### *Severance* Season 2, Episode 7 Reveals Astonishing Realities
Episode 7 of *Severance* Season 2, titled [“Chikhai Bardo,”](https://mashable.com/article/severance-showrunner-dan-erickson-interview-season-2-episode-7-gemma) presents significant discoveries regarding Lumon’s enigmatic testing floor. The episode confirms that Mark’s (Adam Scott) spouse, Gemma (Dichen Lachman), is the target of unsettling severance-related experiments. These alarming tests not only clarify Lumon’s ultimate objectives but also unravel some of the series’ most significant enigma.
From the importance of MDR’s file designations to the return of the ideographic cards from Season 1, let’s delve into Gemma’s distressing experience in *Chikhai Bardo*.
—
### What Is Being Done to Gemma on Lumon’s Testing Floor?
To start with some positive news: Although Gemma has been severed into Ms. Casey, she maintains her Outie’s memories while present on the testing floor. This indicates she recollects her existence outside Lumon, including her union with Mark. The episode provides flashbacks of their bond, from their delightful initial encounter to their painful fertility challenges. Notably, none of these flashbacks depict Gemma dying in a car accident, implying that Lumon didn’t bring her back to life but rather faked her demise and captured her.
Now for the less encouraging news. Gemma finds herself confined on the testing floor under the surveillance of the malevolent Cecily (Sandra Bernhard) and Dr. Mauer (Robby Benson). They administer strange tests, extracting her blood and posing unsettling queries like, *“If you were caught in a mudslide, would you be more afraid of suffocating or drowning?”* They also guide her through various rooms where each of her new Innie identities faces harrowing experiences, including a painful dental procedure or a turbulent flight. These rooms contain some of the episode’s most significant disclosures—starting with their designations.
—
### The Testing Floor Rooms Are Named After MDR Files
Every door on the testing floor is labeled with the name of an MDR file that the team has been working on throughout the series. These include:
– **Allentown** (Mark’s file)
– **Tumwater** (Dylan’s file)
– **Siena** (Helly’s file)
– **Cold Harbor** (Mark’s current file, which Gemma has not yet accessed)
Dr. Mauer informs Gemma that once she enters Cold Harbor, *“You will see the world again, and the world will see you.”* But is Lumon truly trustworthy?
The link between the MDR files and the testing floor raises numerous inquiries. How does the MDR team’s work factor into these rooms? Since the numbers in the files align with Kier’s Four Tempers—woe, dread, frolic, and malice—could the refining process be adjusting Gemma’s emotional reactions? Are the MDR employees unknowingly creating these rooms, or are they harmonizing the Tempers within each of Gemma’s Innies?
Another enigma: If Cold Harbor is the final space Gemma needs to enter, what are the other MDR employees refining while Mark is focused on it? Are there others like Gemma undergoing these tests, or is the MDR team merely being occupied to keep Mark in place?
—
### The Testing Floor Rooms Are Crafted to Be Intolerable
Each room on the testing floor compels Gemma’s Innies to face universally unpleasant tasks—dental work, flight disturbances, even writing endless Christmas thank-you cards. While these activities may seem trivial, consider being caught in a loop of endlessly repeating them.
It seems Lumon is exploring the concept of severing individuals into multiple Innies, each allocated to a specific unpleasant chore. This could enable people to eradicate not only work but any aspect of life they find intolerable.
Dr. Mauer alludes to this when he states to Gemma, *“Mark will benefit from the world you’re siring. Kier will take away all his pain just as Kier has taken away yours.”* But is Lumon genuinely removing pain, or are they merely transferring it onto defenseless Innies, sentencing them to eternal torment? If people separate themselves from every unpleasant experience, how much of their existence is authentically their own?
—
### Lumon Is Assessing the Severance Barrier’s Limits
As Gemma is subjected to these tests repeatedly, Cecily and Dr. Mauer inquire if she recalls anything from the rooms or experiences any residual emotions. While she does not mentally remember the events, she experiences physical aftereffects—her teeth throb after the dental checkup, and her hand aches after writing Christmas cards.
This indicates that Lumon is examining whether sever