It’s hard to put into words just how wild the ending of Severance season 2 was, an oversized episode that didn’t waste a second of its runtime with a finale that floored most fans, myself included.
This is not a show that is withholding all answers indefinitely, as a good number of things were made clear. But I mean, this is Severance, there are plenty more mysteries to come, and many things we simply can only guess at right now.
Questions Answered:
Cold Harbor – The final Gemma test is one where they don’t just put her in a physically painful or uncomfortable situation, they recreate two of the most traumatic events of her life, dressing her in the clothes of the night of her accident, and having her disassemble the crib of the pregnancy she could never bring to term.
The “barrier holds,” meaning she can fully divorce this new innie personality from that trauma, but of course we’ve already had a similarly big test with Ms. Casey and Mark meeting each other last season, and that barrier holding as well.
Kier’s Goal – This is, as some expected, a pursuit of a life free from pain, or even discomfort. On the severed floor, that means no toiling away at a menial job for your main personality, or in the birthing cabin, no recollection of that excruciating process. Then, the Gemma tests were the dentist, writing Christmas cards and even the possibility of death on a turbulent airplane. The final test, deep, deep emotional pain. So the goal of Severance is much more than just a work/home split.
The Goats – The goats were being raised to find certain “tempers” within them that are worthy of sacrifice to go alongside this process, in this case, to be entombed with Gemma after she was killed. Goat Mom really did not like that.
Dylan Isn’t Dead – Innie Dylan was effectively killing himself by resigning, if his outie agreed, but he didn’t, so Dylan lives. But I do wonder without Irving and without his outie’s wife, what his purpose will be from here.
Milchick Is Still a Company Man (Mostly) – We did not get some big, redemptive moment here from Milchick, as he was still trying to prevent Mark from doing…whatever he was doing (I’m not sure he knew), despite pushing back on corporate or even Kier’s legacy (though eventually, a vending machine). But he hasn’t turned. Not yet, in any case.
Open Questions:
Mark And Helly – I mean, where are they going? These two characters, minus some sort of Glasgow Block, are literally stuck on the severed floor no matter how many hallways they run down. Either of them leave and they’re back to Mark Scout and Helena. So while we may understand why Mark did what he did (he doesn’t trust outie Mark to reintegrate, or even if he does, he will lose Helly), we have no idea how they’ll “get out of this” as Lumon doesn’t even need Mark for the project anymore, with that whole process now destroyed.
Gemma – Can she fully escape going out those back stairs? Given that the main enforcer of the company is now dead, and the majority of the rest of the employees appear to be marching band members, she probably can. Will Gemma be a major character in the outside world after this even if Mark is choosing to be stuck in Lumon? And what will she be like with 25 different innies buried in her head? That seems less than ideal, even if without severed activation zones.
Were There Other, Failed Gemmas? – This is a question I had after the whole goat conversation, as if many more goats had been sacrificed before this, it does sound like this process was tried and failed many times before this if the point of these goats is to be “entombed” with people based on some wacky Kier ritual.
Helly and Jame – Jame makes it very clear that he is more impressed with Helly than his own daughter, Helena, or his litter of bastard children. I’m wondering if the golden ticket for Helly to live is for Jame to “choose” her to be his new daughter, effectively making her the outie and Helena the innie.
Just…What Happens Now? – Obviously a very general question, but Gemma is gone, Mark and Helly are on the loose on the floor, the main Eagan enforcer is dead, Milchick is wavering, Dylan is chillin. But most importantly, the whole “point” of the last two seasons, finishing Cold Harbor, is now wrecked. Do they start all over again, or is there some new Lumon plan or project going forward? Surely the company is doing more than having one guy and one woman working on the “cure pain” problem, right?
It’s about to be a very, very long wait until season 3, my friends.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
