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Lumon Industries
Macrodata Refinement Division (M.D.R.)
Helly
Helly "R"/Helena Eagan
Portrayed By: Britt Lower
A new employee hired to replace Petey. She struggles to adjust to life on the severed floor.
- Asshole Victim: Outie Helly suffers a horrific experience when innie Helly hangs them both, but she is a monster who threatened to torture her innie and the finale reveals she is planning even greater evil with her family.
- Audience Surrogate: As the newest employee on the floor, she asks the most questions about the severance process and about Lumon as a company, which her coworkers are quick to answer (to the best of their ability).
- Bullying a Dragon: While Innie!Helly isn't really a danger for anyone else, she is one for Outie!Helly, since everything she does to herself she also does to her outie (and she's willing to go pretty far to end her miserable existence) - yet the latter still thinks it's a good idea to demoralize her.
- Bungled Suicide: Helly tries to commit suicide to get herself out of her job; however, she's found in time and given medical attention.
- Create Your Own Hero: Helena Eagan's attempt to prove that severance is a safe and effective procedure by undergoing it herself created Helly R., a new version of herself who is just as driven and clever but has none of the loyalty to her family and company. From the moment she first wakes up, Helly immediately begins trying to take down her captors.
- The Determinator: Helly R. is completely devoted to escaping Lumon, to the point where she'd rather die than obey, even under the orders of her own outie. At first this causes friction with the other MDR team members but eventually they join her.
- Deuteragonist: She is the first character we meet in the show before we know anything about the setting, she serves as the Audience Surrogate to the severed offices, and for the first 4 or so episodes, it's her attempts to leave that drive the plotline inside the Lumon office initially. It isn't until her attempted suicide and Irving meets Burt that the other members of MDR begin to gain concerns other than refining numbers.
- Didn't Think This Through: Helly's outie. If your innie would rather cease to exist (effectively dying) than continue her severed life, and you are the person who is ultimately responsible that she can't, what exactly is stopping her from physically committing suicide (and thus taking you with her) during the time when she's 100% in control of your body's actions?
- Evil Counterpart: Helena Eagan is one to the other outies. She is the only severed floor employee who is shown to be outwardly aggressive and vicious to her innie.
- Fiery Redhead: Is the only redhead in the cast, and, as a new recruit, she repeatedly tries to escape, is in denial about the reality of being an innie, and has a sharp wit.
- Foil: Interestingly, she is a bit of one to Irving. Her innie absolutely hates her life situation as essentially a slave to Lumon with no way out while Innie Irving is 100% loyal to Lumon and is generally the voice that protests any rule breaking. Comparatively, Outtie Helly, or rather Helena Eagan, is doing her damnedest to push severance and is the heir apparent to the Kier dynasty. Outtie Irving on the other hand is doing everything he can to bring Lumon down.
- Foreshadowing: Outie Helly's identity is hinted at by Milchik emphasising the honour of Helena joining the Severance Floor, and the fact that Helena is desperate enough to promote severance that she'll risk death and disfigurement.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Innie Helly is driven to despair at the realization that her outie self doesn't consider her human.
- Helpless Good Side: Helly suffers at the hands of her outie, who is the only one shown to be overtly malevolent to her innie.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Helena's scheme to prove the alleged safety of the severance procedure ends up getting herself injured and nearly killed by her other self.
- Hyde Plays Jekyll: Helly R pretends to be Helena Eagan at the Eagan Family Gala in the season 1 finale.
- Jekyll & Hyde: Helly R knows she has an outie, but doesn't learn who she is until the season 1 finale - Helena Eagan, a high-ranking member of the Eagan family, and a fanatical believer in severance who is determined to not only keep innies enslaved but to widen the net of severance in general.
- Meaningful Name: "Helena" means "shining light" and could refer to both her privileged status and the way she plans to "shed light" on Lumon's work practices. "Helly R." is similar to "Hell," which she mentions multiple times when describing Lumon, and aligns with her nature as a Fiery Redhead and a "hellraiser."
- Naïve Newcomer: The audience learns about the work at Lumon through her eyes as a newcomer.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The protests against Severance seem to be fringe at best. But Helena made herself an innie, and that innie, Helly R, managed to be freed at the worst time, allowing her to speak up against the torture of severance in front of a crowd.
- No Sympathy: Outie Helly's official recording of her refusal to resign and allow her innie self to leave is so actively nasty and unforgiving of her innie's plight that it manages to spark a full-on Despair Event Horizon for her. In the Season 1 finale, it's revealed that she's so cruel because outie Helly is actually Helena Eagan, the daughter of Lumon's CEO, and her undergoing severance was part of a PR stunt to "prove" severance's benefits.
- Only Sane Employee: Helly is not nearly as willing as her colleagues to accept the hell of life at Lumon, and takes every opportunity to rebel. Of course, this may just be due to her being new, and not nearly as broken or brainwashed as the others.
- The Reveal: Her outie is Lumon CEO Jame Eagan's daughter Helena. Helena's callousness towards Helly is due to the fact that she severed herself as a PR move to "prove" severance is "safe".
- Splash of Color: She wears fairly brightly-colored clothing in contrast to the drab colors of her colleagues and the severed floor itself. Plus, she's a redhead in a workplace filled with dark-haired colleagues.
- Wrong Line of Work: She does not want to be working for Lumon, and from minute one she does everything she can think of to escape.
Mark
Mark Scout
Portrayed By: Adam Scott
Part of the Macrodata Refinement division on Lumon's severed floor. He's promoted to department lead at the beginning of the series. In the outside world, Mark used to be a Professor of History at Ganz College specializing in World War I. But the sudden death of his wife, Gemma, in a car accident sent him into a spiral of depression and alcohol abuse. He eventually sought out the Severance procedure in an attempt to escape the trauma of her death.
- The Alcoholic: Any time he is out of the office, there's a good chance there's a drink in his hand. His sister and his boss express concern and disapproval, respectively, for his drinking habits.
- It actually serves as something of a big deal when we see him not drinking alcohol when he could. During his second date with Alexa, he sticks with water even while she has wine, showing that he's trying to make the date work this time.
- Benevolent Boss: He's the head of Macrodata Refinement and initially seems like a complacent stickler to the rules, but as early as episode 2 he's willing to throw himself under the bus to spare his underlings from punishment. He also repeatedly tries to warn Helly off from actions that will get her in serious trouble, such as when he catches her trying to smuggle out a message by swallowing it and informs her what the consequences of such an action would be.
- Berserk Button: At first, Mark's outie seems to take slights against the severance procedure personally. After remaining apathetic and detached through most of the dinner party at Ricken's house, he suddenly becomes combative when one of the guests implies that his work self is "trapped". He also drunkenly confronts an activist handing out anti-Lumon flyers. He quickly sheds this trait as his suspicions about Lumon grow.
- Character Development: Innie Mark and Outie Mark both get opportunities for character growth. Innie Mark is a complacent company drone who learns to be caring and protective of his colleagues, whereas Outie Mark is a deeply depressed man who starts to climb out of his rut once he becomes aware of the massive conspiracy he's embroiled in.
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: Innie Mark is very blase about the severed floor's creepy aspects, much to Helly's consternation.
- Cruel Mercy: Outie Mark clearly sees severance as this. Sure, it might be torture, but it's at least a respite from the knowledge of his wife Gemma's death, so he's not that sympathetic to his innie's plight.
- Damned by Faint Praise: Perhaps less dramatic than "damned", but when outie!Mark asks Petey what their relationship was inside Lumon's office, Petey states that he is Mark's best friend. He then pauses a second and states that also Mark was his very good friend.
- The Eeyore: Outie Mark is a barely functional sad sack who mourns his wife's untimely death.
- Functional Addict: He's a heavy drinker outside the office, yet still manages to report to work on time. At one point it's noted he's hungover, but without any real note of blame due to the circumstances being beyond an innie's control.
- Hyde Plays Jekyll: He pretends to be Outie Mark at Ricken's book party in the season finale.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Outie Mark is introduced helplessly sobbing in his car in the Lumon parking lot.
- Meaningful Name: Scout, as in "a person sent ahead for reconnaissance". Mark's innie and outie are both investigating the goings-on at Lumon, albeit from different ends. Also, "Mark" referring to someone who makes an impact or a wound, and Mark both suffers a lot and is the protagonist.
- Messy Hair: Outie Mark's depression manifests in a disheveled appearance, complete with bed hair.
- The Mourning After: Mark lost his wife Gemma a couple of years ago and has clearly nowhere near recovered from her death.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: It's a notable moment when Mark chooses not to drink. Particularly during his second date with Alexa. It appears to be a good sign that he's beginning to move on from Gemma's death after being stuck in a rut for so long.
- Protagonist: Mark is the Lumon employee with the most focus time. Outside of Lumon, he's largely the only character we see, so compared to his coworkers, he gets two plotlines. Even two character arcs; Outtie Mark is dealing with depression over the death of his wife and also potentially getting wrapped up in a dangerous conspiracy when his reintegrated coworker tracks him down to tell him about shifty things happening within Lumon. Innie Mark begins the story as little more than a corporate drone who is suddenly unwillingly shifted into being the manager for his department and has to choose between blind obedience to his employers and truly taking care of his team.
- Stepford Snarker: One of these both inside the severed floor and outside of it, though for different reasons. Outie Mark's is driven both by his chronic depression and the death of his wife two years prior to the start of the series, while innie Mark's seems to be driven more by a desire to not have to face the true misery of his work and his circumstances.
- Sketchy Successor: In-universe. Nobody who knew Petey is happy when Mark is suddenly promoted, and all make it clear that they don't think he'll be as good as Petey at the job, least of all Mark himself. They do eventually bond, though.
- The Un-Smile: Innie Mark isn't particularly great at expressing his emotions towards other people, or even really empathizing with them on a deeper than surface level, which means that his attempts to express specific emotions when prompted to do so is rather... lacking, to say the least. Even Mr. Milchick is rather unnerved by his various attempts at 'kind eyes' in the aftermath of Helly's hanging, though Helly herself doesn't seem to be particularly fazed. When he genuinely starts smiling over Helly, Dylan instantly notices something's up.
- Went Crazy When They Left: Mark still hasn't recovered from his wife's death, or at least her apparent death. His Innie is also shaken up when his best friend Petey suddenly goes missing, and though not the only reason for him developing a rebellious streak, it does help kick it off.
- Wistful Amnesia: Innie Mark still mourns Gemma at some level, even if he's not aware of it. Petey notes that Mark was visibly but unknowingly sad even at the office, and in a therapy session Innie Mark sculpts the tree at the location of Gemma's death.
Irving
Irving Baliff
Portrayed By: John Turturro
A long-serving member of the severed floor. His innie self is a true believer in Lumon and its founder.
- Amnesia Missed a Spot: Unlike his colleagues, Irving's severance has an overt bleed-through of memories. His innie repeatedly hallucinates a black ooze he sees dripping from the ceiling, which is the black paint his outie uses when painting the office's corridors.
- Blind Obedience: Irving has sunk into semi-religious devotion for Lumon.
- Character Development: Innie Irving's love for Burt awakens a rebellious streak within him.
- Cool Old Guy: In contrast to his prim Innie self, his Outie is this. According to the facts Ms. Casey reads out, he frequently goes dancing, and is "quite skilled at kissing and lovemaking". When we actually meet his Outie, we see he's an artist who wears a black leather jacket and paint-splattered jeans, paints while blasting Motörhead, and most impressively, is actively compiling information to try and take down Lumon from the inside.
- Foil: Interestingly, he is a bit of one for Helly. Innie Helly absolutely hates her life situation as essentially a slave to Lumon with no way out while Innie Irving is 100% loyal to Lumon and is generally the one that protests any rule breaking. Comparatively, Outtie Helly, or rather Helena Eagan, is doing her damnedest to push severance and is the heir apparent to the Kier dynasty. Outtie Irving on the other hand is doing everything he can to bring Lumon down.
- Irony: His innie self is a passionate believer in Lumon and Kier, while his outie self is working to bring it all down.
- Love Redeems: Though never a bad guy, he was fanatically loyal to the company. Once he meets and falls for Burt, he becomes more willing to bend the rules and turns against Lumon in response to his retirement.
- Meaningful Name: A bailiff is a court official who keeps order, and Irving is a big stickler for the rules at Lumon.
- One-Track-Minded Artist: His outie has been painting the same image of the control room corridor (the one seen towards the end of the first season, when Ms Casey is retired) over and over; hinting at him having some deeper connection to that place.
- Precision F-Strike: After being extremely formal for the entire season, in Defiant Jazz, he calls Milchik (who he has always been extremely deferential to) a motherfucker to his face after finding out that Burt is retiring (which for all intents and purposes means the death of Innie Burt).
- The Reveal: His outie self is an anti-severance activist, and has been compiling a list of severed employee's full names and their outies' locations.
- Rules Lawyer: He knows the handbook by heart, and is always the first to voice his objections when someone so much as scuffs at the rules.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: All the employees dress up for work, but Irving goes the extra mile by always wearing a three-piece suit.
- Team Dad: He at least sees himself as this to the other MDR innies. He invokes the Catchphrase of "Hey kids, what's for dinner?" when greeting the others, which Mark and Dylan reject.
- Went Crazy When They Left: Irving losing Burt leaves him determined to rebel.
Dylan
Dylan George
Portrayed By: Zach Cherry
A member of the Macrodata Refinement division. He's highly motivated by the trinkets and treats dangled by management.
- Abhorrent Admirer: Has a crush on Ms. Casey who is clearly out of his league. She feels uncomfortable with him hitting on her.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: He is shown taking comfort in thinking about what his outie might be doing or who he might be, but he doesn't take well to finding out anything about it in real life.
- Bread and Circuses: Of the MDR team, Dylan is the most focused on the incentives employees receive. He's intent on earning a waffle party, and proud of his collection of Chinese finger traps because they symbolize how many files he's been able to complete.
- Foreshadowing: After Helly comes back from the Break Room, Dylan mentions you can trick the machine by thinking of something completely different that you are sorry about. This shows he is far more perceptive and capable of rebelling than he first appears.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He chooses to hold the switches open as Milchick attempts to bribe him, first with perks and then with information about his kids (which he desperately wants). He nevertheless chooses to ignore Milchick and hold them open for as long as possible.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a rather abrasive man, frequently insulting others and having just a standoffish attitude in general. However, he also opts to take the huge risk of waking up their innies, rather than trying to wake up himself, so that they can also have a chance to experience their real lives.
- Love Redeems: Though not a bad guy, but he was fine following the company's orders until learning of his son on the outside world. Though he only saw him for just a few seconds, parental love quickly overcame him and causing him to rebel.
- Papa Wolf: The revelation that he has a son leaves him reeling in rage and despair, desperate to learn anything he can about his son.
- Rage Breaking Point: After being exposed to his outie self's life, innie Dylan starts seething with anger over Milchick's refusal to provide any details, which results in Dylan tackling Milchick and biting him in desperation to make any kind of meaningful rebellion against Lumon.
- Serious Business: He is the MDR worker most obsessed with various employee perks.
Petey
Peter "Petey" Kilmer
Portrayed By: Yul Vazquez
Mark's predecessor as head of Macrodata Refinement. He resigned from the severed floor after having his brain reintegrated.
- Deus Exit Machina: Petey is the character with both the best awareness and insight into what exactly is going on, so he's not around more than a few episodes.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: The "revelation" here occurs in a more general sense. He was reintegrated, so he's aware of his innie and outie lives simultaneously, and knowing the bizarre nature of his innie existence drives him mad because he still can't understand what goes on in Lumon's severed areas, and what we see of him suggests that he literally experiences two different planes of reality simultaneously.
- He Knows Too Much: Reintegration shouldn't be possible, so Petey can't last too long, at least in Harmony's mind.
- These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know: Petey has not taken well to being able to experience both his innie and outie lives, which has left him with both emotional and physical problems.
- Unperson: What happens to Petey, a former employee of Lumon. He's replaced swiftly, and new employee group photos are taken with his replacement as soon as possible.
Upper Management
Cobel
Harmony Cobel/Mrs. Selvig
Portrayed By: Patricia Arquette
Mark's boss at Lumon.
- Beneath Suspicion: As Mrs. Selvig, she goes to extreme lengths to seem harmless, clueless, and affable. In reality, she's Lumon's true believer.
- Break the Haughty: After her spectacular Villainous Breakdown in Episode 8, she is shown sobbing on the floor of her basement, seeming to have lost all of her faith in Kier Eagan. Even when she switches back to her alternate persona as Mrs. Selvig, her kindness towards others at the book-reading get-together appears less feigned and more genuine. Even encouraging Mark’s decision to quit working at Lumon when he announces it. Subverted when she realizes that the innies’ personas have overtaken the outies’, but even then she is more nerve-wracked and distressed when she is trying to screw over the innies during the season finale.
- Cult of Personality: She worships Kier Eagan, invoking his name like God's, and prays to a shrine of him that she keeps at home.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Although she has ample opportunity, she doesn't ever actually harm Eleanor and apparently legitimately helped Devon learn how to breastfeed.
- Evil Minion: Though she initially appears to be the Big Bad, easily displaying her power and authority over Mark, it becomes clear that she is little more than a cog in the machine herself when she experiences a meeting with the board and a higher-ranked employee that was rather similar to Mark's earlier meeting with the board and her, complete with the board remaining completely silent the entire meeting. It becomes clear that she lacks much power beyond managing the severed floor. Indeed, by the end of the season, she is fired for not keeping MDR under control.
- Evil Is Petty: As Mrs. Selvig. She keeps "confusing" which trash and recycling bins go out and putting both of hers in Mark's space, much to his frustration.
- Faux Affably Evil: She's convincingly sweet when undercover as Mrs. Selvig, but it's all an act. This is Averted when at work, where Cobel rarely ever attempts to hide her disdain for those around her.
- Freudian Excuse: It’s heavily implied that she grew up in an orphanage run by the Eagan foundation, which instilled her furious loyalty to the man. Among the items in her shrine are also a hospital bracelet with her name and what seems to be some kind of breathing apparatus, hinting she's been through some severe illness (and, given the placement in the Shrine, likely thanks her recovery to "the glory of Kier").
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: After being fired, she is disillusioned with Lumon, even breaking her shrine for Kier, and wholeheartedly supports Mark when he talks about quitting. Then she spots the thread that the innies might be in control and snaps right back, doing everything in her power to stop them.
- Iron Lady: She's stern, no-nonsense, competent, and ruthless.
- Jerkass: An exceptionally unpleasant individual through and through.
- Manipulative Bitch: She'll say whatever she apparently feels will have the biggest impact she is going for. She tells Innie Mark that her mother was an athiest during one conversation, then later tells Outtie Mark that her mother was a devout Catholic. As we learn that she definitely isn't severed, she was clearly lying about one. Later episodes imply she was lying about both, as she was an orphan.
- Mean Boss: Very rude and insulting to her subordinates, diving into straight-up physical abuse when she throws her mug at Mark. Her casual warning to him before doing so makes it seem like such behavior isn't a first.
- Never Mess with Granny: Invoked. She is nowhere near "grandma" age (assuming she and her actress are the same age, she's mid-50s), but she seems to intentionally make herself look older when she's Mrs Selvig and to behave in a dimmer, more benevolent way. Far from the timid widow that Mrs. Selvig seems, she's a ruthless true believer, and looks much younger in her office wear as Harmony Cobel.
- The Reveal: She's not actually severed, and keeps close tabs on her employees, especially Mark, outside of office hours.
- Suddenly Shouting: Devolves into this more than once, shrieking in petulant rage in-between her normal eerie calmness when things don't go her way.
- Two Aliases, One Character: She's Ms. Cobel, Mark's boss at Lumon, and Mrs. Selvig, Mark's neighbor.
- Villainous Breakdown: Undergoes a HUGE one near the end of Episode 8 after she is unceremoniously fired for her incompetence concerning the incident with Helly attempting suicide. She arrives home in an animalistic fit of anger and disillusionment as she wrecks some of her furniture and demolishes her shrine.
- Would Not Hurt A Child: Despite how cruel she can be, she does not harm Eleanor and seems to actually help take care of her.
Milchick
Seth Milchick
Portrayed By: Tramell Tillman
The severed floor's enforcer, who uses a carrot-and-stick approach to maintain discipline.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Shows a certain level of discomfort at times with the colder and more ruthless Cobel.
- Bait the Dog: Milcheck appears to be willing to show some basic kindness (like giving them a impromptu party with a music selection of their choice) to Lumon employees, but it soon becomes apparent that even those small moments of kindness are insincere attempts to gaslight employees into thinking they company cares.
- Beneath the Mask: He's usually smiling, laughing, and attempting to persuade the employees with rewards, but when he's challenged we get to see his panicked and angry side, such as when Graner goes missing or he's attacked by Dylan.
- Bread and Circuses: He's the one who distributes treats to the severed staff to motivate them to focus on their work and not rock the boat.
- The Dragon: To Cobel. At least as far as managing employees go, Graner appears to be the one Cobel trusts more for other matters.
- Dragon Ascendant: Following Cobel's firing—which may have been, in part, Milchik's own doing—Milchik takes full control of the severed floor's operations.
- Faux Affably Evil: On the surface, he seems to be a very pleasant middle manager, and enjoys talking with Lumon's severed employees, especially new hires like Helly. This does not change the fact that he intentionally deceives outies about the nature of the work at Lumon, tricks them into re-entering the severed floor when their innies try to escape, and enforces Lumon's draconian rules on the rest of the innies. He and security guard Graner are among the few — possibly only — employees working on the severed floor who are NOT severed themselves.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: His attempts to give himself power or amusement tend to dramatically backfire against him towards the end of the show. Enjoying the
So Bad, It's Good elements of Ricken's book results in it making its way to Mark and instilling new anti-corporate feelings. Meanwhile, his manipulation of Dylan eventually results in Dylan attacking him in the office and successfully activating the Overtime Contingency for his friends. - Limited Wardrobe: Always wears a short-sleeved, white button-up shirt and black slacks, in contrast to all the other men in the office, who wear long sleeves and jackets. The only day he shakes it up, by wearing a white, long-sleeved turtleneck, is when he gets bitten in the arm. Justified by it being his work uniform.
- The Sociopath: Milchik frequently uses overt and subtle cruelties to keep the innies in line. He is also apparently incapable of understanding their emotions, as he believes shallow rewards could sway Dylan from his mission.
- The Un-Smile: Constantly flashes a unnervingly fake smile that doesn't reach his eyes. It borders on maniacal at times.
Optics & Design division (O.D.)
Burt
Burt G.
Portrayed By: Christopher Walken
- But Not Too Gay: Burt hits on Irving (who is receptive) when they're connecting over their passion for art; even though nothing comes of it beyond mere touching. Justified, since romantic bonding is against company policy and both are devoted employees. In his outie existence, Burt is in a relationship with another man.
- Cessation of Existence: A non fatal version, as he's not physically killed, but Irving notes his retirement is still the death of his Innie, given the Innies have no consciousness outside of work.
- Nice Guy: He's mild-mannered and pleasant to just about everyone, even someone as hostile as Dylan.
- The Tape Knew You Would Say That: Subverted. Burt's outie self recorded a farewell message to his innie self for his retirement, and playfully tries to interact with himself. However, innie Burt is standing on the wrong side of the screen, which causes some pleasant laughter among those gathered.
Other Staff (MAJOR UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Ms. Casey
Ms. Casey
Portrayed By: Dichen Lachman
A wellness counselor who supposedly looks after severed employees' mental health.
- Ambiguously Human: Ms. Casey is supremely strange, seeming to lack much in the way of traditional human empathy and being utterly focused on her job to the point where she becomes distressed if anything unexpected happens. Then there's Cobel's remark that she's trying something new with Ms. Casey, as if she's a pet being controlled. (Her uncannyness can be explained by her having been "offline" most of the time - since she has only been active for 107 hours, from her perspective she has only had a few days to adjust to her function inside Lumon.)
- Ambiguous Situation: The reveal that Ms. Casey is in fact Mark's supposedly dead wife raises a lot of questions about what is going on with her. Is she the real Gemma? Is she a clone or a robot? Why did Lumon (which almost certainly had something to do with her disappearance) take her?
- Desperately Craves Affection: She seemed to really want Helly to request a hug.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: In her sessions, Ms. Casey is forced to maintain a specifically icy, distant approach, but during her stay with MDR she slowly starts to show more emotions (something she admits to Mark in another conversation).
- Fate Worse than Death: Even compared to other employees, being a part-time Innie is gradually revealed to be particularly unsettling. She's only been "active" for 107 hours, shut down in-between each wellness session. And this doesn't even address what happens to her outie who has been active for the rest of the time: Unless she's in cahoots with Lumon and actively participates in the gaslighting of Mark, this would mean that she has been a full-time prisoner for years.
- Hidden Depths: She eventually privately admits to Mark that she's aware that she's a little odd and genuinely enjoyed herself among the MDR crew.
- The Lost Lenore: Her outie Gemma, Mark's late wife. Her death was the reason why Mark went through severance, since he thought it would help him process his grief better. It's eventually revealed that she is actually still alive...at least in some capacity, since she is now the severed wellness counselor Ms. Casey.
- The Reveal: She's actually Mark's "late" wife Gemma.
- The Stoic: Subverted. She's initially introduced as a stern HR extension of the company's corporate arm, with no empathy for her counseling subjects. However, she gradually reveals some warmth as she learns how to express her feelings.
- Two Aliases, One Character: Of a sort. Lumon therapist Miss Casey is also (or was, or has been) Mark's dead wife Gemma.
Graner
Mr. Graner
Portrayed By: Michael Cumpsty
Milchick's deputy, who plays bad cop to Milchick's good cop when it comes to enforcing the severed floor's rules.
- The Brute: He presents the most immediate physical threat to any severed workers who might try to escape, at the behest of Cobel and Lumon.
- The Dragon: While Milchik is generally the one Cobel calls on to make sure the severed employees aren't doing anything they shouldn't, Graner is the one she calls on for more cloak and dagger issues, particularly matters that she is hiding from her superiors, such as Petey's reintegrated chip. They appear to have something of a closer relationship than boss and employee.
- Hidden Depths: He seems to be attempting to strike a friendship (or more) with Cobel, but she shoots him down every time. This is remarkable in light of how frosty he is to everyone else.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: In the opening minutes of episode 7, he has his head bashed in with a baseball bat by Reghabi from behind when he goes to capture/kill her and is distracted by finding Mark.
The Eagan Family
The various descendants of Kier Eagan, the founder of Lumon Industries. The entire family has controlled the company for over one hundred years. The current head of the family is Jame Eagan.
- Believing Their Own Lies: When he finally appears in the finale, Jame quickly reveals that the Eagans have completely bought into their own propaganda as deities as he waxes poetically about the glory of Kier.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Eagans are subtly revealed to be this. There seem to be thousands of severed workers all around the country, but the Season 1 finale reveals that they want the whole world to be chipped.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Implied for Jame. It's not clear how much he himself is involved with operations or if he's even had any direct contact with Cobel or the others at all. The instructions Cobel gets are from "the Board," not him specifically, and usually passed on through Natalie.
- Posthumous Character: Many of the family has long since passed away, but their propaganda and influence on the modern company still permeates into the present. Kier, in particular, is much more present in the Lumon offices than the current CEO, Jame.
- Walking Spoiler: Their role in Lumon and their overarching plans for the severance program make them exceedingly difficult to talk about. Particularly that Helly is one of them.
The Outside World
Devon
Devon Hale
Portrayed By: Jen Tullock
Mark's sister.
- Deadpan Snarker: Much like Mark, she's quick with an incisive quip.
- Not So Stoic: When she learns that the kindly Ms Selvig is in fact Mark's boss Ms Cobel, and Devon had just left her newborn baby with her, she has a Freak Out.
- Opposites Attract: It's not entirely clear what the grounded, deadpan Devon is doing with pretentious, new-age super-moron Ricken, but they're married with a child on the way.
- Spotting the Thread: Devon runs into Gabby after leaving the birthing cabins and realizes she doesn’t remember her, which causes her to research Gabby’s husband. When she learns that he is a state senator who supports severance, she realizes that Gabby underwent severance to avoid the pain of childbirth.
Ricken
Ricken Hale
Portrayed By: Michael Chernus
Devon's husband.
- Accidental Hero: It is fairly transparent that Ricken's book is boiler-plate at best and insipid at worst by our standards, but by the standards of Lumen Innies (who only have access to company-approved indoctrinating texts), his book's platitudes become (by complete happenstance) a highly subversive, borderline revolutionary text. On top of everything, he didn't even intend for the book to reach that particular audience in the first place.
- Bourgeois Bohemian: Apparently decently well-off from writing book and also fond of some very strange, vaguely progressive new-age beliefs.
- Dumbass Has a Point: While his book is one absurd platitude after another, there are some genuinely motivating words in there about valuing yourself over your job which help inspire the Innies to escape.
- Hidden Depths: There are a few hints here and there that Ricken is perfectly aware of how others — and Mark in particular — view him.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Is fairly affable and polite, but is this trope to a T. He speaks with the cadence of an intellectual, but what he actually says is nothing more than endless cliches. Same goes with his friends, although they make fewer appearances.
- Nice Guy: Ricken is not an easy person to like considering how pretentious he is, but he's pretty clearly non-malicious, he's sincere in his desire to help Mark, and he loves Devon.
- Opposites Attract: Somehow, new-agey dumbass Ricken ended up with down-to-earth snark machine Devon.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Giving Mark a copy of his own pretentious self-help book to help him through the grief of losing his wife is a tremendously dumb idea considering what we know about Mark, but the book finds its way to Lumon, and it actually does end up having a positive effect on Mark...or the innie Mark, anyway.
Alexa
Alexa
Portrayed By: Nikki M. James
Devon's midwife. Devon sets her and Mark up on a date that doesn't go particularly well, but the two later form a stronger connection after Devon has her baby.
- Bad Date: Her first date with Mark is rather awkward, partially due to Mark's heavy drinking and ends on a rather sour note when Mark starts harassing some college students protesting severance on their way home. Mark at least fully accepts culpability for it and didn't expect Alexa to give him a second chance. Fortunately, their second date goes much smoother.
Reghabi
Reghabi
Portrayed By: Karen Aldridge
A former Lumon surgeon, who got Petey reintegrated.
- Good Is Not Soft: As of the end of Season 1, she's the severance program's biggest obstacle and an ally to Mark and the innies (though the latter aren't yet aware of her). However, she is willing to beat Graner to death before he's done anything threatening in a way that clearly upsets outie Mark.
- Greater-Scope Paragon: She's managed to strike the biggest blow against Lumon so far and is Mark's most capable ally (although the innies don't know about her yet).
- Hero of Another Story: We haven't seen much of her, but her work developing reintegration and fighting against Lumon make her a genuine threat to them, and she's had an offscreen Heel–Face Turn that certainly feels like the origin story of a resistance hero.
- Small Role, Big Impact: If there ever was such a character, it's Reghabi. She's around for only five minutes in the entire season, but 1- she's the one who developed the reintegration proccess, something that shouldn't even be possible, 2- she got Petey reintegrated, letting him reach out to Mark and thus kickstarting the whole plot, and 3- she killed Graner and gave his access card to Mark, which enables the events of the finale.
