Gemma Scout is the wife of Mark Scout and a former Russian Literature professor at Ganz College. Believed by the outside world to be dead following a car crash, she is in fact alive and is currently being kept on the Testing Floor of the Lumon Branch 501 building under unclear circumstances. For the past several years, she has also worked as a "part-time" Severed employee under her Innie persona Ms. Casey, serving as the Wellness Director for the Severed Floor.
History[]
Gemma was a professor of Russian literature at Ganz College, and eventually met and married fellow Ganz professor Mark Scout, who taught World War I history. The two met while donating blood at the same Lumon-affiliated donation center. She and Mark spent a lot of time with Mark's sister Devon and her husband Ricken, often going on double dates or traveling together.
Later in their marriage, Mark and Gemma tried to have children, but Gemma tragically miscarried during a pregnancy. She and Mark subsequently sought help from the Lumon-affiliated Butzemann Fertility Clinic, but despite Gemma undergoing fertility treatments, they continued to have difficulties.
One night, Gemma went out to visit some friends while leaving Mark at home to finish his work, and was allegedly involved in a car accident while driving to or from her destination. The local police arrived at the Scouts' home shortly afterward to report the incident to Mark. Mark later confirmed that he had identified Gemma's remains following the accident.
Despite being believed to be dead by Mark and her other family and friends, Gemma evidently survived the accident (if it had actually taken place at all) and ended up becoming Severed under unknown circumstances, after which she remained on the Testing Floor of the Lumon Branch 501 building. There she underwent a series of tests, each seemingly involving a different Severed "Innie" persona being repeatedly subjected to a specific mundane but unpleasant or stressful scenario. These tests were supervised by Dr. Mauer, who would act out a different role in each of the scenarios.[3]
During this time, Gemma also served as a wellness counselor for other Severed employees, working under the name Ms. Casey.[4] She ran Wellness sessions for the Severed employees of Lumon, which included her reading them facts about their Outie selves; during these sessions, the Innies were asked to "enjoy each fact equally" and would be penalized for showing signs of favoring one fact over another.[5]
On Cobel's request, Ms. Casey did a special wellness session for Mark. She asked if he wanted to mold his feelings with clay and when he said yes, she gave him some, which he used to mold a tree.[6]
After Helly R.'s attempted suicide, Cobel had Ms. Casey follow her around on her first day back at work. Ms. Casey stayed very close to Helly all day, taking notes, until Mark spilled a drink to lure Ms. Casey away. When Ms. Casey returned with towels to clean up, she found that Helly and Mark were gone. She found them in a hallway, where they claimed they were on their way back from a mental health walk. She was relieved that they weren't hurt.[7]
Ms. Casey was sent to the Break Room as punishment for not supervising Helly as instructed. When she exited the room, she passed Mark, who was on his way for his own session in there. He apologized to her.[8]
Soon after this, Ms. Casey was told she was being fired. Before she left, she did one final wellness session with Mark, reading him facts about his outie. She also told him that her life mostly consisted of half-hour wellness sessions, so the eight hours she spent in MDR observing Helly was the longest stretch of time she was awake and therefore a highlight of her existence. Mark expressed his regret for his part in her being fired, but she just continued the session.
After Mark's session, Milchick escorted her to a long, dark hallway. On her way, she turned to ask if she was happy up there. He told her she was. When she tried to ask another question, he told her he was busy, so she continued walked and got onto an elevator going down.[9]
Following the events of the Macrodata Uprising, Mark S.' The MDR team began work on a file labeled "Cold Harbor"; while Mark was working on the file, a picture of Gemma's face next to various data readouts flashed on his screen bearing the same title.[10]
At some point following Ms. Casey's "termination," Gemma's Outie attacked and incapacitated Dr. Mauer on the Testing Floor, stealing his keycard and attempting to escape to the surface to find Mark. However, upon taking the elevator back up to the main Severed Floor, her Ms. Casey persona was reactivated, preventing her from realizing the urgency of her situation. Upon attempting to leave, she was confronted by an out-of-breath Milchick, who reassured her that her Outie had simply taken the wrong elevator while enjoying an art exhibition on the facility's main floor. She then re-entered the elevator and returned to the Testing Floor, where her Outie persona reactivated and was escorted back to her room by the Testing Floor nurse.[3]
Wanting to figure out what had happened to Ms. Casey, Mark and Helly made posters with a drawing of her face to take to other departments in search of any information.[11]
Gemma continued living on the testing floor under Dr. Mauer's observation.[12]
One day, she was given an outfit identical to the one she'd worn on the day of her accident. Then she was taken to the Cold Harbor room. When she entered it, a new innie activated. Dr. Mauer instructed her to enter the room and then to use a screwdriver to take apart a crib. She worked on this until Mark came into the room. Despite Mauer warning her not to trust him or go with him, she took his hand and let him lead her out of the room. Once she was out, her outie reactivated and she and Mark ran together through the hallways to the elevator. On the elevator, they kissed, but as they moved to the next floor, his innie and her Ms. Casey innie activated and they had an awkward moment. Mark then led her to the door and told her to go out. She did so and then called for Mark to come through with her, but he hesitated, and when Helly appeared at the other end of the hallway, he chose to go with Helly, leaving Gemma outside alone.[13]
Personality[]
Gemma's "part-time" Severed persona Ms. Casey remains mostly inactive except for Wellness sessions, and thus her entire life only encompasses roughly 107 hours, the longest continuous stretch of which was one single 8-hour workday. Perhaps because of her lack of memories, she displays little personality outside of her job duties and tends to come across as strangely monotonous and robotic; however, she reveals a softer, more human side during a Wellness Session with Mark S. in "What's for Dinner?"
Gemma's other Innie personas only exist within specific rooms on the Testing Floor, and appear to exhibit slightly differing personalities depending on the nature of the tests they are subjected to; in one room, for example, she exhibits contempt and bitter loathing toward her "husband" played by Dr. Mauer, who forces her to write numerous thank-you letters in response to unwanted Christmas gifts using her non-dominant hand.
Physical Description[]
Gemma is a beautiful woman with light skin and brown eyes. Her hair is black, naturally wavy and past shoulder length, but sometimes wore wigs in the events of Dr. Mauer's experiments or during her time acting as Ms. Casey. Her innie wears professional clothing, often long-sleeved shirts and pencil skirts.
Relationships[]
Mark S./Mark[]
Devon Scout-Hale[]
Ricken Hale[]
Quotes[]
- Ms. Casey: "All right, Irving. What I'd like to do is share with you some facts about your outie. Because your outie is an exemplary person, these facts should be very pleasing. Just relax your body and be open to the facts. Try to enjoy each equally. These facts are not to be shared outside this room. But for now, they're yours to enjoy."
- Ms. Casey: "Please try to enjoy each fact equally, and not show preference for any over the others."
"The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design"
- Ms. Casey: "Upon request, I can also perform a hug."
- Ms. Casey: "Please describe for me your time in the bathroom."
- Ms. Casey: "I know I vexed you. I know I'm... strange."
- Ms. Casey: "For me, my favorite time was the eight hours I spent in your department watching Helly. It’s the longest I’ve ever been awake. I suppose it’s what you could call my good old days."
- Ms. Casey: "Do you know if I’m happy up there?"
Notes and Trivia[]
- Gemma liked other people's dogs.[4]
- She is allergic to nutmeg.[4]
- When Gemma sneezes, she always sneezes twice.[4]
- Gemma thought cardigans looked ridiculous.[4]
- Unlike other employees on the Severed Floor, Ms. Casey does not wear or carry a keycard.
- Ms. Casey told Mark S. that her life had only been 107 hours long.
- She took up knitting to have something to do with her hands.[14]
Gallery[]
Promotional[]
Appearances[]
| Season 1 | |||||
| #01 | "Good News About Hell" | #04 | "The You You Are" | #07 | "Defiant Jazz" |
| #02 | "Half Loop" | #05 | "The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design" | #08 | "What's for Dinner?" |
| #03 | "In Perpetuity" | #06 | "Hide and Seek" | #09 | "The We We Are" |
| Season 2 | |||||
| #01 | "Hello, Ms. Cobel" | #05 | "Trojan's Horse" | #09 | "The After Hours" |
| #02 | "Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig" | #06 | "Attila" | #10 | "Cold Harbor" |
| #03 | "Who Is Alive?" | #07 | "Chikhai Bardo" | ||
| #04 | "Woe's Hollow" | #08 | "Sweet Vitriol" | ||
References[]
- ↑ Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig, 2x02
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Good News About Hell, 1x01
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chikhai Bardo, 2x07
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Defiant Jazz, 1x07
- ↑ Half Loop, 1x02
- ↑ The You You Are, 1x04
- ↑ The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design, 1x05
- ↑ Hide and Seek, 1x06
- ↑ What's for Dinner?, 1x08
- ↑ Hello, Ms. Cobel, 2x01
- ↑ Who Is Alive?, 2x03
- ↑ The After Hours, 2x09
- ↑ Cold Harbor, 2x10
- ↑ Trojan's Horse, 2x05