The Lumon building is a Casino disguised as an Office Building (or: The Playing Cards Theory)
(Waiting to post this on the main sub but I got impatient lol)
(Credit to u/tdciago for bringing up the playing cards theory and for pointing out the Bridge similarities)
DISCLAIMER: My knowledge in gambling is slim. I’m not going to pretend I’m an expert, but I do want to shed light on this, as there are a LOT of references the show has to playing cards and gambling in general—so much so that it’d be a missed opportunity to not make this post. So if I get anything wrong or you have more insight, feel free to share! (Also, please be considerate. Not everything here will end up meaning anything and that’s okay. It’s better to look deep into a subject and get things wrong along the way than it is to do nothing. Critical thinking/media analysis is incredibly important to further understand stories like this.)
The Lumon building is a Casino disguised as an Office Building
THEMATIC RELEVANCE: Comparing the unwanted lives of a 9-5 office job and gambling at casinos. You go to a confined building, sit at a screen all day pressing buttons, and lose track of time until you have to leave. Both of which are not healthy, but you keep coming back anyways because you need money and/or your life sucks. Both places like to draw in people who are vulnerable, which is why many casino and office business function like cults (mafias and MLMs). The casino side of Lumon may be Dieter, and the business side is Kier. (As a writer, if these two comparisons aren’t being made, then I’ll have to write it myself because DAMN is it smart.)
They both have…
- long halls that feel like they last for miles
- square ceiling tiles and colored mat floors
- limited amount of clocks/strange clocks, no windows or natural light
- Lumon building is a rectangle business building on the outside, and u shaped in the inside, like a casino. The further inside you go, the more apparent the gambling themes get. The building also faces a body of water/is on water, like casinos.
- (Striking opposition) Casinos interiors lack sharp angles to make you more likely to not think about what you’re doing (hence why some people pace back and forth when trying to think). So why would the Severance halls be filled to the brim with 90 degrees turns? Perhaps to make the workers think they have agency? (Like Harmony said: “The surest way to tame a prisoner is to let him believe he’s free.) Maybe the halls are more reminiscent of a prison?
- Constant ring of c notes from slot machines, like the c(#) notes from the elevators.
- In S2E4, Mr. Milchick says: “Marshmallows are for team players, Dylan.” Casinos often offer “free” drinks and food but only to gamblers (or players). This might correlate to the waffle parties that are given and toy prizes you earn when you complete (or win) a file, and why Cobel promised MDR an all-floor mixer “when they earn it”.
- https://www.npr.org/2022/07/31/1110882487/dod-slot-machines-overseas-bases This entire article. How overseas US military bases (especially the navy) are connected to gambling/slots. How this could relate to Irving is really interesting. It would explain why overseas US military bases are an accepted answer to the innie survey question of “Name a US state or territory”.
- MDR desks are shaped like cards ordered in the game Bridge. The computers and its files/numbers are set up more like video poker, solitaire, and sudoku than office computer files. They don’t even use most of the keyboard. And you are organizing numbers into 5 categories (cards) for the *entire time.*
- Video game references: 8 bit Kier and 8 bit Irving. 8 bit Kier is shown when Helly completes/wins a file.
Playing Cards
Some characters represent a suit and level on playing cards. For instance…
GEMMA = (Ace of)♦️ Her name is Gemma, knits in a fisherman pattern (diamond pattern), and is very connected to nature. When a red diamond is cut in half, they are 🔺🔻, like on the testing room elevators.
IRVING = (Ace of) ♠️ He plays Ace of Spades, his palette knife looks like a spade, and spades represent soldiers/weapons. The role of a spade is to trick players and get information from them, as Irving is probably doing with Burt and Fields.
REGHABI = (Ace of) ♣️ She uses a bat (club) to kill Graner. (Sorry, wish I had more info on her)
PETEY = (Ace of) ♥️ Has a heart on his mug (funeral photo) and plays red cards with June (funeral photo). A heart’s role is to avoid players or run away, and Petey runs and avoids people. He may also reference the “suicide king” card, who, well… dies.
DRUMMOND = (Jack of) ♦️ His name may be a play on the word “diamond”. Frolic may symbolize diamonds, which is why he has the word “frolic” on his hand.
Each SUIT represents a TEMPER…
- WOE = ♥️ Hearts symbolize emotion, specifically woeful emotions (“heartfelt”, “heartbroken”…)
- FROLIC = ♦️ Diamonds symbolize the earth and luxury, or fun. Frolic means playful.
- DREAD = ♣️ Clubs symbolize strength, knowledge, and merchants/working class. This is mostly dread due to process of elimination, I don’t have solid evidence for connection.
- MALICE = ♠️ Spades symbolize authority, weapons, and soldiers. Fighting and controlling very anger/malice oriented.
- With this in mind, if it would make sense if refining is partially based on video poker.
- Several card brands, such as Bicycle, make their card sides mirror each other—so the bottom half is reversed from the top—much like innies and outies.
General Terminology
- Jack = The face card before the kings and queens. Also referred to as knaves. During Irving’s wellness session, Ms. Casey states: “your outie has no fear of muggers or knaves”.
- Joker = A jester face card introduced during the American Civil War to act as a wild card. One of the four tempers is represented as a jester.
- VPIP = (Poker) Stands for “Voluntarily Put (money) In the Pot”. Pip’s VIP card may reference this.
- Pips = (Bridge) Any card that is not a face card. Phillip Eagan went by the nickname “Pip”, and his bar is called “Pip’s”.
- Chips = Tokens in Poker that represent money. Different colors are different values in money—typically, blue is $10, green is $25, and black is $100. If we take the value of keycards into account (MDR = blue, O&D= green, Security = black), this parallel would add up. Also, MDR must use tokens instead of money in order to eat from the vending machine. The Severance devices put in people’s head are also referred to as chips.
- Hand = (Bridge) A deal or board, or a player holding the cards. This might hint to why Drummond has the word “frolic” on his hand.
- Rabbit (hunting) = A shared or undealt community card. Also a controversial and tiring method in Hold ‘Em. The rabbit/duck is seen/mentioned twice: once in Mr. Milchick’s office, and another when Gemma is talking to Mark about her mail tests. And, although loose connection, one Burt’s goodbye posters has a rabbit on it.
- Duck = (Poker) A pair of two cards. (Bridge) To intentionally play low/lose in order to trick the opponent and set up a suit. Relates to the duck/rabbit illusion.
- Mark = An inexperienced player who is easy to be taken advantage over. I’m not sure if he’s necessarily inexperienced, but Dylan did say that he had a “freshman fluke” on a file, and he is easily manipulated by people above him (Cobel, Milchick, Helena…)
- Scout = (Sports betting) A player who waits to bet a lot of money. This *might* reference how Mark waited to reintegrate/flood his chip and now he’s “betting a lot”.
- Fish = A player who is unskilled. Although another very loose connection, Mark has two pet fish.
- George = A generous tipper. Dylan’s surname is George, possibly referencing how he is the best at refining the numbers and earns the most prizes.
- Nosebleed = When the stakes are high. When Mark and Petey’s nose bleed, it’s a bad sign of reintegration sickness… otherwise a very high stake for them. Drummond was also very concerned about the nosebleed.
- Paint = (Poker) Any face card. Irving paints while listening to Ace of Spades to send his innie a message.
- Pineapples = Variation of the game Hold ‘Em. Pineapples are frequently seen in the show as a status of wealth and bargaining/manipulation.
- Laws = The rules of Bridge. Devon says “law” after threatening to push Reghabi off a bridge. She also says solitary, possibly referencing Solitaire.
- Coffeehousing = Misleading the opponent by asking improper questions and generally tricking the opponent. Devon receiving coffee from Gabriela’s innie might allude to this.
- Riggs: Bobby Riggs was a tennis player and prolific gambler. Gemma’s tennis room may reference The Battle of the Sexes (1973), or match between Billie Jean *King* and Bobby *Riggs*, where Riggs would often wear strange outfits (ie. His sugar daddy jacket) to express his chauvinistic ideals and interest in King (so Dr. Maur is the Riggs equivalent). Helly’s middle/fake name is also Riggs. Helly’s name may also be inspired from the words “rigged” and “eggs”.
- Scissors Coup = (Bridge) A play that prevents defenders (players) from communicating. Coup is a frequiently used term in bridge. When MDR are walking to the Perpetuity Wing, they talk about how there might’ve been a coup that separated the departments. Also, Kier tamed the tempers in Scissor Cave, as in preventing the emotions from interacting with him; cutting them away.
- Board = (Bridge) All the tools presented in the game, a method of scoring in the game, and/or the entire deal of a game. This could be referring to The Board itself, as they seem to rule and overlook the company.
- Key Cards = (Bridge) Any ace or trump king. A self explanatory parallel.
- Bingo: Dylan passed out an Eagan bingo to everyone in S1E3. Pretty self-explanatory on how this relates to gambling and casinos.
- Eye-in-the-sky = Casino term for closed circuit cameras that monitor many places. This phrase is also commonly used in the military. June’s band, *Fissureman*, references this: “Build a sky in my eye, that perfect blue”
- Dummy = (Bridge) The declarer’s partner—one of the most frequently used terms in bridge. In S2S1, Gwen mentions her old work place had CPR dummies, which may reference this (this could also be a reference to The Office).
- Exit card = (Bridge) A card used to let down the guard of the opponent, temporarily giving up the lead. Right after Fields discusses Burt’s fate and Irving is surprised, Burt says: “he’s looking for the exit.”
Is there anything you think I missed? I can’t wait to see if the show fully elaborates on this theme in the next few episodes/seasons.