SPOILERS for Severance Season 2, Episode 10 ‘Cold Harbor’
When it comes to finales, no one does it better than Severance. The end of the first season was the perfect climax, an ending that has been engrained in the mind of every fan of the series. Likewise, the ending of this season presents a number of pivotal moments that, collectively, will go down as one of the best and most memorable episodes of TV. The freeze-frame that closes out this season is one of those moments that will be iconic when we think of Severance for years to come. The episode as a whole is a masterpiece of television – it’s 75 minutes of goosebumps, edge-of-seat tension and explosive moments that thrust the narrative into realms unknown. As well as being tense and exciting, it’s also somewhat hilarious. That tongue-in-cheek humour has made its way into this finale to balance out the tone, and I’m all for it.
It presents answers aplenty, putting a number of wild theories to bed while laying the groundwork for more mysteries to develop in the future. I don’t know what Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson have planned going forward, but this feels like the midpoint. The absolute peak. Not in terms of quality, but in terms of it being the turning point that will shift the series in a whole new direction. “Why?” you might ask… well let’s get into it.
Cabin Fever
This show’s ability to pick up immediately where the previous episode left off is something I adore about it. And that’s what happens here, kicking off in the cabin with innie Mark (Adam Scott), Devon (Jen Tullock) and Harmony (Patricia Arquette). Harmony immediately wants to know if Mark has finished Cold Harbour, to which he informs her she hasn’t, meaning Gemma would still be alive. She then proceeds to tell him about the Exports Hall. Before she can finish, Mark tells her he knows all about it via Irving’s drawings, a fact that Harmony is naturally surprised to hear.
All the while, we revisit Jame (Michael Siberry) and Helly (Britt Lower) back on the severed floor. It’s a short, puzzling but intriguing sequence in which Jame opens up about how angry he was at Helly for her stunt at the gala. That anger went away when he realised he sees Kier in Helly, speaking particularly to her strength of character and fearlessness… something which ties into his ultimate goal for the severance procedure. The also explains that he no longer loves Helena, indicating a huge rift there, and also tried unsuccessfully to raise worthy children with other women – something we caught wind of last episode when Harmony entered the birthing retreat.
Back in the cabin, Harmony, Devon and Mark discuss the plan to rescue Gemma from her prison. Harmony drops the neat tidbit of information that severed chips are only attuned to their respective floor – a neat little confirmation on the logistics of the chip’s function. So in other words, once he goes down to the testing floor, he’ll be his outie again, requiring them to work together if they’re to get her to the stairwell. As we soon find out, working together is going to be easier said than done.
I guess you could call it an ‘internal struggle’…
After hearing the plan, innie Mark is naturally skeptical, pointing out that if Lumon ends then he and all of the innies will be effectively killed. Immediately he’s not on board with the idea of ending his own life to save someone he doesn’t actually care about. When Harmony floats the idea that the mission doesn’t have to end his life, he’s handed a camcorder with a message from his outie. What follows is one of the most expertly crafted and exciting moments not just of the episode, but of the series – a (semi) direct conversation between innie and outie.
The innie’s reaction to a message from his outie is initially full of emotion, looking both overjoyed yet trepidatious. In the message, the outie apologises for creating him as a prisoner and explains that he wants to make it right, given the chance. So far so well. The innie responds and explains that his life isn’t so much a nightmare as the innies find ways to make their lives, however short, feel whole. And thus, he doesn’t want his life to end… and this is where tensions rise. The editing shifts into more of a conversational style as their messages get increasingly hostile. The outie tells his innie about reintegration and how they’ll recouple their memories to be one person once they free Gemma. I should note, this whole conversation is reminiscent of an older brother trying to convince a younger brother to team up for a mission that serves one more than the other.
The innie questions the logistics of reintegration, having concerns about the fact that their reintegrated self would be way more outie than innie. As they exchange more hostile, snappy messages, they start having a full-blown argument about the entire plan. This even includes a hilarious moment where the outie mistakingly refers to Helly as “Heleny”. Mark’s innie is stuck on the fact that if he helps his outie, he’ll die and lose Helly, and so refuses to trust his outie’s intentions.
The numbers, Mason, here’s what they mean!
After Mark’s innie “called bullshit”, Harmony has a one-on-one conversation where she explains the meaning behind the MDR numbers. This sequence is eye opening and awesome as far as getting confirmation, yet not entirely revelatory. She explains that the numbers are a doorway into Gemma’s mind, with each cluster and box representing the four tempers – woe, frolic, malice and dread. Not only that, but each file Mark has completed, 24 to be exact, is a new consciousness for her. So each room Gemma goes in, and each innie she transitions into, has been built by Mark by sorting the tempers. Cold Harbor is the last one he will create before Lumon kills Gemma and fires Mark. This is all great, new information, but we don’t yet know exactly why they need to kill Gemma and what the purpose of the testing is. I have a strong speculation, but there’s nothing too concrete.
Harmony ends the scene by cutting the bullshit and reiterating that there’ll be no honeymoon ending for he and Helly. Despite Harmony explaining that they’re using him, he doesn’t believe her and demands to not be woken up again unless it’s on the severed floor.
And so they oblige…
The Exalted Victory of Cold Harbor
When Mark exits the elevator onto the severed floor, he’s greeted by another new and even more menacing painting… a painting featuring everyone Mark has interacted with being overlooked by the generations of Eagan CEOs past, present and future. It’s a wild image that would look a beaut printed onto a canvas and hung on the wall. (Attention Ben Stiller, please release a high-res image). In the most convenient timing, Helly arrives before the lights go out and illuminate the path to MDR headquarters.
Waiting in the expansive room is a wax statue of Kier Eagan holding a letter. The letter, signed by Mr. Milkshake, is congratulating Mark on completing his file. As Mark begins work on the file, Helly tells him about Jame’s visit to the severed floor while he tells her everything that happened at the cabin.
Elsewhere, Mr. Milkshake (Tramell Tillman) arrives at the elevator to welcome none other than Dylan (Zach Cherry) back to the severed floor. Dylan is shocked and so am I, as I didn’t have Dylan returning on my bingo card. But I guess letting go of two MDR members in one episode would be a bit much. Dylan is then handed an envelope containing his outie’s response to his resignation. Once handing it over, Mr. Milkshake absolutely legs it out of the room, stripping off his tie and giving the impression he’s making a great escape. When Dylan reads the letter, it reveals that while his outie is pissed off about the whole kissing dilemma, he understands why his innie would be attracted to his wife, and her to him. His outie mentions he believes he should stay at Lumon as he likes knowing there’s a strong-willed part of him still out there.
As Mark and Helly talk over his completion of Cold Harbor, she begins to talk some sense into him, explaining that they’re screwed either way so he should help get Gemma out and give himself a chance at living. Mark starts to break down and mentions that he wants to live with Helly… now they both get all teary-eyed. Despite what she also wants, she reiterates that she’s Helena Eagan and so there’d be no real way for them to stay together. Mark then complies, seemingly agreeing to finish the file and free Gemma. All the while, Dr. Mauer (Robby Benson) and Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) are watching from the security room.
Before Mark completes the file, there’s a heartwarming moment where Helly references the first conversation they ever had way back in season one. She tries mentioning locations besides Delaware, only being able to come up with Europe, Zimbabwe and the equator. The cute, funny conversation arrives at the point where they speculate whether the equator is a building or a continent. It’s moments like this that really capture the heart of the series. As Mark sorts the final batch of numbers, Helly hands him the directions to the Exports Hall.
My Milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard…
Mr. Drummond exits the security room, Dr. Mauer gives Jame the good news, then the weirdness of the finale begins. I love that amongst all of the explosive, revelatory moments and despite the tense, climactic tone, there’s still time for the cult-like strangeness of Lumon to shine through. The room goes dark, green lights illuminate the room and a fine smoke starts to fill the room. My snap reaction was that they’re gassing out Mark and Helly, but what we get is even better. “B.O.M.B.S” by Fabolous starts playing over the speakers and the statue of Kier starts moving. A voiceover of Kier, that I can only assume is really Dr. Mauer, comes on to congratulate him on the completion. After going through his whole spiel, he welcomes Mr. Milkshake into the room. This is where Stiller and Erickson toy with us for a second by having him not enter the room immediately, but he eventually launches into the spotlight. With a pearly-white smile on his face and backed by canned laughter, he goes through a scripted conversation with Kier/Mauer.
When Mauer snaps at Mr. Milkshake for using wordy language, he snaps back by insulting the inaccurate height of Kier’s statue. This small but telling moment shows very clearly how his relationship with Lumon is becoming increasingly strained. While he’s not at the point of abandoning the company, he seems firmly on that trajectory.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any weirder, he introduces Choreography & Merriment, an entire marching band that enters the room to celebrate Mark’s accomplishment by playing Kier’s Hymn. Following that, he removes his blazer and once again becomes the life of the party, channeling his time last season during the Music Dance Experience. Once he kicks off the “Ballad of Ambrose & Gunnel“, he whips out an assortment of new dance moves you’ll see plastered all over TikTok as early as tomorrow. This whole sequence, while absolutely insane, is an incredible joy to watch. Tramell Tillman is an absolute delight, living it up and showing off the lighter side of Mr. Milkshake.
While all this chaos is happening, Jame enters a tiny room with a lone computer where Dr. Mauer informs him that the Efficacy Test will begin shortly. Also Gemma (Dichen Lachman) is seen for the first time getting changed into a new outfit – the same outfit she was wearing the night she “died”.
Despite being in the presence of a grand ol’ party, Mark makes it clear to Helly that he needs to leave to save Gemma. Understanding the mission, she takes the opportunity to steal Mr. Milkshakes walkie, destroy it in the toilet, lure him into the bathroom and lock him in so he can’t call for help. It’s perfectly executed, especially for a plan she formulated and executed entirely on a whim. That gives Mark the opportunity to escape and track down the elusive Exports Hall.
Cribs and goats…
Before we get to the goats, we see Gemma being guided to the Cold Harbor room, finally, by her creepy nurse (Sandra Bernhard). She enters the room to find a crib, the same one she and Mark bought for their child. As all of these rooms have been centred around many of life’s most stressful or uncomfortable situations, this one seems to be the most tailored to Gemma’s life, specifically the loss of her child. Jame is watching – this is the efficacy test. “I’ll Be Seeing You” starts playing, a song that has significance for Mark and Gemma, while she’s tasked with pulling the crib apart. As she continues to pull apart the crib, Dr. Mauer and Jame watch on in awe as it becomes increasingly clear that the barrier is still holding despite the weight of what this memory means to Gemma.
Meanwhile we catch back up with Mr. Drummond, who is actually coming through the Exports Hall. Upon exiting the dark hallway, he pushes open a hidden door disguised as one of the many 100s of wall panels. Next we cut to Lorne (Gwendoline Christie) for the first time since episode 3. She’s carting one of the baby goats through the severed floor’s hallways, ultimately taking it into the mysterious room where Mr. Drummond is waiting. I’ll stop here and highlight that while Lorne’s hair might be in tatters, she’s absolutely slaying in that gothic, black outfit. Mr. Drummond questions whether the goat, or rather the offering, has verve and wiles. Lorne confirms it has the most of its flock, apparently.
This is where we finally get the confirmation of what the goats are – they’re purely sacrificial. After the countless theories related to cloning and testing for some grand experiment, they’re simply offerings for one of Kier’s cult-like ceremonies. As Mr. Drummond explains, the goats are sacrificed as it’s believed they will guide the spirits of the dead to whatever afterlife they believe in. This goat is being prepped to guide Gemma’s spirit once they kill her.
Outside the sacrifice room, Mark tracks down the Exports Hall, but of course his pass doesn’t work. I wonder what the plan was for this moment, because it doesn’t seem he would’ve been able to get through without a bit of luck. Just before Mr. Drummond can kill the goat with a captive bolt, he and Lorne hear the commotion of Mark trying to muscle his way through the door. Mr. Drummond exits the room to the hilarious sight of Mark trying to climb(?) the door, then starts beating the daylight out of him. Mark puts up a fight, but Mr. Drummond gets the better of him, almost strangling him to death before Lorne puts the captive bolt to his head. She and Mark team up and apprehend Mr. Drummond, with Lorne getting her revenge for him almost killing baby Emile.
Oops, sorry?
While all this commotion has been going on, Mr. Milkshake nearly escaped Helly’s trap, but Dylan showed up to save the day by pushing a vending machine in front of the bathroom door. Since then he has been unsuccessfully trying to escape while the band has been entirely unbothered, rocking out to the “Ballad of Ambrose & Gunnel“. All of a sudden the band catches wind of what’s happening and attempts to fall back. Helly jumps into action and leaps into a speech, attempting to convince the band not to leave and alert anyone otherwise the innies will die. It’s a short but impactful speech, dropping the great line “They give us half a life and think we won’t fight for it”.
Back with Mark, he holds a bloodied Mr. Drummond hostage with the captive bolt, using him to gain access to the testing floor. My first concern was that his outie would take a minute to adjust to his whereabouts, giving Mr. Drummond a moment to overpower him, but boy was I wrong. It seems the muscles or joints must contract when severing, causing the bolt to fire into Mr. Drummond’s neck, killing him and bloodying a shocked outie Mark. That brutal fight sequence followed by this blood-soaked elevator is the most violent sequence the series has seen, and it’s awesome. I don’t know why, but I love Mr. Drummond’s death being an accident – it’s shocking yet hilarious. Also something to note, the fact that this show’s environments are predominantly white makes the red blood really pop on the screen, a really nice touch.
Mark finds the Cold Harbor room and is confronted by the nurse, when she doesn’t comply he tries to access the room and realises it reads your blood. Thankfully he’s covered in Mr. Drummond’s, so he uses a drop of that to gain access.
The briefest of reunions…
As Mark ventures into the room, he finally comes face to face with Gemma (once removed). Understandably, Gemma would be terrified as this is the first person this innie has ever seen. Mark does his best to introduce himself and calm her down, all the while Dr. Mauer and Jame are losing their shit. Mark successfully lures her out of the room and we finally get a face-to-face between outie Mark and the real Gemma. Their reunion is beautiful, emotional and been a very long time coming, but the bliss is momentary as an alarm goes off and red lights drown out the entire facility. Yes, at this point I was screaming RUN at the TV. They make it into the elevator and take the opportunity to kiss, making it slightly awkward when the transition kicks in and they become Ms. Casey and Mark’s innie. After a brief moment of confusion, they both make a run for it towards the stairwell.
Back in the MDR bathroom, Mr. Milkshake has had enough, going red at the sight of red and bashing his way out of the room in a fit of rage. He finally breaks out, despite Dylan’s efforts, but is shocked to find the entirety of the Choreography & Merriment marching band standing in his way, led by Dylan.
WHERE ARE YOU RUNNING TO?!
Innie Mark and Ms. Casey finally make it to the stairwell, with Mark sending her out and Gemma finally waking up on the outside. But of course, it was all going too damn well. Mark hesitates walking through the door long enough for Helly to show up behind him and call his name. Mark turns around to look at Helly while Gemma is pleading for him to come with her and I’m yelling at him to not go to Helly. But we just can’t have nice things in this world. I was so worried the series would end on the cliffhanger of who he chose, but it keeps going.
Mark walks over to Helly as “The Windmills of Your Mind” starts playing. He grabs her hand, turns and runs aimlessly through Lumon’s hallways, with the episode ending on a soon-to-be iconic freeze-frame of them running. BUT WHERE ARE YOU RUNNING TO?
Lingering Thoughts
Jame’s ultimate goal
So we now know the contents of the Cold Harbour room, as well as the fact that the numbers are a collective doorway into Gemma’s mind. Mark has been extracting emotions to create innies related to her worst fears, insecurities, dislikes and painful life moments. But now the question remains – why? Why does Jame need all of this data and what is he planning to do with it? It seems increasingly clear it has to do with severing out all of life’s pain- and fear-driven moments, leaving someone fearless and full of positivity. But even I’m not too sure of that. Jame seemed fascinated in this episode by Helly, saying that he sees Kier inside her due to her fearlessness an strength. Since he also mentions he doesn’t love his daughter, that could indicate his fascination with people being severed of their pain and fears. I have no bearing on whether that’s the direction we’re heading in, especially given every other bonkers theory has been buried. Or, here’s one, maybe it’s about being able to extract a personality into a chip, then use that to create another, better version of oneself.
Weird season 2 things
This season had a lot of things going on, a lot more than season 1. But that means it also had a few subplots that, thinking back, are awesome yet weird. The entire ORTBO episode is a wild detour, one which gave us some crazy imagery and a big revelation relating to Helly. But it also gave us the doppelgangers, who are not clones but people hired by Lumon that look similar to the MDR members. Their purpose is perplexing as they’re not featured outside of that room, the ORTBO, and the random moment that Mark’s lookalike appears behind him in the hallway.
Additionally, Ricken is just… around. There’s a sequence with Ricken and Natalie talking about writing an innie version of his book, then one followup on that, and that’s it. I feel like the writers had nothing for him to do but didn’t want him to just be absent, so they wrote a scene or two to explain his whereabouts.
Seriously Mark… Where. Are. You. Running.
Look, I’m all for young love. Innie Mark and Helly are like teenagers – they love each other sure, but they’re not thinking about anything other than the right now. Okay sure, you’ve chosen your love over your outie’s love… but you’ve gone and ruined your outie’s life so you can have maybe 35 seconds with your crush? Get the fuck out of here bro. Where are you gonna go man? You’re gonna get captured and apprehended within the first minute of season 3, then probably put to sleep. Helly is gonna leave and become Helena again, then you’re alone. And don’t get me started on Helly, you’re the one who convinced Mark that they can never work, now you’ve gone and broken Gemma’s heart by stealing her man for a couple minutes? Get out of here.
Gemma as the season 3 protagonist?
After two whole seasons, we finally got a total of 1 minute and 53 seconds of Mark and Gemma being reunited before it was ripped away from us. Every other scene they share is a combination of different innies and outies – we’re so close yet so far. Now with Gemma having escaped from Lumon’s grasp (assuming she makes it out of the building) and Mark trapped inside… where do we go now? It makes sense we’ll be seeing more of Mark (and probably Helly), but their movements within Lumon will be quite limited you’d imagine. So with Gemma out and roaming free, it makes sense there’ll be more narrative to be told there, especially with the chip still in her head and her importance to Lumon.
The first season’s finale will never be forgotten thanks to how brilliantly it encapsulates the season, all while maintaining a constant sense of tension from beginning to end. Likewise, this finale also brings the major arcs of the season full circle, delivering 75 minutes of the highest quality television possible. To put it simply, I had goosebumps and was on-edge the entire time. The crafting of tension is remarkable and the way the narrative locks you in a constant state of suspense is something many shows have attempted but failed. It’s not just the best, most explosive episode of the series, but one of the best episodes of TV out there. Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson are masters of their craft – they understand the direction, tone and narrative of the season to the point where they can produce awe-inspiring episodes like this.
The score of Severance has always been a dictator of the pace and tension, and that’s no different here. There’s a fluctuating, heart-pounding pulse that extends through the bulk of the episode, instilling a sense of fear, tension and anxiety that makes it impossible to look away. It may run well over an hour, but time flies as the episode zooms through its arcs in order to pack everything in. Being centred around Mark and Gemma made this not only a culmination of this season, but of last season. All of that emotional baggage leading up to the “She’s alive” moment carries through to here, where it delivers an emotional gut-punch that’s as fantastic as it is heartbreaking.
In saying that, I really feel like this is a turning point in the series. I doubt we’ll ever get another episode focused on the traditional life of innies on the severed floor, at least not without new characters. The narrative has been cracked wide open and some of the show’s biggest secrets revealed, so I have no clue what to expect. There’s plenty of loose ends relating to Gemma, Harmony, Irving, Burt and so many other characters that make me more than excited for the future of the series. Let’s just hope it’s not another 3-year wait.
10/10
Everything Movie Reviews 