Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Severance Season 2 Episode 7.
Severancehas several unusual episode titles, all based on a seemingly random phrase in the episode that, once the story concludes, viewers realize is a reference to the plot. Some are obvious, likeSeason 2, Episode 4, “Woe’s Hollow,“where the title is the location MDR visits onthe disastrous ORTBO. Others have a deeper meaning, for example,Season 2, Episode 5, “Trojan’s Horse,“which revealed that an enemy, Helena (Britt Lower), was disguised as the innies' co-worker, Helly R., breaking their trust and threatening to destroy their mission, much like the story of the Trojan Horse. But the latest title, “Chikhai Bardo,” is particularly meaningful. Though not especially familiar,the phrase not only references the events of the episode but could foreshadow several twists.
Season 2 Episode 7has several major reveals as it takes the audience through Gemma (Dichen Lachman) and Mark’s (Adam Scott) life together before her supposed death and shows where she is now. Gemma’s fate has been an important question throughout Season 2, and the episode confirms that she is alive and held captive by Lumon as they test the extremes ofthe severed procedure. Sent into six different rooms, where she is severed into a new person, Gemma is under close watch. Significantly, “Chikhai Bardo” questions the differences between innies and outies (and Gemma’s multiple innies), which plays into the layered meaning of the name. Between the definition of chikhai bardo in the Buddhist tradition and the way Gemma describes it in the episode,the phrase not only describes Gemma’s life at Lumon but hints at what the audience may see next.
Chikhai Bardo Is a Buddhist Concept
Many likely haven’t heard of chikhai bardo before, but it refers toa Buddhist concept. Originally, bardo meant “period between one life and the next,” but it has since been expanded to describeany time when a person’s normal way of life is suspended. Yet both definitions work with Gemma’s situation. As she is a prisoner at Lumon, the times she is conscious as herself is a waiting period before she goes into one of the severed rooms and assumes another life. Considering the previous episode suggested that innies have souls of their own, at leastaccording to Burt (Christopher Walken) and Field’s (John Noble) church,Gemma is essentially moving between lives.The more recent definition applies to Gemma as well, considering that with her captivity, her life with Mark has been paused.
However, that is only half of the episode’s title. Though bardo is relevant on its own, the Chikhai bardo is much more specific.The Chikhai bardo is known as the Bardo of the Moment of Death, which takes its meaning inSeveranceeven further. Traditionally, it is said to begin with the first signs of death and continues until the breath ends, which evokes Gemma’s situation as, until recently,everyone believes she is dead— with physical evidence that it has happened, like the police at Mark’s door and the ashes that he has in his basement.
If this transitional period starts at the first sign of death, for Gemma, it began with the perception of her death, and now, she is trapped in a sort of limbo until she actually dies, completes whatever Lumon is planning for her, or manages to break free.“Chikhai Bardo” is the perfect title for the episode because it describes Gemma’s situation on multiple levels.Yet there is an odd sense of hope to it, as it is meant to be a time of transition, which means something will change for Gemma, and Season 2 Episode 7 proves that she deserves a change more than anyone.
Gemma’s Description of Chikhai Bardo in ‘Severance’ Gives It Another Meaning
As if that does not give the title enough meaning, the point in the episode where the phrase is used adds another. Like the rest of the titles, “Chikhai Bardo” appears in the episode, specifically during a flashback when Mark examines some flashcards that have been sent to Gemma. Though she assumes she got on a strange mailing list at the fertility clinic, fans should recognize the cards from their earlier appearance in O&D during Season 1. Gemma describes the card Mark picks up as a man “defeating his own psyche,” because the two images have the same hair.She goes on to describe it as an “ego death,” which is defined as the loss of a person’s sense of self.This is literally happening to Gemma throughout the episode, as she has no control over her situation. While Gemma is defiant, her various innies are obedient. When Gemma mounts an escape, attacking Dr. Mauer (Robby Benson), she fails because she becomes one of her severed personalities, Ms. Casey, who listens toMilchick (Tramell Tillman)and returns the way she came, trapping Gemma again.
Furthermore, if chikhai bardo is “ego death,” it could foreshadow a potential battle between Mark’s outie and his innie, which are becoming reintegrated this season. According toSigmund Freud, the ego is a person’s sense of self – the part that remembers and plans, making it the outie version of Mark. Meanwhile, the innie version would best align with the id, the part that Freud defined as an unconscious part of a person. As hinted at inSeason 2’s new title sequence,the different versions ofMark are in conflict, and the mention of an ego death suggests that his innie may win.With this layer, the episode’s title becomes about Mark as well as Gemma, making it that much more relevant.
“I’m Obsessed With Never Doing the Same Thing”: ‘Severance’ Cinematographer Jessica Lee Gagné on the Challenges of Directing “Chikhai Bardo”
She also discusses why she was initially reluctant to join the show and how she stumbled on the location that became a defining part of ‘Severance.’
Chikhai Bardo Could Play Into Major ‘Severance’ Theories About Gemma
The phrase could continue to be important, especially asSeverancereveals more about Gemma.While the latest episode answers many questions about her, it doesn’t explore everything, like why Lumon chose her or whether she actually agreed to go with them. Some have even theorized that there is more to the situation than Lumon lying about her death. Since the reveal that Gemma is actually alive,there have been many theories about Ms. Casey, ranging from cloning to resurrection to her outie dying while her innie lives on.
While Season 2 Episode 7 makes these ideas less likely, considering Gemma remembers Mark, there is still a possibility that she isn’t quite alive, like these theories suggest.If Gemma is in a literal limbo between life and death, it would make the episode’s title all the more appropriate.It may be some time beforeSeveranceuncovers all the layers that “Chikhai Bardo” represents, but already, it is among the show’s most meaningful titles.
New episodes ofSeveranceare available to stream Fridays on Apple TV+ in the U.S.
