Who Is Secretly Watching Mark & MDR's Employees In Severance Season 2 Episode 7?

WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Severance season 2, episode 7!As Severance season 2, episode 7 takes the story back through Gemma’s experiences on Lumon’s testing floor and her preceding relationship with Mark, the show makes a shocking reveal about what the computers are really doing at the Microdata Refinement department. Throughout the series, one of the biggest Severance mysteries has been what MDR’s numbers really mean, and what the real purpose of their work on the computers has been for all this time. While there are still plenty more questions that need answers, Severance season 2, episode 7 adds another twist about how MDR’s work connects to the testing floor.

At one point in “Chikhai Bardo,” Severance briefly revisits the episode when Gemma’s Innie, Ms. Casey, was sent to MDR for the day to watch over Helly. After focusing on Mark at his desk, the camera travels through his computer and down a series of wires to another set of computers on the testing floor, which each have live footage of Severance’s characters in MDR from the perspective of their screens. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but Severance finally confirms that MDR’s Innies are all constantly being watched via their computers, deepening the mystery around Lumon’s bottom-floor conspiracies.

Severance Reveals The Testing Floor Has "Watchers" For Each MDR Employee Via Their Computers

The Testing Floor Has People Dedicated To Monitoring Each MDR Employee's Computer Activity

Severance season 2, episode 7 confirms there’s a dedicated “watcher” for each employee in Lumon’s Macrodata Refinement department. When the show cuts to the testing floor to show Drummond and Dr. Mauer observing the footage of Mark working on his computer, Severance also highlights that there are four people at four different desks, each respectively assigned to monitor the live footage and backend number-sorting work of Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irving on the floor above. However, after Irving’s firing, it seems the “watchers” are down to only three for the time being.

Why The Innies Each Have Dedicated Watchers In Severance (& Are They Severed Too?)

The Watchers Are Observing Highly Confidental Lumon Work

Not only does Severance season 2, episode 7 confirm that MDR’s Innies each have respective “watchers,” but the outing also reveals that the department’s files correspond to a different room that Gemma is sent to on the testing floor. Each room has a different purpose or simulated environment, and it seems that Gemma has a different Innie for each one. Since the “watchers” have access to the backend of the work done on MDR’s files via their computers, it seems likely that they’re also responsible for sending the “refinements” to their respective testing floor rooms.

Dylan looking shocked and Gretchen looking sympathetic in Severance season 2 (2025)

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Since Drummond and Dr. Mauer are too busy to constantly observe Severance’s main characters on the severed floor, these watchers also update them on any unusual, distracted, or notable activity that they can see through the computers. For instance, Mark’s watcher is the one updating the higher-ups on why Mark’s work on Cold Harbor is stalling. Since the watchers aren’t formally introduced in Severance season 2, episode 7, it’s unclear whether they’re also severed, but it would make sense if they were given the confidential material they’re tasked with observing at Lumon.

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