The last two episodes of Severance Season 2 have been released on Apple TV. The show has been widely praised throughout its second season and has grown increasingly popular. Despite the bizarreness of Severance, it has managed to resonate with a large audience. The bizarre nature of the show was especially evident in the season finale which I’ll get to soon.
Starting off with Episode 9, the show opens up with Helena swimming in her family’s pool. Following this morning workout, she goes to have a minuscule breakfast: a single hard boiled egg. At breakfast, she’s greeted by her peculiar and controlling father Jame Eagan, the current CEO of Lumon. Something interesting about this interaction was that we finally got to see Helena interact with her father. Surprisingly, we have yet to see much of this. It becomes evident that Helena’s father is an extremely controlling figure. This is likely why Helena is so cold and calculating whereas her outie is more warm and curious. Helly, her innie, essentially represents the version of herself that hasn’t experienced all of that trauma.
After this, we get a look at Dylan and Gretchen. In the previous episode, Gretchen kissed Dylan’s innie. This causes a conflict between Gretchen and Dylan’s outie. This results in Dylan’s outie threatening to quit which causes a greater tension between him and Gretchen. The whole interaction here is quite interesting. Throughout the entire series, the question of whether or not the outies and innies are different people has remained central to the plot. My opinion remains the same. The innies and outies seem like different people with different lives. However, this is just because of the memory block between the two. I think that if you removed that then they would simply merge to become one.
After this, we see Dylan’s innie react to his outie’s threats. Again, it’s an interesting parallel since they are technically the same person. Helly reminds Dylan that they aren’t the same as their outie. However, Dylan lashes out at her and says that it’s her fault they are here in the first place. He then files a resignation request. During this, we also see Miss Huang, the floor manager graduate from the Wintertide Fellowship. But before she officially leaves, she must provide a material sacrifice to Kier. Miss Huang’s sacrifice is her strange Kier swimming game which is made up of plastic. Milchick destroys it in front of her and provides her with a bust of Jame Eagan’s head for her graduation. He also comments that her bed will be moved from her parent’s home to the Gunnel Eagan Empathy Center in Switzerland, another strange addition to the Lumon lore.
Following this strange interaction, Mr. Milchick is summoned by Mr. Drummond, who manages much of Lumon’s day to day operations. Drummond comments on how Cold Harbor is incomplete and how Mark S. is missing. He criticizes Milchick for his absence. However, in a sudden twist, Milchick fights back. He states that as the manager of the Severance floor, he deserves a certain measure of respect. He also comments that he manages the severed floor and is not responsible for what the innies do when they are not at work. Drummond is shocked by this especially because he’s been in charge of Milchick for most of the season. This was probably one of my favorite scenes throughout the entire series. Tramell Tillman’s serious and confident performance in this scene was excellent. It was also quite unexpected to see based on past interactions which was clever.
After this intense interaction, the show shifts back over to Irving, who we haven’t seen for a while since his innie’s termination. Irving is back in his apartment where Burt is waiting for him. It’s been theorized in past episodes that Burt worked for Lumon, which comes true this episode. It seems like Irving was some kind of anti-Severance activist which has drawn interest to him. In this case, it seems like Drummond ordered someone probably being Burt to kill him. Due to their innie’s relationship, Burt helps Irving escape to a safe location.
At the end of the episode, we see Innie Mark wake up at the birthing cabin. He’s greeted by Ms. Cobel and Devon who fill him in on everything. Outie Mark traveled with the two to wake up his innie and get information on Gemma which we see in the finale, where Gemma is saved.
Directly after this, we move onto the finale: Cold Harbor where we open up to a panicking Mark in the birthing retreat cabin. Cobel figures out that Mark hasn’t finished Cold Harbor. This means Gemma is alive. Cobel also tells Mark about the testing center. Mark recognizes this from Irving’s drawings. Following this, the group plans what to do next. We get an extended sequence of innie/outie Mark debating one another on saving Gemma. Innie Mark essentially thinks that once he saves Gemma, he will be dead. He is very suspicious of the entire reintegration process. Meanwhile, outie Mark tries to remind his innie that they are the same person. He attempts to appeal to his innie’s humanity by discussing his relationship with Gemma. Despite his noble efforts, this totally backfires. His innie interprets this as an attack on his and Helly’s relationship especially after his outie pronounces her name incorrectly. This whole interaction eventually results in innie Mark angrily agreeing to help save Gemma. Adam Scott does an excellent job in this entire sequence in conveying their internal conflict and differences. It helps to add a greater depth to Mark’s character. I thought this entire scene helped to intensify the last moments of the episode and heighten the stakes.
In the following sequence, the story shifts back over to Helly, where she is trying to learn the directions for the testing floor. Jame Eagan sneaks up in the doorway and says how she used to see Kier in her outie, but it faded from her. His presence remains extremely eerie and creepy. He comments how Helly has Kier in her. This is likely a reference to how the innie’s do not experience all the trauma that the outie’s do. That’s why they seem more childlike and happy. Helly almost stabs him with a fountain pen but he leaves before she can.
Right after this, Mark S returns to work. He is met right out of the elevator with an extremely peculiar Optics and Design painting. The painting depicts Mark Scout’s journey to this point. It has all his important family members, co-workers, and even those strange copies of MDR from a few episodes back. Mark and Helly reunite and he decides to finish Cold Harbor before rushing to save Gemma. He finishes Cold Harbor and is greeted by Mr. Milchick and Choreography and Merriment, the Lumon marching band. They perform an upbeat college football like song called The Ballad of Ambrose and Gunnel. I really hope that someone turns this into a full song eventually. During this, Milchick begins to dance reminiscent of his Season 1 dance. I actually saw an interview before this episode where Tramell Tillman teased a potential Music Dance Experience like scene, without actually saying anything more. So I was quite excited to see this.
Helly then grabs Milchick’s walkie talkie and Mark runs down to the testing floor. Helly manages to trap Milchick in the bathroom and Dylan then shows up to help her hold him back. Throughout all of this, Mark manages to kill Mr. Drummond in the elevator by accident and reunites with Gemma. However, his outie only sees Gemma on the testing floor before his innie takes control again. Once his innie has control, he gets Gemma to safety on the outside, but decides to stay on the severed floor with Helly. This is because he might not ever see her again.
The episode ends with Mel Torme’s: The Windmills of Your Mind playing, and it could easily be an excellent end for the entire series. I loved this song choice and I thought it fit well with the tone of the show. Overall, these last two episodes were extremely well-made. I loved the finale and the bizarre nature of it. However, there were a great deal of unanswered questions left on the table. We don’t fully understand the purpose of Cold Harbor or many of Lumon’s other rituals. There’s also questions about what will happen next on the severed floor. Despite this, the series could easily end on this cliffhanger, allowing for viewers to fill in the rest with their imagination.
As much as I enjoyed this show, I really wouldn’t mind if it ended here. I think that a show like Severance shouldn’t run on for five seasons. I think in this case, it would be better if it ended the series this season or with one more. Since Season 3 has already been confirmed, we are going to get one more season which I’m still glad to hear. However, I hope that they are able to wrap everything up there especially after all the character development they have done. I think it’s better to end a great series early on then allowing it to decrease in quality in later seasons. If you read this article without watching the show then I’d highly recommend you check it out. Overall, I think that Season 2 maintained a lot of the similar quality to the first season. It also added some extra elements as well such as improved music, deeper characterization, and a wider array of different settings. And last but not least, it added another great Music Dance Experience.
