Severance Season 2 Finally Reveals What Macrodata Refinement Is Doing

Spoilers For the “department” of Season 2 Episode 7, “Chikhai Bardo,” lie ahead.

Well, it was wild, wasn’t it? “Chikhai Bardo” stands out as one of the most pivotal episodes of “Severance” Season 2, finally revealing what has been happening to Mark Scout (Adam Scott) and Gemma (Dichen Lachman). We already knew Gemma was still alive and working on the restricted floor of Lumon under her Innie identity as the Wellness Advisor, Mrs. Casey. But there’s so much more to uncover.

As with all things related to Lumon, the situation isn’t great for Gemma… but we could never have anticipated how dire it truly is. In short, Gemma is trapped in a form of hell. Specifically, multiple hells—her real Outie is effectively imprisoned in a mysterious part of the Lumon complex, where she is forced to spend all her existence in what appears to be the same room from her perspective. She’s endlessly stuck in unpleasant loops, such as enduring “Hromnice Day” routines, like visiting the dentist or writing countless thank-you notes for terrible Christmas gifts.

It’s a horrifying ordeal, and while we can only speculate whether she voluntarily entered this experiment or was deceived, coerced, or kidnapped, it’s clear that Gemma is suffering. However, her predicament does provide some answers to the show’s first and most enduring mystery: What exactly does the Macrodata Refinement department do?

Every room Gemma is forced to visit shares a name with the files Mark and the rest of the Macrodata Refinement (MDR) team work on. For example, the room for responding to Christmas gifts—a particularly unpleasant experience—is named Allentown. This is also the name of Mark’s “Freshman Fluke” ensemble, which he solved in record time, earning him a crystal head as a reward. Other rooms we see include Tumwater, Cairns, and Dranesville, which are also MDR file names. We even catch a glimpse of the dreaded Cold Harbor, a room Gemma has yet to visit, which is also a significant file for Mark’s team.

This suggests that the work of the MDR team is directly tied to the experiences of Gemma and her fellow Innie counterparts. Previously, we were led to believe that the files and the emotions they evoke are linked to Kier Eagan’s four core principles: Woe, Frolic, Dread, and Malice. Dr. Robby Benson, who oversees Gemma, specifically asks if she feels emotions akin to these (despair, enthusiasm, and gaiety), hinting that the purpose of these experiments is to evoke the same emotions the MDR team uses to refine their corresponding files.

For a show that prides itself on being a triple-layered mind-bender, the revelations in “Chikhai Bardo” are staggering. It confirms that, whatever else is happening, the efforts of the MDR team are intrinsically tied to Gemma’s suffering. Moreover, her connection to Mark appears to be a key component of Lumon’s undoubtedly sinister plans.