Severance Theory Report 4: The State of PE is Near the Great Lakes

Welcome to a new series about theories for the TV show Severance.

If you haven’t yet watched Severance yet, head over to my recommendation post Might I Tempt You With Old Man Yaoi?  Otherwise, as long as you’ve watched the show through season 2 episode 5 Trojan’s Horse, you should be fine with this article!

Theory: The mysterious state PE is in the Great Lakes region of the United States.

The characters in Severance live in a fictional state abbreviated as PE. Much of the show is shot around New York and New Jersey. The zip code 07452, which is briefly seen in a piece of mail, is also located in New Jersey, so that seems pretty straightforward, right? But not so fast! Too many details may be pointing in a completely different direction!

And look, this theory doesn’t have any major implications in the long run. I know this. But sometimes it’s fun just to spend time on pointless things, you know? Maybe we’ll never know the answer to this. Maybe it’ll never have any meaning. But it’s fun thinking about. So let’s examine the evidence!

Kier Invites You To Drink of His Water

The painting Kier Invites You to Drink of His Water has a not-to-scale version of the Great Lakes visible in the background.  It isn’t obvious at first due to the scale issue, but once you see it, you can’t unsee it. Those are the Great Lakes.

This painting presumably depicts “his” waters, which would be near “his” important historical territory. We know there is a town named after him in the state of PE – Kier. There is also a park named after his twin nearby (see: Dieter Eagan National Forest). It’s not a stretch to assume that the state in which these important places in Eagan lore reside is near the Great Lakes.

Mark W is From Grand Rapids

In the second episode of season two, Mark W is being unceremoniously fired after just three days of work.  This scene plays out while Mark S is walking up the steps towards work and he, of course, doesn’t know what’s going on because he only knows that man on the Severed Floor.

Mark W is greatly upset by being fired so quickly because he had to “break a lease in Grand Rapids.”  One would assume that they’d have pulled someone close enough to move at a moment’s notice – for example, from another major city in the Great Lakes region – to fill a sudden gap at the main Lumon facility. It’s unlikely Mark W would have traveled very far to fill this sudden availability on just a couple days’ notice. 

Granted, this doesn’t explain the Italian “floater.” But that man was weird anyway. A lot of his deal didn’t add up. But I could write an entire theory post about his strangeness in and of itself so I’ll stop myself before I get too far with this one. Because truly, what is his deal anyway?

Burt and Fields Were Taking a Trip to Milwaukee

Irving’s weird knocking event at Burt at Field’s door apparently cost them a trip to Milwaukee. And I mean this as no insult to Milwaukee, but it’s not exactly a place you go as a far-away vacation destination. You go there perhaps as a weekend trip to see a show if you live in a smaller nearby place that doesn’t have great event venues.  Or maybe you go to visit family, or something like that.

Please don’t come at me in the comments, Milwaukee residents. Unless you are offering me a free trip to your wonderful city to prove that it’s a major tourist draw, in which case… maybe? Let’s talk. I’m always down for a free trip somewhere. Even Milwaukee! 

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

The fifth episode of season two begins with a mysterious character humming the famous tune The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot. It’s true that this song is certainly known outside the region (I’ve never lived in the region… hell, I’ve never even been there), but it’s definitely about an event with a largely regional historical importance.

The Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest and incredibly well-known shipping vessel on the Great Lakes. It disappeared in a storm on November 10, 1975, and sealed itself in legend as a result.

There may also be a double meaning to this as the wreck is also known as a hauntingly frigid, deep, tomb. Perhaps not unlike the Testing Floor where the Export Hall leads. But I’ll need to explain the theory of the Export Hall someday. I’ll get to that eventually in swear. Unless the show beats me to it.

The Weather

The state of PE had been covered with a couple inches of snow for over a month. It certainly snows in and around New York and New Jersey so that doesn’t knock it out of the running, but the length of time that it’s been covered in such a thick layer of snow, and the line from Alexa in the first season indicating that this type of weather would be “normal” for a local makes me think it’s perhaps a bit colder than the New York/New Jersey area. This would fit with parts of the Great Lakes area better.

PE= Peninsula?

What the hell does PE stand for anyway? People on Reddit have thrown around a lot of ideas and I claim no credit for these. People have suggested “Providence of Eagan” or “Perpetuity,” which would imply that Eagan perhaps controls an entire state and not just a few towns. But someone also theorized it could stand for “peninsula,” perhaps placing it along one of the peninsulas in the Great Lake regions. Sure, this might be a bit of a stretch but we really don’t have much to go on.

Likelihood: Maybe

This may or may not be true. But the cool part is that it doesn’t matter, has no real impact on the plot of the show, and is just a fun thing to think about to distract ourselves from the real world. So why not theorize a bit, huh? Why can’t PE be peninsular Great Lakes? Sure!  There’s no harm in assuming all these little clues and tidbits are pointing towards the state of PE being in the Great Lakes region. 

Author: Angel Wilson

Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They identify as queer.

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary