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The various departments within Lumon Industries are key to Severance's developing mysteries. Lumon's office building itself features a vast, confusing maze with surprises waiting around every corner, and that's just what's seen on the Severed Floor. Severance season 2 has answered some of the questions, regarding these departments, but much remains to be explained.
For the longest time, Severance hasn't explained what Lumon Industries actually does, with the workers themselves knowing very little about their jobs and employers at Lumon. Nevertheless, Lumon gives the characters in Severance many unique responsibilities depending on the department they work in, and every department has its fair share of mysteries.
10 Macrodata Refinement
The Main Characters Have Monotonous But Mysterious Jobs As Refiners
The Macrodata Refinement (MDR) department of Lumon is where Mark, Irving, Dylan, and Helly work during the day, and their responsibilities as Refiners are a mystery even to them. Each Refiner in this department is assigned to monitor and organize numbers that appear on the computers in their cubicle and put them into five digital bins. These numbers are categorized based on the emotions they invoke in the Refiner, which are known in Lumon mythos as the Four Tempers: Woe, Frolic, Dread, and Malice.
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The Refiners have to make sure each bin on their computers is filled with an equal amount of each type of number. It's unknown what the numbers in Severance are, what this process is supposed to do, or how it affects Lumon's greater business functions. Nevertheless, the Refiners are rewarded for their efforts depending on how much they get done. As more work is completed, they are given a Lumon eraser, a finger trap, a Music/Dance Experience, and a caricature portrait. When a Refiner does well enough in a quarter, they may receive a Waffle Party accompanied by a bizarre and erotic dance show.
9 Break Room
This Is Where Some Of Lumon's Dirty Work Is Done
Whenever Lumon employees act in an unwanted manner while working on the Severed Floor, the Administrators send them to the Break Room as punishment to make them behave. Inside this dark, confined space, the employee is watched by Milchick and forced to read this script several times until their minds and bodies are exhausted:
"Forgive me for the harm I have caused this world. None may atone for my actions but me, and only in me shall their stain live on. I am thankful to have been caught, my fall cut short by those with wizened hands. All I can be is sorry, and that is all that I am."
It's an abusive form of psychological punishment that displays Lumon's sinister, cult-like way of controlling its employees. Helly and Mark are shown to have been sent to the Break Room in Severance season 1. Helly recited the script in Severance season 1 over a thousand times while in the Break Room until Milchick thought she meant what she said and was truly apologetic. Since Mark left the Break Room with bruises on his hand, it is implied that Lumon Administrators exact physical punishments on employees inside.
8 Optics & Design
Optics & Design Are The Alleged Rivals Of The Refiners In Severance
Optics and Design, also known as O&D, is a rival department of Macrodata Refinement on the Severed Floor of Lumon. Both departments are said to have a bitter and brutal history at Lumon, in which one department massacred the other. Such a gruesome conflict is shown in Lumon's office paintings, but it's unclear which department attacked first, why the attack happened, or if the battle even happened at all.
Christopher Walken's character, Burt, was in charge of Optics and Design until his retirement in Severance season 1. O&D initially appeared to be a small group in charge of storing, preserving, and setting up art pieces depicting Lumon's history throughout the office. However, O&D is revealed to be much larger, as the department has an enormous room with several more workers. These employees are seen using machines, leaving O&D's true purpose a mystery.
7 Administration
The Severed Floor's Oppressive Managers Work From This Department
As the name implies, the Administration department is in charge of monitoring and leading the employees on the Severed Floor. This department includes the offices of Harmony Cobel and Seth Milchick, where the MDR workers typically go to commune with their higher-ups. These offices also have monitors where the Administrators can observe the employees on the Severed Floor, most notably the Refiners, via hidden cameras in their cubicles.
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While she served as an Office Administrator at Lumon, Harmony ruled over the Severed Floor with an iron fist as she abused and tortured her employees. However, she ultimately lost her position near the end of Severance season 1 for hiding Helly's suicide attempt. Though Milchick remained in Administration, it is unknown if he filled Harmony's role entirely or if another person will replace her as the head Administrator.
6 Wellness
The Wellness Center Goes Deep Into Severed Employees' Minds
Working at Lumon can be draining, especially for the Severed employees like Irving, whose suppressed memories sometimes manifest during the day and interfere with their work. Thus, the Severed Floor features a Wellness Center to keep workers at ease. The department was run by the counselor, Ms. Casey, who is revealed to be Mark's dead wife, Gemma. However, after Mark and Ms. Casey in Severence fail to recognize each other as husband and wife, the latter is relinquished of her position at the Wellness Center and is sent to the "Testing Floor" at Lumon.
Since Mark believed Gemma was killed driving into a tree two years prior, it is implied that the Wellness Center is set up by the Administration to gauge how much the Severed employees actually remember about their lives outside Lumon.
At Wellness, Ms. Casey recites facts about a patient's "outie" to comfort them. However, Ms. Cobel is shown monitoring these sessions, particularly Mark's, in which he sculpts his feelings into a tree. Since Mark believed Gemma was killed driving into a tree two years prior, it is implied that the Wellness Center is set up by the Administration to gauge how much the Severed employees actually remember about their lives outside Lumon.
5 Goat Wrangling
There Is A Lot Waiting To Be Said About The Goats In Severance
This remains the most mysterious department in Lumon so far. As the name implies, the Goat Wrangling department in Severance is just a room where a man in a suit is caring for baby goats. Given the nature of the other departments, one specifically for wrangling goats doesn't seem to fit with what Lumon does. However, since Lumon's functions remain shrouded in mystery, it's possible the goats serve a greater purpose at the company.
The man in charge of Goat Wrangling is unknown, but he seems very attached to the goats he's raising, especially since he's located in a dark and isolated part of Lumon. When Mark and Helly find him, he says, "They're not ready," and fearfully kicks them both out. His statement implies that the goats will be taken away and used for a specific process at Lumon once they reach adulthood.
4 Distribution Supply
Inventory Control Systems
This is one of the Severed Floor departments that has yet to be explored. Though Distribution Supply wasn't depicted on-screen at all in Severance season 1, it is implied to be responsible for providing office supplies to the employees on the Severed Floor. It is first referenced by Ms. Casey after Mark spills coffee on her notepad. Saying she has to get a new notepad, Ms. Casey leaves for an eight-minute trip from Macrodata Refinement to Distribution Supply and back
Since Ms. Casey returned from her trip with a whole bunch of notepads, it's unknown how many office supplies are available at Distribution Supply.
It could be another massive room similar to the secret room found in Optics & Design. However, it is unknown if an employee is stationed in this department, giving the necessary supplies to the Severed workers.
3 Security Office
The Office Holds The Most Power Over The Severed Workers' Minds
From the Security Office, the entirety of Lumon's Severed Floor, including its workers, is monitored. This office also houses equipment that can monitor an employee's Severance chip, as well as activate hidden functions. Most notably, two people could initiate the Overtime Contingency Protocol from the Security Office, allowing them to awaken a Severed employee's "innie" outside of Lumon, if necessary.
Since it is such an important department, access to the Security Office can only be granted by a black key card. In Severance season 1, Mark obtained a card belonging to Doug Graner, who was the Head of Security at Lumon's Severed Floor until Reghabi killed him. As a result, Dylan used the Security Office's tech to awaken Mark, Helly, and Irving's innies in the outside world in an attempt to escape from Lumon.
2 Perpetuity Wing
Lumon's History Is On Full Display In This Location
Lumon Industries has a long history and a layered, almost religious ideology, and employees can learn more about it in the office's Perpetuity Wing. Said section of the Severed Floor is a museum with animatronic exhibits dedicated to Lumon's exalted founder, Kier Eagan, as well as his descendants. These include the seven other CEOs of Lumon Industries, with the most recent CEO being the father of Helena in Severance, Jame Eagan.
There is also an exhibit in the Perpetuity Wing featuring photos of smiles of the people Lumon has helped called the "Lumon Legacy of Joy." Lastly, there is an exhibit with a replica of Kier Eagan's house, and Kier's bedroom inside the house is where the Waffle Party takes place. Though employees normally can't sit on Kier's bed, the Waffle Party allows the one celebrating to sit on it while they are given their sexual dance show.
1 Other Departments And Floors
There Are Still Much To Be Explored On And Off The Severed Floor
Since Severance has only just begun to reveal the mysteries of Lumon, there are still many other departments that haven't been shown. In the Security Office, there is a list of departments on display, each of them labeled with abbreviations. The list includes MDR, O&D, and D&R, the latter meaning Disposal and Reclamation. D&R's function is unknown and hasn't been explored in Severance so far, with only a sign in the hallway revealing its existence. The remaining departments include CE, TA, W&A, EQP, CL, and WN, none of which have been visited yet.
It's unknown what goes on at the Testing Floor, but it is implied that Lumon experiments on Severed employees after making changes to their brain chips and their memories.
There are also many other floors besides the Severed Floor. Specifically, there is the mysterious Testing Floor, which is accessed from an elevator found in a dark hallway. It's unknown what goes on at the Testing Floor, but it is implied that Lumon experiments on Severed employees by making changes to their brain chips and their memories. Only Ms. Casey is seen going there. However, Irving's outie has painted several pictures of the hallway with the elevator in Severance season 1, indicating that Irving's innie has either seen the hallway or has suppressed memories of going to the Testing Floor.
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Severance is a psychological thriller series featuring Adam Scott as Mark Scout, an employee at Lumon Industries who undergoes a "severance" procedure to separate his work and personal memories. However, as work and life personas mysteriously begin to collide, it quickly becomes clear that not all is as it seems. Created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle, Severance is one of the biggest hits on Apple TV+.
Release Date February 18, 2022
Seasons 2
Story By dan erickson
Writers Dan Erickson
Showrunner Dan Erickson , Mark Friedman
English (US) ·