Either they weee spying on them the whole time at their house, or they interrogated Gemma about her life when she first arrived. Maybe through torture or maybe just oretendijg to be doing therapy or something. The dentist and the thank you notes seem like basic things that someone would say if asked “name the top five things you hate…”. The crib is so specific that it could only come up in therapy or if they were spying on them. The fact that the crib was the exact same make/model (as was the screwdriver) suggest that they were spying on them, unless this is a Soviet type world in which there is little consumer choice so everyone owns basically the exact same stuff. (This was one of the weirdest things for me when I lived in Russia — you’d see something that seemed very unique, like a china set with bright orange flowers, and then realize basically everyone had the exact same set because there wax on factory that made tea cups and that was the pattern they had used for a specific period of time.). I think I tend towards Lumpn was spying on them, since it seems that Lumon had tracked Mark and Gemma as being the ideal Guinea pigs from probably a year before. And I think we can probably also blame Gemma’s infertility and miscarriage on Lumon, since we know they have a special nyetest in breeding programs (human and goat). |
Are you being serious? You should go back and rewatch the episode - you missed a lot! He was Mark S inside the cabin, and Mark Scout outside of the cabin. That's why he kept stepping through the door. Lumen rigged the cabin to be a place where severed women could give birth - but their innies would give birth so their outies wouldn't have to. But really - you should go back and rewatch. |
Because Gemma and Mark were going to a Lumon fertility clinic, so they had all the medical records. And also probably Lumon had surveillance inside their house. We have to presume these two were being groomed for this for a long time - since they met while donating blood at that Lumon blood drive. It's very likely they are in a town where everything is Lumon - the homes, the doctors, the university they were teaching at, etc. We don't know that part though. |
Definitely. It really seems like there an internal battle going on between his outward mask of obsequience and his inner core personality, which is strong and confident and smart. I assume there is some reason why he is wearing that mask and playing this game despite the obvious racism at Lumon. (Because he’s not just playing the game, he is excelling at it, and working like a freakin’ Olympian to do so, see for example his incredible marching band flash mob dance.). It may be limited economic opportunities elsewhere. It may be that he’s a really deeply placed undercover spy. It may be that they have his family or something in some awkward position. Or it may be that he was raised in some creepy boys home run by the cult. He’s clearly reaching a breaking point, so I think the question is whether he ends up advancing beyond his pointless useless middle managers to take a more powerful role in Lumon, or whether he joins forces with the people trying to break Lumon. I don’t think he knows yet. The death of Mr Drummond might meaningfully change things for him. Separately, can I just say how much I loved Dylan’s outie’s response to his resignation request? It was so Dylan G. At the core, although they’ve had different experiences, they are really the same people. Inside or out, Dylan is a fundamentally decent, loving, loyal guy. And inside or out, Mark is the kind of person that is a little self-preoccupied or clueless, but also is loyal, worries about others, and has a high baseline level of skepticism. And inside or out, Helly is a badass with a core of steel running through her but a longing to be loved. Irving is the only one whose innie and outie seemed to me to be very different. |
+1 The door of the cabin has the same capability as the elevator to the severed floor. |
PP here, thank you! I need to watch the Mark and Gemma episode again. I can’t figure out why these two people are both so important to this giant international conglomerate. Also, the spying on people in therapy is VERY reminiscent of Scientology. |
When they made Kier black I was done. Hilarious. |
I see you really took that call for civility to heart. I guess we all have our limitations. |
I thought they met sitting next to each other at the library, when he was grading papers? |
A sad thing about marriage, is that innie Dylan seems to not take his wife for granted , because she is new to him. What is the story behind Irving’s father, who left behind those clues? |
No, they were at a blood drive and grading papers while they were waiting. A sharp eyed viewer noted the lumon markings on the equipment (I missed that). So it’s possible Lumon was looking for something specific genetically, and those two had it. Or possible they just later picked them out during the fertility process as a well bonded couple. I can’t remember the details now of the miscarriage—is there any chance that Lumon saved the fetus? Another possibility is that she was pregnant when they took her, and that a severed Gemma carried and birthed the baby so that outie Gemma doesn’t even know she was pregnant. They had her for quite a while before Mark was severed. |
The connection with be blood drive and the finale is interesting.
The Eagons are so severed from their own humanity that they seek to control life itself. Drummond’s death is significant. It’s an ambivalent death in an elevator where the one who pulled the trigger was unaware of the situation and yet the entire lead up is why the trigger is pulled. His blood on the tip of a tie worn by an outsider-insider is the key to free Gemma from her physical and mental prison. The blood is so far removed from his physical person and humanity that it’s a stain on corporate appearance and that it is used to take down the barriers he uses to imprison is telling. He does not matter anymore (recall the elevator doors and his feet) and is merely biological waste someone will have to clean up. Milchick hopefully gets out or aids in dismantling the system before it’s too late for him. He stood on a stage next to a statute only to be mocked by the fantasy he works so hard to please. His real audience is off screen and watching a woman dismantle a crib. Irving and Gemma are my favorite characters at this point. |
When Mark had that gun gonna down the elevator, I thought — well this seems unlikely to end well. I thought Drummond would grab the gun at the second Mark transitioned but I guess too bad for Drummond that Mark is a twitchy transitioner. I wonder how many goats they’ve sacrificed in the past. I guess at least some since that first goat guy said so frantically “he’s not ready!” I’d also really like confirmation as to whether the goat raisers are severed. They seem severed, in that they seem to not have a lot of perspective outside goat raising but I guess they could be permanently severed — maybe Lumon runs llle a prison program or something where they can permanently sever people. |
Yes! The relationships between each innie/outie pair are so interesting and varied. In some ways, they mirror our own self-perceptions and the "we we are" in different aspect of our lives (thanks, Ryken). Dylan's outie takes Gretchen and his kids for granted; he's sleepwalking through life. Yet, he senses that he could be more like his innie -- the man Gretchen sees and relates to and is falling in love with. Mark Scout (outie) also tells Mark S (innie) that he was taking Gemma and their marriage for granted. How many of us are sleepwalking through different parts or our lives and missing the love and beauty around us? |
I’m not wrong. |