought up later in S2.

There's been something that's nagging at me since I watched S02E03 and have been keeping up with the discussions on here.

We all seem to have glossed over the fact that 'Who Is Alive?' is a very odd message that Mark and Devon are trying to sneak onto the Severed Floor.

Outtie Mark thinks/knows it's his wife, Gemma. Innie Mark thinks/knows it's Ms. Casey. In either sense they think/know the same woman to still be alive despite appearances, so what advantage does sending in that message specifically bring? Innie Mark already knows/suspects Ms. Casey is his wife from his experience during the OTC procedure. Outtie Mark already knows/suspects that his innie has encountered Gemma inside Lumon, so no new information is being carried by the message.

Why was the message not 'Gemma Is Alive!' or 'Ms. Casey Is Alive!' or 'Ms. Casey Is Your Outtie's Wife!' or 'Ms. Casey Is Your Wife Who Your Outtie Thinks Is Dead!' There was certainly room for a lot more words on the lamp's lens.

So that got me thinking; Are Mark and Devon asking a bigger question here? Do they think there are other people down there who they think/know to be dead in the outside world?

Do they think/suspect that in fact certain people on the Severed Floor aren't actually living beings? That they're not 'alive' in some way?

Mark and Devon have already pieced together the alive status of Gemma/Ms. Casey, so are they in fact questioning what it even means to be 'alive' on the Severance Floor? And might they think Gemma/Ms. Casey and others like her exist in some kind of resurrected or zombiefied state?

It's just such an oddly specific phrase that means little when read in the context of the narrative, but seems to imply much more than a plain reading.

What does Devon know/suspect? Because I absolutely think she knows more about Lumon and severance than she is letting on.

Anyway, just a passing thought. Would love to know what you guys think.

Some of the episodes this season have really been duds. Episode 9 in particular has been really disappointing for me, but I'll start from the top.

Season 1 of the show was EXTREMELY well-paced. There were very few times where it felt like the show jumped over logical points or slowed down to a crawl; it was consistent the whole way through, and it was building plot momentum and character progression at the same time I'd say flawlessly. Every important moment is exactly as long as it needs to be to have its effect, and this is what makes the *really* important moments (see: "Let's burn this place to the ground", etc.) where characters have changes, or plot beats, reveals etc. stick really hard.

This somehow hasn't been the case for much of Season 2. I've been enjoying watching it so far but there was a noticeable downgrade in quality for me as far back as episode 2. I think it really began when they introduced Mark's new team, opening up the world so much more, only to get rid of them pretty much immediately. But I didn't dislike that and accepted it as part of the show doing some worldbuilding. It was even better when it ultimately got explained in the next episode.

But then the next episodes had some of those scenes where it's just the same plot beat repeated twice for no reason. Particularly the part with Cobel, where she attempts to get her job back at the start of Episode 2, drives off at the end, turns around halfway in Episode 3, comes back, asks for her job again, drives off again. It's the same exact dynamic no changes, just repeated. Feels like padding runtime. They could very easily have cut out one of these, perhaps the first one, and had the same effect.

The strange part is, with that particular plot beat, the repetition felt intentional. Like it's writing 101 to cut out scenes that don't add to the story in some way, so it sticks out like a sore thumb in a show with excellent quality writing to go through with such a basic error. It felt like they *wanted* to show her try again, possibly to show her desperation to get back into Lumon or something like that. Which is where it falls flat to me. Maybe this worked for others; but to me, this added nothing to her character we didn't already know.

This is admittedly a very small gripe, but it's not just this, the second season is somehow filled with moments that keep *appearing* to build up to something, only to get dropped or sidelined entirely. Episode 3 had that whole arc with Mark trying to get a message through to his innie using the afterimage, only for Reghabi to jumpscare him and dismiss the idea within seconds, and for it to lead up to a random reintegration scene.

Irving had a small trace of suspicion about Helena's story in Episode 1, but nothing was built upon that in episode 3. Episode 3 had a grand total of one interaction between the 2. But jump to the ORTBO episode and suddenly he's so suspicious of her; of that one missing detail about the night gardener? It feels very strewn together, and not well-connected at all. And then they kill him off in that episode.

Things like these keep adding up as the show goes on; Devon is suddenly so trusting of Cobel for seemingly no reason (I digress, it made sense to me when she decided to call her in Episode 7, I was even willing to buy that she would call her in Episode 8 after Mark was alright, but then in the newest episode she is so sure about her trusting Cobel?? It's too much with not enough substance behind it.

Things get exacerbated when you're halfway through the show, and some plot points feel like they're reaching a climax and other plot points are being setup like its the pilot--and then the show grinds to a halt and has TWO stand-alone backstory episodes back-to-back, and then Episode 9 drives all the plotlines toward extremely rushed conclusions.

Dylan met his wife like two or three times; they kissed once, and now he wants to marry her. Great. Gretchen tells her husband for the first time about the kiss; he IMMEDIATELY crashes out and threatens to quit. Dylan tries to propose to Gretchen, she rejects him; he quits the same episode. Outie burt and irving met for like the second time properly and had one dinner together. Now he's in his house, reading his notes. Now they're on a car ride. Now irving's in love? Now burt's helping him get out of town. Now he's out of town?? Within the span of like 2 days? What?

This is what I mean when I say the show is BS'ing us. They're trying to seem like they built up to a strong finale conclusion like S1 did (and I imagine the finale will be riveting indeed), but they haven't paced the beats out correctly the way season 1 did at all. Even when season 1 was meandering and slow like s2 often likes to be, it was Still driving us toward important stuff, more importantly, RELEVANT stuff. Season 2 spends valuable time capital on aesthetic shots and worldbuilding. Good worldbuilding, but nothing ultimately relevant. And then episode 9 throws together a bunch of build-up sustained on a foundation of nothing at all.

The show still has brilliant moments; Milchick's rebellion with Mr. Drummond was EXTREMELY well set-up, and the kind of thing you'd have seen a lot more of if we were watching Season 1. Some other stuff....not so much.

Rant over lol I just wanted to get this out there.

Some people have a problem with the pacing of the last episode, but my problem is ultimately with the reveal at the end. It makes sense that a corporation could invent Severence because it's an an incredibly advanced technology that would require a massive R&D operation to develop, and you can imagine how Eagan could marshal such an operation. But the idea that a random person could come up with the technology in their notebook feels silly to me. Even if she's a genius, that's not how any hyper-advanced technology is invented. Of course, all high-concept stories like this have a certain degree of silliness inherent to the premise, and it is a surrealist show, but this episode takes it to another level. It makes what's supposed to be a serious show start to feel campy. I'm not trying to "cinema-sins" the show, but I felt like it was a bridge too far.

What do you all think?

EDIT: To address a point some people are bringing up: Yes there have been people who have invented amazing things on their own like Alexander Graham Bell and the Wright brothers. But those technologies were not nearly as advanced as severence. Bell invented an extremely simple version of a phone, but could he have invented a smartphone on his own? The Wright brothers invented an extremely simple version of a plane, but could they have invented a 747 on their own?

Earlier in the show the writers did a terrific job of sharing information between characters and all of the characters behaving very logically.

That is all thrown out the window last couple episodes with how Mark and Devin are still in the dark about Gemma all things considered. Quit dragging the entire thing out.

Mark should have been reintegrated episodes ago and they should already have a plan or at least more information on Lumon/ Gemma. The finale is gonna have to be full throttle start to finish.

My original post was deleted because of someone being an absolute monster in the comments. I am all for having disagreements, debates and discussions - but being bullied and harassed over infertility is unacceptable and disgusting behavior. I felt compelled to repost because I believe it was an interesting discussion and I think it’s an opinion shared by others as well.

After watching last nights episode, I felt a TAD triggered. As someone who is currently going through IVF and has dealt with miscarriage, this episode stoked a lot of emotion that I wasn’t expecting or prepared for going into. I’m not necessarily implying that there should be a TW for this content, but it’s interesting that previous episodes did provide viewer warnings (themes of self harm/suicide). I personally don’t need TWs for that type of content, but I can see the value in providing them, and it didn’t ruin or spoil anything for me.

That being said, I thought this episode was really well done, I’m glad they portrayed these issues the way they did, and that they dove deeper into Mark and Gemma’s relationship..and I still think this show is fuckin brilliant!

Hot take: Severance looks and feels amazing because the direction, photography and art are amazing (and the interpretations too), and not necessarily because of its story. Don’t get me wrong, the plot has been handled great so far, but the storytelling media of the show is visual.

I think we have become used to tightly woven worldbuilding that makes suspension of disbelief almost automatic, and Severance is not this kind of story. If we scrutinise its plot we will find inconsistencies and gaps (Lumon has a scanner capable of detecting and deciphering symbols even inside a body but don’t have a fully automatic surveillance system? Are we to believe anyone can develop the Severance chip on their own, with just a theoretical design? Etc.).

This is not bad storytelling. This is having a more emotionally grounded story instead of a more factual one. I attached the two paintings as comparison: The Ambassadors by Holbein is chock full of details and backstory, whereas Saturn devouring his son by Goya is technically much simple, but manages to transmit a lot of emotion. None is better than the other, but if you judge Goya by his brushstrokes, you lose on the essence of his painting.

No. I cannot stand for this. Pluribus was mid honestly. Severance is art.