Warning! SPOILERS for Severance.
Severance season 1, episode 8 “What's for Dinner?” is a revelatory chapter in Ben Stiller's dark comedic dystopian tale of extreme work-life balance - here's every question and fan theory that the episode resolves. Indeed, the eighth episode of Severance confirms at least seven major theories that fans of the show have passed around online since the show started streaming on Apple TV+. This includes revelations about Severed Floor boss Harmony, a first look into the outie life of Macrodata refiner Irving, the extent to which employees' memories are controlled by Lumon's Severance Chip — and much more.
The episode's title “What's for Dinner?” is actually a reference to one of Irving's lines early in the series. As the oldest severed worker in the Macrodata Refinement Department, one of Irving's recurring office jokes is asking the other refiners, “What's for dinner, kids?” – a statement which fails to amuse either Mark or Dylan. Most episodes of Severance have raised more questions and answered very little, but in episode 8, some of Lumon's deepest, darkest, and kinkiest secrets are dragged into the light.
Severance is a show that's about give-and-take. “What's for Dinner?” is one of the show's most anxiety-inducing episodes. At the same time, it lays to rest many of the theories that have hounded fans of the show. Here's a detailed look at every theory that's been confirmed by Severance season 1, episode 8 “What's for Dinner.”
Harmony/Mrs. Selvig Isn't Really Severed And Has No Severance Chip In Her Brain
Harmony Cobell, aka Mrs. Selvig, is the main supervisor of the Severed Floor. Previous episodes have revealed that although Harmony hides things from Lumon Industries' board of directors, she is loyal to Kier Eagan to the point that her bedroom at home is practically a shrine to worshiping the life's work of Lumon's founder. When Harmony gets fired during episode 8, Milchick escorts her to the staircase, and Harmony gets out without any difficulty, which innies are programmed to be unable to do. This confirms a long-standing theory that Harmony is part of the Lumon staff that aren't severed or implanted with the Severance Chip. Combined with Milchick's previous scenes acting like himself outside of the Severed Floor, this also implies that Milchick isn't severed as well. This also seems that there's credence to the theory regarding Harmony being loyal to Kier Eagan, but not to the board of Lumon Industries.
Harmony/Mrs. Selvig Is On The Workers' Side And Loyal To Kier Eagan But Not The Board
Apart from confirming how some Lumon staff aren't really severed, episode 8 also finally reveals that Harmony is actually on the side of Lumon's severed workers. Apparently, the board has been unaware of how Harmony has been living beside Mark's house in the town of Kier, that Helly tried to hang herself in the elevator, and many of Harmony's other activities. Harmony, as Mrs. Selvig, was also very happy when she heard Mark say that he wants to quit Lumon, and was immediately supportive of Mark's decision. It would seem that Harmony's role as a villain was a misdirect all along, as Harmony seems to be working for the benefit of the severed workers, which also shines a different light on Harmony's deep interest in Mark and Ms. Casey's interactions, why Harmony is investigating the effects of reintegration, and why she took the risk of retrieving Petey's Severance Chip.
Ms. Casey And The Waffle Party Confirms Lumon Keeps Permanent Innies In The Basement
In a previous episode, it's been confirmed that Wellness Counselor Ms. Casey is actually Gemma, Mark's late wife. During Mark's final wellness check, Ms. Casey tells Mark that she's been fired, after which Milchick takes her to a long and ominous corridor, leading to an elevator that only seems to go deeper into Lumon's basement. Since Ms. Casey's identity as Gemma on the outside is technically dead, this confirms the theory that she's a permanent innie, a severed worker who spends her entire life inside Lumon Industries. The four dancers at Dylan's waffle party, who each wore kinky costumes and papier-mâché heads representing each of Kier Eagan's four tempers, are permanent innies as well. This would be the only way for Lumon to ensure that its practice of rewarding employees with a “waffle party,” which is apparently just code for orgy, doesn't become tomorrow's headline.
Irving's Painting Confirms That Sleeping Allows Innies To Access Their Subconscious Mind
Severance season 1, episode 8 “What's for Dinner?” also reveals that Irving's fingernail dirt and black ooze hallucinations are due to the fact that his outie regularly handles heaps of black paint. To the tune of Motörhead's “Ace of Spades,” outie Irving repeatedly paints images of the corridor to the elevator that goes deeper into Lumon's Severed Floor basement. This confirms that innies and outies, through severed workers' subconscious minds, have limited access to each other's memories – a potentially highly exploitable weakness of the Severance Chip. No wonder innie Irving is so fascinated with the paintings hung around the Severed Floor. This also confirms that Irving has been to the elevator where Milchick took Ms. Casey, and implies that Irving has been down there more than once. Key knowledge about Lumon Industries' actual purpose could just be sitting in Irving's mind.
The Severance Chip Can Do So Much More Than Just Split Employees' Memories
When Dylan breaks into the security room, it's revealed that the Severance Chip actually has 10 different protocols. Severance has already shown how the protocol Overtime wakes up innies while their outies are active. That said, nine more protocols continue to be largely unexplained. These are: Beehive, Branch Transfer, Clean Slate, Elephant, Freeze Frame, Glasgow, Goldfish, Lullaby, and Open House. Judging by the names of the protocols alone, Freeze Frame implies that severed workers can be paralyzed by Lumon at will, Clean Slate suggests that their memories can be fully erased, and Branch Transfer seems to be a protocol related to assigning innies between different departments. This confirms the long-standing fan theory that the splitting the memories of severed employees isn't the only thing that the Severance Chip is capable of – contrary to Lumon's public ads and press releases about their revolutionary biotechnology.
Ms. Casey's Wellness Check/Session Outie Facts Are All True
In an earlier episode, during Irving's Wellness check, one of the outie facts that Ms. Casey tells him: “Your outie loves the sound of radar.” Episode 8 reveals that Radar is actually the name of Irving's outie's dog. Meanwhile, during Mark's final Wellness check with Ms. Casey, she tells him, “Your outie can pitch a tent in 3 minutes.” Not only does Mark have camping gear in the basement of his home, his picture of Ms. Casey/Gemma is also in nature. This confirms that, although Lumon is lying about almost everything else, the outie facts that they tell innies during Wellness checks or sessions are all true. This ties into an earlier reveal about how Harmony uses Wellness checks for chip diagnostics, specifically to check if innie and outie memories overlap, which necessitates the use of true outie facts.
Lumon Industries' Compliance Handbook Is Literally A Bible
Severance paints Lumon Industries as a quasi-religious corporate cult, centered around the ritualistic worship of Lumon founder Kier Eagan. The fact that Lumon's compliance handbook is laid out and designed in the exact same style and format as the Roman Catholic Bible comes as no surprise. Nonetheless, it's a confirmation of how Severance fans have imagined Lumon's core literature to look like. This also puts into focus the crucial role of Optics and Design in building and sustaining Kier Eagan's mythological status.
Severance releases new episodes Fridays on Apple TV+.