‘Severance' Finale: Which Theories Were Correct?
This article is almost entirely made up of spoilers.
The 'Severance' rabbit hole online is deep, with fans sharing theories about the meaning of the notes used for elevator dings, the true nature of the Lumon Industries office (is it actually a hospital?) and other arcana. Would any of them pay off in the Season 2 finale?
Yes, as it turned out. In fact, one of the most popular predictions prevailed in the explosive episode: The numbers Mark S. had been diligently sorting on his terminal were indeed the building blocks of his wife Gemma's mind. With every file he completed, a new consciousness — or 'innie' — of hers was created to be tortured on the testing floor.
The effort culminated in Cold Harbor, his 25th and final file, which Mark S. completed as part of a greater scheme and collaboration between his innie and outie to free her.
This work, which relied on Mark S.'s gut instinct, was — as Harmony Cobel confirmed — tied to 'the four tempers,' a philosophy developed by the Lumon founder Kier Eagan: woe, frolic, dread and malice. Hats off to the 'Severance' enthusiasts who saw that coming!
And while the big Cold Harbor revelations will satiate devotees for a moment, many other questions remain, and many more were introduced.
Yes, we learned that the goats serve some sort of ceremonial and sacrificial purpose. 'This beast will be entombed with a cherished woman whose spirit it must guide to Kier's door,' the Lumon fixer Mr. Drummond tells Lorne, of the Mammalians Nurturable department, as he hands her a bolt gun to kill the animal.
But surely this is just one element of a much bigger arc — one that may include the riddle of the pompous author Ricken, Mark's brother-in-law, who 'Severance' enthusiasts grew increasingly interested in as Season 2 unfolded. (Some of my co-workers even hoped the finale would be devoted entirely to him.)
Of the many goat-related theories and clues attached to Ricken, my favorite is that his phone alarm, which we hear during the Season 1 book reading, is a cowbell: the same sound that was used in the Mammalians Nurturable room this season to get everyone's attention. Is Ricken a goat's outie? (Also, is it too conspiratorial to find a connection between cowbell and Cobel? When it comes to 'Severance,' almost anything goes.)
We also learned that the comically creepy Jame Eagan, the Lumon chief executive and Helena Eagan's father, has 'sired' many children 'in the shadows.' But who exactly? And why, in the finale, does he tell Helly R. that he no longer loves Helena and that he, instead, sees the 'fire of Kier' in her?
After Mark and Gemma break out of the testing floor, a breathless Dr. Mauer (reminder: he was a doctor in the fertility clinic flashback) yells, 'You'll kill them all!' Is he referring to all of the innies (including the dozens in her head), all of the outies or some other group we haven't even begun to imagine?
Other significant lingering questions that will require fans' patience:
As for me, I can't shake the feeling that Helly R., who risked everything to help Mark S. free Gemma, would never have derailed his escape at the last minute. She even seemed to have come to terms, begrudgingly, with the fact that she and Helena are the same person, dispelling any notion Mark S. had of them finding happiness together in the end.
Was the Glasgow Block (again) initiated? Was that actually Helena running hand in hand with Mark S. into the inescapable bowels of the office? Or did Jame Eagan, no longer seeing Kier in Helena, somehow replace or integrate her with Helly R.?
The good news is that Apple on Friday announced that 'Severance' has been officially renewed for a third season. The great news is that Ben Stiller, an executive producer and frequent director, has assured fans that they won't have to wait three more years for Season 3, as they did between the first two.
But please, try to enjoy both pieces of news equally.
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The issues it touches — Palestine, immigration itself — the world is wrestling with all these things, and all of a sudden there's this cathartic piece of art that touches on all of that, humanizes all of that. And it's funny, man. AMER: I hope so. I mean, sometimes it didn't feel like a comedy. There were some moments where I'm like, 'Are we fucking making a comedy?' Because I'm emotionally exhausted. I'm tanked. But to your point, I've never seen a series touch upon all these things. I wanted to go into a detention center. I quite deliberately wanted my character at the end of Season 1 to get stuck in Mexico, to see what it takes to actually get back [into the United States]. And to show the absurdities of a detention center. CHAPPELLE: I remember years ago being on a tour bus with you, and you described the whole sequence about what it was like fleeing Kuwait. And when I saw the first season of your show, it was exactly what you described on the tour bus, shot for shot. 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