by David Lorehound
Introduction
In S02E07 of Severance, titled “Chikhai Bardo,” we are presented with two concepts that set a strong narrative framework for what we see Mark and Gemma experiencing. Tolstoy's novella, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and the Tibetan concept of Chikhai Bardo specifically deal with death, yet no character physically dies in this episode. Instead, something equally significant occurs: a transformation of identity that mirrors these concepts of death AND rebirth.
Mark and Gemma exist in different yet parallel liminal states. Mark is in a coma during reintegration (what Dr. Reghabi describes as “journeying”), and Gemma is confined to the Testing Floor. These states can be understood as modern interpretations of consciousness in transition. In The Death of Ivan Ilyich, the writers use the Buddhist concept of bardo and the existential awakening allegorically and as a narrative structure.
I confess that I have been thinking about this episode almost nonstop since it aired. So many layered concepts and facets have spurred me into an overactive state of exploration! I've been particularly intrigued by the episode’s title and why Tolstoy is referenced not once but twice (see my article on using the Tartar thistle as a metaphor for Gemma's character.
I was particularly struck because no one died on screen, which left me with the lingering question: what are the writers trying to tell us by using these allusions? This post is my exploration of liminal spaces, the transitional state of bardo, and how Tolstoy illuminates the concept of reintegration as I try to make sense of this incredibly dense episode.
I. Understanding Liminality in Context
What happens when we exist between states of being, neither here nor there, but somewhere in the threshold between identities? This is the essence of liminality—a transitional state where transformation becomes possible precisely because fixed identity is temporarily suspended.
The Tibetan concept of bardo provides a sophisticated framework for understanding consciousness in such transitions. While commonly associated with the period between death and rebirth, bardo encompasses six distinct transitional states that mark various thresholds in conscious experience. Of particular relevance to Severance is Chikhai Bardo, which represents the moment of death—or, in a broader sense, when one identity dissolves to make way for another.
Bardo states are significant in Tibetan Buddhism because they are viewed not merely as passive transitions but as powerful opportunities for liberation and spiritual advancement. When consciousness isn't bound by ordinary perception or fixed identity, it becomes uniquely receptive to transformation. In Tibetan Buddhist practice, these liminal spaces between worlds create fluid possibilities for consciousness to evolve beyond its ordinary limitations.
This concept finds a powerful literary parallel in Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich. In this novella, Ivan's deathbed becomes a liminal space that enables an authentic realization that is impossible during his conventional life. As death approaches, the social identity Ivan carefully constructs throughout his life begins to dissolve, revealing the emptiness of his existence, which is driven by propriety and external validation. In his final moments, Ivan experiences a profound transformation: “There is no death,” he realizes, as his constructed self dies to allow the emergence of an authentic being.
Both the bardo concept and Tolstoy’s work provide a framework, both thematically and in terms of narrative structure, to examine the liminal states depicted in the series. By deliberately invoking these references, the writers invite us to view Mark and Gemma’s experiences not just as plot devices but as profound explorations of consciousness and identity, arguably one reason this show is so engaging!
II. Mark's Liminal Journey: The Coma as Bardo State
Mark’s coma state represents a technological bardo—a suspended consciousness engineered by the reintegration process. When Reghabi describes Mark as "journeying," she invokes the metaphor of pilgrimage or quest, suggesting his coma is not a passive state but an active transition between identities.
The reintegration process itself can be understood as a form of ego death. The procedure necessitates dissolving the boundary between Mark’s innie and outie selves, artificial constructs created by severance technology. Both identities must, in a sense, "die" for a new integrated self to emerge. This mirrors the Tibetan understanding of Chikhai Bardo, where the dissolution of ordinary consciousness creates space for something more authentic to manifest.
This parallel becomes even more profound when we consider how practitioners use bardo states for spiritual advancement. In Tibetan practice, preparation for Chikhai Bardo involves developing lucid awareness during life, which helps maintain consciousness during the “Clear Light” experience at death. Mark’s journey through reintegration similarly has him experience several moments of lucid awareness—where his two identities begin to overlap.
What we witness in Mark's coma may represent his Clear Light experience—a moment of pure awareness where the true nature of his divided consciousness is revealed. The episode ends with Mark awakening, leaving us with a cliffhanger about whether he has truly integrated and how he might act upon this potential realization. This awakening suggests not just the death of his severed identities but their potential rebirth as something new and unified. This transformation echoes the complete cycle of death and rebirth central to the bardo concept.
The parallels to Ivan Ilyich’s transformation are equally compelling. Just as Ivan confronts the artificiality of his socially constructed life while in the liminal space of dying, Mark’s coma state forces a confrontation with his fragmented existence; both men face a kind of death that paradoxically offers liberation: Ivan from social convention, Mark from technological division. And in both cases, this “death” is not an end but a doorway to something new—Ivan’s spiritual awakening and Mark’s potential reintegration.
In both cases, the liminal state serves not as an ending but as a threshold to potential authenticity—if they can navigate it consciously rather than being overwhelmed. The writers seem to suggest that true liberation requires passing through a kind of death experience—literal or metaphorical—to shed constructed identities and emerge renewed.
III. Gemma on The Testing Floor: Another Form of Liminality
While Mark journeys through his coma, Gemma exists in a different but equally profound liminal space: the Testing Floor. Her condition is uniquely ambiguous—while on The Testing Floor, she is Gemma, her true self. Still, when she attempts to use the elevator to escape, the severance technology flips her consciousness so that she becomes Miss Casey upon reaching the severed floor. Additionally, while on The Testing Floor, she is further severed into other identities when she enters the different testing rooms—identities about which we have limited information.
The Testing Floor manifests as a physical bardo, a transitional space between states of being. It’s unclear what information we have about what Gemma understands about her severed state. We know that she knows she has no memories of what happened in the different rooms. Still, when she does try to escape, she is unaware that the elevator will flip her consciousness, and she is left finding herself in the elevator, having gone nowhere. She is being forced into a state of bardo and unable to exit as a choice of her own will, yet another facet that deserves further examination!
Using this setting, the writers create a powerful allegory for the trapped nature of consciousness between death and rebirth. Unlike the traditional bardo state, which leads to either liberation or rebirth, Gemma exists in an artificially sustained liminal space—a technological purgatory that prevents both integration and escape.
Importantly, Gemma doesn’t remain passive while on The Testing Floor. She engages in physical and mental practices between testing sessions to maintain sharpness and presence. The nurse confirms that she undertakes these activities as part of her existence there. Regardless of her conscious motivation, these practices—from practicing yoga to reading books and making her bed—parallel the activities of a spiritual practitioner preparing for Chikhai Bardo. Just as Tibetan practitioners use meditation, mindfulness, and other techniques to effectively prepare for navigating the bardo states, Gemma's activities help her maintain clarity and resilience in her liminal state.
Gemma's experience on The Testing Floor may represent her Clear Light moment—a potential opportunity for recognizing her true nature. However, unlike Mark, who awakens at the episode's end, Gemma is prevented from fully acting on her realizations as she is blocked from escaping. Her Clear Light experience is thwarted by Lumon's mechanisms of control, creating a poignant contrast with Mark's journey. This narrative choice by the writers highlights how external forces can impede the natural progression through liminal states, trapping consciousness in transition rather than allowing its evolution.
Her condition connects powerfully to the concept of Chikhai Bardo, as she exists in a state analogous to having "died" (in her car accident) while remaining conscious in a different form. The Testing Floor becomes her liminal space—a state between worlds where illusion and reality blur and where liberation might be possible if she can overcome the obstacles to recognizing and acting upon the true nature of her situation. Her story embodies the "death" portion of the cycle, suspended in a moment that cannot yet progress to rebirth.
IV. Parallel Journeys: Mark and Gemma's Mirrored Liminality
The symmetry between Mark and Gemma's liminal states creates one of Severance's most powerful narrative threads. It reveals the writers' deliberate use of parallel structure to explore different facets of the same concepts. Though physically separated, their journeys profoundly mirror each other, representing various aspects of the same fundamental experience of divided consciousness. (See Marilyn's blog post, [Severance and Spirituality])
Mark's coma state and Gemma's Testing Floor existence form parallel yet complementary narratives. Both characters occupy threshold spaces engineered by Lumon; both experience a form of death without dying (Mark's ego death in reintegration, Gemma's physical "death" that led to her existence on The Testing Floor), and both struggle with fragmented identities seeking wholeness. Yet the writers place them at different points in the death-rebirth cycle—Mark approaching potential rebirth through integration, Gemma trapped in the death phase without progression.
Their shared quest for integration takes different forms: Mark actively undergoes a procedure to unify his divided self, while Gemma maintains herself in a readied state, either for release or escape. Yet both journeys represent the same fundamental human drive toward authenticity and wholeness in the face of artificial division. By positioning these characters as mirror images experiencing distinct aspects of the same liminal process, the writers weave a complex narrative fabric that explores confinement and liberation within liminal spaces.
What makes their parallel liminality especially powerful is how it creates the possibility of a reunion. Their threshold states potentially open pathways to connection, which is impossible in their severed conditions. This reflects the Tibetan understanding that bardo states when navigated consciously, can lead to profound transformation precisely because they suspend ordinary limitations and perceptions. The writers suggest that only in these liminal spaces, where constructed identities dissolve, can authentic connection become possible.
Conclusion
By framing Mark and Gemma’s experiences through the lens of Chikhai Bardo and The Death of Ivan Ilyich, the writers of Severance invite us to view technological manipulation of consciousness as a modern manifestation of long-held questions about identity, death, and transformation. The liminal states experienced by Mark and Gemma present possibilities for transformation, yet technology and corporate control block these opportunities.
For Mark, successful reintegration would mean the birth of a unified self—neither innie nor outie, but a new consciousness that incorporates both without being limited to either. For Gemma, transformation might involve fully recovering her true identity while integrating the insights gained through her experiences in different states of consciousness. In both cases, the writers explore how death—whether literal or metaphorical—is a necessary precursor to authenticity and rebirth.
Their journeys ultimately represent a form of resistance against Lumon's systems of control. The corporation has designed technology to constrain consciousness, creating artificial divisions where wholeness would naturally exist. Like Ivan Ilyich’s rejection of social conventions at the moment of death, Mark and Gemma’s liminal experiences challenge constructed systems that fragment identity, suggesting that authentic selfhood exists beyond imposed boundaries.
Why would the writers choose these specific references—bardo states and Tolstoy’s exploration of death—for an episode in which no one physically dies? Perhaps they suggest that our modern understanding of identity and consciousness is too limited and fixed. Or perhaps they are intrigued by these ancient concepts of death and rebirth, finding a surprisingly relevant framework for examining the fragmentation and potential reintegration of consciousness in our technological age.