After taking characters and viewers on a 10-episode emotional rollercoaster, Severance Season 2 ended the same way it began: with Mark racing through the twisty hallways of the Severed Floor. Only this time? He’s not sprinting solo…
Spoilers for Severance Season 2, Episode 10.
After Season 1’s cliffhanger saw Innie Mark (Adam Scott) realize his outie’s dead wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman), was actually Lumon’s Wellness Director, Ms. Casey, Season 2, kicked off with him making a break for the Wellness Room to reunite with her.
In Season 2’s cliffhanger, however, Innie Mark saves Gemma, but instead of escaping alongside her, he stays on the severed floor with Helly (Britt Lower) and runs away from her.
“It started when we came up with the first moment of the season, which is Mark coming out of the elevator and immediately running to go find his wife,” Erickson told Decider over Zoom. “And once we mapped his arc, we realized that to us, the best ending of the season was him actually turning and running away from Gemma. And running toward a different version of life that was more specific to him, with a person who was more specific to him.”
Some fans of Apple TV+’s hit series may solely be cheering Mark and Helly on, while others struggle to move past their sadness for Gemma. But in order to fully experience Season 2’s ending, Erickson hopes you’ll feel all the feelings. In other words: Don’t sever your emotions.
“I wanted something where we had built up both of those relationships — between Mark and Helly and Mark and Gemma — and we could simultaneously feel the joy and the utter devastation of the choice that Mark makes in that moment,” Erickson explained.
Though the final scene packs the hardest punch, Season 2, Episode 10 is full of dramatic, impressive, hilarious, highly-anticipated moments. So read on to hear what Erickson has to say on Adam Scott’s big Innie/Outie conversation, Mark and Gemma’s long-awaited reunion, Milchick’s Choreography & Merriment moment, and more.
We have to start with that final scene. I read that you initially didn’t intend to pursue a Mark and Helly romance, but Adam and Britt’s chemistry was too good to ignore. And now here you are writing them running away together! [Laughs] When did you first know this was how you wanted to end the season?
I had just originally envisioned them as having a friendship. But it was pretty clear immediately, once they were both there and we could see their chemistry, that it was a little bit undeniable. In terms of this moment, I think it started when we came up with the first moment of the season, which is Mark coming out of the elevator and immediately running to go find his wife. When that happened, we started to map out what his trajectory would be over the course of the season. And once we mapped out his arc, we realized that to us, the best ending of the season was him actually turning and running away from Gemma. And running toward a different version of life that was more specific to him, with a person who was more specific to him.
We love Helly, but I was absolutely crushed to see Gemma lose here husband mere seconds after finally escaping her testing floor hell of years!
Really. You can’t help but feel bad.
On top of being a beloved drama, comedy, thriller, etc. Season 2 really solidified Severance as this great love story. How has it felt watching a show you wrote because you hated your job blossom into that? All the MDR innies explored romance this season, and with Mark and Helly and Gemma you’ve created one of TV’s most intense love triangles, or hexagons, of all time.
I don’t even know how to define the shape anymore. It’s some kind of a rhombus I think. But it is funny, because I think it’s a show ultimately about identity. And I didn’t set out to have a strong romantic angle, but at the end of the day, who you love is such an important part of who you are, and it reflects your identity and your sense of self back to you in a way that became became a very integral part of the show.
Rewinding to the top of the episode, Adam Scott’s finale performance is some of his best work on the show. How did you approach that delicious sequence where his innie and outie are interacting, and what did it feel like to see it come off the page?
It was crazy. That was a scene I had always wanted to write, and I was always terrified to write. There was no way to be sure what it would feel like, because I’d never seen a scene like that before. And so it was reliant on so many different elements of the filmmaking, because the performance had to be believable. The editing had to be perfect, because we had to be able to understand what was actually happening, and that between each of these lines of dialogue he was turning off the camera, and going outside, and sitting down again, and listening, and then recording. But we had to edit it in a way that increasingly felt like a real conversation. So I knew it was going to require everybody to be at the top of their game. And fortunately, they did not disappoint.
Speaking of incredible achievements, I know in Season 1 you said you were most proud of the Music Dance Experience, so I was howling with glee when you got to write Milchick’s Choreography & Merriment moment. What was it like working with that band and watching him show off his moves again?
Incredible. It’s incredible. I really don’t want to make Tramell dance in more and more elaborate ways for the rest of his life, but I also don’t not want that. He’s just so good. And in scenes like that, he brings such a charisma that also, to me, never feels out of character. I think that Milchick earnestly wants to bring a sense of excitement and humanity to this office. So I think it comes through from Tramell’s soul onto the screen.
He’s a star! One of the most anticipated moments in the finale is Mark and Gemma’s reunion. There’s been a huge buildup to it, so what did you want to make sure you accomplished in those emotional scenes?
It’s interesting, because you’ve got a couple of different iterations, or pairings, between them that you see. First it’s Mark seeing his wife, but it’s not his wife. It’s this version that lives in the Cold Harbor room. And then they step outside and they have this one moment where it’s actually the two of them, but there’s no time to stand there and enjoy that. They have to run. And I really wanted to see Mark S. and Ms. Casey together again.
The elevator kiss was iconic.
Yeah. This heartbreaking moment followed up by this, this kind of strange, funny reunion between these two where they’re both pretty confused. And then last, and I would say the most heartbreaking, is that moment in the end where it’s she can see him, but it’s not him. And in the end, he doesn’t follow her. I wanted something where we had built up both of those relationships — between Mark and Helly and Mark and Gemma — that we could simultaneously feel the joy and the utter devastation of the choice that Mark makes in that moment.
They weren’t in the finale, but I need to ask about my dearly beloved Burt and Irving. Can you give the people hope that John Turturro and Christopher Walken could return next season?
Well, I can’t speak to whether they’ll be back or not. But I will say that I had no desire on any level to harm a hair on either of their heads. That’s true of them and it’s true of the goats. And I was glad that for the most part all of those characters were able to get out unscathed.
You’ve been very open about wanting to reveal answers right away to prove that you have them. Was there anything you were really temped to reveal this season that you ultimately decided to string out longer for the sake of the story?
There were a couple of things, yeah. I can’t really get into it without revealing those answers, but they are still forthcoming. Sometimes I want to reveal everything, but I have also found as a viewer that sometimes I just love world-building details that are never fully explained. It’s something I love about the Mad Max movies. Sometimes there’s just something in the background, and you’re like, “What the hell is that?” And they never really get into it, but it builds out and it enriches the world. So for me as a viewer, that’s a really fun experience. And I hope there are certain details of the show that people will experience that way.
Before we wrap can you tease anything about Season 3?
There will probably be some office stuff. There will probably be some existential stuff. [Laughs] There will probably be a laugh or two. There will probably be some creepy moments. It’s going to be all the things that the show is — assuming that it happens. But it’s definitely something that we’ve talked about. It’s all still pretty close to the vest.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Want more Severance recaps, analysis, and interviews? Check out Decider’s coverage for more in-depth insights into Season 2.
Severance Season 2 is now streaming on Apple TV+.