Peter Kilmer

Peter Kilmer, commonly known as Petey, was a Macrodata Refiner at Lumon Industries. Prior to his sudden departure, he served as department chief and was know around the office to be the tone-setter. Petey and Mark developed a close friendship over time, with Mark claiming he was his best friend.

Petey and his wife, Nina, were separated,^[1] presumably before he joined Lumon. It is speculated that the divorce led to him choosing to become severed.^[2]

Petey was the first person to undergo Reintegration, an experimental procedure where the Severance chip no longer separates one’s memories. A successful Reintegration enables the individual to remember and have access to both their Innie and Outie experiences. Going to work with his memories intact allowed Petey to make a map of the Severed Floor on the back of one of the group photos and leave it for Mark to later discover.

Petey later collapsed at a convenience store and died soon after, possibly from Reintegration sickness. Petey was 52 years old when he died, according to the Kier Chronicle article. He is survived by a daughter, June.

• During his brief stay at Mark’s home, Petey tells Mark, “We had a joke that you had an elevator allergy. There was even a song for it.”^[3] The song is never sung on-screen. However, Hayley Erickson Goelzer, the sister of Severance creator Dan Erickson, tweeted a screenshot of a text message she attributed to her brother, containing what the message’s sender (named “Dan”) says are “the canonical lyrics to the elevator allergy song.”

(Swing style tempo)

Psss go the pistons
Ding goes the bell
Down goes the elevator
All seems well
But the car will never reach its destination true
’Cause that’s when Mark S starts to say Achoo!
Achoo, Achoo — Elevator allergy
It’s true, it’s true — No lamer malady
The sneezin’ knocks the elevator off its track
And now the Outie world won’t take Mark back!

Hayley Erickson Goelzer, Twitter (May 8, 2022)

1. Good News About Hell
2. Half Loop
3. In Perpetuity
4. The You You Are
5. The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design (archive footage)
6. Hide and Seek (archive footage)

• List of Characters