We’re all still reeling from that new episode of Severance, right? Well, thankfully, we’re not alone in that, as the series’ star, Adam Scott, was also taken aback and blown away by the — major spoiler alert here, folks! — reveal of what Gemma (Dichen Lachman), Outie Mark’s wife (aka Miss Casey to the Innies) has been up to this whole time. And, as it turned out, it was all much weirder and more horrible than any of us could have ever imagined. Which was a real gut punch in juxtaposition to the other, pre-Lumon life insights we got into the couple before they ended up here.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Scott was effusive about all that came together in the series’ seventh episode, titled “Chikhai Bardo.” The name of the episode, a reference to the fourth stage of dying — a part of the journey through the liminal space between death and rebirth, according to certain Buddhist schools of thought — took on a chilling meaning when it was revealed to be emblazoned on a (Lumon-sent) card in the mail, with Gemma explaining that she started receiving them after their visit to the IVF clinic. It also felt brutally relevant to the way Gemma was living, trapped inside Lumon and severed into multiple Innies.

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‘Severance’ Finally Reveals What Happened to Mark’s Wife, Gemma

Since learning that not only was Gemma alive this whole time, but she is Ms. Casey, fans of ‘Severance’ have been dying to hear her story.

Adam Scott Praises Dichen Lachman, “Blown Away” By Her And The Episode’s Reveals

“Dichen is incredible — I’m just so blown away by her performance, seeing Gemma crawl through broken glass for so long,” Scott explained to EW. And indeed Gemma did: her several Innies experienced so much pain and trauma — both physical and mental, all at the hands of a doctor (Robby Benson) who was in love with her, the puppet to his master. And for all the answers the episode gave us, well: it also gave us a million more questions about Lumon and the world around them, and a far deeper worry about Gemma/Miss Casey (and, frankly, the other Innies) than we already had before.
Scott was also effusive about the craft level of the episode, too, explaining to EW just how different it was in feel on-set in addition to on-screen. He described shooting the episode as “really interesting and completely separate from the rest of the show, as far as how we made it, what it was about. Just the timeline and the material itself was just lifting us up and dropping us into a different world entirely, so it was super fun.”
“Everything culturally about the show Severance changed when we made this episode,” he added, before elaborating:

“All the way down to the noise the cameras made was completely different. The equipment was different, and so we needed to shift how we made the show, and I think it looks beautiful. I think Jess[ica Lee Gagneé, the series’ cinematographer who directed the episode] did an unbelievable job.”

And we, frankly, couldn’t agree more. There’s so much more to say about the game-changing episode, but we’re also bracing ourselves for what is sure to be a killer episode eight. Given that it’s only 37 minutes long (compared to this episode’s 50 minute runtime), we’re sure it will be small but mighty after all that we learned here.
Source:
Entertainment Weekly

Severance

Release Date

February 18, 2022

Showrunner

Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman

Writers

Dan Erickson