@moretal
In the flashback of the night of Gemma's accident- Gemma asks Mark if he wants to come with her. He refuses, saying that he doesn't want to play charades. She says it'll just be 20 minutes of it. She then asks if she should stay. He says she should go because he has to finish his work anyway. So she tries in two different ways to be with him that night. Her goodbye doesn't seem to indicate that she was planning on doing anything that night that's related to Lumon, which probably means that she didn't volunteer to be severed and certainly not on that night. Also, if she did volunteer to be severed, why would she do it without Mark being aware? It seems more plausible that Lumon either caused the accident or intercepted her on the way and then faked the accident.
@kev.884
On Gemma’s hand writing — When she’s doing the christmas cards, she’s writing with her left hand. When she fills out the intake form at the fertility clinic, she’s writing with her right hand. They could be forcing her to write left handed or maybe she’s written so much with her right that she switched to left.
@gmj_videos
30:40: One point of clarification - you see earlier in the episode when Gemma is filling out the form at the fertility clinic that she is right-handed, so the reason the thank you cards are illegible is because they are making her write with her non-dominant left hand. Felt like maybe they were doing that to make the task in that room more stressful similar to the stressful situations we saw in the other rooms?
@jennybee42
I have heard many people say they think Cold Harbor is Gemma's death or near death experience. As someone who has had many miscarriages and gone through IVF, my hell on earth was knowing I was pregnant with a baby girl and losing her. I hope I'm wrong but Cold Harbor might be torturing her with that.
@meganchambers8108
An innie who's whole life is the dentist is one of the most horrifying things I can fathom.
@Aintitdoe
As a black woman, I really appreciated Zachariah’s take. Thank you for giving that translation of what our AAPE terms “uppity”. This show finds a way, without pushing the obvious connotations and to subtlety place the racial undertones of what it means to be a black person (Seth, Natalie, and Dylan) and the amount of hard work and code switching we have to do in the real world just to be accepted and seen as equal to our peers in employment.
@sethlandis93
26:09 I just can’t come to the conclusion that Gemma would willingly fake her own death and put Mark through that even if she was promised a child. It would add a level of dishonesty to her character that I just don’t see.
@AllInTheGame01
What an episode! S/O cinematographer Jessica Lee Gagné on her directorial debut!
@nataliafrese1526
Seriously guys, as soon as I saw what they were doing to Gemma I thought of you and your little joke about what would you sever out of your life... There you go, we have the whole buffet to choose from! On the other hand this might be the best podcast about the best episode of TV I ever saw! I was devastated after this episode and I needed someone to help me make sense of it. And oh boy! you make so much sense, and so many connections, and so many great points! It was like therapy after trauma! What Cold Harbor might be about? I froze when I realised! What is the worst, most dreaded experience that nobody wants to have? Death!
@SteveMaine207
Yes, it meant the severance barrier was working. I believe this was Cobel's entire reasoning for bringing Ms Casey to the severed floor instead of only having Gemma go through just the rooms like past failed test subjects. To test the efficacy of the barrier they had tweaked. She was looking for signs of memory bleed through. This is why she was always watching so intently through cameras when she created situations for them to be together on the floor. I also think the goat people could be past failed test subjects that they can't allow back out in the real world. That's why they are always there like Petey said. Those people didn't come to work daily dressed in those dirty tattered outfits looking as disheveled as they were if they were going home every evening. The outie wouldn't purposely dress them like that. Helly already confirmed that Helena chooses what she has to wear everyday.
@konyoutube9
Wow this is my first video of yours and you both were so insightful, I really enjoyed your ideas. I have some catching up to do. This was definitely one of the best hours of TV I’ve ever watched.
@MultiTaurean
that episode was so heartbreaking I felt a lot of anger that lumon used Gemma as a guinea pig while telling mark that she's dead ...when she's alive right in front of him !!
@cthomer5000
As i was watching the episode i was thinking you two absolutely HAVE To address the Dollhouse element of this show and Dichen Lachman. Thank you!
@lindaburnett3
Perhaps Gemma & Mark will become parents after all as I think Helly/Helena may indeed be pregnant with Mark's baby but maybe after the baby is born, she will ultimately sacrifice herself in some major way (maybe even die if necessary) as a penance (for all the harm she's caused to this world) and then Gemma & Mark will raise Helly/Helena & Mark's child. Also without Lumen's sabotage, Gemma may be able to give birth to her own baby with Mark. A happy blended family always grateful to Helena/Helly for the sacrifices she made in order to rescue Gemma and bring Lumen to it's knees! I've had this idea for a few weeks and episode 7 plays right into my theory. We would have to wait for it though, because it sounds like a perfect ending for the entire series. Though it would be tragic for Helena/Helly, it would make for a logical and satisfying conclusion overall.
@eriwantie
I think Gemma was chosen because of her mental/spiritual potential to break the Severence procedure or "keep it from holding". They're testing on her so specifically - her mind works in a different and deeper way than most people's. Also this episode being tied to the Bardo's, also psychedelic experienced are compared to the death experience. It was sooo trippy the way it was filmed and the whole journey into consciousness/the mind - I think they're testing Mark and Gemma specifically because of the way their bond and Gemma's mind has the potential to transcend - can severance "trap" you into constantly reincarnating? Never able to pass out of this experience and move onto higher states of consciousness? Also SO HAPPY someone mentioned the OA. I loved it and the way it too dives into exploring consciousness and different realities and transcendence in the spiritual realm.
@JakobStrasser
Damon was so right about how we didn't really care about Mark and Gemma before this episode. He was so close to predicting this entire episode.
@rebeccacostello7382
Totally disagree, Gemma was not going to Lumon voluntarily. She suggested that she stay home instead and invited mark to go with her.
@daisychains512
Random thought: Mark says he identified and confirmed her body, but we’ve seen how Lumon can create look a-likes (when they were walking through that creepy wax museum in season 1 and when they were on the ORTBO)
@dhyatt1080
I think Gemma is right handed based on her filling out the fertility clinic paperwork. Making her write left handed is probably just another evil twist.
@Dani-rz8dj