5 Theories About What Lumon Is Really Doing With Gemma/Ms. Casey In Severance

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Severance season 2's episode 3.

Severance is still gradually unraveling the tapestry surrounding what is happening at Lumon, but the show seems to have dropped enough clues to help viewers speculate how Gemma is connected to the company's grand scheme. With each new episode, Severance is turning into one of the most compelling puzzle-box dramas of modern times. Although the Apple TV+ sci-fi show has only left viewers with more questions than answers so far, it has ensured that audiences have enough breadcrumbs to come up with intriguing theories about character fates and Lumon's purpose.

While a lot seems to be going on in Severance season 2, one of the most gripping plotlines in the series revolves around Mark's wife, Gemma, and her fate. Many developments in the series suggest she died in an accident. However, contrarily, many others hint that the truth behind her death may not be as simple as it seems. All the contradicting details surrounding Gemma in Severance have paved the way for many fascinating theories.

5 Gemma Was Somehow Resurrected And Turned Into Ms. Casey At Lumon

Gemma Is Severance's Version Of "Frankenstein's Monster"

In Severance season 2's episode 2, Mark recalls how he saw Gemma's dead body after her accident and even confirmed it was her. One of the early chapters of Ricken's "The You You Are" also mentions Gemma's funeral, confirming that she died. This raises the possibility that Lumon has somehow found a way to resurrect dead humans, but they have not figured out how to restore their consciousness. This is where the MDR's work comes in.

Mark seems to be using his subconscious emotions and attachments to Gemma to "enhance" her human consciousness. This would explain why Mark's progress on his Cold Harbor file in Severance season 2 is directly reflected on a computer screen featuring Gemma. Based on this theory, it would be fair to say that Severance season 1's Ms. Casey seemed so robotic and non-human because she had not been completely enhanced. This theory might also explain why Severance shares so many parallels with Frankenstein.

4 Ms. Casey Is Being "Refined" To Become More "Ideal" In Kier's Eyes

Lumon's Overarching Motive Is To Create The "Perfect" Employees

Based on "The Macrodata Refiner’s Orientation Booklet" in The Lexington Letter, the MDR employees have been provided numbers classified into four categories: WO, FC, DR, and MA. They are expected to evenly fill each of the five bins at the bottom of their screens with numbers from these categories. The four categories are based on Kier's four tempers, with WO instilling feelings of melancholy and despair, while FC elicits joy, gaiety, and ecstasy. The DR numbers represent fear, anxiety, and apprehension, and the MA ones trigger a desire to harm someone and instill rage.

By working on Ms. Casey's file, Mark is gradually "refining" her consciousness by sorting all her emotions into these four categories. He is turning her into a less complex human, making her a more ideal employee who would meet Kier's expectations. This theory would be in tandem with one of Kier Eagan's quotes:

"Tame in me the tempers four that I may serve thee evermore. Place in me the values nine that I may feel thy touch divine."

3 Ms. Casey Is The Test Subject For A Bigger Lumon Operation

Lumon Is Trying To Create Something Much Darker Than Expected

In The Lexington Letters, an outie notices that her innie's work in the MDR department seems to have something to do with real-world events. She realizes that as soon as her innie completes her first MDR file, a truck carrying the goods of one of Lumon's biggest competitors is attacked. This raises the possibility that Ms. Casey is one of the many "agents" Lumon is artificially creating to pull off dangerous real-world operations.

The company's overarching motive is not only to eliminate all competition but also to eventually take control over many aspects of the outside world. Other details in Severance suggest that Lumon may be working towards finding a way to revive humans and make them live forever. Ms. Casey might be one of the early test subjects for this operation, and Lumon hopes to successfully "revive" her as a human before using the operation to bring Kier back.

2 Gemma Is Actually Dead & Does Not Exist As An Outie

Ms. Casey Is Not Who Mark Thinks She Is

While Mark's outie confirms he saw Gemma's body after her death in Severance season 2's episode 2, Reghabi tells him that his wife is still alive at Lumon in season 2's episode 3. The fact that Reghabi adds "at Lumon" suggests that Ms. Casey is not exactly Gemma. She looks like Mark's wife, but she might have been created by Lumon as a test subject for their refinement experiments. Reghabi, too, seems to know this, but she does not tell the truth because she wants him to reintegrate and expose Lumon.

When Mark tries to confirm his wife's fate, Reghabi says she was alive the last time she saw her. This again hints that Reghabi knows a lot more about Gemma than she is letting on. Since Ms. Casey was sent down to the testing floor in Severance season 1's ending, it seems possible that she permanently exists as an innie. Unlike the MDR workers, her outie, Gemma, was wiped out of existence after she died. However, Lumon somehow found a way to create an artificial version of her whose consciousness is being refined by Mark to make her more human.

1 Ms. Casey Did Not Go Through The Same Severance Procedure As The MDR Workers

She Is A Part Of An Entirely Different Experiment That Connects To MDR's Work

The innies are treated as separate individuals in Severance, and even the outies refer to them in the third person. However, despite this, all innies seem to retain many aspects of their humanity and also the personality traits of their outies. For instance, Helly shows rebelliousness and rage from her first day at Lumon, and, as Petey highlights, Mark, too, seems to hold on to some grief for his wife even as an innie. Ms. Casey, in contrast, comes off as a blank slate programmed solely to perform her tasks as the Wellness Director.

She seems robotic to the point where it is hard to believe she is even human. She only shows some semblance of humanity towards the end of Severance season 1 when Mark appreciates her during a wellness session and holds himself accountable for her termination from Lumon. Since Ms. Casey seems significantly different from other severed Lumon employees, it seems likely she might have gone through a completely different severance procedure in the Apple TV+ series.