Ben Stiller and Adam Scott unpack ‘Severance’ season two finale
Season two of television’s most mind-bending series has come to an end, but the conversation surrounding it is just beginning. Last night’s Severance finale ‘Cold Harbour’ left a lot of unanswered questions on the table, and executive producer Ben Stiller and star Adam Scott have lent their voices to the discussion.
The series follows Mark (Scott), an office drone at Lumon Industries who, along with his colleagues, signs on to a programme that separates his workplace memories and identity (his ‘innie’) from his external memories and identity (his ‘outie’). The process, called ‘severance,’ does not prevent Mark or his fellow workers from becoming increasingly unsettled and curious about the company that controls their every move.
The first season of Severance landed on Apple TV+ in 2022 and quickly became an internet sensation. It took three years for its long-awaited second season to hit the streaming platform, but when it did, it seemed to gain an even larger following. Shortly before last night’s finale, Stiller reassured fans that they would not have to wait another three years for a third season.
The final episode of season two has given viewers plenty to dissect in the meantime. Mark’s innie and outie are in conflict despite recording messages for each other on a camcorder to maintain some continuity. His outie is trying to rescue his wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman), who he thought was dead but who has actually been a guinea pig for Lumon. Meanwhile, his innie has fallen in love with his severed colleague Helly (Britt Lower).
Mark’s outie wants his innie to complete the mysterious ‘Cold Harbour’ file and rescue Gemma, thereby sacrificing his and everyone else’s innie. Mark dutifully completes the file and reunites with Gemma, but just as they’re about to escape, he decides not to sacrifice himself for his outie and leaves Gemma on her own as he races back into Lumon to Helly. The final shot is a freeze-frame of Mark and Helly running toward each other with ‘The Windmills of Your Mind’ as a soundtrack.
It’s a cliffhanger ending, with all the characters facing an uncertain and dangerous fate, but according to Stiller, they were tempted to make it even more ambiguous.
“We knew that was going to be the ending for a while,” he said (via USA Today). “We sort of played with the idea of ending on Mark looking between the two, but it felt clear, after having this cliffhanger ending in season one, I didn’t want to do that to the audience. It always felt this was the natural way that Mark’s innie would go.”
Scott said that he was glad they decided not to torture the audience, and said that he interprets the ending as a decisive moment for Mark, explaining, “He’s finally 100% breaking free of this servitude.”
As for the fallout of Mark’s actions, we’ll have to wait until season three.
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