Finding out where was Severance episode 4 filmed isn't just about spotting a cool building on a map. It’s basically about understanding how Ben Stiller and production designer Jeremy Hindle used the cold, imposing architecture of the Tri-State area to make you feel as trapped as Mark S. does. Episode 4, titled "The You You Are," is a heavy one. We see the aftermath of Petey’s death, the weirdness of the "Self-Help" book by Ricken, and that haunting walk through the park.
If you’ve watched the show, you know the vibe. It's sterile. It's Mid-Century Modern meets a fever dream. Most of the show’s soul—if you can call it that—lives within the walls of the Bell Labs Holmdel Complex in New Jersey. But episode 4 branches out. It takes us into the "real" world, or at least the version of the real world the Severed employees get to see.
The Brutalist Heart: Bell Labs in Holmdel
Honestly, you can't talk about any episode of this show without mentioning the Bell Labs Holmdel Complex. This is the "Lumon Industries" exterior and that massive, glass-walled lobby. It’s located at 101 Crawfords Corner Road in Holmdel, New Jersey. Eero Saarinen designed it. He’s the same genius behind the TWA Flight Center at JFK.
The building is a beast. It’s a mirror-glass box that reflects the sky, which makes it look almost invisible or infinite depending on the light. In episode 4, we see more of those long, lingering shots of the parking lot. That lot is huge. It emphasizes how isolated the characters are. You aren't just at work; you're on an island of asphalt.
Inside, the production actually built those maze-like white hallways on a soundstage at York Studios in the Bronx. However, the scale of the Bell Labs atrium is what gives the show its "big brother" energy. When the characters leave for the day, that transition from the bright, artificial LED glow of the severed floor to the dusk of New Jersey is jarring.
The Funeral Scene: Where Was Petey Laid to Rest?
Episode 4 hits hard because of Petey’s funeral. We see Mark attending this deeply uncomfortable service for a man he technically doesn't know—but also knows better than anyone. This wasn't shot in a studio. The crew headed to Kingston, New York.
The funeral home used for these interior shots is the A. Carr & Son Funeral Home. It’s located on Lucas Avenue. It has that exact wood-paneled, slightly dated, 1970s-meets-90s aesthetic that defines the "Outie" world in Severance. It feels grounded and heavy. It’s a sharp contrast to the lime-green carpets and white walls of the office.
Kingston is a favorite for scouts lately. It has a specific "frozen in time" quality. The lighting in these scenes is intentionally dim. It makes the world outside Lumon feel just as depressing as the world inside, just in a different color palette. While the office is "fluorescent nightmare," the outside world is "overcast blue."
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Why the Hudson Valley?
The production team chose the Hudson Valley for a reason. They needed towns that felt like "Kier," a fictional company town that is somewhere in the Northeast but never quite specified. They filmed across Beacon, Nyack, and Kingston.
In episode 4, when Mark is driving or walking, you might notice the hilly terrain and the older brick buildings. These are hallmarks of Nyack, New York. Specifically, Mark’s house is part of a complex in Nyack called Village Gate Way. It’s a real residential area. People actually live there, though I imagine it feels a bit surreal to walk your dog past the house where Mark S. drinks too much wine and stares at the wall.
The Park Scene and the Integration Theory
There’s a pivotal moment in "The You You Are" where Mark is wandering, trying to process the "Self-Help" book and the general collapse of his reality.
A lot of the outdoor wandering was filmed around Rockland County. The parks there have a specific look in the winter—gray trees, dead grass, and a biting cold that you can almost feel through the screen. The production filmed during a New York winter, and they didn't hide the snow. In fact, the snow becomes a character. It covers up the tracks. It hides things.
The location for some of these wooded paths is near the Palisades Interstate Park. It’s rugged but managed. It fits the vibe of a company town where nature is allowed to exist, but only within the boundaries set by the corporation.
The Architecture of Isolation
Why go to all this trouble? Why not just film on a backlot in LA?
Director Ben Stiller has been pretty vocal about the "honesty" of the locations. The Bell Labs building is a real relic of a time when corporations thought they could solve all of humanity’s problems with good design and a centralized office. Using it for Lumon isn't just a style choice; it’s a thematic one.
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When you look at the locations in episode 4, notice the lack of people. Kier feels empty. Whether Mark is at the funeral home or walking through his neighborhood, there are rarely other cars or pedestrians. This was a deliberate choice by the location scouts. They picked spots that could be cleared out to create a sense of suburban purgatory.
- Bell Labs (Holmdel): The exterior of Lumon.
- Village Gate Way (Nyack): Mark’s housing complex (Baird Creek Manor).
- A. Carr & Son Funeral Home (Kingston): Petey’s funeral service.
- Main Street (Beacon): Various street shots used for the town of Kier.
Behind the Scenes: The "Outie" World
The production office was actually based in the Bronx, but the crew spent months trekking up I-87 to these locations. For episode 4, the logistics were a nightmare because of the weather. They wanted that "perpetual late February" feel. You know that feeling? When the holidays are over, but spring is nowhere near, and everything is just slushy and gray.
The "Self-Help" book scenes with Ricken were filmed in a private residence that fits that upscale, pseudo-intellectual Hudson Valley vibe. These houses are often hidden away in the woods of Westchester or Rockland County. They provide the perfect backdrop for the "Outies" who think they are living deep, meaningful lives while their "Innies" are literally losing their minds in a basement.
Addressing the "Kier" Mystery
Some fans thought the town of Kier was a set. It’s not. It’s a patchwork of New York and New Jersey. By stitching together the mid-century corporate greatness of Holmdel with the fading industrial vibes of Kingston and Beacon, the show creates a place that feels like it could exist, but shouldn't.
In episode 4, the camera lingers on the signage of the town. The production designers added specific Lumon-branded elements to the real-world locations. If you go to Nyack today, you won't see the Baird Creek Manor signs, but you’ll recognize the layout of the townhouses immediately. It’s a quiet, eerie neighborhood that perfectly captures the "severed" life.
How to Visit These Locations
If you're a die-hard fan and want to do a Severance road trip, it's actually pretty doable in a single weekend.
Start in Holmdel, NJ. The Bell Works building (the repurposed Bell Labs) is actually open to the public now. It’s a "metroburb" with coffee shops, offices, and even a library. You can walk into that massive atrium and feel the Lumon energy for yourself. It’s surprisingly sunny in real life, which might ruin the immersion a bit, but the architecture is still breathtaking.
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From there, head north. It’s about a 90-minute drive to Nyack to see the exterior of Mark’s house. Just remember—people live there! Don't go poking around their windows looking for a blue and green office badge. Finally, hit Kingston or Beacon for a coffee. You'll see the brick storefronts that make up the "downtown" of Kier.
Practical Insights for Filming Enthusiasts
If you’re looking to capture this aesthetic in your own photography or film work, take note of how they use the "Golden Hour"—or rather, how they avoid it. Most of the exterior shots in episode 4 are filmed under heavy cloud cover or during the "Blue Hour" (just before sunrise or after sunset).
This removes the warmth from the image. It makes skin tones look slightly sickly and emphasizes the coldness of the architecture. The use of wide-angle lenses on buildings like Bell Labs makes them feel like they are leaning over you.
The locations are the stars of the show. Without the specific choice of Bell Labs and the chilling quiet of the Hudson Valley, Severance would just be another office drama. Instead, it’s a topographical map of a fractured psyche.
If you want to dive deeper into the production design, look up Jeremy Hindle's interviews. He talks extensively about how they had to match the color of the New York sky to the paint on the walls of the severed floor. It's that level of detail that makes the show work.
To see more of the contrast between the "Innie" and "Outie" worlds, re-watch the transition scenes in episode 4. Pay attention to the sound design as the elevator doors open. The acoustic shift from the hum of the office to the silence of the New Jersey night is as much a "location" as the buildings themselves.
Check out the local historical societies in Holmdel and Kingston if you want to see what these buildings looked like before Lumon "moved in." The history of Bell Labs alone is enough to fill a book—it’s where the Big Bang theory was essentially confirmed via the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation. There’s a strange irony in filming a show about the mysteries of the mind in a place that unlocked the mysteries of the universe.
Go visit Bell Works. It’s the closest you’ll get to being severed without actually having a chip implanted in your brain. Just don't go looking for the break room. It’s probably better that you don’t find it.