But, beyond that,things get fuzzy.
This beat that, and its not even close.
What did it all mean though?
© Apple TV+
Lets talk about it.
The best place to start is with the episode title, Chikhai Bardo.
These episodes have titles for a reason, right?
© Apple TV+
Well, Gemma describes it in the episode as the same guy fighting himself.
Defeating his own psyche.
Ego death, which is basically what both she and Mark are going through simultaneously.
© Apple TV+
(Also, weve seen the Chikhai Bardo card before.
For Gemma, the episode tells us a bunch of things.
We know her outie hates it.
© Apple TV+
We now also know she and Mark were, at one point, expecting and lost a baby.
And we know that one night she went out for an event and just never came back.
As for Mark, when we last saw him, hed passed out after escalating his reintegration.
© Apple TV+
Here, hes still unconscious, but on a mental journey back to reality.
What that really means is we get to see a plethora of important moments in his life with Gemma.
We see their meet-cute, family dinners, arguments, lovemaking, and even their final night together.
© Apple TV+
Because, dont forget, Mark decided to get severed due to his grief over losing Gemma.
Her death is the inciting incident for the entire show.
So the episode is both Gemma and Mark on mental journeys battling with themselves in some way.
© Apple TV+
She just, at times, feels the physical effects of it.
Theres the dentist, an abusive Christmas, and a plane crash.
But, basically, shes a human crash test dummy.
Its the first time weve seen this and its even clearer once you think about it.
She just got back from the dentist, etc.
Talk about evil and a whole new spin on the idea of severance itself.]
Yes, its the name of the project Mark S. has been working on.
The one thats so important to Lumon.
She wants to know whats in the room, and so do we.
Theyre overseen by Mr. Drummond and Dr. Mauer and each is watching their look-alike as they are working.
As for Gemma, we see this is taking a toll on her.
She knows being here at Lumon isnt right and at a certain point, hits a breaking point.
Its when Dr. Mauer tells her that Mark remarried and had a daughter with someone else.
That hes moved on and maybe she should too.
She even makes it up the elevator to the hall but, after all, this is Lumon.
The elevator ride triggers her innie who is obviously confused.
Of course, were retelling this much less elegantly than the episode does.
Thats kind of the main throughline but theres so much else to unpack.
Here are a few other things.
(Butzemann is like a German boogeyman, by the way.)
And as they walk into the office, for a brief second, we see Dr. Mauer!
Hes watching them in real life.
What the heck does that mean?
Was he Gemmas Harmony Cobel, living lives both inside Lumon and out?
When Gemma talks about Chikhai Bardo shes filling out some kind of personality test she got in the mail.
Mark doesnt seem happy about it but she enjoys it.
Maybe even one of the incidents that got them on their radar.
One, Devon meets Reghabi and learns about Marks reintegration.
Two, Devon learns Gemma is alive, and three, Reghabi fears that Devon could call Harmony.
Thankfully, it wont be Devons fault as she decides not to call her about Mark and Gemma.
OnSeverance, everything eventually links together.
But, there is a moment that alludes to it a bit.
This assertion possibly suggests all of Lumons actions were just so Mark could do this Cold Harbor project.
A reason to confirm Mark joined the company.
Its a chilling though but one we cant shake.
Surely theres more too.
It was an excellent episode that did something we both love and hate.
We finally answered a few of the shows biggest mysteries.
What is she doing at Lumon?
But in answering those questions, now we have even more questions than before.
Questions that are much more disturbing and profound.
Why did they fake Gemmas death?
Why do they need to run these tests?
How many other people have had to take these tests?
What exactly do they accomplish?
We could go on and on.
Planting itself deep in your brain asSeverancehas is clearly the mark of a good show.
But with this weeks admittedly beautiful episode, were starting to worry if its all a little too much.
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