How Does Severance Actually Work? Lumon's Most Controversial Procedure, Explained

Apple TV+'s Severance is one of the best and weirdest series in recent years, largely because of its premise, in which employees working for the mysterious Lumon Industries agree to a procedure that separates work memories from the ones of the outside world. A sharp commentary on current office work ethics, this procedure is controversial within the series' own universe due to the mental effects and consequences on both personas that are created as a result. But how exactly does it work?

The Severance Procedure Splits the Employee into Two Different Personas

The titular procedure of severance is at the center of everything that happens in the show. It consists of a doctor surgically implanting a device called a "severance chip" inside a Lumon employee's brain. This splits the subject's mind into two different personas: the main one, colloquially known as the "outie," has no memory of work, while the secondary persona, the "innie," exists only at work, having no recollection of anything that happens in the outside world.

The procedure is done by a doctor inside Lumon premises. Shortly beforehand, the outie records a video for the innie explaining the procedure, where they give consent for their memories to be split. When the innie first wakes up, it has no recollection whatsoever of their identity and history, making the outie effectively the one in charge of all decisions related to their shared body, and Lumon responsible for everything that may happen to the innie during work hours.

The change between outie and innie is "spatially dictated," with the innie taking control when they enter the so-called "severed floor" at Lumon, and the outie taking over as they cross back. The change is triggered by a sensor at the threshold of the severed floor inside the main Lumon building. However, the sensor can also be activated remotely to awaken an innie outside Lumon, in what is known as the Overtime Contingency Protocol.

The Severance Procedure Is Highly Controversial

While outies are certainly happy to avoid the stress of working and innies are seemingly blissfully ignorant of reality, the severance procedure is actually very controversial, and for good reason. Innies aren't treated as real people at Lumon, often being scolded and even mentally tortured if they don't behave as expected. Departments like Macrodata Refinement, for example, also have no idea about what they really do, simply following vague instructions to do their jobs.

There is no way for an innie to quit their job, regardless of how disgruntled they may be. For example, Helly R. (Britt Lower) threatens to cut off her fingers and even attempts suicide to get her outie to resign, only for her resignation request to be denied, forcing Helly to spend a miserable existence at Lumon because she is "not a person." For innies, their lives are made up only of working hours, with the few leisure moments lasting little and happening only when someone hits their work quota. Healthcare mostly consists of "wellness sessions," in which a "wellness counselor," who is also a severed employee, reads to them fabricated facts about their outie's life.

In the outside world, institutions like the Whole Mind Collective fight against severance, mistakenly believing that employees are forced to undergo the procedure. Even so, many people frown upon it or simply find the whole thing weird. There is also a strong political lobby to legalize and widely implement severance, led by politicians like state senator Angelo Arteta (Ethan Flower).

The Reintegration Procedure Has Dangerous Side Effects

The opposite procedure to severance is known as reintegration. It's not recognized and officially considered impossible by the faceless Lumon Board, but it has happened once that we know of — to former severed employee Peter Kilmer (Yul Vazquez). It doesn’t involve removing the severance chip, but working around it to achieve "full synaptic recoupling" and, thus, reintegrate both innie and outie into a single consciousness.

Season 1 reveals that Kilmer's reintegration was surgically performed outside of Lumon by Dr. Reghabi (Karen Aldridge), a doctor who used to perform the severance procedure at Lumon. Kilmer eventually dies, possibly as a consequence of reintegration, but the motivation that led him to seek reintegration is one of Severance’s biggest mysteries, seeing how he and Reghabi were once Lumon employees who turned on the company. Perhaps Season 2 will finally shed more light on the controversial severance procedure and whether there can even be a way to successfully reverse it.

Severance is available to stream on Apple TV+ in the U.S., with Season 2 premiering January 17.

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